Sportsbeat Peaking at the right time
The Huron baseball team waited until the final weeks of the season to have everything come together. During the middle of the season, the pitchers were having a difficult time throwing strikes, the batters struggled to put the ball in play and head coach Howard Madsen said the defense couldn?t catch a cold.
All that has seemed to have changed, as the players got the reps in and they finally got to play some games. About eight games were canceled from the schedule because of rain or snow. That?s another thing, the recent warm-up has coincided nicely with the surging Hurons. All the pieces seem to have come together at the right time and Rogers City is off to its third straight regional tournament. The first pitch in Pellston is Saturday at 10 a.m. and the opponent is the Norway Knights.
?In the districts, the pitchers threw strikes, we only had two walks in the entire tournament and didn?t give up any runs,? said Madsen. The defense also rose to the occasion, not committing a single error in either game. While the scores were lopsided, Madsen said one of the keys was three sacrifice flies. AT PRACTICE Tuesday, the team looked to be having a good time running through the different game situations near the end of practice. They were loose and having a good time.
?That?s what I preach,? the coach said. ?You can?t play at a peak level if you are tense.? He brought up a situation in Monday?s Tigers? game when manager Jim Leyland put gum on the railing, setting up a prank for hitting coach Lloyd McLendon to put his arm in it. ?They do it at the major league level,? Madsen stressed. And he wants his players to enjoy the game too.
It?s another way to deal with the stress of the tournament. Madsen said that?s why they hammer away at the reps and game situations, ?because once you get into that pressure cooker, you can?t be thinking about it. You have to trust your swing, trust your glove, tru
?We always have our routine,? he said. ?Every Saturday of a tournament, we go out to breakfast as a team to Karsten?s. Then we?ll get on a bus and ride over and play the game.? That?s what they did last week before the home district tourney. The Hurons also will be taking batting practice at Harbor Light Christian, ?because that?s where we took it last year. We?re not going to change any thing, we won the regional last year ? not that baseball people are superstitious, but we are.?
Madsen believes the only team that?s going to beat them is the one wearing orange and black. The pitchers need to throw strikes, the defense needs to trust their gloves and the hitters need to get the bat on the ball. And no gum pranks, unless there are a lot of runs on the Hurons? side of the scoreboard.