Hello Catamount nation, welcome back to week 4 of the Potomac State Baseball Player Diary. We continued to get better this week as we got to go outside again on Thursday and work on sure doubles and Infield/Outfield (I/O), then we had more live at-bats (AB’s) again on the weekend. With opening day slated for the 17th of February, we are less than 1 week away from playing our first game. So being able to get outside and get these reps is crucial for the team and we take advantage of it every chance we get. So, when Thursday rolled around and we got down to the turf at Stayman Field, we didn’t waste any time getting started so we could make the most of our time down there. Everyone got their arms lose and then we went straight into sure doubles and got to review things for the first time since the fall, and then we got to go through a round of I/O to get those reps in as well.
Then on Friday, all hitters met in the Lough Gymnasium for some base running. Coach Jones took charge and made the team run waves the full length of the court for what he said was 15 minutes but felt more like 30 minutes. We are not sure that Coach Jones even wears a watch. Then once Coach Schafer got out of his faculty meeting and got there, he went over our base running techniques, and we got to work on some of our starts and reactions to different situations. Although this wasn’t the team’s favorite practice of the year, it was one of the most important ones we have had so far since base running is what wins game and we have the best in the business teaching us how to do it.
We are so fortunate to have an amazing indoor facility just steps away from our clubhouse. It opens each day at 9am and stays open until 11pm. There is no setting up, no moving equipment, just walk in and start hitting. On Saturday and Sunday, we moved back into the BPC for live AB’s where it is the pitchers last weekend at 75%. The next time we do live AB’s the pitchers will be going 100%, just in time to be ready for opening day. We are all very optimistic and hoping that the weather will allow us to get our games in next week. We are doing everything we can to ensure we get the games in. We even had tarp duty earlier in the week where we put our tarp over the infield and placed a line of weights around the outer edge of it to try and make sure the field stays ready for opening day. However, if our game were to get canceled the team would have an extra weekend of live at bats with pitchers throwing 100% effort and our first game would be February 28 at Lenoir community college in Lenoir North Carolina.
To wrap up the week the team gathered at the baseball house where Dylan Bell (Hurricane, WV), Cooper Polcovich (Auburn, NY), and Chris Harbert (Bridgeport, WV) live to watch the super bowl. Everyone was cheering for the Eagles, especially Gabe Jansen (Morgantown, WV) and Reilly Bubb (Hedgesville, WV) who are both huge Eagles fans. A special shoutout to the family of A.J. Spears (Jefferson, WV) for supplying the entire team with wings from Country Roads Pub, a local restaurant here in Keyser.
These times hanging out together creates camaraderie, and makes the time spent at Potomac State College special. This really is a special place, a place where we become more than teammates. You build relationships that we are sure will last forever.