Image Credit: athletics.skagit.edu
By Noah Meffert
By anyone’s standards, 3-4 is not an ideal way to start off the year in any sport. However, that is the record of the SVC baseball team after unfortunately losing two out of three to Olympic Community College on the 17th and 18th of April, which followed on the heels of a split series with Edmonds CC the weekend before. Based purely on their statistics and record, one might think that the Cardinals are on a fast track to a losing season where wins are going to be hard to come by and losses will be all too common. However, both members of the coaching staff and players on the team not only disagree with this notion, they assert that though things might look down, there are many positive things to look at that show that the team has a bright future. “We’re bringing in the right kind of guys that ultimately want to compete, and so when it came down to our first series in Edmonds, we had thirty guys who were ready to compete every pitch, and I think that has really allowed is to put trust in one another. Everyone knows what their role and job are on the field, and ultimately guys hold themselves to a really, really high standard,” said Assistant Coach Bryce McCullough, talking about the Cardinals start to the season and the strong foundations of the team. “Everyone is playing for each other, and that’s what’s really special about this team.”
Not only does the coaching staff have a positive outlook on the team chemistry and the rest of the season, but players also feel this way as well. Pitcher Trevor Cassell spoke his thoughts about the team chemistry and how it has held up through a lot of adversity over the past year. “I’d say the team chemistry is pretty strong overall considering the adversity we’ve had to deal with since the beginning of the fall leading up to our season. With Covid making things difficult for us to come together as a team off the field, we are a pretty tight knit group of guys who have each other’s backs no matter what the circumstance.” The point he makes about Covid is a valid one, as it has disrupted many areas of life, including the ability of athletes to get together and build relationships with each other to improve and strengthen team chemistry. However, as he says, despite this setback, the team has come back together and has formed into a tight knit group of guys who have each other’s backs no matter the circumstance. This is one of the biggest reasons why the Cardinals should not be counted down and out for the season. There is still a lot of baseball left to play, and as the team chemistry continues to progress, so should the success of the Cardinals. “It’s simple. Success is related to the type of cohesion that exists within the team. More specifically, if your team has a high level of task cohesion, meaning that they will play well together and remain united in the pursuit of the team’s goals, then they are more likely to enjoy success.”(1)
Though team chemistry is an important aspect of a team’s success, another important thing to consider is the strengths and weakness of the team and how to address them. Though the Cardinals have gotten off to a shaky start, they know what their strengths and weaknesses are and can now begin to address them. “When you look at some of our box scores, we’ve kind of ridden the wave a little bit, and I think that is something you can tell that has been kind of a weakness. Hey, some games we pitched really well, but we just didn’t back it up with the offense, or, we had a really good offensive output, but our pitching wasn’t really able to close the doors in certain situations.” This was McCullough’s take on their biggest weakness so far, riding the wave, and how it manifests itself on the field. “You can’t ride the wave of good baseball or bad baseball, it’s all about staying even keel, and just being able to maximize your opportunities offensively and minimize opportunities when it comes to the defensive portion, such as making plays and minimizing pitchers who are getting hit and the scores of the opponents.” However, though this may seem like a tall hill to climb, Skagit’s strengths will play a big role in overcoming weaknesses such as riding the wave. “The strength for our guys is that we’re a tough, tough twenty-seven outs. I think if you look at how we started out season, Edmonds came out kind of hot, they scored six in the first two innings, and our offense was like ‘so what, we still have a lot of baseball left,’ and we scored nine unanswered runs.” Though this is only one example from one game, being able to start the season off by answering back that quickly and that resoundingly is a glimpse into the rest of the year for our Cardinals, and though there may be some clouds in the distance, the future looks bright for the Cardinals in the 2021 season.
