AIC Baseball

 To the average person the game of baseball seems slow. But what appears to be is not always the case. On average it takes less than a half a second for a baseball to reach home plate after the pitcher releases the ball. That is the amount of the time that the batter has to make the decision as to swing or not to swing. The average person's reaction time is three quarters of a second, making the ability to react to a pitch an elite and difficult trait for players. In our league, the average fastball is between eighty-three and eighty-five miles per hour. In upper level leagues like Major League Baseball, a players fastball can reach as high as one-hundred miles per hour. With that being said, a game appearing to be slow is really just fast plays happening over short periods of time. The difficulty is heightened as players are hitting a round ball with a round bat. Thinking with the science of physics, in a half second of reaction time players are told to hit a round ball with a rou...

Grit, by definition, is the strength of ones character. For a small division two school nestled in the heart of Springfield, Massachusetts, we are built around a strong natured environment of hard work. We don't have the best facilities, or the highly touted recruits that other schools manage to recruit so we have to be tough natured and outwork our opponents. We do the little things right and harp on the fundamentals because that is what we have to do to win games. Our program is constantly knocking at the door come playoff time and I think this is what will take us to the playoffs in the coming years.  Baseball players for years have been broken down into five main tools. Rarely do they have all five, but the ability to do a couple well is what separates them. The five tools are speed, arm strength, defense, the ability to hit for average (contact), and the ability to hit for power (extra base hits). I believe their is a sixth tool, the immeasurable tool, which is a players grit....

 Our team runs kids camps for all ages spanning from tee ball to thirteen year old's towards the end of the summer and throughout the winter. In these camps we teach kids the basic fundamentals of the game, proper form, as well as to keep the game fun. We do so through drill work, competition, and constant moving around as they are all high energy and lose interest if they stand around for long periods of time. We use about four different stations and have the kids constantly rotating and trying new things because they are at the age where they do not quite have an exact position yet. This helps them in realizing their potential and where they would best fit in the future on the field. When kids are younger in most sports, especially baseball, we find that parents are overly involved and can put a lot of pressure on the kids to perform. This is when the game starts to become more of a job rather than a sport. It causes them to lose interest and be overly hard on themselves. In a ga...

Baseball is considered a mental game because of the amount of failure involved. At the highest level, an elite player succeeds three out of ten times they go to the plate. Statistically this amounts to only 30% of the time, a .300 batting average. As a program we try not to look too much into personal statistics, because the game mainly comes down to mainly how many runs your team scores and trying to give up the least amount of runs. Yogi Berra once said that the game of baseball is "90% Mental, the Other Half is Physical."  Yogi's quote is a bit outlandish to say the least. The fact of the matter is most things are one or lost before we even start. Our outlook and mental focus on the task at hand is what wins or loses situations. Someone who is confident in their ability and preparation has a high chance of achieving their goals compared to someone who lacks confidence. We have to take everything as a grain of salt in this game. Having a short term memory and being able...

Every year AIC Baseball looks to give back to the community in some way, shape, or form. Our biggest success over the years has been with Home Run for the Hungry. In this initiative, we collect canned goods and non perishables from family, friends, faculty, and others to donate to Lorraine's Soup Kitchen and Pantry in Chicopee, Massachusetts. We usually set a team goal by the amount of pounds of food that we bring in as Lorraine's weighs the donations every year. Each time we try to increase that number to constantly make a bigger impact on the community. In 2018 we managed to compile over 2,500 pounds of food, and in 2019 we managed to improve upon that number. This is following a good but mere 1,400 pounds of food in 2017. Below are two links pertaining to our canned food drives in the past. A Homerun for the Hungry | News | AIC AIC baseball players hold 'Homerun for the Hungry' food drive (wwlp.com) Our team also takes part in Action in the Community Day, better know...

Attitude, Intensity, Consistency. The three key factors and standards that AIC Baseball is guided by day in and day out. Why attitude? Attitude is what separate's the good players from the great ones. We pride ourselves in keeping a positive attitude through thick and thin. It's not failure or making a mistake that is ultimately the problem, but rather a players attitude in the reaction to the failure or mistake. Do you realize the effect that your attitude has on your actions and overall performance in life?  Intensity. We may not be the strongest, fastest, or most talented team but we constantly look for ways to intensify and outwork the opposing team. Our team understands who we are, and we work hard on the small things. Intensity is what pushes our team during long practices followed by hard training sessions all while balancing academics.  Consistency. The deciding factor, what brings together the three things that epitomize AIC Baseball. The ability to consistently bring...