Hello College Baseball Fans,
Welcome back for another year of college baseball!
Although baseball season may be winding down with the NL and AL division series underway, for the Rhody Rams, the season has just begun. This year we have a brand new coaching staff and a young, energetic freshman class eager to contribute to the team.
Raphael Cerrato was named head coach just this past summer, after serving the previous three years as assistant coach here at the University of Rhode Island. Coach Cerrato is an excellent leader and his drive to win and joy for the game radiates directly onto my teammates and me. He would call me over the summer and we’d talk about this upcoming year and I think he may have been more excited than I was to get back to school. It just goes to show how badly he wants to win.
Assistant coach Jim Martin has spent the previous four years at Merrimack as head coach. He brings energy and focus to the field everyday and sets a standard for our guys to follow. Coach “Mah-ten,” in his comical relief has a very motivational way of pushing our guys and getting maximal effort every day.
Assistant coach Sean O’Brien comes to URI from Endicott College and Franklin Pierce and is doing an excellent job with our catchers, developing them into generals on the field. Coach “OB” also coaches with the Brewster Whitecaps during the summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League, so he’s no stranger to the highest level of competition in Division 1 college baseball.
Pitching coach Casey Buckley brings a lot to the table when it comes to pitching and team conditioning. Coach “Buck” ended his college career at Dowling College two years ago, and coached there last season. His youth presents an element of familiarity among the players and the pitching staff, but he is well respected in his discipline. Coach Buckley coached with the Ocean State Waves this past summer, and is also very familiar with high-caliber college competition.
Jackson Geary completes the staff, working on a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff and will that allow our program to prosper. A Rhode Islander who has played at Coastal Carolina and Post University, Jackson is a great addition as his past experiences will benefit our coaches and players in a number of ways. A little known fact about Geary is that he’s an exceptional ping pong player and he’s always looking for competitors.
I believe the intensity, determination to win and knowledge of the game demonstrated by our coaching staff will elevate our program to a new level.
We’ve also added a new group of freshman that come to the park ready to work every day. These guys have been a great addition as they are good listeners and have proven to pick up on our style of play relatively quickly. The biggest aspect of being a freshman is asking yourself, “what can I do to help the team,” whether it be offensively, defensively, or even something as simple as making sure the field is set up and there’s water for practice.
Little things like this – listening and communicating with other teammates and coaches – are what make a program successful. This is what we must do better than any other team to achieve our goals as a program.
This weekend officially marks the end of our fall season with the Keaney-Navy World Series. Our intra-squad rivalry will kick off at 4:00pm on Friday October, 17th. We’ve definitely come a long way from the first fall practice back in the beginning of September, but for a team with aspirations like ours, there is always room for improvement. The winter breeds hard work and mental toughness – two of the most important components of a successful ball club – and we are ready to tackle the obstacles that lie ahead.
Fall ball is nearly over, but everyday is a new opportunity to get better.
Until Next Time,
Tim Caputo
