NMH Baseball : Boys Baseball

NMH Baseball Spring Training 2008

Photos from NMH Baseball Spring Training 2008

Twenty-two players and three coaches made their way to Orlando, Florida on March 8th, 2008.  Led by Head Coach John Christianson and his two Assistant Coaches, Jim Shea and Sean Page, the boys spent six days and five nights at the wonderful All-Star Sports Resort in Disney World.  Spending much of their time at the World-Wide Sports Complex, the boys got their first feel of playing outdoors for the year.  While the trip consisted of two and sometimes even three practices a day, the boys were also able to compete in scrimmages against Southwest Christian from Texas, Westminster from Connecticut, and also Coach Christianson’s previous team, Trinity Pawling from New York.

Teams from all over North America joined to prepare themselves in various sports.  The World-Wide Sports Complex, which is home to the Atlanta Braves Spring Training facilities, is filled with youth, amateur, and professional athletes who come for training and competition.  While most of the week is spent working out in the beautiful Florida weather, everyone was given a few stints throughout the week to use their three-day Disney pass to enjoy the four major theme parks: Magic Kingdom; Epcot Center; Hollywood Studios; and Animal Kingdom.  

Spending the prior week in Forslund and James gymnasiums preparing ourselves for outdoor action, we were able to maximize our days in the Florida sun to the fullest.  Much of our time spent on the field we worked on pitching, defense, base running, and the many situations that would arise in a baseball game.  The majority of our hitting workouts were spent in one of the four batting cages that are set up outside the four baseball diamonds.  The boys didn’t see their first taste of live pitching until our fourth day, in which we played a double-header.

The first of our three games was against Westminster.  Post-graduate Robbie Valair got the start on the hill, going three strong innings.  Senior Josh Throckmorton followed with the next three innings, which ended up being a breeze.  The last inning was combined with Sophomore Chris Mangan and Freshman Jonathan Atkins.  All twenty-two players played roles in the 14-3 win.  Must note, the play of the game was made by Freshman Patrick Arena, who made a spectacular over the shoulder basket catch on a looping fly ball while playing second-base.

Our second game of the day followed about an hour and a half after the Westminster game.  In a shortened game, due to time, the boys were handed a 6-5 loss. The exhaustion of playing back-to-back games showed throughout the course of the game. Our bats didn’t come to life until the 6th inning (which ended up being our last), in which we scored all our runs.  On the mound, PG Kevin Dexter led the way with four strong innings, followed by an inning by Junior Dan O’Malley, and another by PG John Keating.  All and all the first day of live games was a tremendous success.

The following day was led off with a quick on-field workout and ended up with a tough loss to Southwest Christian.  The Texas team proved to be too strong, who entered the contest at 17-4.  Talent wise, our boys matched up very well, however the rust of it being our second week of playing showed.  PG Billy Humphrey went five strong innings, and was followed up by PG Mark Collins for the following two innings.  Want to note another spectacular “web-gem” coming from another one of our second basemen, Freshman Ryan Ponte.  On a ground ball that looked be getting through the first and second base hole, Ponte made a diving snag to his left to roll over and make the throw from his bottom and get the final out of the inning.

In the six days spent in the beautiful Florida weather, all twenty-two players (along with the three coaches) made strong strides to get us ready for the upcoming season.  The week was built around improving ourselves on and off the field.  The team commodore and unison between all players and coaches exceeded expectations.  We want to send special thanks out to Laura Christianson who provided all twenty-five men with meals and fresh laundry each and every day.  Also, we would like to provide thanks to the parents of the ballplayers and alum who made this trip possible.

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