Many people think the off-season for a sport is a “time off” period or a relaxed season for training, but not for baseball. Union University’s baseball team is putting in work that will hopefully profit in the spring as their season comes into full swing.
I talked with Jake Jewell, a senior Physical Education major and a pitcher for the team, and tracked him throughout the week, getting a glimpse into what the team is doing to shape up in off-season practice. It was nice to be on the inside and realize that, like their namesake, student-athletes are students first, then athletes.
Throughout the week, he would go to his classes in the mornings, starting at either 8 or 9. Depending on the day, he would head to a workout mid-afternoon, and then practice would begin at 3:30, with most days involving scrimmaging.
“The new formats of practice are ways to try to be more competitive,” Jewell said. “We’re learning to compete. Close to half of the team is made up of new guys. In the past, we would spend practice breaking down plays, now we spend more time competing, trying to replicate game-like situations as best as we can.”
“The competitive style of practice has been beneficial for the team,” he said. “We have been a little heavier in conditioning this year than in the past, trying to be in better shape for the season and maintain that strength when spring comes around. Our team has a good presence around us; we look like baseball players, and it’s encouraging.”
Along with following a player, I was able to interview the head coach of the team, Coach Casey McGehee. We talked about his off-season philosophy and how he is setting the bar high after last season’s performance.
“I think with our guys, they know [training in the off-season] is a necessary part of [playing the sport],” McGehee said. “To be able to do it in a way that is healthy if you give them a chance to compete, and this is the time where any major adjustments or improvements are going to be made. When we get into the season, we’re playing so frequently, the practice times are very limited. So right now is where a lot of the heavy lifting as far as improving from last year, on an individual basis and from a team standpoint goes.”
As Coach mentioned, the off-season is a chance for the team to utilize their time, ensuring every minute is used for the betterment of the players and the team. We discussed any new strategies or techniques the staff is implementing this off-season to help build confidence when they take the field in the Spring.
“That’s funny you should ask that, we [Coach Jones and I] are gonna take a little temperature check of what we’re doing if we feel like it’s effective and where we make some changes, definitely trying to do some things a little bit different this year than the last. In years past, we’ve done a lot of drill work, and set situations up to help teams be comfortable making decisions, this year we’re playing more against ourselves as much as we can, letting them actually get game experience and trying to create some competition.”
“We’re in the process right now of figuring out if we need to make some adjustments on the fly and do some things differently to better serve them. Trying to be a little bit less hands-on. I don’t know if that’s where I was [at that age], but dictate less of what they’re doing and letting situations kind of naturally come up, and trying to teach through it. It’s been some mixed results, but kind of the fun of it is there’s no one saying that we have to continue down that path.”
As seniors graduate and freshmen are welcomed to the team, the team’s leadership flows with it. I was curious to see Coach’s thoughts on bringing in twelve new players to the roster and how leadership develops in these times of working and commitment when the finish line feels far away.
“I think [as a man] our leadership style, generally speaking, is to be the loud one and tell people what to do,” McGehee said, “And I know that’s not what we want within our team and I know that’s not what we’re called to do as Christians either.”
“I like the idea of being a servant first,” McGehee continued, “I think I would change being a leader to a servant. Sometimes it is a tough thing for men to understand so we’re trying to challenge our guys to humble themselves. We also know that there are guys who are going to have bigger roles than others…but they still humble themselves to be the least of us when it comes to leading by example or doing little tasks that nobody really wants to do. In the idea of ‘how do I make my teammates’ day or job or task some easier,’ I think we’re getting better at it, but I think that’s really what my job as a head coach of a sport is, is to help develop young men that are ready to go out into their communities and be leaders – leaders that Union University would be proud of, ultimately leaders that God would look down on and be pleased with.”