“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 boats and lake cabins.
Quotes from Florida:
“It’s nice to just walk on cement without worrying about slipping.” – Adrian Romo, IF/P (Douglas, Ariz.)
“It’s weird to see a pine tree next to a palm tree.” – Colin Barton, P (Fort Frances)
Following the two losses to St. Cloud Tech on Monday, coach Koenig, Bill Marsh and myself (coach J, according to some) were reminded of the generation gap between ourselves and the players. How? With the sun shining and the Florida weather still making some shake their heads in disbelief, the players had to get in a trip … to the mall. It hurts to type that. We took in some baseball games before heading to the mall, watching Mesabi Range (opponent unknown) and Winona State University (vs. Seton Hall) at the same complex we play at Tuesday, but then it was off to scratch the players’ itch for Billabong, Champs and Coldstone Creamery. Fortunately, there was a Ruby Tuesdays in the food court to satisfy the senior citizens of the group.
Tuesday’s games didn’t go very well on the mound. We lost 9-5 to Kings (Pa.) JV and 12-2 to Mount Union JV to fall to 0-4. Both schools play at the Division III level. Mount Union – the same Mount Union that’s a monster in DIII football – brought 38 players to Florida.
The defense is solid and hitting is coming around – the Mount Union pitchers will be the hardest throwing pitchers we see all year – and everyone is contributing. It’s the pitchers’ turn to hold their end of the bargain, but that will come with innings and experience (we had nine walks and three strikeouts in Game 1 Tuesday and seven walks and two strikeouts in Game 2. Mount Union also had 15 hits).
Speaking of everyone contributing, we had three players today contribute that have been out of the game awhile.
Zach Severson (IF/P, International Falls) hasn’t played competitive baseball since he was a sophomore with the Broncos. He started in right field in the first game, and although he swung at a 3-0 pitch in his first at bat in three years, he made a diving catch and threw out a would-be baserunner at first base from right field. He also walked in one of three plate appearances.
Colin Barton (P, Fort Frances) hasn’t played in three years and he started Game 2. He was one of the starting pitchers that struggled with control, but he can’t wait to get back out there. Another positive is he’s got the mind of a starting pitcher, and anyone who’s played baseball knows a goofy starting pitcher. Nothing really phases them, they usually aren’t in Lance Armstrong-type shape and they own the team’s longest list of one-liners. Barton was asking a lot of questions after the doubleheader about how to get better, and results should follow.
Tony Zelazny (Anchorage, Alaska) might’ve been labeled as just a designated hitter in my first blog, but that’s because I sold him short (and took his DH position from our first game and not the official roster. He’s an OF/P). He made his first pitching appearance today and I’ll let him explain how he did. Here’s his Facebook status update shortly after we returned from the field:
“I had my first college baseball pitching debut today against Mt. Union’s JV team I threw 2 innings. 1 hit no runs no K’s but we rolled 2 double plays a 1-2-3 and a 5-4-3 I am so pumped up to pitch watch out Hibbing I am gunning for you man I love baseball so much and living my dream of playing college baseball.”
All this after coach Koenig brought him in with the bases loaded in his debut. Not a bad debut.
Time to get to the pool. It got up to 88 today, so time to take advantage of that.
SIDENOTES:
*Hand warmers were available at the concession stand. Two small hand warmers for $3. Chalk that up as the worst deal on the planet for hand warmers. (Also, new team rule: No one buys hand warmers in Florida).
*Writing out a lineup card is harder than it looks. Koenig gave me that responsibility in Game 2 today and I proceeded to write in “Chris Severson” as our starting right fielder in the ninth spot of the order. Oops. I played college baseball with a Chris Severson, but that was a long time ago. Fortunately “Chris” hasn’t stuck as a nickname for Zach. No more lineup card duties for the local sports editor.
*Minnesota Twins scout Mark Wilson, who is famous for being the scout that pushed the Twins to select a guy named Joe Mauer , watched the first couple innings of our first game today. He was watching Mike Dickerson, our leadoff hitter and center fielder.
