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Bowling for Medicine Balls

WVU Potomac State College Player Diary 2019

Welcome to the 2019 Potomac State Baseball Player Diary homepage. This season, Sophomores Andrew Berry (Morgantown High School / Morgantown, W.Va.), and Joel Spishock (Carmichaels High School / Carmichaels, Pa.) will take the lead on the Potomac State Baseball Player Diary.  Note: Berry’s entry will be in BOLD font.

Hello, Hello, all Catamount fans and followers, and like always welcome to another Potomac State Baseball player diary entry that I have brought to you. Can’t believe that there are only a couple of weeks left in this year. I don’t even want to think about how sad I am going to be having to leave Keyser, W.Va. for good. But, I’m going to push that aside for now because with this good weather and important baseball games coming up, these next couple weeks are going to be crazy. So, I hope you guys stay tuned!

Speaking of crazy, just recently I received some awesome news that is going to be huge for our little College but most importantly, our baseball program. A couple days ago, Coach Schafer pulled my diary buddy, Berry and I aside saying he got an important email. He then proceeded to tell us that the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) had contacted him, requesting us to do a takeover of their social media accounts. I didn’t really think it was real at first. It really makes putting the work into these diaries and videos worth it because now we get to show the WHOLE nation the Potomac State Baseball team. So, with all of that being said, this Thursday, April 18th, Berry and I will have access to the NJCAA Instagram page and we’ll be posting some highlights of our program, campus, as well as some game footage from our road trip game against Hagerstown. So, if it is possible, check out our takeover this Thursday!

Alright, back to the diary. This current academic semester, our College offered a class that was only half a semester long, and the class was bowling (yes, it is an actual class). A lot of the guys on the team took it last year, so this year a bunch of my teammates and I decided to add the class to our schedule. The class, taught by the one and only Coach Little, meets every Tuesday at 1 p.m., at Rainbow Lanes, which is the local bowling alley in Keyser, only about a five-minute drive from campus. I absolutely look forward to class every Tuesday because it is always the best part of my day (besides napping). There are about 12 of us on the baseball team that took the class and each time we are divided into four-person groups to bowl. Within these groups, things can get pretty competitive as you can imagine. For this past class, I went head to head to head with Berry, Austin Martin, and Devin Dinocola. So, for this week’s diary video, I decided to show you guys a quick sneak peek at our bowling class. Check it out on the Potomac State Baseball YouTube Page!

Now that we are done talking about all of that, we can focus on baseball. This past week, we didn’t have any games during the week, which was nice. Getting late into the season, sometimes your body just gets weak and tired, so it is best to rest it whenever we get a chance. It is also a good opportunity to get into see our trainers Ben and Catie, who do an unbelievable job taking care of all athletes and getting us back to game-ready form. During this week, we just had a couple light practices to touch on some things and stay sharp. We had another big weekend coming up with a home doubleheader against Christendom College on Saturday, and a Region XX game on Sunday away against Harford Community College.

Saturday morning, we had yet another gameday at Golden Park. It feels like forever since we had an away game, and you definitely won’t be hearing me complain about it. It was a beautiful day for baseball, and with Walking in Memphis playing through the speakers, we were ready to get after it.

For the first game of the series, we barely even need anyone to play the field. We could have even stuck our team manager Dontae out there (love ya Dontae). History was made in this game by Sophomore Pitcher Brett Whiteman from Frankfort, W.Va. Whiteman pitched five innings and struck out nine batters. The historical part is that he allowed 0 hits and 0 walks, throwing a complete PERFECT GAME! Couldn’t be happier for the kid. It is very well deserved and such an incredible feat to accomplish at any level. Witnessing it is something I’ll remember long down the road. None of this work have even been a thing if it wouldn’t have been for boy Drew Leech, aka LEEEEEEECH. Going into the top of the fifth inning with the 10-run rule in play, Leech, who is a catcher for the team, was thrown into right field for the first time all season. Good thing he’s an athlete because to start the inning off, a line drive was laced right at him and Leech made the catch like it was nothing, saving the perfect game. Whiteman went on to strikeout the last two guys to complete the game, but I know he should be giving Leech a pat on the back for that great catch. We won game one 13-0.

For the second game of the series, three pitchers, Foster Conis, Garret Haggerty, and Andrew Liller held Christendom to one run through seven innings. Our offense totaled 10 hits in the game. Austin Martin, Haydon Almond and Austin Chavis, all had two RBIs. Chavis also recorded his fourth homer of the season in this game. Catamounts took game two, completing the sweep, making our record 24-5 heading into Sunday.

Games against Harford always have a little more edge to them than other games, just because it is a Region XX game and they are always great competition. Sunday, we loaded up the bus and headed down to Bel Air, Md. It was a gloomy and cloudy day to the ballpark. The gloomy atmosphere I think is what described our game performance the best. Harford’s bats and pitching were just too much for us, shutting us out 11-0.  They played well, we did not and a close game early ended up a lopsided loss.

For this upcoming week, we take on Glenville State for a double header on Wednesday, and a single game against Hagerstown on Thursday, both are away games.

Thank you for tuning into this week’s player diary! Please join in next week for updates on the team, as well as some exclusive team videos. Also, for more coverage follow the team’s Twitter (@PotomacStateBB) and Instagram (@potomacstatebaseball). If you have any questions or suggestions on videos, please email me at jts0033@mix.wvu.edu.

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Welcome back Catamount Faithful to this week's edition of the Potomac State Baseball Player Diary.

This past week, a couple members of our team had to deal with some adversity. After attending the Baltimore Orioles game last week, the next morning I woke up feeling as bad as I have felt in a long time. Turns out, after a trip to the doctor, I had contracted Influenza A and was sick as a dog.  I was not the only one as my roommate, Colt Webb, diary mate, Joel Spishock, and another teammate, Brandon Schaeffer (“JR”) all also got sick during the week.  JR was the one who got it the worst as he was diagnosed with the flu and pneumonia.  To say the least, we had our hands full with taking care of ourselves and becoming better by the time the weekend came around, so we would be able to play in our games. 

Throughout the week, we committed our days to nothing but class, baseball and rest.  If we were not in class or practice, we were napping or lying in bed. In my free time, I used my rest for sleeping and began a new television show on Netflix, “Stranger Things.”  I am very late to the party but Colt Webb and I spent our time getting better while watching the show and we began to love it.  One nice thing about being very ill is the amount of free time you have while not being able to do anything. We seemed to fly through the show due to the fact that we could do nothing else every night after practice. Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen the show yet like me and Colt were around a week ago, you must watch it. It is one of the better shows I have watched recently and can’t wait for the next season.

Once the weekend rolled around, most of us felt a lot better and were able to play in our games over the weekend.  Since Joel already gave you all the updates on the games, I won’t bore you again.  One of the ways we were able to play in each game was by drinking this special drink my Mom told me and some of the players about.  The name of the drink is a “Medicine Ball” that has been made famous by Starbucks.  It is supposed to be a cold and flu remedy which was right down all our alleys. On both Friday and Saturday night, Joel, JR and I whipped up these concoctions.  Let me tell you I was very skeptical at first but that drink worked wonders for each of us. The drink consists of Minute Maid lemonade, peach tea and mint tea.  You heat the lemonade to serve as hot water then you put the tea bags in the boiling lemonade. It tasted great and made all of us feel a lot better! All three of us couldn’t thank my mom enough as we loved it!

This Tuesday, one of the most fun days of the spring semester rolled around -- Quad Fest. It occurred on April 16th from noon until 4 p.m. It was a ton of fun! Joel, Colt, Brand Schamp, Pete Costigan, Hayden Almond, Devin Dinicola, Tyler Bradford, and I took in the festivities when our classes for the day had ended. The festivities were coordinated by our school Student Government Association, (SGA). They did an amazing job and deserve way more credit than they will probably receive.  Putting on an event like that is no easy task and they not only accepted the challenge but also excelled at it! They provided free food, snow cones and many games to play! The games consisted of cornhole, badminton, volleyball, and laser tag.  On top of that there was a station where we could create our very own tie-dye shirts! We had a great time taking in the great weather and taking a small break from the stresses of being a college student like class and such!

WVU Potomac State College Quad   

As Joel mentioned earlier, later this week, on Thursday, we will be taking over a social media account for the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association). We are very thankful for the opportunity and are amazed that all of this came about because of the player diaries we have done each week for this semester. Be sure to check it out as it should be a very fun day for everyone involved.  It is a great method of exposure for not only the baseball program here at Potomac State but also the College too!

Now, to continue my "10 Questions With…" segment, this week I decided to do 10 questions with… Christian Reyes. Chris is a freshman catcher. He is from Philadelphia, Pa. where he attended New Foundations Charter High School.

 

Being from Philadelphia, are you a Bryce Harper fan?

That’s a clown question bro.

It’s a known fact that you are the eating champion. What is your go-to, late-night snack?

McDonald’s is the move. I pick up 26 chocolate chip cookies, 3 McChicken’s and an Oreo McFlurry.

What is your go-to video game?

Fortnite without a doubt.

What is your favorite school subject?

I like History. I am a big fan of conspiracy theories about it.

What is your favorite professional sports team?

The Philadelphia Eagles. S’gooo BIIIRRRDDDZZZ!!!

If you could be any professional athlete who would you pick?

Nick Foles.

Which player on the team could challenge you in an eating competition?

Justin Stone. He could give me a run for my money.

Which teammate could host a comedy show?

Abe Stearns. He is one funny man.

If you could marry any girl in the world who would you pick?

Chantel Jeffries.

What are you most excited about for the remainder of the season?

Having a chance at redemption against our rival Harford.

 

That's all for this week's edition. If you have anything you would like to see in the diaries or learn more about, you can contact me through email (akb0019@mix.wvu.edu) or Twitter (@andrewberry_15). I would also encourage you to follow the team on social media. Please subscribe to our YouTube account @PotomacStateBaseball to be notified when Joel or I upload a video. Thank you for reading, and until next week, Go Catamounts!