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Keene State baseball team swings into action
KEENE, N.H. 2/1/12 – As far as Keene State College baseball coach Ken Howe is concerned, spring has come early to the Monadnock region. "To me this is the first day of spring, that's the way I look at it every year," said Howe, assembling his Owl team for its first day of practice earlier this week. "We're one day closer to the start of the season."
Setting up camp in the far court of the school's recreational gym, the Owls, picked second in the recently released LEC pre-season poll, begin the long flight that hopefully will land them in the NCAA tournament. But it's a slow process.
While Howe and his coaching staff got a glimpse of his squad during an abbreviated fall season where they began the evaluation process, the final fate of the 35 players, including 17 pitchers on the roster, will be determined over the next five weeks. "Everyone was given a set of goals at the end of the fall season," said Howe. "Now we're finding out if they did what we asked of them over the break."
Time is not on the Owls' side. "We don't have a lot of time before we start playing," Howe added. "We go from inside to playing outside the next day."
Drills are tedious, but necessary. Working in a confined area, players try to touch as many bases as possible, refining their fundamentals and simulating game situations in a competitive, yet fun way.
"The first thing you want to do is get in the cage and start hitting," said Kyle Morrill, a senior from Auburn, N.H. "It's nice to get all the guys together and start working toward the goal of having a successful season."
Spring practice is extremely important for players like Matt Boulay, a sophomore from Stafford Springs, Conn., who takes over as the Owls' top receiver. "It's a big year for me and the team," said Boulay, who is in the gym at 6 a.m. catching the bullpen sessions of the pitching staff. "It's always a work in progress because all the pitchers have different mindsets. I just have to get out there and catch them, learn their stuff and learn their mentality. I have to keep confidence in them and make sure they have confidence in me."
It's also a critical time for Keene State pitchers. Marty Testo, Keene State's associate head coach and resident pitching guru, says building arm strength and throwing strikes are the main focus for the staff at this stage of the season. "This is a marathon," said Testo. "If today was May, we'd be pressing, but now we're just trying to get everyone comfortable back on the mound."
While Testo is looking for his hurlers to build up their pitch count, he's also looking at their demeanor once they are handed the ball. "I like kids who change when they step on the mound," he said. "I want them to be mean and competitive."
Howe has high expectations for his team after going 29-14 (7-7 LEC) and finishing fourth in the LEC standings last spring. "I expect us to do well," said Howe "We've got to that point where if we don't do well, we feel it's a bad year. Last year was a bad year because we didn't get to the NCAAs. So we set lofty goals, and we expect to compete to reach those goals. Then it's just a matter of playing it, one game at a time."
Howe says he makes periodic trips out to Owl Athletic Complex to check on the field. "I couldn't believe it was still bare at the end of January," he said. "That's exciting. Hopefully it bodes well for an early spring."
