As the temperature drops in Keene, New Hampshire, the Owls’ baseball team begins to heat up.
The Keene State College baseball team has been practicing since the student body returned from winter break.
Trying to bounce back from last season, the Owls are getting a jump-start on preparing for this season.
The Owls had a record of 10-20 overall last season and only 3-11 in Little East conference play.
Leading the Owls this season is Senior Tanner Chase and Junior Cody Dube. Last season Chase finished with a .234 batting average and returns as one of only three players that played in all 30 games last season.
Dube, one of the Owls’ big aces, finished with a 5.36 earned run average from the mound and led the team in innings pitched with 43.2 innings completed.
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Cody Shanks, a junior on the Owls’ baseball team, says he likes what he is seeing so far this season.
“I see a lot of things, we have great leaders. Cody Dube and Tanner Chase as our captains and the surrounding cast including Matt Boulay who is the other senior. He is a great role model, and they are going to set the example for the younger guys,”
Due to recent back surgery Head Coach Ken Howe was unable to comment. Assistant Coach Marty Testo said that the captains this year have been doing a great job this far, but there is still a lot of work to be done for this 2015 Owls baseball team.
“We are really honing in on toughness and competitiveness, and trying to build a good work ethic. We are doing that through a lot of drills, skills and repetition. That is what this game is supposed to be,” Testo said.
Team chemistry has been one of the bigger focal points for the beginning of this season. The captains want to make sure that the first year players coming in are comfortable with all the returning players.
“When I was a freshman I had a really good experience. The upper classmen took us under their wing and helped us out. So what we try to do is get the all the guys together, and get them all comfortable. You really don’t gel as a team until guys can feel comfortable around each other,” Chase said.
The attitude of all the players who are coming in this season has been nothing but positive. Chase said the team knows that they need to turn things around from last year and they are doing a phenomenal job so far.
The hard work and dedication that it takes to make those things happen is coming out in full force of the 2015 Owls and hopefully it will keep up.
“I’m very excited for my last season here. I definitely want to make it a fun one. I hoping we can turn some things around. The past couple years hasn’t been what we wanted it to be,” Chase said.
He continued, “We are trying to get back to where we were a few years ago, get back to the LEC playoffs, and hopefully onto regionals. Hopefully we can win some games there, and see what happens,” Chase said.
Connor Smith can be contacted at csmith@keene-equinox.com
