The best is yet to come

If you listen closely, you can hear an uneven group of gallops surfacing from the baseball diamond at North Lake College; it is the sound of North Lake’s Blazer baseball team.

It is a team experiencing a rebuilding phase. One of the obstacles it faces this season is coming together as a team. This is, in other words, “gelling.”

There is no correct definition of gelling. However, it is easy to see when a team gels.

When a team has reached this plateau of togetherness, little turns to big. It is, for example, when an outfielder cuts off a line drive base hit before the ball gets past him and to the outfield wall. Or, it is when a proper sacrifice bunt sends the potential winning run to second base towards the end of a game.

Fundamentals and persistence are important to a winning baseball team, but the Blazers do not possess these skills to the extent they will in the near future. This team is on its way to becoming a disciplined and sharp club. During a March 4 game against Tyler Community College, there were glimmers of hope.

It was a dreary, overcast day. Rainwater collected over the previous day had pushed the game time from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the playing surface was a quagmire.

The Blazers did not have the best morale that day. Players bickered among themselves after mental errors and gave snide comments. Bats were supposed to be propped up by the backstop next to the dugout but, too often, they were slammed into the ground and left lying after underachieving plate appearances.

That day the Blazers lost to a final score of 11-1. The team collected four hits on the afternoon. The run the Blazers did score was on a sacrifice ground ball in the ninth inning, where the Blazers loaded the bases with one out.

However, glimmers of hope did surface throughout the game. Every time a Blazer put a ball in play, he hustled down to first base, fighting out of pride, or stubbornness, yet still fighting. In the top of the sixth inning, Blazer pitcher David McClanahan picked off the base runner at first base, drawing a huge cheer from the scant Blazer fans in attendance.

Also, the defensive play from third baseman and sophomore Aaron Ammerman dazzled the stands. In the fourth inning, he recovered from a difficult bounce on a ground ball, galloped, and threw the runner out by half a step. Later, in the sixth inning, a weak ground ball was hit in the grass between second base and shortstop. Ammerman cut across the diamond, scooped up the ball, and miraculously made a strong accurate throw to first for the out.

Though there may be times that the Blazers make students think they are terrible, there is something about this team that gives indication that something amazing will come from them.

They will persevere, and they will be sharp, but this is an institution of learning, and sometimes it takes a while to learn how to coexist with teammates, coaches, and fans.