Two years ago we played in our regional game against Grand Rapids Christian at Unity Christian. This year we head back there to play Comstock Park. We are definitely hoping to do better this time around, as we got spanked pretty good 14-1. There is more confidence this time than when we were there two years ago. The mentality has changed. We had a goal to win districts two years ago and this year it was kind of an expectation. It’s going to take a great team effort and a real solid defense to continue our season.

With school ending today, coaches have been talking about keeping our focus on the task at hand. Coach mentioned that in years past, it was a little harder for some teams to remain focused during practice. However I don’t see it being a problem for us. Our practices are almost always pretty solid and that will probably be the case as we near the end. Situations like the one we are in can be really easy to press and be tight. But we’re relaxed and still having fun while keeping our focus.

The Detroit Red Wings have been a great example to our baseball team in the playoffs this year. It doesn’t matter what team they are playing or the talent of their opponents, the Red Wings play every game the same way. They play how they want to and use everyone on the ice wearing red and white to win. Go Hawkeyes and Go Wings!

-Corey Schrotenboer

So many times I see other schools with players who think they are the show. For some reason they think it is all about them. Honestly, it’s one of the things that bugs me the most. I cannot stand that, and it really shows the fine job teachers and coaches do at Hamilton to prevent that on our athletic teams. One of the best things in Hamilton sports is the unselfishness each team carries throughout the season.

As we enter our last week of conference play, we will need to keep our focus throughout the week. We are currently tied for first place with Zeeland East. With three games this week, we control our fate. Obviously we cannot control what any team does except for ourselves, so we will be looking to remain focused and play as well as we can. As is the case with every team in this league, Rogers and Unity Christian are not just going to give us a game to win. The final week of O-K Green baseball starts tomorrow as we are looking for a win heading into the final games of conference play on Friday.

-Corey Schrotenboer

Right now our team record is 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the O-K Green. All six of our losses, however, have been by three runs or less, and two of them in extra innings. One of my favorite times so far this year was during our 15-12 loss to West Ottawa in the championship game at the Martin E. Ball tournament. West Ottawa needed just one base hit in the bottom of the fifth to mercy us 14-4. But we stopped them and scored in the sixth and seventh innings to pull within three, just coming up short.

We are coming up on our half-way point through our conference schedule. The O-K Green has already showed its strength as the are only two teams with only one loss and no one undefeated. All the teams in our conference can beat anyone else on any day. The winner of our conference is going to be the team that is ready to play every game and does not make many mistakes. With only two conference losses, both to Wyoming Park, we are still in the running.

Even though it wasn’t finished due to weather, our tournament this past weekend was a huge success. Our baseball and softball programs raised a lot of money for the Susan G. Komen for a cure foundation. It is really exciting knowing how much we helped people in the area. It shows that this season is not just about baseball, but so much more.

-Corey Schrotenboer

Coming up this Saturday is our annual Hamilton tournament. The tournament has a new aspect this year. Saturday is “Bases for a Cure” at the ball fields and our team along with the varsity softball team will be decorated in pink, supporting the Susan G. Komen for a cure foundation. We sold pink t-shirts to members of the Hamilton Community so they too could show their support for breast cancer. Several people in our area are, or have been, affected by breast cancer and this means a lot to everybody. It’s going to be a special day.

We have built some pretty good tradition over the past few years in our baseball program. Obviously, we will be looking live up to that tradition and the expectations of us. There is a lot of talent on our team and we are not looking to just get by. Even though a couple of our games have been canceled due to rain lately, we have been practicing hard in the gym. The future of Hamilton Baseball looks bright as well as Coach Grabinski is working the JV team hard each day.

In our conference there is no team that is an automatic win. We will be approaching each game the same in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully this week’s league games are better offensively than last week’s were and we will score a few more runs. We’re trying to improve each game and we will need to continue to improve to contend for a league championship this year.

-Corey Schrotenboer

The afternoon after practice sometimes involved going to the beach, although the weather was a little cooler than what it normally is there for this trip, basketball at the park, tanning on the pool deck, or some video games.  We were split into four groups for dinner and each took our turn making it on the night it was assigned to us.  The nights were busy as well as we went bowling one night, went to a baseball game between The Citadel and Charleston Southern, and played “Street Smarts: Southern Style”.

Apart from a short downpour Monday morning, we were provided with great weather for practice.  We got a ton of reps fielding ground balls, catching fly balls, and swinging the bats.  Our pitching seemed to improve a ton as we had several awesome performances on the mound in our tournament on Saturday.

This trip was about more than just baseball though.  Our team, already pretty tight-knit, grew even closer through various activities and just living with people we don’t normally live with.  Our main activity was “Street Smarts: Southern Style” and this seemed to help us learn the most about each other.  Walking up and down the beach in several groups, we had to ask random people basic questions and record them answering, or attempting to answer, the questions.  The tapes were then all put together to make one movie that we used to play the game on Thursday night.

An already great trip got even better on Tuesday morning when Coach Behnke made an unexpected appearance and was able to stay with us for the rest of the trip.  His humor is usually a great bonus for the team and that proved to be true for the remaining couple of days.

With a busy upcoming week we will look to hit the practice field hard on Monday.  We will be playing five games Tuesday through Saturday and will need to continue to get good performances on the mound this week.

-Corey Schrotenboer

The trip down south isn’t just about becoming better baseball players. Everything we do is team oriented and allows us to become closer to our teammates. When we get home from practice in the morning and get everything cleaned up we usually have some free time. A lot of the kids will go to the beach, which is really close to where we are staying, and play catch with a football or just hang out. Others will work on their tan, which never works for some. Either way, it’s amusing after a couple days to look at how bad some of the kids will burn.

Later in the afternoon we generally have something planned. Whether it is going bowling or doing an activity carefully planned by the adults, we continue to grow closer to each other. Although the activities differ each year, the fun and humor they generate does not. In the past we have had our own American Idol, which involved a bunch of lyrics about “Melton John” and about some former players and their girlfriends. Last year we hosted a Hamilton Baseball edition of Amazing Race. In this activity we found ourselves running all over the island looking at different clues that took us to the next and finally back to one of the houses. We also had a little Fear Factor going on with some very unusual food getting thrown up.

As we take off tomorrow morning and begin our trip, we start a new part of our season. With two games completed already we will have a week of great weather to practice in and finish working out the rust that accumulated during the off-season. We have a good idea now of what we need to improve on most, and we will be working hard to become better each day.

-Corey Schrotenboer

Baseball in the spring has become routine for me in my life, and with this being my last year I want to make the most of it. I have spent my last four spring breaks in Isle of Palms, South Carolina practicing baseball over four hours a day. I have had so many different teammates, all of which I will always remember the great times we had. With two of my three sports done forever, I know what it feels like to play that final game or wrestle that last match. The feeling is horrible and I hope my last baseball game will end in a win late in June.

We will be back at practice again after last night’s tough extra-inning loss to a good Middleville team. For the first game of the year we played pretty well and had some great defensive plays. Some of the guys started out with great offensive games and will look to keep improving. We are looking forward to our game next week against our old conference foe South Christian. We are hoping to rebound from the game last night and even up our record at 1-1 heading into our spring break trip to South Carolina.

-Corey Schrotenboer

The year will start off with adversity as one of our returning seniors will already need surgery for a broken finger. Luckily, we have enough depth to cover for his absence. We would obviously like him to be able to play but we are not stressing about it at all. Our team realizes that someone else will have to step up right away and be ready for our first game next week.

We are all excited about the “Bases for a Cure” that we are doing this year at our tournament. It is a great idea to support breast cancer as it affects several people in our community. Our team is more than willing to do this fundraiser to support the Susan G. Komen foundation. Rob Arnold is most excited that we get to wear wristbands, it will be the best day of his life.

We have had awesome weather so far that has allowed us to be outside. It’s very relieving just getting outside right away and getting used to the grass and dirt. Last year, we spent the first few weeks inside the gym with limited room. I think being outside right away this year will help us be better prepared for our game next week against rival Middleville. We have had some close games with them over the past few years, but we will be looking to win this year in a more dominant fashion.

-Corey Schrotenboer

The program is excited to bring our fans an insider’s perspective of the 2009 season.

Look for Schrotenboer’s first post in the upcoming weeks here at HamiltonHawkeyeBaseball.org, your home for Hamilton Hawkeye baseball.