Trinity Baseball Preview

Here's a preview I did of my school's baseball team a few months back.

The Trojan baseball team hopes to carry over momentum from a strong finish to the Spring ’11 campaign as it finishes up the fall, spends the winter preparing for the season, and finally begins play in March.

The Trojans start the 2011-2012 school year with a bright future following a remarkable run in the CCAC conference tournament last season.  The Trojans managed to knock off CCAC perennial powerhouses Robert Morris University, Olivet Nazarene University, and Judson University in consecutive days at Oil City Stadium in Whiting, Ind. before falling to Saint Francis University in the championship game in May.  While the coaching staff and players fondly remember these events, they take with them the experience gained from that monumental week in Trojan baseball lore.  These Trojans, along with the new incoming talent, want to get back there and beyond that.

Coach Luke Cassis, in his second year as head baseball coach after serving as an interim coach last year, feels there is a good nucleus of returning players this year that tasted success last year.

“They experienced it.  They want to get back.  They are already a step ahead,” he said. 

Cassis also said this fall he has already seen good play and never questions whether or not the guys are playing hard.  The team typically practices 5-6 days a week, with intersquad games taking place on given dates as well.

While the team has not sat down and established a set of goals, Cassis feels the goal for now is to simply keep getting better.  He feels the pitching staff success will hinge on perfecting the philosophy of throwing strikes and attacking the zone, while he is confident the offense has a lot of guys who can get the job done. 

Junior Paul Grotelueschen ( Kottweiler-Schwanden, Germany)  feels the team is composed of a good group of guys with a good leader in Coach Cassis.  He looks forward to the Spring and being able to play baseball with his brother Drew, guys he played with last year, and the new crop of talent.

“I really like the way coach manages practices and has a philosophy of growing men of character and of baseball talent,” Grotelueschen said. 

Senior Jeremy Schwartzentruber (Kitchener, ON) likes how the team is meshing, which he feels can only help in the Spring season.  He is going into his final year with confidence that the Trojans can have a good season.

The fall season will tentatively end Oct. 15, but conditioning and weight training will begin in November and continue as indoor practices begin to start up.  The team will also grow through study hall and small group sessions as well as with a community service project with the Bannockburn Pumpkin Festival.  Cassis says being a Christ-centered program is a point that cannot be emphasized enough. 

Practice will intensify as the season nears and the Trojans will begin their season in Missouri beginning on March 3^rd, 2012 with a doubleheader at Baker University.  Following this doubleheader, the Trojans will travel around Missouri, playing in Kansas City, central Missouri, and finally St. Louis.    The Trojans then open at home against Dominican University on March 14^th.

 The Trojans open conference play on the road at Calumet College of St. Joseph on March 20^th.