Hello everyone. Finally after months of indoor practices the 2011 Post University Eagles were able to play on an actual field and not a gym floor. We opened up our season in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Cal Ripken Experience Complex for the North East Challenge. This was our second year headed to this event and it gets better every year. The complex has three all turf fields and are replicas of old major league ball parks.
We left the Drubner Athletic Center at Post University at 9:00 PM Wednesday night and after Top Gun, Miracle, and East Bound and Down we tried to get some uncomfortable sleep on the bus. After the 14 hour bus ride we checked into our hotel got a quick nap in and headed over to the complex for a workout. It was great getting outside and taking ground balls and BP on a field while leaving the snow in Connecticut behind us. We had a great practice which helped settle the nerves of the coaching staff but knew we would have a battle going up against a well coached Molloy team the next day.
Game Day was here, putting on a uniform for the first time every season still has a special feeling to it. The coaching staff felt as we prepared our guys as best as we could and we were ready to go. Unfortunately Mother Nature had another idea, as soon as pre game BP ended the skies opened and rained for around an hour and a half. Rain Delays are a funny thing for baseball players, some people went out and played fungo golf until a baseball with a message came bouncing into our dugout. Molloy had their competitive juices flowing early and challenge our freshman to a dance off this was without a doubt one of the funniest things I have ever seen on a baseball field I would put it against the UConn/USF any day.
After the rain stopped it was time to play ball. Game one featured our ace Dan Steers vs Molloy’s Chuck Fontana we knew this game was going to be a battle. This was a hard fought game which we came out on top 6-4. In the nightcap the energy level dropped as this turned into a marathon of a day. We had an opportunity to win the game but we had too many miscues in the field as Molloy took game two 13-7. The hitting star of the day was our senior Ralph Dieguez who had two homeruns on the day. It was no time to sulk about a split we had to get dinner quick then to bed as we had another two games in the morning. Junior RHP Steve Corbett was given more runs then he would need as he threw a complete game 3 hit shutout vs Stonehill College who is #3 in the Region as we raised our record to 2-1 with a 6-0 victory. We dropped a 6-1 game to West Virginia Wesleyan which we couldn’t seem to get anything started. Get away day would face us against Dowling College with a couple of injuries and our starting SS Todd Blair and myself on the shelf with the flu this game was a chance for some new guys to step up and they did just that as we took the game 8-4 behind Soph RHP John Jeanes first collegiate win.
We are back in action next week as we leave for Florida on Sunday for spring break. I’ll see you guys next week and if you want to follow us even closer you can follow me on Twitter @CoachRix8
