Baseball teams seek to simulate normalcy when weather is far from normal

Disjointed best describes the 2018 spring season.

April’s stop-and-start pattern of competition as dictated by soaking, chilly weather decimated schedules of area high school teams across all sports.

As it pertains to baseball, a series of false starts prevented many teams in the area from developing the type of rhythm desired headed into May. Coach Jeff Haase’s Mentor team, a regional runner-up last season, completed just nine games in April.

“It’s hard for anybody,” Haase said. “Even if you watched the Indians last (month) and saw them playing in 30-degree weather, bats don’t bat and pitchers don’t pitch real well. It’s a difficult situation.”

Vexing weather patterns result in simulacra required to maintain some modicum of a routine for area teams. The infield dirt becomes a hardwood floor indoors, spikes are swapped for sneakers, players swing at tennis balls instead of baseballs.

When Brian Long’s Chardon team can’t get on the diamond, his primary focus is retaining the Hilltoppers’ mental edge.

“When you’re practicing in a gym and you’re back in cages, you really can’t simulate the reps of a game or a baseball field,” Long said. “It’s hard but as a coach, we try to do our best to treat everything like a game situation whether we’re in the cages, the gym, or we’re outside on the turf football field.”

Long’s philosophy is shared.

South coach Steve Norris has two goals for when the Rebels are faced with an extended midseason layoff. First, competition is vital — from hitting off a tee to fielding ground balls.

Second, South’s coaching staff tries to identify a team weakness and address it with extra practice time. The Rebels began the 2018 season 5-9 and five of their nine losses were decided by one run.

“We really kind of just backed off our defense and said our defense is fine where it is,” Norris said. “Inside of splitting two hours up between hitting and defense or stuff, we just focused on offense.”

Since South’s layoff in the middle of April, the Rebels have won five games in a row. South’s improved to 10-9 and moved into the race atop the Western Reserve Conference.

For teams such as Mentor that are counting on new contributors to replace graduated experience, there is no replacement for at-bats and innings pitched during varsity games. A premium is placed on focused practice time and could make intriguing differences when the state tournament begins May 7.

“We try to put competition into practice every day,” Haase said. “Even now that we’re not playing as much, hitting games or throwing games or something just to kind of lighten the mood and still keep guys developing at the same time.”