Indian baseball hopes to play full season
Eye on the ball– Senior short stop Preston Stevenson works on his hitting during fifth period athletics on Feb. 10. The Indians will play the first regular season game on Feb. 22.
The Indian baseball team will begin its season at home against Shallowater on Feb. 22, almost a year after the Indians’ 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“I can say I am pretty excited about how hard the team has been working,” Coach Vince Lavallee said. “We started working during the athletic period three days a week on baseball skills after football season was over. I feel like the rust we had has been knocked off, and we are a little ahead of schedule right now.”
While last year’s seniors never got a season, the 2021 class of seniors is thankful to have a season.
“It feels good to play again, especially it being our senior year,” senior catcher Aiden Ward said, “but we don’t know what will happen, so we have to stay humble and not take anything for granted.”
The Indians will scrimmage in Snyder on Feb. 15.
“Momentum is pretty easy,” Lavallee said. “The players are hungry because we lost last season to the pandemic.”
Lavallee said he encourages his team to work hard to ensure they stay competitive and to work hard to get the most out of the experience.
“They are very motivated to play the game they love,” Lavallee said. “Practice has been very upbeat, positive and motivated. I try to keep them humble to ensure they have a good season.”
As for senior third baseman Cy Cramer said he needs to renew his skills since last season.
“I feel like I have gotten rusty hitting and fielding wise,” Cramer said, “but it’s something practice can fix.”
The Indians lost the experience of the 2020 seniors.
“Last year we were a pretty solid team,” Ward said. “We lost quite a bit of people, so we have to try and be better this year to make up for the talent lost.”
Lavallee said senior leadership was the biggest bonus.
“Our senior team leadership is a great strength on our team,” Lavallee said. “They have taken on a huge responsibility in leading the program in the right direction.”
The team has COVID-19 precautions in place to ensure they are able to get as much of their season as they can.
“We have the same precautions as everyone else,” Lavallee said. “When you are not playing in the game and on the bench, your mask is on.”
Lavallee said he stressed bing humble with his team.h
“We have talked about it a ton at practice,” Lavalee said. “Work hard every day because you never know what can be taken away from you.”
