Cadet Baseball holds fall practices

 The Cadets baseball team is working hard this fall in hopes of recording a better record than in seasons past. Although the weather has been harsh this fall, numbers have been steady during pre-season workouts.

 Jeff Kruger, the strength and conditioning coach for the Cadets, said, "The more kids that show up, the better the team has [done]." Workouts are not only a good place for toning an athletic body but also, "It is a good experience for the team because everyone gets to work together."

The workouts "are good and I enjoy them," said Ryan Mahoney, 18, a freshman business management major from Northbridge, Mass. "They are challenging." 

 Pre-season workouts are intended to get team members better acquainted with each other but are designed to get players stronger for when the season arrives.

Workouts and practices "are better than last year," said Seth Knihtila, 19, a sophomore civil engineering major from Westminster, Mass. "I'd say we're doing a lot more and we are going for a longer period of time."

For freshman, it's a hint of what's to come.

"Time management is definitely going to be a big thing," said Brad Hudson, 18, a freshman from Eugene, Oregon. "You got to find time for yourself too, it's kind of like a balancing act."   

Hudson added, "I know I'm getting stronger." 

 "Of course over four years you can see the difference between a senior and a freshman," Kruger said. "By the time you get to be a senior, you are more explosive."

Most successful teams seem to pride themselves on good team chemistry and the Cadets seem to be no different. "Yeah, I would say we all get along pretty well," Knihtila said.

"It's a friendly atmosphere," Mahoney said. "You see guys left and right working hard, so you work hard."

"I'm always giving a 100 percent and the best I can," Hudson said

 Knihtila said working hard is a team strength. "We would always put a 100 percent in practice and games and we would never give up." 

 While team togetherness, friendship and hard work seem to be the highlight of the fall for the Cadets, Knihtila believes that youth and inexperience contributed to past troubles for the team. 

 "That's a hurdle that they're going to have to get over this year because the team is even younger than last year," Knihtila said.