Posted: 03/28/07

Out of the gym
St. Michael’s College men’s baseball team warms up in Florida

Leanne Ouimet | contributing writer
louimet@smcvt.edu

As the St. Michael’s College Men’s baseball players stepped off of their airplane in Florida two weeks ago, smiles spread across their faces. There wasn’t a snow-bank in sight and their days of practicing in the gym were over.

From March 10-19, the team participated in the Port Charlotte Invitational in Port Charlotte, Fla. The tournament served as a pre-season warm up, with the team playing ten games, ending the week with a 2-8 record.

A deceiving record

The Port Charlotte Invitational has been around for three years and runs from Feb. 24-April 1 with more than 100 teams participating at any given time. It provides an opportunity for teams from Divisions I, II, III, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and junior colleges to play outside during the winter and early spring months. Teams can decide the number of games they want to play, which days they want off, and who they’d like to play against.

During the invitational, St. Michael’s played against Division II and III teams including St. Cloud State from Minnesota, Westfield State from Massachusetts, and Defiance College from Ohio.

Head coach Seth Cole says the competition was tough and despite the 2-8 record, the team played well.

“We played a lot of teams that were a half notch to a notch better than us,” Cole says. “But we competed quite well and didn’t get a blow-out in any game. They weren’t blowouts; they just weren’t wins.”

In their first double-header on Saturday, March 10, the Purple Knights fell to St. Cloud State 6-2 and later, 8-3. The next day the team lost once more but this time to Missouri-Saint Louis, 12-4.

Still, Cole says that it wasn’t necessarily athletic skill that gave other teams the edge, but differences in the physical build of the teams as well.

“The roster sizes were much larger and the teams were physically bigger as well,” Cole says. “Also, these schools give away athletic scholarships for baseball which is a significant advantage.”

In addition, the teams they played against had larger coaching staffs, with up to five assistant coaches, whereas the St. Michael’s team only has one, Cole says.

First baseman Evan Grenier says the competition was challenging and beneficial.

“We were definitely playing against good competitors,” Grenier says. “Our hitters were up against solid pitching and our pitching went against really good hitting. It worked both ways and really helped.”

The team didn’t just play baseball while in Florida; they watched it too. On March 14, the Purple Knights took in a Boston Red Sox versus the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training game. While the team doesn’t use specific team-bonding activities to stay close, Cole says that just being together on spring break helped bring the team closer together than they already are. In fact, Cole says that this year’s squad is the closest team he has ever been apart of.

“Team bonding isn’t something we do,” Cole says. “It almost just happens by itself. The Florida trip only helped bring us together and make us an even tighter unit. We have 24 hard working, friendly guys who would stick up for a teammate in any situation. It’s fun to watch a team like that.”

Gym-tastic!

Although there were some problems during the trip with flights and van rentals, sophomore pitcher and short-stop Ryan Reather says that just being outside and out of the gym in the Tarrant Recreation Center made it all worth it.

“It felt great; it felt like baseball,” Reather says. “Being stuck in the gym didn’t feel like baseball.”

The stark differences of playing inside and outside were made even more apparent after the team came back from Florida.

“Fielding in the gym is hard because you get the same hop every time,” says Mike Robert, a first-year pitcher. “Out there, you never know what the ball is going to do.”

Reather says a lot of the teams they played already had 10 or 11 games under their belt; they were able to practice and play outside which gave them a significant advantage. However, for the first time being outside, Reather says his team played tough and there were no weak links.

Cole, however, says he noticed one weak link in Florida: base running. He says inside practices haven’t allowed the team to work on certain real-situation skills. But while their record may not show it, Cole says the team played up to their potential.

This year’s team isn’t a team of power hitters but down in Florida, they worked the kinks out and made their opponents work hard for outs and for wins, Cole says.

Team firsts  

In addition, it was a trip of firsts for the baseball team; the first time in three years the team went on a spring-break trip, the first time they went to a Red Sox game together and for Tim Pilczak, it was a first collegiate home run.

But Pilczak wasn’t the only standout; Robert and teammate Billy Gamache, a senior pitcher and co-captain, pitched in the double-header against Ohio's Defiance College to earn the team’s two wins. Gamache threw a complete game and Robert pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout.

For now, the team is back in the gym, practicing for their first home game against Norwich University on March 29.

“Right now we’re just doing the same stuff as we did before spring break: staying focused in the gym, staying disciplined and staying serious about our swings,” Reather says. “There’s not a whole lot else we can do. We just use what we have to our advantage.”

During each practice, the team splits into infielders and outfielders. Half the practice is spent hitting and the other is used for defensive work. Towards the end they work on special skills like base running. But being back in the gym is hard after spending a week in Florida during 80 degree weather Reather says.

“We’re fairly limited in the gym,” Reather says. “The infielders take ground balls and we work on pitching and hitting. It’s just drills, drills, drills.”

Cole isn’t optimistic about hosting next Thursday’s game against Norwich because of all the snow, but he is optimistic about one thing. Currently, the baseball program’s record for most number of wins in a season is 17, achieved in 1999. Cole says that this year’s team is going to be the team to break that record.

“If we’re playing 35 games, unless we have a bunch of games cancelled, we can approach the 20 game win milestone,” he says.