After finishing its 2010 season with a record of 8-28, the baseball team took 20 freshmen and three upperclassmen to play in two, seven-inning fall-ball games.
Coach John Rhoades, head coach for the Norwich baseball team, said the biggest thing the players need to do to improve for the 2011 season is “practicing on their own a lot more. We’ve had our fall season but the kids are continuing to get out on the field and do the fundamental themselves.”
Ryan Kelly, 21, a senior physical education major from Albany, N.Y., said the key to improving is “spending more time and paying attention to details. Coach Rhoades has done a good job with bringing new aspects of the game in, new workout programs for our pitchers, new techniques and drills for our fielders and hitters.”
This year, the team will have 22 freshmen trying out. The final team will have 28 to 30 players. Kelly said, “Coach Rhoades has done a great job recruiting, we got some real good quality players coming in this year.”
A lot of pitchers will be returning. Rhoades said, “Travis Dyke, a senior outfielder from Lewiston, Maine; David Maxfield, a junior outfielder from Randolph, Vt.; Austin Shaw, a senior pitcher from Yarmouth, Maine; Dustin Shimkus, a sophomore outfielder from Collinsville, Ill.; and Conar Mahon, a sophomore pitcher from Hopkinton, Mass., are the guys who stood out last year and are coming back.”
Coach Rhoades hasn’t chosen his captains yet; he’s going to wait until spring to let the team chose the captains. He said, “This fall season I believe that all the older kids have all been good enough to be a captain.”
Being in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, the baseball team plays very tough teams. Kelly and Rhoades said that Saint Joseph of Maine and Suffolk University from Massachusetts are their toughest teams in conference. They also said that Castleton is their toughest team out of conference. Castleton has made it to the NCAA playoffs twice out of the last three years.
This year instead of heading to Florida for a spring break trip, the baseball team will go to Arizona. Rhoades said, “The competition is going to be just as tough or even tougher than the Florida teams from last spring.”
Kelly said, “Arizona is a different style of baseball. We’re going to be playing some teams that are full-year programs, teams that are able to play outside year round, teams that have a high level of recruiting and really good facilities.”