Baseball team’s first four games cancelled due to snow, focus shifts to Florida trip
The Keene State College Baseball team has been thrown a curveball to the start the season. The team had their first four games of the season in New York cancelled because of snow.
According to head coach Ken Howe, the Owls will not have an opportunity to play a game before the trip. The option of an exhibition game is also off the table. Howe said, “There isn’t really any place where we can scrimmage. Softball gets an opportunity to go over to Amherst and do that inside [in Amherst’s indoor facility].”
Howe said the game cancellations make his team feel deflated. “Mentally, it may have a bit of a downer for the guys, but I think they are still working extremely hard right now [at practice],” Howe said. The Owls continue their intense practice schedule during the week. “We are still practicing everyday hitting, and pitchers are throwing their bullpens. They are taking ground balls the best we can and depending on what space is available at this time,” Howe said.
Senior second baseman and tri-captain, Nick Vita, said he looks at the extra practice time as more preparation for the season. “It is just going to give us an extra weekend to make sure we are ready for the season,” Vita said.
Bree Kraus / Equinox Staff:
Senior Vincent Mangiagli gets an out after tagging a Framingham State runner in a 15-1 home win on April 12, 2012. Mangiagli will pitch for the Owls this season.
Freshman pitcher and outfielder, Stephen Costello, said the extra practice helps as well. “Extra practice time is just as valuable as playing a game,” Costello said.
However, Costello said he is disappointed as those cancelled games would have been his first collegiate games. “You always look forward to your first college game. You’re preparing for March eighth—and it gets pushed back to the thirteenth. It’s a little disappointing,” Costello said.
Sophomore infielder Drew Carter reiterated Costello’s feelings and said, “Obviously, it is disappointing that we won’t be playing our first games. It might benefit us by practicing more,” Carter said.
The team expressed excitement for the flight to Florida on Thursday, March 13. “Everyone right now is looking forward to Thursday and getting on the flight and heading to hopefully where it is warmer,” Howe said.
Vita said the team welcomes the trip with open arms as they head down to warmer weather. However, team members acknowledged they have work to do in Florida. “Everyone is ready to get outside and get away from the snow a little bit and play a bunch of games in warm weather. It’s a major part of our season, and we need to be ready to go,” Vita said.
Costello said the Owls are ready to perform on the trip. “I think we’ll be ready to play, we’ve been working hard all off season. We’re ready to make a statement,” Costello said, adding the team also has a positive vibe with one another. “The chemistry is great. We all have each other’s backs—whether it be in the weight room or in the cage. Even though we are competitive with one another and push each other, we still support one another,” Costello said.
According to Howe, there is a potential for only half of the originally scheduled four games to be made up. The double header scheduled for March 8 against SUNY Old Westbury could happen on March 30. “That is the day after we play at Western Connecticut down in Danbury. If their field is ready [Western Connecticut] on Sunday [March 30], we’ll hopefully go over to Westbury on Sunday,” Howe said.
The two games that potentially will not be played are the games against SUNY Purchase. “The other games with Purchase probably won’t be made up,” Howe said. As a result, Howe is looking at other options to make them up. “What I’ve done is, we’ve got a couple of Sunday single games at Salve Regina and at Daniel Webster. I’ve already contacted those guys and said if they’ve lost any games, I’d love to make those games into double headers so we can gain those two games back,” Howe said.
The reason why the team scheduled the games early is to get 40 games in for the regular season, which spans from March to early May. “It’s always a crapshoot when you schedule games this early in the season,” Howe said.
Brian Clemmenson can be contacted at bclemmenson@keene-equinox.com