Bulldogs experiencing growing pains at Morrisville baseball
MORRISVILLE – When assembling a varsity baseball team, some high schools have the luxury of hosting tryouts and picking the cream of the crop.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Morrisville is not one of them. Many of the players that sign up to play ball at Williamson Park have very little past experience on the diamond.
“I had nine guys last year that never played the game,” said Bulldogs head coach Steve Cavan. “For them to come up and start learning and work on instincts, it’s been slow to come into place.”
A young team, Morrisville (5-11, 1-5: BAL) has seven freshmen playing varsity, five of which are starters. Their inexperience showed in a recent battle with Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) rival Bristol. A battle that took place May 4 under cloudy skies and chilly temps, the Bulldogs ran into a pair of outs in the game, with a runner picked off second base to end a potential rally in the second inning and another caught in a rundown in the fifth.
“We forget sometimes where we should be and when we should be there,” explained Cavan.
Still, with junior righthander Colt Bower on the hill, Morrisville gave the Warriors (5-6, 5-5: BAL) a battle. Heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Dawgs trailed 5-1. After committing only one error in the first five innings, however, Morrisville made four more in the last two frames, leading to 10 runs for Bristol, which went on to a 15-2 triumph.
“We’ve been two teams all year – one that plays fundamental baseball and we’re in games and team two is we kick it around and don’t make any plays,” said Cavan.
Both junior righthanders, Bower and Nick Kremer have kept the Bulldogs in battles this season.
“I’ve been pleased with our efforts in the games we should win,” said Cavan.
“When we play the tougher teams, we’re in it until our number one or two pitcher goes out and we put in a young kid.”
Cavan says time will tell if this group can be molded into a well-tuned baseball unit.
“I’m really pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish so far but I think next year is really going to be telling for us,” the coach said.
“We’ll be a little older, a little bigger and a little stronger. I’m really looking forward to seeing where that takes us.”
“We’re a young team. But if we stick to fundamentals and take care of the ball, we’ll be alright.”
NOTES: With graduation, Morrisville will lose only one player – leftfielder Bryan Bonilla.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
