“Behind the eye black in the Sunshine State” is a blog by Journal sports editor Jim Johnson, who is traveling in Florida with the Rainy River Community College baseball team. Warning: Reading this material will accelerate symptoms of spring fever and potentially lead to unsupervised men purchasing Hawaiian shirts or baseball jerseys.
Heard there’s more snow and below zero temperatures back in International Falls.
Bummer. Our biggest problem here is finding ice for sore elbows and shoulders.
Apologies for waiting until Monday to start this blog. They’re working on the internet at the resort and it’s limited – limited enough where someone who’s been in below zero temperatures for months isn’t going to rush to find wireless internet when it’s sunny and 80.
Putting 17 college freshman and sophomores in charge of arriving on time to an airport that’s 4 ½ hours away sounds like the beginning of a story from your delirious uncle. Fortunately for head coach Josh Koenig and the author of this blog (who was persuaded to be a volunteer coach because of this trip), these players must have a heavy case of spring fever.
Plane departed Minneapolis without hiccup at 3:50 p.m. (with numerous players sporting Sun Country Captain’s wings), and arrived in 70-degree Orlando around 7:50 p.m. The team arrived at Bahama Bay Resort in Lake Davenport around 11 p.m.
“This place is like the size of Barrett,” sophomore captain and Barrett, Minn., native Eric Erickson said Sunday morning when seeing a map of Bahama Bay Resort, a complex located on “70 lush tropical acres.” The complex features four heated swimming pools, a beach, a restaurant and a poolside bar and grille – among numerous other things. Barrett is known as a picturesque village nestled in a valley in west central Minnesota with just under 400 for a population.
Koenig saw his first mosquito of the year before leaving for practice Sunday morning. At practice we were reassured the wet weather in the forecast would hold off long enough for us to finish. Lucky for us, the local meteorologist must’ve skipped class a few times during the precipitation part of his Weather 101 course. The sun popped out about 30 minutes into practice and never went away. Not while sitting around the pool in 80 degrees. Not while playing outdoor basketball. Not while purchasing Girls Scouts cookies in front of a grocery store from a family originally from Coon Rapids, Minn. (winters like this year is exactly why they moved to Florida).
Here are the 17 players in uniform:
Mike Dickerson, OF (Chicago, Ill)
Alan Strom, IF (Kensington, Minn.)
J.C. Crane, OF/C/P (Tucson, Ariz.)
Marc Simard, IF/P (St. Lazare, Manitoba)
Evan Marsh, IF/C/P (Dauphin, Manitoba)
Zaul Tapia, IF (Douglas, Ariz.)
Kevin McNarland, IF/P (Boissevain, Manitoba)
Mason Imhof, OF/P (Littlefork, Minn.)
Tony Zelazny, OF/P (Anchorage, Alaska)
Chad Sohlman, P (International Falls)
Mike Menard, IF (International Falls)
Chris Verdugo, IF/P (Tucson, Ariz.)
Brett Orpin, OF (Dauphin, Manitoba)
Adrian Romo, IF/P (Douglas, Ariz.)
Colin Barton, P (Fort Frances, Ont.)
Zach Severson, OF/P (International Falls)
Eric Erickson, OF/P (Barrett, Minn.)
*Bill Marsh, Evan’s dad, is also helping out. He’s been a great help so far, especially subbing for an erratic lefty who’s never been good at throwing batting practice.
Erickson cooks a mean spaghetti. Marsh is sporting a mustache he’s grown out for a month. Strom looks like Macauley Culkin. Barton just made coffee at 2:30 in the afternoon in 80 degrees. Severson is going to eat more on this trip than McNarland, Sohlman and Orpin combined. Fun cast of characters so far.
First two games came and went Monday with two losses, 3-1 and 10-6 to St. Cloud Tech. From what Koenig and the sophomores were saying, that 4-26 record from last season will be long forgotten soon. This team will easily surpass four wins this season (and with six games left in Florida, the hope is to get that out of the way in the sun).
Highlights from Game 1:
*Sohlman pitches complete game
*Marsh goes 3-for-3 in throwing out base runners.
*Dickerson opens season with bunt single and proves how electric he’ll be from the leadoff position with three stolen bases.
Highlights from Game 2:
*Romo recovers nicely after giving up a home run to the first batter (welcome to Florida) and pitches into the sixth inning. McNarland finishes off the game nicely. St. Cloud Tech, playing in their sixth game already, brought their bats in Game 2.
*Voyageurs couldn’t hold a 5-1 lead, but showed a lot of life in getting that lead in only the second game of the season.
These highlights lack a lot of statistical detail, because the stats computer failed to work (never a surprise using technology for the first time with anything). Plan is to get that worked out tonight.
Off to watch Mesabi Range. It’s 80 and sunny and the wind is much more comfortable today – meaning there is none and it’s perfect. But enough about the weather, and spending time inside writing this blog. Back to the Sunshine State.
Sidenote: Wireless internet works the best down here at Mambo’s poolside bar. For a journalist, this is the equivalent of having an Old Country Buffet having the best wireless internet connection with the entire Minnesota Vikings offensive line in town. Live entertainment is planned from 7-10 p.m. Tuesday and Friday night, so if the blog comes out a little late on those nights, you’ll know why.
