Eagles Baseball Prepares For ‘22
Submitted by Max Miess | Photo Credit: Max Miess
The first official game of the season is not until February 19, 2022, but Clark State Eagles Baseball is in full swing. With practices often going six days a week, sometimes twice a day, with conditioning starting at 6 in the morning, head coach Chase Brown has his team working nose to the grindstone hoping to get a running start at the coming season.
Clark State is coming off a very strong season that had a disappointing end. They finished 21-17 overall, and with just a few games left the Eagles were in prime position for a playoff berth, but they fell apart down the stretch. Needing just a couple of conference wins to secure a postseason spot, the Eagles lost eight of their last 10 games, including four in a row to end the season.
Coming up short like that has left a bitter taste in the mouth of this team and it's coaches, and they are determined to come back from those shortcomings and build off their success. Their current roster features 18 returning players, and Head Coach Chase Brown is entering his sixth season having seen an improved record each year.
Derek Seigneur, a returning sophomore and one of six rostered Catchers for the Eagles, feels good about his team's chances this Spring. "We're really talented, I think that the only team that can beat us is ourselves." Seigneur, who put up a .333 batting average across 24 games last season, says that this Eagles team "has got a lot of depth, and we swing it well." Feeling optimistic about the offense, Seigneur believes that "we'll definitely be able to put up a lot of runs this year". In 2021, the Eagles offense managed nearly six runs per game, an even better offense would be tough for opponents to get past.
The two times a day, six days a week baseball routine is grueling and challenging. Coach Brown's unremitting practice schedule is no accident. The approaching 2022 season looks to be a marathon, featuring 49 games on the schedule, including 21 doubleheaders. Not to mention Clark State currently having over 70 names on the roster hoping to play in the Spring. The hardnose practice schedule helps thin the herd and separate the casual from the serious ballplayers, but it also helps the players prepare for the demanding regular season. "That's why they put us through the grinder in the fall," said Seigneur, "so we can be ready to go for the Spring."
Game one sits five months and 400 miles away against Cleveland State Community College. A lot can happen between then and now, but one thing is for sure, Derek Seigneur and the rest of the Eagles will be ready!