Week Three

Week three is now in the books for the Cards and it’s certainly been an unusual spring training so far. I’ve never experienced a winter quite like the one we are having here in Plattsburgh. In the past, we were lucky if we went outside three times before heading to Florida. Two of those three times typically would have been Coach Doorey forcing us outside while the snow was still flying. Doing this would get us prepared to what the regular season really feels like in Plattsburgh. Nothing like that can be said this year that’s for sure; once again we had three practices outside this week. All week the coaching staff stressed on the importance of defense and the affects it can have on our season. Coach Doorey emphasized “that we are only going to be as good as our defense”, and that one of our goals should be to be the best defensive team in the country. With that you can only image what practice must have looked like. Infielders worked on ground balls to our left and right focusing on doing every little step correctly. The outfielders focused on the significance of hitting all their cuts and the proper techniques on fielding fly balls. The pitchers continued working hard on establishing their fastballs early in the count. When doing this it allows the pitchers to be more effective and it takes more pressure off of them. The overall goal is to have our pitchers working ahead and our fielders playing the best defense they can. When you put those two together, you can guarantee that you will always be in every game.

With only two weeks remaining until Florida a sense of seriousness can be felt in the gym. Everybody is working hard and to top it off Coach Bulter has recently pulled out his coffee lid hitting drill. When this happens we all know the regular season must be really close. 17 days remain until our first game and there are still many opportunities out there for starting positions. As I say each week the new comers continue to improve, and being a senior as I am it’s really nice to see these kids improve so much on a weekly basis. Don’t be shocked to see new faces on opening day because all of newcomers have worked hard to get ready for March 9th. With that I’d like to give a shout out to two of the new guys and that’s Brain Latulipe and Mike Vargues. Both men come to practice each day, work hard, listen, and improve day in and out. Plattsburgh State Baseball has a bright future ahead of them and it will take all nine of the freshman to continue the success of this program. Only 16 days now till departure, Hope to see you all in Florida!