Summer may have turned into fall, and Major League Baseball may be heading into its playoff stretch, but Queen’s Golden Gaels baseball season is only just beginning.
With one of the largest turnouts in recent memory, the Gaels held their annual tryouts on Tuesday and Wednesday this past week, eager to spot the next Nolan Ryan or Barry Bonds in the group of incoming rookies. Team coach Perry Conrad spoke enthusiastically about the fresh faces on the field.
“We have a great crop of rookies this year which will make it tougher on me to make cuts,” he said. “However, we have enough talent here to create two successful ball clubs.” This enthusiasm for the rookie class was shared by some of the team’s key veterans.
“It’s nice to have more quality players at tryouts because it doesn’t allow the guys from the previous year’s team to slack off or anything,” 2003 All-Canadian Team catcher Matt Cable said. “We all know that our spots are not secure, and having new kids pushing us will make us that much better.”
It was this atmosphere of competition—with no one’s spot safe on the 2004 roster—that pervaded the two days of tryouts and made for some heated position battles. Coming off last year’s successful regular season which saw the Golden Gaels win the Ontario Championships before bowing out in the semi-finals at the National Championships, the expectations around this year’s ball club are high, but realistic. Last season, too much was expected early on, and the team’s slow start was attributed to that pressure. This year, the Gaels plan to take it one game at a time.
With a majority of veterans returning from last year’s squad, Coach Conrad feels there won’t be a large drop off from last year’s production to this year.
“Our team has always been known for our solid defense and pitching, and I believe that will be the case this year,” he said. “Some of the guys we lost will be hard to replace, but I feel with the second and third year guys stepping into a larger role, we will be just as competitive.” One player who will be almost impossible to replace this year is Dan Nauth. A past Canadian Pitcher of the Year and staff ace, Nauth was one person on whom Queen’s could rely to get the win anytime he stepped up to the mound. “Dan was an ace. The loss of a pitcher of that caliber is always felt by a team, but with the pitchers we have developed over the last couple of years, I am as confident with them as I was with Dan,” Conrad said. This year’s starting rotation will be led by veterans Ben Mhee and Lorne Berger, two experienced players who understand the pressure of university baseball. With a shortened season consisting of 16 games in the span of three weeks, the pitching staff will need to conserve their arms and rely on second year pitchers such as Nick Zink and Mike Arsenault to eat up innings during the playoff stretch.
The shortened schedule also means there is a definite need for clutch hitting, and yet again, the Queen’s club has not missed a beat since last year. Returning are center fielder Jason Sukhraj, smooth fielding third baseman Tyler Johnston, as well as the power-hitting Cable.
“Hitting always seems to come around after the first and second game jitters have warn off,” Conrad said. “I’m definitely not worried about our run for the pitchers because we have guys like Meade, Concessi and Cable who can consistently put the ball in play.” The great depth on the bench from the incoming rookie class will add to the already explosive lineup which Queen’s plans to put out on the field this year.
Adding to the pressure on this year’s baseball team is the fact that Queen’s will host the 2004 Baseball National Championships from October 15-17. Even with an automatic spot secured for the Queen’s team because they are hosting the event, Conrad does not want his players to fall back on that safety net.
“We would like to go into Nationals as a legitimate team,” he said. “Our goal for this season is to be a number one or two seed going into the playoffs and winning the Ontario championships again.” After the impressive performances evinced at the tryouts, Conrad’s dream is looking more and more realistic. The Gaels open their season this weekend with a double header on Saturday in Ottawa and then head home to Megaffin Field for two games on Sunday against Carleton.
“This year looks promising,” Mhee said. An open invitation to everyone to come out and prove these guys wrong.
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