Participating in "Movember" with T Mo

Tommy Morris is a junior pitcher from Syosset High School which is located on Long Island. He is participating in "Movember" which is a spin off of No Shave November. T Mo expressed extra excitement for this year's Movember because the Boston Red Sox are the World Series champions. Members of the Red Sox kept their beards from spring training up until the conclusion of the World Series.


Tommy isn't the only member of his family who plays college baseball; he has a brother named Joey who plays at Queens College. Queens College is located in Queens, New York and is a member of division two NCAA athletics. Joey, however, is an outfielder unlike his brother who is a member of the Blue Devil pitching staff.

Besides baseball, Tommy has an avid love for basketball and is a huge New York Knicks fan. He is not happy with their start to the young season and thinks there is not enough team play. He feels the offense is centered too much around isolation plays for Carmelo Anthony and not enough set plays run by the offense. Tyson Chandler, the Knicks starting center, is out 4-6 weeks with an injury and Tommy said that this injury will hurt their rebounding and low post defense.

I asked Tommy what one teammate he would choose to be stuck on a deserted island with and why? Tommy chose sophomore outfielder Quinn Danahy because he is a team player and he will do what is necessary to get the job done. You may be familiar with Quinn already as he has conducted video interviews in previous blog posts with other members of our team.

T Mo also wanted to point out one interesting fact about himself: he shares a birthday with former big league pitcher Randy Johnson. He also pointed out they both throw left handed and bat right handed.

Habitat for Humanity, Round 1.

One of our goals as a coaching staff this year was to get more involved in giving back to the community. So to fulfill that goal we reached out to Habitat for Humanity to see if we could help out. 

Habitat for Humanity's focus is to build and repair houses all over the world using volunteer labor and donations. Their partner families purchase these houses through no-profit, no-interest mortgage loans or innovative financing methods.

To learn more about the organization and how to volunteer or donate visit http://www.habitat.org/


Our first weekend of working with the organization was rained out.

But today myself, Matt Casilio, Kenny Johnston, Tommy Morris, Anthony Schiro, Joe Korszun, Dan Cecilia, Liam "Trot" Kelly, Tyler Shaw, and Dan Lumadue piled in the van and took off to their Silver Creek location to get to work.

A good mix of returning players, transfers, and freshman.

When we arrived on location we learned that the family moving into the house was a mother and her three children (she was also there working).

After the initial introduction to what and who we were helping we jumped right in and got to work.

Our main focus was getting the foundation level, digging paths for a drainage system, putting up insulation, and hauling gravel. In order to accomplish all of this in the time we had it was necessary to split up into small teams.

The organization provided the guys with a lunch a few hours into the day consisting of chili, muffins, cookies, chips, and apples.

During the break each player had a chance to introduce themselves to the fellow volunteers and program coordinators. T-mo even found a fellow Long Islander on staff.

After lunch we finished up what we started, all hands on deck.

The guys worked their tails off and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we accomplished a lot, helped a good cause, and were able to bond more with each other.

It was a lot of work but a great experience and I learned a lot about some of the new guys on the team and more about the returners.

I'm looking forward to bringing a fresh set of guys to help out again next weekend.

Down on the Ranch with Melo

Evan Carmello has attended a handful of camps at the Baseball Ranch which is located in The Woodlands, Texas. Evan has attended four different times his most recent trip coming in December of 2010.

The Ranch is run by Ron Wolforth who started the facility he is also assisted by Brent Strom. Strom was recently hired to be the pitching coach of the Houston Astros. Before accepting this position he was the pitching coordinator of the St. Louis Cardinals. Other coaches from other MLB organizations have attended but Wolforth and Strom are always in attendance.

Pictured below is Brent Strom (left) and Ron Wolforth (right).
            



A lot of big league players have been in attendance at The Ranch a few of the big names are Scott Kazmir, C.J. Wilson, Trevor Bauer, and Raul Ibanez. There are plenty more players that could be listed but they have not made it to the majors yet.

On his first trip Evans main objective was to just get better at pitching and wasn't really sure what to expect from it. He said his whole philosophy on pitching changed once he went and he changed his entire routine when it comes to pitching once he attended.

The main concept he took from his trips to The Ranch was being a better athlete as a pitcher. He developed his throwing motion to get the most out of his body by being more efficient and explosive with his delivery.

To conclude our interview I asked Evan what teammate he would choose to be stuck on a desert island with and why? Evan chose Kyle Grey (which didn't come as a surprise) because they get along well. Evan and Kyle are long toss buddies and they have a very detailed routine together when they are at the field or working out in the offseason.

Listed below is a link to the website for The Ranch.
http://www.texasbaseballranch.com/

Questions with Quinn: The Lighter Side of a Freshman Brute

Quinn Danahy conducted a brief interview with the barrel-chested Brian Castonguay so everyone can get to know him. Brian is a freshman corner infielder from Orchard Park and went to Hamburg High School with fellow freshman Tyler Shaw. 

Brian speaks about his love for playing racquetball with his buddy Mike Prentice (freshman catcher, St. Francis HS). Coach Palisin has since scaled back the NRBL (National Racquet Ball League) and told the two freshmen to spend more time studying.

The Devils favorite color out of the pen is Grey

I sat down with senior relief pitcher Kyle Grey. Kyle went to Frewsburg high school which is also where Blue Devil alum Ricky Carlson attended. I asked him a couple questions about Ricky in his interview.

First I asked about when he first learned his pick off move and he responded that Ricky and his stepfather first approached Kyle at one of his age 13 practices. This is where Kyle first learned the move and then his 8th grade year of middle school Ricky was on the JV baseball staff at Frewsburg. Ricky would go more into depth with Kyle on JV and help him really master his pick off move.

I then followed up asking Kyle how much easier is it pitching knowing you have this move with a runner on first base. Kyle responded that he always has his pick off move in the back of his mind when he takes the mound. He knows he can rely on it to get out of a jam if he needs to and he referenced his first ever appearance when he didn't throw a pitch and picked the runner off to end the inning.

Thirdly I asked Kyle who he modeled his game after and he responded with Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee. He chose Cliff Lee because he attacks hitters with a lot of strikes, he loves to pitch in big games, and he can throw any of his pitches for a strike in any count. 

The final question I asked was if you were stuck on an island with one teammate who would it be and why? Kyle responded with Evan Carmello who is also a pitcher on our pitching staff. Kyle chose Melo because he is his partner in crime when it comes to long toss along with following the same routine as Evan. He also responded that he felt Melo would have some crazy knowledge of this type of situation. 

Huggy sits down with "Worm" Sturm

I sat down with Steve Sturm and conducted a brief interview with him. Steve, also known as Worm because it rhymes with his last name, is a senior pitcher on our pitching staff. He is looking to have a bounce back season after missing last season.

The first question I asked Steve was what is your favorite restaurant to eat at. He responded with Kentucky Greg's Hickory Pit which is a BBQ restaurant located in Depew. The restaurant is famous for being on the show Diners, Drive ins, and Dives which is hosted by Guy Fieri on the Food Network.  After his first trip this restaurant has been Steve's favorite ever since.

I followed up my first question with what was his favorite dish to get at Kentucky Greg's. Steve said that he really likes to mix it up when he goes to this restaurant. He said his go to dish however is the pulled chicken sandwich with fries and mac salad as his two side choices.

Next I asked what is his favorite music artist to listen to. He responded that he likes all genres from classic rock to rap. Some of his favorites (just to name a few) are Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice in Chains. His all time favorite band is Pearl Jam.

Having such a wide range of music he enjoyed I then followed up asking him what was the last concert he attended. Steve had attended Thursday at the Harbor this past summer and saw Fitz and the Tantrums.

The final question I had was if you are stranded on a desert island and had to be stuck with one teammate on the baseball team who would it be and why? Steve responded with Matt Casilio who is our third basemen. Steve stated he would be fine with anyone but he chose Casilio because nothing bothers him and despite being stranded he knows they would have a good time.

Questions with Quinn: Getting to Know Joey Tingue

Quinn Danahy conducted a brief interview with Joey Tingue. Joey is a fifth year senior and is a member of our pitching staff. Joey attended high school at Pine Valley and after high school he attended Jamestown Community College.

Joey missed his first season two years ago with an injury and was awarded a medical redshirt. He worked hard to get back on to the field last season and had a good start in Florida vs. Colby College. Joey has improved a lot over his three seasons with the Blue Devils. He has added a change up to his arsenal of pitches and his location has improved gradually since his first season. 

NLCS outlook

 

Quinn Danahy conducted a quick interview this morning with Erik Krohl and Kenny Johnston on their predictions of the NLCS. Krohl is our shortstop and is an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan. Kenny is our right fielder and provided his outlook on the rest of the series for the Dodgers (despite the fact he is wearing a Giants hat).

Hands back, create separation

If you ask Brian Castonguay what separation is, he'll give you an expalnation like this.

Stride and Separate.
You will stride forward in a very controlled and soft movement, while using your shoulder and outside oblique to pull the top half of your body in the opposite direction.

Tension.
Once your front foot hits the ground and your hands remain back from where the load took them, this will create tension in your front oblique area.

This tension is like a stretched rubber band that will allow for a violent action toward the baseball. The more stretched tension you create, the more bat speed you can create.

The best recruits are the players you have

Three pitchers who missed last season with medical redshirts are set to return to action this spring. The three pitchers are Steve Sturm, Nate Lester, and Ben Senior.

Steve Sturm looks to return to the conference rotation a spot that he held two seasons ago. Sturm is a strike thrower and throws a lot of fastballs much like his idol Bartolo Colon who pitches for the Oakland A's. Sturm also throws a nasty changeup and curveball which keeps opposing hitters off balance.

Nate Lester is looking to get back on the mound after earning a spot on the team last year. Lester also throws a lot of strikes which is something we preach to our pitching staff. Nate spent a lot of time preparing for the season in the weight room last year before missing the year with his medical redshirt. He is perhaps the best athlete on the staff.

Ben Senior missed last season after pitching for us two seasons ago in his freshman campaign. Ben worked on spotting his fastball this past fall season and made some good progress throughout the fall. He has scrapped the splitter from his repertoire.

The challenge for these three pitchers along with the rest of our pitching staff is going to be who will fill the 140 innings that need to be filled from last season.

Playball! Devils take on JCC

Saturday was our playdate vs. Jamestown CC. We had a gorgeous day for two games.

We used four pitchers in game one, and six pitchers in game 2, and worked just about everyone into the lineup, scoring over 20 runs on the day.

The Hammer went to Erik Krohl. He had four hits in the two games and scored the winning run in a walkoff victory, taking out the catcher on a play at the plate.

Erik addressed off season workouts in his speech. He invited the freshmen for a lift with him, Kenny and Carmody.

The JUCO Claw went to fifth-year senior Joey Tingue. Joey struck out two in his inning of work against his former Junior College. Joey has seen a lot of adversity, working through a medical redshirt season a couple years ago and putting himself through college working three jobs. He spent four hours in the morning taking the State Trooper exam, them showed up for game two and dealt some strikes.

Joey spoke about never knowing when your last game will be and to enjoy the opportunity you have today.

Other solid performances were from ECC transfer Ricky Mendiola who talked the ball over the fence on a majestic homerun that scraped the back of the fence on the way down. Anthony Schiro threw out a pair of runners and picked one off first, in addition to a double and two sac bunts. The pitchers have enjoyed throwing to him, too.

Quinn Danehy roped a triple and had several good AB's. He's down 30 pounds from last year and has been working his tail off. Freshman RJ Spinella added two hits off the bench, and a steal of home. He's got to be the most improved player this fall.

Tommy Morris and Carl Wolf worked a quick couple innings.

We are done for the fall, and the off season begins tomorrow.

I'd like to give a shout out to former Blue Devils Brian Sheehan and Kyle Morris for helping with the between-game spread.

Alumni Game wrap up

Thanks to all those that made the Alumni Game. Usually we have it during Homecoming, but with the end of our fall season and Homecoming moved back this year, we moved things up.

Veteran Winston Woodard got the start on the hill. Winny graduated in the early 80's, but is still active in several leagues and tournaments. Lefties can stick around forever.

Legend Mark Clifford also made it up. A Hall of Famer in baseball and basketball here, Mark never misses a game. He's also been a big help recruiting -- we've had five Timon players in the program, and several others he's coached in AAA Muny ball.

Also participating were John Bennett, Zack Hugg, Ian Gallagher, Dan Fetes, Dan Greco, Tommy Tantillo, Brian Sheehan, Ricky Carlson, Erik Dietrich, Brian Bongiovanni, Mark Clifford, Jamie Sapienza, Winston Woodard and Tim Cowan. Also present, but did not play were Tommy Dee, Tom Hesketh and Joe Pucciarelli.

Tuesday's workout

Tuesday's practice consisted of bunting and situations. We have a lot of new players this season, so we're trying to get everyone on the same page. The biggest change will come from behind the plate. Brian Sheehan caught about every game last year. We have a collection of catchers competing for time this year.

We will have some great competition. We have Anthony Schiro, the starting catcher from an NCCC team that went to the NJCAA Word Series. Dan Cecelia is a sophomore transfer originally from Whitesboro HS. He spent the past two summers playing in the NYCBL and Perfect Game League. Jason Howard is the "biggest" player on the team and is competing after taking last year off.

Freshmen include a pair of State Champs. Zach Buckley was a two-time All State Selection from the Fredonia HS team that won a state championship last spring. Mike Prentice won the American Legion State Championship for the West Seneca team. He was the cleanup hitter from St. Francis HS -- the program that produced the likes of Jim Kunkemoeller, Matt Bauman, Sean Larson and Mark Majka for us over the years.

Garrett Jones, another freshman, was a three-year starter at Akron HS.

We need these guys to step up and take charge and continue a strong tradition of FSU catchers.

Following today, which was filled with some conditioning, Tommy Morris took home the Hammer. He had a spring in his step and was ready to roll.

The JUCO Claw went to Bobby Frantz. Last week, Bobby said distance running wasn't his strength. He performed better today, and as a senior, will need to lead from the front. Mind over matter.

Both winners gave great speeches. Tommy spoke of how attitude and mental toughness are appreciated a lot more by our veterans than anything else. Bobby talked of being focused at practice.

Friday will see an intersquad, and Saturday is our doubleheader vs. JCC. First pitch is 12:30.

Fall ball underway

We finished Week 2 of the fall with a bang. Offensively, we had 13 doubles for in weekend intersquads.

The Hammers last week went to Kos and freshman Tyler Shaw. Kos showed his usual focus in practice and added a double, three RBI and a few nice defensive plays. Shaw had a bunch of hits and a hungry attitude. A gamer. You can see it in the way he practices.

We also handed out our initial JUCO Claw awards. The award, intitiated by either John Bennett or Josh Gascon because of my dislike towards transfers, is given out by Tommy Tantillo, a Jamestown CC grad for the outstanding Junior College transfer of the day.

JCC alum Matt Tobias wont the first award. He had a double and played well. The second day the award went to Anthony Schiro. Anthony had a double and caught a solid game. The pitchers all felt comfortable throwing to him. He was a captain at Niagara Commmunity C.C. and made a couple trips to the JUCO World Series.

Practice on Tuesday and Friday before taking on Jamestown C.C. in our fall play date on Saturday. Gametime has been moved to 12:30.

The things I miss most, by Dan Fetes, Class of 2013

About two months ago, I remember standing and looking out on my college baseball field. I was next to two of my best friends, two of my teammates, two of my fellow captains and two people I will have a close bond with for the rest of my life. We stared out in silence, just looking, nobody saying a word. We all knew what each other were thinking: “it was one hell of a ride.”

After a while of our eyes peering across the green grass, we finally broke the silence and talked about the great memories we had, and the ones we'd never be able to have again. Our time as college baseball players was over and all we wanted was one more game, one more inning, one more play.

Your friends and family always tell you how time flies by but you never really believe it in the heat of the moment. Now I believe it more than ever. It seems like just last month I was moving into the freshman dorms and choking back tears as my parents drove away. Now, in the blink of an eye it was all over. In that blink of an eye, teammates soon became friends and day after day, practice after practice, season after season, time flew by.

I remember being a part of three senior games and never thinking I would ever have my own. Sure enough, before I knew it I was walking down the third baseline shaking hands and giving hugs to teammates who turned into brothers.

Now, more than ever, I feel an emptiness. It's not an emptiness that can be filled with people or things. It’s an emptiness that comes from those memories that will never happen again. It's not a feeling of regret or a feeling of “I wish I could have done more.” Believe me, the body that I've tortured over the last eight years will tell you it's not from a lack of effort or hard work. It's an emptiness of knowing that my hour glass has finally dropped my last grains of sand and knowing that a chapter in my life has come to an end. Playing sports, especially baseball, has been my life for as long as I could remember.

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Tee ball and little league seasons were always followed by another season of blue skies and walking on fresh cut grass and chalked lines. Travel baseball and going to tournaments with friends turned into middle school and quickly high school ball. Before I knew it baseball (and hockey during the winter) was all that consumed me. If I wasn't playing the sports, I was training for them and if I wasn't training for them, I was thinking about them and how I could get a leg up on everyone else.

High School baseball and All County awards were goals that came true but were only pieces of paper that motivated me more to play college baseball. It was a dream that soon became a reality and more free time away from home meant more time thinking about baseball. That's where the sadness starts to kick in. For the last eight years I knew what my future was: another year of school, but more importantly, another season of baseball.

I had big dreams of college, and playing baseball in college, but my experience far exceeded my expectations. I left home but found more family than I ever could have imagined.

In the past two months I've found myself missing things I once hated or never thought I cared about. I now miss the thought of fall ball. At the time, going to bed early on a Friday night, only to have to wake up early and spend hours on end at the field on Saturday, seemed like a waste. Now I'd give anything to have one more Saturday in October on that diamond. The sweat was like a badge of honor and having to drag yourself back to the locker room was the only way to know that you had a successful day. My buddy and I would fill up his bathtub at home with ice and take turns laying in it, just to get some relief. The rest of the day was spent shooting the bull and having the underclassmen file into our house just to hang out. College football would be on in the background as we would talk about the things we hated and the upcoming season. I miss that.

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Every year six o'clock practices would roll around. Those always came with mixed emotions of the excitement of the start of another season and the dreading of pain and soreness you were about to encounter. Running inside in the dry air of the indoor field house left your lungs on fire. Bending over to touch the baseline sometimes seemed miles away.
Now, I want that misery. I want that anguish, just one more time. I loved that torture and learned to embrace the pain and being uncomfortable. When the alarm clock would go off around four in the morning, I knew I had a full day ahead of me. Practice, class, hitting on the side, going to the gym and spending plenty of time in the trainer’s room; I've spent more time in the athletic center than I ever could have imagined but I just wish I could lay on those tables getting treatment next to my teammates one more time.

I will forever miss the subtle things of baseball. Hitting a clean single up the middle, tossing the bat in confidence, taking that sweet aggressive turn rounding first. The three and a half step lead and waiting for the pitcher to raise that left heel. The head first slides and the roar of your teammates in excitement. I'll never forget coming into the dugout to a sea of brothers, all waiting with their hands raised to show their appreciation and excitement.

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I'll miss having my name announced in the starting line-up. I’ll miss hearing Darius Rucker's “Alright” being played when I would step up to the plate. I'll miss digging in my back foot and knocking my knuckles together like Martin Prado would always do. I'll miss sprinting out to my position or hustling out a ground ball to second base and getting thrown out by half a step because that's the way I was taught to play the game. I'll miss looking down the third baseline to get a sign. I'll miss hitting in the cage early at morning and late at night and going to the gym for a real purpose. I'll miss the one on one session with coaches trying to help me get better to help the team.

 I always wondered what players on the other teams were doing and wanted to work harder than them. I'll miss seeing my name in the paper and on websites. I worked so hard every day to earn the recognition and be known by my opponents and the rest of the conference, but all I ever wanted was respect from my teammates. That's who I'll miss the most.

I'll miss the long bus rides and plane flights. I'll miss going to Florida with them and riding in the vans to games. I'll miss the inside jokes and the time we spent together just goofing around. I'll miss the downtime we would spend with each other playing madden tournaments or just getting in stupid arguments. I'll miss the handshakes we use to make up every season and coming off the field after a win, each of us feeling like a big leaguer going down the line. I'll miss all the things that are so hard to explain like just running into each other on campus or eating as a team after a game. I'll miss my baseball family.

My baseball career ended in a less than happy way. If it was like any season I'd had before, it wouldn't matter. But it wasn't, because in all of those previous seasons I knew there was another. I wasn't sad about losing, I was sad because there wasn't another season next year.
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I don't know if my teammates and coaches over the last ten years know how much they mean to me but I saw them all as family and I just want them to know how thankful I am to have played beside them or for them.

So now I find myself like everyone else who has played a sport they loved and has seen it come to an end. I'm sure I'll find a new love, something to fill my empty space. Maybe it’ll be my career, or old man softball, or family. For the mean time, however, I’ll reminisce about the time of my life and look at my Fredonia State baseball bag sitting in the back of my car... and smile.