Baseball starts off the season strong:
ASHLEY BIUNDO SPORTS EDITOR:
Starting off the spring season 4-5, the STLCC Baseball team has high expectations for the upcoming games. Head Coach, Scott Goodrich said, “We go into every season with the same expectations, that we are going to win Regional Tournament.” That is their main focus, he said. Although it is still very early in the season, the basebal team has already figured out their strengths and weaknesses, said Goodrich. “We have very solid pitching, a lot of sophomores. [Since] we have a lot of sophomores, we can use their experience and leadership to get us through the season,” he said. Some of their weaknesses are caused by the cold temperatures and wet fields, he said. “We haven’t had a lot of consistency and ability to practice and play because of the weather,” said Goodrich. “It is all going to hit us at once, we are going to play a lot of games and not have a ton of time to get down and break down what we are doing, so I am a little bit concerned about that.” Goodrich said he has already noticed a difference between this year and last year. “Last year we just had a hard time getting on a roll. There was a lot of inconsistency in our game. I didn’t think we were bad team, it’s just we couldn’t find our nudge and get going right away. We would win a couple games and lose a couple games,” said Goodrich. “We feel like we are doing pretty good. We would win two and lose four, then we would win three.” He compares the season to a rollercoaster. “Those things are going to happen. And I feel like we did lose those close games, they didn’t bother us, we didn’t get all bent out of shape because we lost the game. Last weekend we played, we won our first game. Last year we had a hard time bouncing back from difficult games.” The STLCC baseball team is also focusing on education before sports, said Goodrich. “[The players] are going to make mistakes. We just need to minimize our mistakes. Once we make a mistake, learn from those mistakes and be better the next time in the similar situation,” he said. And the approach toward education is the same, he said. “I think educationally, that is a very similar focus. That’s what education is, experimenting and trying and learning and making mistakes and learning from your mistakes and moving on. Making yourself a better person overall.” STLCC has some tough opponents, he said. “Traditionally Jefferson has been really good, Crowder, Mineral Area, State Fair,” said Goodrich. “We already had the opportunity to play two nationally ranked teams in our trip to Louisiana. We lost both games, but we competed very well in both of them. We definitely have a very solid schedule and good competition coming up.”
