MC Baseball Team's Season Opens in South Carolina

The Manchester College baseball team’s season started this week.

Although in recent years the team has gone to Florida for the start of the season, this year will be different. The team will be traveling to Myrtle Beach, SC. They left on Thursday, Feb. 28 and will be gone through Sunday, March 2. Their opening game was Thursday against Concordia College (MI).

Several of last year’s varsity players graduated in the spring of 2007: Scott Tarnowski, Matt Talarico, Tyler Wolfe, Marcus Miller, Jordan Adams, Jason Carmichael, and Zac Bireley. As a result, this year’s lineup will include several first-year students: Wes Bucher, David Tatham, John Smolinski, Trey Forbes, Jay Sheets, Eric Roof, Curtis Mallory, JT Podell, and Andy Hughes will all be joining the team on its trip to South Carolina.

This year’s players expressed excitement about the upcoming trip, particularly because it offers a chance for them to spend time together as a team. “I’m excited to go and get to know the first-year players a little better, and to spend time with the team,” said junior Shawn Baker. “We always have a good time on road trips because we are so close.”

It is also particularly exciting for many of the players precisely because it is the start of a new season. “I’m excited about starting the season!” said junior Jared Baker. “There’s nothing like opening day. It’s a new year; everyone has a chance to go all the way.”

One anticipated benefit from the trip is the chance to leave the grey, cold and fickle Indiana weather. “I am the most excited about leaving the snow behind,” said senior Shaun Carrico, “and
replacing it with some decent 60 degree weather.”

But that coin has two sides; the dismal Indiana weather has meant that their practices have, so far, all been indoors. “The thing I’m the most nervous about is going from practicing inside to playing games right away without having a single practice on the field,” said sophomore Kaz Kalita. “Everything is different outside: throwing, fielding groundballs for infielders, reading the ball off the bat for outfielders, and even hitting.”

“But I’m confident that my teammates and I can adjust quickly down there in Myrtle Beach,” Kalita concluded.

Sophomore Adam King is not only excited about the prospect of playing baseball and seeing the east coast; this trip is giving him a chance to meet members of his family for the first time. “I have family in Myrtle Beach who I’ve actually never met,” he said. “They’re coming to watch me play.”

Like many of his teammates, King started playing baseball when he was four or five years old. “It’s a great game, the best in my opinion,” he said.

Nevertheless, he hasn’t lost his perspective. “It took an ESPN: The Magazine article about Morgan Ensberg, a major league ballplayer, to make me realize how minor baseball was compared to some other things in my life. Striking out or making an error doesn't mean the end of the world,” King said.

This perspective helps him sustain his joy for the game, which he said has “always been a means of pure enjoyment.”

The time on the road is a great way to start the season, according to junior Jeffrey Mendenhall. “We’re going to have a few days of thinking about nothing except for baseball,” Mendenhall said. “I believe that it will help to set a tone for the rest of the season.”

(This article appeared in the February 29 edition of The Oak Leaves)