Baseball All Warmed Up For Season

The official baseball season begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. for the Lyndon State College Hornets.

The team leaves LSC today at noon for their weekend trip to New York. Due to the early beginning of the spring baseball season, most northern colleges are unable to play outside because of snow on the field. Most schools head south for warmer weather to get some playing time outside the gym.

"The purpose of the trip is to get outside the gym and get our feet wet before the long and exciting season," says Shane Fleury, a junior pitcher and first basemen.

"You can only do so much in the gym, so this is a good opportunity for us."

The team has been practicing in the gym for almost a month and this is their first chance to play outside on an actual baseball field.

The LSC baseball team is able to travel to New York this year because of the hard work and dedication of its players. The team itself, without any help from the college, funds the entire weekend. The players held a dinner/dance on February 25 at the college to help raise most of the money needed for the trip. Other fundraisers included a hit-a-thon in the fall and running the concession stand for all home basketball games.

This year, the baseball team has a new sheriff in town.  Ed Poland has taken over for Coach Farley.  Many of the players have liked what they've seen so far out of Poland.

"Coach Poland has impressed me so far. I enjoy coming to practice and working hard with him and the rest of the team," said pitcher/outfielder Shane O'Donnell-Leach in an emailed response. 

"We all odviously wish Coach Farley were still able to be a part of the team in some way and we do wish him the best, but Coach Poland is somebody who I am more than happy to finish out my career, as a Lyndon State Hornet, with."

The team doesn't seem to be very concerned with their statistics this year.  O'Donnell Leach says he would be fine with bad statistics, as long as the team is playing well.

I don't have any, I could honestly care less about my statistics, I just want to be able to come off the field knowing my team is in a good position to win the game," said O'Donnell-Leach. 

"As long as the team wins at the end of the day, I could give up two 500 foot grand slams and win 9-8 and still be happy."

With the season right around the corner, many players on the team are optimistic about their chances this year.

"We have a great mix of talent, we've got some hard throwing freshman and a great mix of freshman hitters and veteran leaders, talent has never been an issue. It's all about putting it all together for an entire baseball game," O'Donnell-Leach said.

"That is my responsibility, along with the rest of the veterans, to make sure that we are able to close out games. I feel confident that we are up to the task and I know they are too."

Their first game is tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. against the SUNY College at Old Westbury Panthers. After that, they face off against the University of Southern Maine Huskies on Saturday at 11 a.m. Finally, they finish their weekend trip on Sunday against the Mount Saint Mary College Knights, where the first pitch will be thrown out at 11 a.m.