Welcome back Catamount fans and thank you for tuning into another entry of the Potomac State Baseball player diary. I am very excited to remind everyone that this will be the last entry of the 2020 player diary before your Catamounts start their season this coming weekend in Sumter, South Carolina.
As I mentioned in earlier entries part of our offseason work involved tackling the mental aspect of baseball. With the help of certified mental advantage coach, John Cullen, we discussed what it means to be a team, how to hold each other and ourselves accountable, and held debates over what words we thought define our baseball program here at Potomac State. Our practice this week began with Mr. Cullen stopping by again to check in on our preparations for opening day and to see if we are applying our lessons. Mr. Cullen has become a big part of helping us shape a team identity and we are grateful for the work he does with us. His energy, his passion, his commitment has brought an even more focused approach from our team this season. E+O=R
The weather this past week has not been agreeable with outdoor baseball practices, so the Catamounts were back in the lab throughout the week with our usual hitting groups and bullpen sessions. As the practice week continued, a couple of teammates and I were searching for a way to shake things up and we figured that the best way to accomplish that task was with a nice homecooked meal. Graham Brown’s grandmother (Grammie as we call her) was kind enough to invite a couple of us over to her local residence for a delicious meal.
Our dinner date with Grammie took place on a rainy Thursday night after another indoor practice. The festivities began with a rendezvous point up in Graham’s dorm room in University Place where we settled into the evening with some gameplay of Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Once everyone arrived and Graham was finished taking numerous L’s in gunfight mode, he, Dylan Dunkley, Preston Taylor, and I set out for Grammie’s house. We only made it a couple miles down the road though before we had to stop at Sheetz for gas. After the short drive and quick pit stop, we finally arrived at Grammie’s house and we were all very hungry.
Grammie gave us a quick rundown of the menu which consisted of pork chops, corn casserole, buttered broccoli, mixed vegetables, and fresh strawberry slices. Grammie also always spoils us with the freshest sweet tea and even broke out some delicious chocolate pie for dessert. Grammie even had the fireplace on in the dining room to give us all a comforting home feeling. All due respect to the hard-working employees here in the Common areas at Potomac State, but as you can see Grammie’s house is where it is at.
It goes without saying that when at dinner the conversation at the table is just as important as the food on our plates and Grammie always leads us in some sparkling conversation. Grammie asked us all about our future plans, our class schedules, our families back home, and how things are going with the team. We also each had to individually promise Grammie that we were all getting enough sleep.
Here at Potomac State we always try to resemble a strong sense of brotherhood and family within the program. We are extremely grateful for not only the fantastic food that Grammie puts on the table for us, but her ongoing hospitality and the opportunity she gives us to grow closer together as a team away from the field. Be sure to check out the Potomac State Baseball YouTube channel for a look inside at what our dinner with Grammie was like!
The only way we could top the love in Grammie’s house was with a Valentine’s Day practice back in the lab. Your Catamounts celebrated their own rendition of February 14th with “Helmet Day.” Within our baseball program, the helmet is not only a protective accessory, but a piece of offensive equipment with tremendous significance. For a baseball player at Potomac State, putting on your helmet symbolizes the start of an at bat and it is when your focus settles in on the upcoming task at hand. Coach Schafer explained to us the rules for “Helmet Day,” which were quite simple. The only rule was that you simply were not allowed to take off your helmet. However, as Coach Schafer himself would put it, just because something is simple does not mean it is easy. Since we were required to keep our helmet on for the entire duration of practice, that meant we had to carry the focus and intensity of an in game at bat with us along the way.
A more sentimental part of Friday’s practice involved Coach Schafer reading us a text that he received from one of last year’s sophomores, Austin Chavis. Since his time here at Potomac State, Chavy has moved on to playing NCAA Division I baseball in the Big 10 conference at the University Maryland. Chavy wanted Coach Schafer to remind us that every bit of work we put in here at the junior college level is completely worth it and has big potential. Austin told us how he learned earlier in the week that he would be in the opening day lineup for the Terps and we are all extremely proud and could not be happier for him. Good luck to Austin and all our other alumni who are continuing their collegiate baseball careers.
Our weekend of practice continued with live indoor at bats on Saturday. Our pitchers are finally built up to their 100% velocity and it made the weekend loads more competitive. Coach Little was hopeful that after our indoor practice on Saturday that we would be out on the field at Golden Park for some intrasquad on Sunday. Unfortunately, the field was unable to thaw out in time and we were forced to retreat down to the turf field again. This of course called for another whack at transporting the portable pitcher’s mound down to our temporary field of play. What a difference a week makes though because we were able to load the mound back up onto the bed of Tobin’s truck and walked it down along the gravel path with ease.
As a hitter it is quite sad to admit that our pitching staff stole the spotlight in Sunday’s inner squad game. Brandon Schaeffer, Tyler Bradford, Austin Cross, Jonathan Money, Ashton Staubs, and Avery Heiple all had dynamite showings and we cannot wait to have them on the mound throughout the season.
Thank you for tuning in for another week of the Potomac State Baseball player diary! Be sure to check us out again next week for the beginning of our 2020 season!