Chatham baseball is back in Florida
Brady Wingeart ‘25 and Ryan Hromadka ‘25 in catcher’s gear before pregame warmups. Photo Credit: Dylan Vogel
March 28, 2022
After the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the Cougars baseball team was not able to take its annual spring training trip to start off the 2021 season. This season, however, things have started to return back to normal in some ways, including a trip to Orlando for the Cougars’ spring training trip.
“Everyone was pretty excited to play on some nice fields, and it was better to play in warm weather. It was pretty cool to play in a tournament atmosphere in college and match up against some better competition,” said Chatham baseball co-captain Dominic Costellic ‘24.
The Cougars played a collective six games in Florida and piled up an impressive 5-1 record, which was the best start in program history. The team also had some record-breaking performances while in Florida. The program set records in runs scored in its win against Finlanda, scoring 19 total runs. Another record was set by Caleb Lehman ‘22, who had recorded his 100th hit as a Chatham Cougar in the win against Elms.
“Our team set the bar for what we are capable of as a team,” said co-captain Lehman. “We clicked right off the bat and had really good energy and played all around solid baseball offensively and defensively.”
While the team was performing well on the field, it also gave players and coaches an experience that they will not forget. Being in Orlando in the beginning of March brought the team temperatures of 80 degrees all week, which were ideal conditions to start the season. This gave players and coaches time to get a real spring break feel while playing baseball. It also allowed the athletes to bond off the field while living and socializing independently.
“Chatham gave us a really nice place to live on our own for the week,” Lehman said.
Lehman also explained how the team was able to get to know each other better and build as a team from the experience.
While the success on the field was great for the program, the baseball team has no intentions of slowing down.
“Chatham baseball can compete in the PAC, the feel is different here and we are here to compete and win a PAC championship,” Costellic said. “We are ready to show the rest of the conference what we are made of.”
The Cougars hope to continue their success in the coming weeks, as in-conference play is coming up. The baseball team had their home opener this past weekend, with a one-run loss against Westminster. The baseball team’s next home series will be on April 3, when they host Saint Vincent.
