Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Lingering snow forces preseason baseball inside

Weather problems have forced the Eastern baseball team to restrict competition so far this preseason to a series of intra-squad scrimmages.

Weather problems have forced the Eastern baseball team to restrict competition so far this preseason to a series of intra-squad scrimmages.

"We haven't played anybody but ourselves," Eastern coach Rob Christ said. "The good news is, we're undefeated."

Christ's wry comment is typical of the reaction of South Jersey baseball coaches to the disruption created by Winter Storm Stella, especially in Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington counties.

The storm that hit Monday night and lasted through much of the day on Tuesday battered the tri-county area with a mixture of snow and ice that has rendered baseball fields unusable for the foreseeable future.

"The problem at our place is that there looks like there's six inches of ice frozen above the snow," Highland baseball coach D.J. Gore said. "We're inside, like everybody else. But baseball is meant to be played outside."

Baseball coaches in the Northeast are used to weather problems at the start of preseason workouts. But the impact from this storm is likely to linger, because of a long-range forecast of high temperatures struggling to rise above the 40s as well as the threat of additional precipitation.

"You wonder when this is going to get a chance to melt," Bishop Eustace coach Sam Tropiano said.

Of the Crusaders' approach in bad weather, Tropiano said, "We live in the gym."

Camden Catholic coach Bob Bergholtz said the situation forces coaches to be creative to keep their players focused and enthusiastic during day-after-day of indoor sessions.

"You have to reach into your bag of coaching tricks," Bergholtz said. "You get in there, three-four days in a row, it gets tough. You try to lighten it up, do some team bonding stuff, play some games, anything to keep the kids interested."

Cherry Hill West coach Dan McMaster said he tries to arrange for time in a batting cage for his program. But because the Lions' pride includes so many players, they often need to work out at off hours.

"Late Friday night, 7 o'clock Sunday morning," McMaster said. "Whenever we can jump in there and get some work done."

McMaster said the key to productive time in the gym is to focus on the mental aspect of the game.

"Bunt coverages, situational hitting, you try to work on the mental parts of the game because it's tough to do much more in the gym," McMaster said. "You get tired of looking at each other."

Christ said the limited outdoor practice time can impact the ability of coaches to make full and fair evaluations when it comes to starting lineups and roster spots.

"To me, that's a big problem," Christ said. "We're trying to make fair assessments of who is going to be starters, even who is going to be on the team, and it becomes more and more difficult when you have a limited window.

"You can get a lot accomplished inside, but it's hard to replicate the ball travelling in the open air, the ball coming off the bat, the true competition. It's a far cry from reality."

Millville coach Roy Hallenbeck said most Cape-Atlantic League schools were hit with heavy rain Tuesday but were spared the snow and ice.

"We're just waiting for it to dry out," Hallenbeck said Thursday. "We must have gotten six inches of rain."

Two teams unaffected by the weather are Williamstown and St. Augustine Prep.

The Braves and Hermits are both in South Carolina for a series of preseason scrimmages.

"The weather's great," Williamstown coach Joe Smith said.

Tropiano, the veteran Bishop Eustace coach, said baseball players in 2017 are far more familiar with indoor workouts than athletes of the past.

Tropiano said the days of needing to use late-winter and early-spring practices to prepare players for the baseball season are over for many programs, since so many athletes are participating for travel teams in the fall and using indoor facilities in the winter.

"These kids prepare so much all during the year," Tropiano said. "So many of them are affiliated with these travels teams that have regular times indoor all through the winter.

"It's not nearly as disruptive as it used to be."

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

philly.com/jerseysidesports