Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Meeting and Captains

This week was a strange week for us at Eastern Baseball. With Sandy striking and many member having to go home, our whole week got messed up. we were supposed to have a team meeting with our coach to dicuss our off-season work out and figure who our captains will be for the upcoming season.

So...since the storm ruined our week, our coach had us fill out a paper. This paper laid out who whould be playing each position and had us vote on captains. So last night, he sent out and e-mail of the captains.

I was excited knowing who the captains are and cannot wait until next week to figure out which captain picked me for their team. The teams are for the off-season.

During the off-season, we have lifting and conditioning. If anyyone doesn't participate, their team has to wake up early for running. Hopefully I am on a team that gets their work done and works hard,

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Good Bye Fall Ball

Today marked the end of a great fall season for the Eastern Eagles Baseball Team. As a member of the team I have learned many new workouts and became closer with the team. I want to take the time to go over some of the workouts Coach Morris has installed for us as pitchers in his organization. Our main workout involves bands.

Bands bring a new environment to working out. You typically think of working out as in lifting weights. Band work is essential to pitchers. It increases the fexibility of your arm and allows you to be more stretched out when you go in to throw. There are many different band excercises that you can do and that include stretching and focusing on both your internal and external rotation.

One of our Junior pitchers, Barry Jost, always does bands before he throws. He does this as part of his rehab. He had to have Tommy John surgery and he tore his rotator cuff and labrum. He never did band work before he needed surgery and he advises all of the pitches to do it.

If you dont want to take part in the band work, that is on you. I make sure that I do bands everytime before i throw and it makes my arm feel 100 times better than it did before. I enjoy putting in the extra time because it is just making me and the team better.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Old To New!

In the past, I have had many different coaches. Even though I didn't have the opportunity to play for coach Midkiff, he was the one that recruited me to come to Eastern to play baseball. Without him, I would probably be at Mesericordia. He gave me and I am sure all of the other freshmen a scare. Two days before school started, he sent out an email stating that he would be leaving Eastern and going to Swarthmore.

At first, we were worried, and then we realized that the whole team was in the same position. We all had to start over and everyone was on the same level in the eyes of the new coach.

Jed Morris was announced as the new head coach. As the Big 12 player of the year in 2002, Morris, a catcher, helped the Nebraska Cornhuskers to reach a College World Series for the second straight season. Morris out up outstanding numbers at the plate while leading the Nebraska defense behind the plate. He was drafted by the Athletics in the 2002 "Moneyball" draft, and he was excelling through the system when he was diagnosed with Leukemia.

Morris beat Leukemia and returned to the minors where he eventually finished his playing career as a member of the Lancaster Barnstormers organization in the Independant League. He was the organization's "Community Man of the Year" for his work with others who were looking to fight cancer.

So far, Coach Morris has been a great coach and I look forward to the next four year. He is an inspiration and I am honored to have the opportunity to play under him. Now you all know the new head baseball coach for the Eastern Eagles.

Coach Morris on his comeback from Leukemia

Monday, October 1, 2012

From Day One To Having A Coach



Walking onto campus, baseball was still a worry for me. During the summer, our coach decided to leave and go to Swarthmore. I was devastated knowing that he was the one that recruited me and now he is gone. Coming in knowing this, I knew that I had to go out there and prove myself to the new coach. I found myself going out to the field everyday with my roommate to throw and hit to get better and stay focused, but we didn’t stop there, we would go out to either the turf to do sprints or the weight room to lift. 

Knowing that baseball is a spring sport, fall and winter are the times to work hard on my strength and conditioning. The good thing about having a roommate that is also on the baseball team is that we could push each other to work harder and never give up. The only problem was we didn’t have a coach. Our captain would put together intersquads to make sure we were playing together and prepared for when we got a coach. All of the guys would get together at the field and either hit or field and throw on the days we weren’t scrimmaging. This occurred just about everyday up until Friday. 

Mr. Davey Jones called a mandatory meeting for all of the baseball players. We all knew what it was about and I was anticipating this day since they announced they were holding interviews for a new coach. Mr. Jones called us in and had us sit in the corner of the gym. He stated that they have found us a coach. The miracle was that he wasn't even one of the coaches that they have interviewed. 

His name is Jed Morris and he played at the University of Nebraska and made it to triple a. When I heard this, I wasn't sure if I was more excited or impressed. As Monday rolled around and our first practice was hours away, I could wait any longer. Now that we have a coach and the Fall season is underway, I will be able to keep you updated on how the team is progressing and how the coach is impacting all of the players in throughout our 16 allowed practices. Until next week!