By Jordan Schwartzberg
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
After an intense spring training season filled with safety protocols, the Maryland Junior College baseball season is now underway and it looks like a full season will be possible.
Cecil College started the year off slow and continued to struggle. They have a 8-29 record as of this publication. That hasn’t stopped Coach Charlie O’Brien from looking at the positives.
“The guys are very excited to be playing ball again,” O’Brien said. “With baseball back, everyone is feeling more at ease and is remembering their love for the game. The kids are showing up every day and putting their best foot forward.”
Players like Cecil College Sophomore pitcher, Colin Balthaser, want to win at all costs. He is happy to be back playing the game he loves.
“Being away from the game for so long is driving me to do anything I can to help my team win,” Balthaser said. “We are thankful that we are still able to play with COVID and realize that for some of us, this could be our last time playing.”
It hasn’t been easy for the kids, O’Brien said. The Cecil College players originally started spring training by practicing in two groups, but now, they practice altogether as a team outside with masks. Occasionally, on rainy days, the team breaks up into smaller groups to practice.
Masks are always enforced and there have not been any COVID cases at Cecil since regular season play resumed. However, there were two COVID scares in instances where multiple players came around a family member or friend who then tested positive.
In COVID scare situations, the Cecil players involved entered a 10-12 day quarantine and contact tracing was done. As for the rest of the league, a couple of teams had to cancel games due to positive COVID cases.
“There’s a little bit of uncertainty about our schedule each week and whether or not we will be able to play the scheduled games,” O’Brien said. “All of the players and coaches are pretty flexible with their schedules and understand what has to happen for us to have a successful season.”
The league isn’t forcing players to get the vaccine, but O’Brien said that when his players are eligible to receive the shot, they’re going to jump on the opportunity.
Some other coaches in the division, like Harford Community College Baseball Coach, Josh Houser, don’t know whether or not their players will be getting vaccinated.
“Players have not been offered, nor will they be forced to get vaccinated,” Houser said. “That would be more of a personal choice that the school wouldn’t have an impact on.”
Houser’s team is 13-2-1 as of the first week of April, even with practice problems.
The team has not been able to practice at the school, due to positivity rates in Harford County being above the 8% threshold.
Besides that, Houser’s team continuously works around the unpredictable Maryland weather and they have worked around one severe COVID scare.
“We recently had a shut-down that has put a halt in our schedule as of March 31,” Houser said. “Throughout the beginning of the spring, we have collectively done well with the guidelines and regulations.”
With COVID forcing the team into a break, Houser has stressed making the most out of any opportunity to play.
“Trying to manage workloads and keep players game ready is going to be a challenge that we face,” Houser said. “Not knowing when we will be able to practice or compete for the coming days/weeks makes those practice reps that much more important.”
Houser is taking the season day-by-day at this point, as the uncertainty from COVID looms overhead.
“The biggest goal for us currently is to play as many games as possible,” Houser said. “Beyond that, we aspire for playoffs, however, we are not worried about what happens down the road.”