Eager for the New Season

The Fall baseball season started at 5:30 am on Monday. It was supposed to start at 6 am, when we were to gather in the Varsity Weight Room for our first official team workout. But a half-hour earlier, we were already awake, standing outside the weight room, anxious and excited to start the season. The morning workout consisted of power-lifts, loud music, and team bonding. There is something about the weight room that seems to bring us together. Perhaps it is the common, but unspoken knowledge that we are all willing to work hard to improve on the years past. A team breakfast at the All Campus Dining Center and a mid-morning nap followed the workout and then it was time to reconvene at the most beautiful field in the conference for our afternoon practice.

The weight room may be where we get stronger as individuals, but the field is where we get stronger as a team. During intersquad scrimmages on Monday and Wednesday, it became clear that we have more options at different positions than we did during my previous two seasons. With eight new freshman and returning starters at every position in the field except one, there is competition for every starting job. Competition can bring out the best in players. It is human nature not to work as hard as you can when your job is secure, when there is nothing or nobody pushing you. That is not the case this year. With a team stacked with players at every position, it seems everybody is willing to work their hardest to win the starting job… even if it means showing up a half-hour early to 6 am team lifts.