The Castleton baseball team this past break went down south for their season opening games, and had a rough start. 

The Spartans played a total of eight games in several different states and won only one. Going into the season 1-8 is rough, but the trip gave the team a chance to see what they must improve on and other ways to make them stronger. 

“The travel was fun and it definitely brought the team closer together. Yes, the games didn’t go as well as we wanted them too, but it allowed us to figure out what we need to work on the most and how to fix it,” sophomore Mikey Raby said. 

In their first game against Huntingdon College, they lost 12-3, which players said was not the best start for the team. 

They then played against Sewanee, Mount St. Joseph University, Millsaps College, LeTourneau University, and Louisiana Christian University and struggled to score in all of them. 

They closed out their trip with a win against a tough Texas Lutheran University team, winning 5-3. The team played strong and players left confident that they had made some sort of improvements while on the trip. 

“The travel down south was a bit stressful, but overall it was amazing to be able to play at some great facilities. The games were good and the record obviously doesn’t show how much we grew during our trip,” said Sophomore Kevin Hewlett. 

Players said the trip was beneficial to the team no matter what the record shows. They were given the chance to bond and become a closer-knit team, especially giving new players a chance to get to know everyone a bit more. 

“As much as the trip was long, it was a lot of fun and I believe the team came out the other end better. Being able to get on baseball fields and play games were great. The competition was very strong and it toughened us for the rest of the season. The team is still pretty young, so as the team continues to grow through the season, we will keep getting better,” said Dylan Hedler. 

Players said the competition was rough due to the opportunities these teams get for preseason when Castleton deals with winter. The schools down south don’t have those types of issues typically to worry about. Many may say we had a disadvantage against many of these due to the type of facilities they have versus ours. 

“Most of the teams we played already had ten or so games under their belt, while it was our first time on the field. I think the team is coming together nicely as we start to find our roles where we belong,” Hewlett said. 

Although games didn’t always go as planned, players said the team is ready to get into the season as a strong, competitive, aggressive team. This trip was just another chance for them to get to improve and get used to playing with new players. 

“Coming into this season, we all realize that everyone is counting us out and we believe we have the potential to prove everyone wrong,” Hewlett said.