New Year, New Field, New Attitude

September 8

Fall tryouts for the Vassar College baseball team started bright and early this morning. Before the sun rose, before the humidity settled over Poughkeepsie, and before the All Campus Dining Center opened for breakfast, we gathered in the Varsity weight room for a 6 a.m. team lift.

Already, there’s a noticeable difference in attitude this year than last year. The number of players trying out is way up and everyone, including the coaches, seems much more serious about taking Vassar baseball to the next level. Maybe that’s what carried us through our routine of bench press, squats, dead lifts, power cleans, lat pull downs and core exercises. This program can get a lot stronger as a team if we put in the effort to get stronger as individuals.

Signs of a progressing program were evident in the afternoon practice as well. After eating breakfast as a team, taking a nap, and going to class we convened on one of the nicest fields I have ever played on: Prentiss Field. Last year we played the second half of our home games on the new field before the dugouts, the scoreboard and the press box were finished. But with everything ready for use now, the pride in playing on a new, finished home field overshadowed our tiredness and soreness from this morning. Everybody, from the returning seniors to the numerous freshmen, seemed excited to play.

Tryouts began with a pro-style evaluation with a 60-yard dash and fielding evaluations for outfielders and infielders. Then, we broke off into teams and played an intersquad scrimmage. After playing in the Clark Griffith League, a premier college baseball league in the Washington, DC area, this summer, it was nice to test my skills against our own pitchers. Last year for Vassar, I mostly played designated hitter, second base and pitcher. But today I also played some first base and may be able to help the team by switching over there. Overall, it was an exciting, but tiring start to the fall season. I am sure I will wake up sore tomorrow, but with high hopes and expectations for the remainder of the year.