Baseball team prepares for tough season
Brett Starkopf
Features Editor
“What are you doing to better yourself, right now?” a voice barks from behind the dugout of the CLC Baseball team. The few players the question was directed to scatter around the field and get back to work, continuing to prepare for the season opener, March 23 against the Lake Land College Lakers in Mattoon.
Constantly trying to better themselves, the Lancer players work continuously, hardly taking a moment to sip water, let alone breathe. The structure of this team is reminiscent of a professional ball club. An hour into their first practice outside, Head Coach Ken Kelly takes his first steps onto the field. The team has already begun running drills and coaching each other without him, which is surprising considering these players are only teenagers.
The squad will head into Mattoon looking to start the season on the right foot. The Lancers are playing a Laker team, whose season began at the end of February. They have already played 20 games and are in peak regular season form. Lake Land, a Division I junior college, started their season playing games in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but that doesn’t intimidate any of the Lancer players.
“The division doesn’t mean anything, it’s the players on the team,” Freshman Outfielder Denzale Denton said. “A lot of JUCO’s actually have better players, they just didn’t have the right grades. So we should be able to stay with them.”
Lake Land has struggled up to this point in the season. Losing 10 of 13 games outside the state, the Lakers bounced back, splitting their next six. They will try to take their momentum into the contest against the Lancers, but will have the tough task of facing sophomore ace, right-hander Rob Wilson. The 6-foot-3-inch Canadian hurler was 4-1 last season. He was second on the team with a 1.28 ERA and struck out 28 batters in 42 1-3 innings.
“I’m real excited about the first game,” Wilson said. “I’m healthier than I was last year, my fastball is stronger and my changeup has developed a lot.”
The pitching rotation is the only part of the lineup and only part of the series, for that matter, Coach Kelly has set.
“It’s not who we play, its how we play,” Kelly said. “I never look at the other teams. I can’t control anything about the other team. You can pretty much tell in (batting practice) for the other team who can play, that’s my scouting report.”
After Wilson throws, sophomore Ben Ehgoetz will get the call the second game of the double header. Ehgoetz was 2-0 in only 22 1-3 innings last year, but posted a very respectable 2.02 ERA with 22 strikeouts.
After their series in Mattoon, the Lancers will head to Bloomington on March 24 to take on Heartland Community College. Freshman left-hander Luis Cruz will get his first start of the season.
Aside from the unset lineups, the Lancers have to figure out their injury situation. A couple of players have to deal with arm problems, one of whom might be shut down for the season, and Denton bruised a bone in his hand after being hit with a pitch during a scrimmage. However, he is confident he will start Tuesday.
“If the trainer says he thinks he can go, he can go. If the trainer says ‘no,’ he’s not going no matter what he thinks,” Kelly said.
After their tough three day stretch, the Lancers head home and face Joliet Junior College on March 28 for their home opener. It will be nice for the team to get three days between games, but then again, as Kelly would ask, “what are you doing to better yourself?”
Features Editor
“What are you doing to better yourself, right now?” a voice barks from behind the dugout of the CLC Baseball team. The few players the question was directed to scatter around the field and get back to work, continuing to prepare for the season opener, March 23 against the Lake Land College Lakers in Mattoon.
Constantly trying to better themselves, the Lancer players work continuously, hardly taking a moment to sip water, let alone breathe. The structure of this team is reminiscent of a professional ball club. An hour into their first practice outside, Head Coach Ken Kelly takes his first steps onto the field. The team has already begun running drills and coaching each other without him, which is surprising considering these players are only teenagers.
The squad will head into Mattoon looking to start the season on the right foot. The Lancers are playing a Laker team, whose season began at the end of February. They have already played 20 games and are in peak regular season form. Lake Land, a Division I junior college, started their season playing games in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but that doesn’t intimidate any of the Lancer players.
“The division doesn’t mean anything, it’s the players on the team,” Freshman Outfielder Denzale Denton said. “A lot of JUCO’s actually have better players, they just didn’t have the right grades. So we should be able to stay with them.”
Lake Land has struggled up to this point in the season. Losing 10 of 13 games outside the state, the Lakers bounced back, splitting their next six. They will try to take their momentum into the contest against the Lancers, but will have the tough task of facing sophomore ace, right-hander Rob Wilson. The 6-foot-3-inch Canadian hurler was 4-1 last season. He was second on the team with a 1.28 ERA and struck out 28 batters in 42 1-3 innings.
“I’m real excited about the first game,” Wilson said. “I’m healthier than I was last year, my fastball is stronger and my changeup has developed a lot.”
The pitching rotation is the only part of the lineup and only part of the series, for that matter, Coach Kelly has set.
“It’s not who we play, its how we play,” Kelly said. “I never look at the other teams. I can’t control anything about the other team. You can pretty much tell in (batting practice) for the other team who can play, that’s my scouting report.”
After Wilson throws, sophomore Ben Ehgoetz will get the call the second game of the double header. Ehgoetz was 2-0 in only 22 1-3 innings last year, but posted a very respectable 2.02 ERA with 22 strikeouts.
After their series in Mattoon, the Lancers will head to Bloomington on March 24 to take on Heartland Community College. Freshman left-hander Luis Cruz will get his first start of the season.
Aside from the unset lineups, the Lancers have to figure out their injury situation. A couple of players have to deal with arm problems, one of whom might be shut down for the season, and Denton bruised a bone in his hand after being hit with a pitch during a scrimmage. However, he is confident he will start Tuesday.
“If the trainer says he thinks he can go, he can go. If the trainer says ‘no,’ he’s not going no matter what he thinks,” Kelly said.
After their tough three day stretch, the Lancers head home and face Joliet Junior College on March 28 for their home opener. It will be nice for the team to get three days between games, but then again, as Kelly would ask, “what are you doing to better yourself?”
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