Time to start heating up the BLOG!!

Ok, its time to get serious about the blog - We've all had a long off-season and with Opening Day in St. Petersburg only 19 days away - time to get this season started!

I am finalizing the parent contact list and the list of those planning on being in Florida. It seems that we will once again have a great group supporting the team in Florida.

I will email the parent travelling list this week and update as changes happen. In light of recent events here in western New York, please travel safely! We have a few players with connections to Buffalo and Clarence and those affected by this terrible tragedy are in our thoughts and prayers.

Let's talk baseball - the team continues to work hard in preparation for the season, but the injury list is growing - shoulders, specifically torn labrums, and a torn ACL will cause the coaching staff to make some adjustments to a lineup and pitching rotation that is not yet set. Some of the underclassmen will have to step up and step into a role not yet defined to help the team be successful this spring.

In talking to several of the people that I speak to from other programs, the general consensus is that the New York Region is down a little from last year due to graduating many fine senior ballplayers. Cortland is still the top team in the region until someone knocks them off. Ithaca and St. John Fisher are down from a year ago, and will have several questions that will need to be answered in their pitching rotations. In the Liberty League, it will still be RPI, again until someone else knocks them off, but they lost a lot to graduation and that leaves the possibilities open. Clarkson has been predicted to have a much better year than last year, and St. Lawrence has always been competitive. Skidmore returns almost everyone from last year and may have the most pitching in the Liberty League. Of course I expect that U of R will have a lot to say about the Liberty League this year. It would be great to win the regular season title, host the tournament again, win the tournament in 2009 and advance to the NCAA New York Regionals.

There has been a lot of talk about RIT this preseason, can they knock off Ithaca in the Empire 8? This season seems to have the most preseason hopes for more teams in more leagues in the New York Region, than I can remember in the past 4 years that I have been following Division 3 Baseball in upstate New York.

What do you all think? How many of you follow other teams to see what they are doing or have done? I admit I am a baseball nut and I recently acquired the MLB Network, which is fantastic!

Emory opened the season this weekend with a split. We will see them at the UAA tournament in Sanford!

Well, that is all for now,

See you at the ballpark,

Ed