BY LAUREN MORAN
After finishing up a successful winter training season, the Stonehill Baseball team traveled down to Myrtle Beach on February 24 to kick-off their 2022 season. Several teams from the NE-10 traveled to The Ripken Experience facility in South Carolina, where a total of five games were played. The team came home with a record of 2-3.
Before leaving for Myrtle Beach, players were confident in the team’s ability to perform well, from having weeks of training and practices.
“The team just wrapped up five really good weeks of practice. Any game that we win could really make a mark and help us with standings for regionals later on in the season. We’re just excited to put it out all on the field,” Blaine Lidsky, a junior catcher said.
To kick off the trip, the team faced three tough losses against NE-10 teams: Franklin Pierce and Molloy. However, they were successful against St. Thomas Aquinas with a score of 3-2 and Dominican College with a score of 13-12.
Regardless of their win or loss status, Lidsky said the goal of the trip was to recognize the team’s strengths and weaknesses in order to work towards the season.
“We need to see what we need to work on or what we haven’t practiced enough and to see what lineups work the best. This trip is huge for our pitchers as well just to get some innings under their belt before conference play and make sure younger guys get all the jitters out and just play and perform the way we know they can,” he said.
Last season, the team had a winning 17-15 record in overall play and a 12-12 record in conference play.
Even though only three seniors graduated last year, the 2022 team is fairly young with 12 first years.
“This year we have a very new and different team that has a lot of potential, so we are very excited to see how we compare to these teams. If we play at the level we all know we can, I think we will have a very successful trip and season,” Lidsky said.
Next week, the team will travel to Florida for almost two weeks where they will play NE-10 teams and also teams from Florida. Their first home game is Saturday, March 19 against Saint Rose.
On the upcoming season post-Myrtle Beach and Florida, Lidsky said that the projection for this season is very promising.
“Young guys are stepping up and are showing that they can and want to contribute and the returners came back stronger, and we are just ready to make an impression this year,” he said.
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