Spring sports are just around the corner and the competition is heating up on the Bradford baseball team.
Like all spring teams, the Owls are both excited and grateful to be back on the diamond after last year’s season was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but when it comes to it, they’re just ready to get back to action.
“We had two scrimmages already, which I didn’t expect to be able to do this early in the season, so that’s definitely an asset for us and everything’s been great so far,” Bradford coach Eric Haynoski said. “(The) kids are excited, especially the kids that haven’t played in a year or two. It’s a new season, just looking forward to it.”
Last season was supposed to be Haynoski’s first as coach at Bradford, where he was seeking to improve from the team’s 5-14 record in 2019.
Now officially heading into what will be his inaugural campaign, Haynoski has seen some positives through the first couple weeks of practice and the players buying into what the coaches are teaching them.
“We want them coming up to the plate with the mentality that they’re going to drive the ball,” Haynoski said. “They’re not going to sit back and wait and see pitches. We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to set the tone for the game … we’re going to look for that extra base. We’re always looking to push the envelope and not sit back.”
And when it comes to defense and fielding, Haynoski wants his squad to be fundamentally sound.
“We know that mistakes are going to happen, but if we can limit them with proper footwork, arm slots when making throws, proper positioning on the field, we should be able to limit them,” Haynoski said.
The team has scrimmaged Smethport and Kane. Haynoski said Bradford worked off some of the rust against the Hubbers, but it took a step forward against the Wolves, displaying the fundamentals and aggression at the plate the coaching staff has emphasized.
“We saw a lot of kids getting through the zone quicker with their hands,” Haynoski said. “If we’re competitive in every game, I’m going to be pleased, and if they practice like they play, we’re going to have a good season because these kids work hard and we’re fortunate we’ve got a great group of kids.”
Bradford has four lettermen from the 2019 team back for this season in Austen Davis, Mike Gow, Nolan Roulo and Cam Austin. The team has four seniors this year in Davis, Levi Reed, Jeff Thacker and Alex Liners.
Personnel-wise, Davis, Roulo, Gow, Austin, Reed, Michael Greenberg, Ashton Smith, Ryan Ward and Flynn Ervin will be among the team’s pitching staff, according to Haynoski.
“We’ve got knuckleballers, we’ve got guys that throw hard, we’ve got guys that throw strikes. We’ve got guys with off-speed pitches that are nasty as heck. We’ve got a nice range of talent there,” Haynoski said. “We have a lot of strong arms and need them to take the mound with a competitive mindset. Every pitch is a battle and they can’t take any mental breaks. We need them to never back down and pitch like linebackers.”
According to Haynoski, Davis, Reed, Thacker, Austin, Smith, Ervin, Ward, Calyb Geist, Liam McKay, Brett Skaggs and Travis Barger will all be competing for time in the outfield.
In the infield, Gow, Ward, Roulo, Greenberg, Liners, Dalton Dixon, Matt Miller and Jack Wells will be battling for positions as well.
The team’s catchers will be Cal Minich, Ervin or Reed.
Regarding the team’s underclassmen, Haynoski said Michael Reid and Andrew Renwick are sophomore middle infielders who are working every day to get to the varsity level. The Owls also have a strong freshman class consisting of Adam Ward, Noah Swanson, Wyatt Stark, Derek Lyons, Wyatt Jordan, Liam Haven, A.J. Gleason and Michael Butler.
“This is a nice competitive group,” assistant coach Matt Colwell said. “They’re not fighting with each other, they push each other every day and that’s part of the culture the coaches and staff establish here and that’s the big change that I’ve seen since (Haynoski) took over last year.”
Haynoski said the emphasis between now and the team’s season opener at Brookville next Wednesday is to continue working on the fundamentals and keep building on what they’re working on.
The Owls will travel to Brockway on April 6 before beginning a five-game homestand at Pitt-Bradford.
“We appreciate everything (UPB’s) doing for us, allowing us to use the fields,” Haynoski said.
Until then, the Owls are amped up to get the season rolling and put their potential to the test.
“Everybody’s got a position on the team and we’re just going to use every asset we have available and really grind and try to get wins,” Haynoski said. “We’re going to have a lot of close games, so we’ve got to win those close ones and we should be successful.”
