Photo courtesy:Admissions.dean.edu
This past year has been very difficult for both the Dean College community as well as the world. Students at Dean missed the opportunity to be able to attend sporting events as all fall and winter sports were cancelled due to COVID-19. This meant that there was no football or basketball games to attend to be able to cheer on our Bulldogs and there were no tailgates to enjoy.
There is good news though as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, which Dean College is a part of, announced on March 8th that there will be a spring sports season for baseball, softball and lacrosse for both the men and women. The season will be shortened, and the games will only be played in the conference. In addition, there will be no fans allowed. While it will not be a normal season, at least there will be games played. The Bulldogs baseball team has continued to practice this winter up until they found out if they would be playing this spring. “It’s been difficult not knowing if there was going to be a season or not, but you have to have a positive mindset and that at the end there will be one” senior team captain and catcher Jeff Sharnick said. For Jeff, not knowing if there would be a season was extra hard for him considering that this could have been the end of his baseball career. “I have just been trying to stay positive. I experienced it firsthand last season when we found out that the season was stopping when we came back from our team trip. Seeing the seniors’ reactions put things into perspective for me in that you cannot take anything for granted because you do not know when it will end.” As for Coach Ernie May, trying to keep his players motivated during practice when he did not know if there was going to be a season has been challenging for him too. “It has been very difficult but luckily the team captains, which are split up into the six different groups and are responsible for checking in on the players as well.”
The Bulldogs baseball team has continued to practice up until the announcement was made that there would be a season played. However, it has been very different from past years. The players are split up into pods that have seven people in them based on their positions. The players only get around 45 minutes to lift in the weight room and have to maintain social distancing. Moreover, the weight room, as well as all bats and baseballs get sprayed and wiped down after being used. In addition, the players are required to wear masks when practicing. The Bulldogs struggled last season with a record of 3-6 before the season was halted. Although, Coach May believes that the team was just starting to turn the corner right before the season stopped, “We played in nine non-conference games against tough opponents from the south and New Jersey. We were actually supposed to play a home weekend when the country shut down. We were in good shape even though the record didn’t show that.” Dean had beaten St. Elizabeth twice right before the country shut down.
Dean starts their season March 27th . Photo Courtesy: Ryan Emerson
This season the Bulldogs will be returning with a senior -driven roster that has a lot of experience from the past. Coach May says that while he does not like to single out any specific players to keep an eye on for this season, he did say that the team captains will have a large role, specifically Ryan Gallagher who will have a large presence in the lineup as a lefty bat and will be catching behind the plate. However, he also explained that the team has a lot of young players and transfers that will also have a big role on the team as well. The goals for this season vary depending on who you ask. “A team goal that I would like to achieve this season is to be able to play well in the playoffs and bond together as a group. As for a personal goal, I would like to experience the Dean program and become a better player in practice,” freshman pitcher Jack Clifford mentioned. As for Sharnick, his goals focus more on winning a championship, “A team goal that I have is to have a winning season and win the conference as well as the championship since we have not had a winning season in my time here. As for a personal goal, I would like to be in every pitch and not get wrapped up in the results and just try to compete on every pitch.” Lastly, Coach May has high expectations to make the conference tournament.
While most of the other schools in Dean’s conference will start playing on March 20th and 21st, the Bulldogs will open their season on March 27th when they host Rivier University at 1pm.
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