College baseball fans,
The time has arrived again. Jerseys are hanging in lockers, players are cleaning their cleats, lineup cards are being made, and bleachers and chairs are being filled at every stadium. The sun is still teasing us and the clouds are making sure we know their presence. New baseballs are being taken out of their lonesome packages to be held in the long anticipated hands of eager ballplayers. Bats are being unwrapped and looked at in awe before the first connection with a ball is made. Players are writing their numbers and personal significant phrases under the bills of their fresh, new hats. And for the first time in over seven months, college baseball games are being played. The game that we all so dearly love and cherish is back, and ballplayers like myself couldn’t be happier.
Buies Creek, NC is a quiet but overall good place to be; however, when baseball is back in town, it is a great place to be. All of my teammates and coaches, along with our fans and the surrounding community are ecstatic for it to be this time of year again. We have all waited for and put in the constant grind to make it to this year’s starting line. After getting back from the Holiday break, one thing was on mine and my teammates’ minds: Opening Day. Before this anticipated day, though, a lot of hard work was still left to be put in. We had our conditioning test again this time around which was the first step of the spring season. We then went back through individual practices and the basics before breaking into full team practice.
On February 13th, we had our eighth annual First Pitch Dinner where players, coaches, fans, alums, family, and friends all gathered to celebrate the start of a brand new Campbell baseball season. We shared good food, laughs, pictures, and thoughts on the upcoming journey. We all gave our eyes and ears to guest motivational speaker Brandon Maye, former linebacker at Clemson University, as he gave a fiery introduction to our season. He spoke on perseverance, dedication, effort, will, and the overall desire to reach our many goals. He charged us to “burn the ships” and play every opponent with a chip on our shoulder. His influence and inspiration was felt by all and we were grateful that he was able to share his passion with us.
We took that fire and aggression straight into our 2016 campaign winning our opening series against Miami of Ohio. Excited wasn’t the word to use when describing the atmosphere as Nick Thayer delivered the first pitch of our season. The feeling of playing at Jim Perry Stadium in front of our home crowd on a Friday afternoon is hard to beat. We all soaked it in and enjoyed every minute of it. We then travelled to Durham, NC on Tuesday and lost a tough one to the Duke Blue Devils at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. While the experience of playing on that beautiful field cannot be matched, our desired outcome was not fulfilled. We take days like those and use them as extra motivation to learn from our mistakes and get better. The Fighting Camels are always working and never content even after a win, so this has just pushed us even harder.
We take on the University of Minnesota in the Creek this weekend as we look to bounce back. We will come out fired up as always and ready to play exciting Campbell baseball. We then get our rematch against Duke next Tuesday on our home dirt. Every game is important to us, but the early season is crucial in building up momentum and confidence. Keep up with us as we embark on another season of Fighting Camel baseball, and keep your fingers crossed for baseball weather to be in the air. As always, Roll Humps, and welcome back, baseball.
Drew Butler
