Varsity roster announced

March 22, 2009

HAMILTON, Mich. — The 2009 Hamilton varsity baseball roster has been announced.

Head coach Ken DeGood will carry 15 players into the season. The junior-laden team features only two returning seniors: Corey Schrotenboer and Rob Arnold.

To see video introductions for each of the 15 players and the three coaches, please check out the rosters page on the sidebar.

Hawkeyes run games at annual Hamilton Elementary fun night

March 21, 2009

HAMILTON, Mich. — Hamilton baseball players had a chance to turn back the clock for a few hours Friday night at Hamilton Elementary School.

The Hawkeyes ran the games at the elementary school’s annual fun night, which for some of the program’s members was a return home to their former stomping grounds.

“I think it’s great for us to wear our jersey tops and be over here,” Hamilton coach Ken DeGood said. “Kids look up to these players, so I think it’s good for us.”

DeGood said it was the program’s sixth time helping at a fun night and the fourth time doing it at Hamilton Elementary.

Friday was senior Corey Schrotenboer’s fourth time running games at fun night. He said it was important for the baseball program to participate in the event.

“A lot of the little kids look up to high school athletes,” Schrotenboer said.

Junior Jason Henrickson spent the night running the pop toss game, which had one of the longest lines of kids waiting to play in the building. He said his goal was to show the kids that baseball could be fun outside of the field.

He also a received a request from one of his coaches.

“(Varsity assistant coach Mark Ruldolph) said to save some pop for him,” Henrickson said.

Freshman Joey DeGood said he had a good experience in his first ever fun night. He said it felt like everyone appreciated the program’s effort.

“I think a lot of people just see us out here and they just get a real good feeling about us,” he said. “They know that we’re doing a lot of good things, that we’re out there to just help the community.”

After an hour and a half of games, the players cleaned up and were thanked by Coach DeGood before leaving.

DeGood said the night went well overall.

“I think the kids do a great job,” he said. “I think they kind of understand what they need to do and I think they react really well with the kids. They liked it.”

He added that it would be a bonus if some of the young kids turned into baseball players in the future.

“That would be kind of icing on the cake to have that happen,” he said.

View from Two: Transitioning from winter to spring

March 20, 2009

My senior year of baseball is finally underway. It was a little difficult to switch focus on Monday from wrestling to baseball since it was just two days after my wrestling career came to an end. But Monday’s practice was a great start to a hopeful season. Most of the guys were throwing and hitting pretty well for the first time since last summer. It was fun with the new group of teammates this season; we all get along so well.

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