In the Dugout: Tough-skinned Orange Makes the Best of any Weather
2/1/2011 10:47:22 PM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Some athletes may find it frustrating to play a warm-weather sport at an elite level in a winter wonderland, such as upstate New York. The women of the Syracuse University softball program, however, see things quite differently and actually find their chilly home to be a helpful benefit, giving them a slight leg up on the competition.
“Thinking about early April games and you have a South Florida that comes up, I definitely think that we have an advantage in that kind of weather," explained head coach Leigh Ross. "Or even when we go travel somewhere and they have some random cold spell and we're good. You know, we know how to layer."
"Any good team, any high quality team can play in any weather on any different day," added volunteer assistant coach Lindsay Wasek. "We can play in the snow and we're expected to win or we can play in the 105 degree weather and we're still expected to win, so I think any team that just holds themselves to high standards, shouldn't be affected by the elements around them."
The Orange practices daily at Manley Fieldhouse. Since renovations have dismantled the basketball court and bleachers, Manley has been returned to its original state -- an indoor practice facility. Coach Ross and her team agree that the new Manley has given them an even greater advantage.
"I think a lot of schools use that to recruit against us, as far as our weather and I really don't think that we miss anything from being inside," Ross said. "We're guaranteed good weather every day. We're guaranteed we're going to be in here and get our practice in. It's not going to be too cold for our hitters … We're never going to get rained out inside.
"We can be creative. We can set up whatever we want. We're not just restricted to a field, a diamond. I think it's a good thing. I think we work well with it."
Wasek and senior pitcher Angie Sagnelli echoed Coach Ross' sentiments.
"We really strum on repetition and just doing everything the right way, just throwing, catching the ball, working on your footwork and stuff like that. A lot of that just doesn't have a big tie to the dirt as is," Wasek commented.
“[Having Manley] definitely helps a lot with scheduling, so we're able to come in here after hours, after practice, or before. It's a huge facility," Sagnelli said. "We're able to use the track. I think it's really, really been a competitive advantage for us to be able to get in here."
Not at all worried about her girls being able to handle the transition between practicing inside at home and playing outside down south and out west during early season games, Ross is much more concerned about the toll that the travel regimen can take.
"With our sport, we have to find warmer weather to play in [early on], so you're looking at a regular week of four days on the road, three days here," Coach Ross said. "It's tough, I think, to keep up with the studies, so I give them a lot of credit with that. Plus, we fly commercial, so we're at airports a lot and we've got layovers, so dealing with that stuff is just more of the wear and tear than being on the turf or being on the field."
However, Wasek, who graduated from Syracuse in 2009 after her own successful softball career with the Orange, explained that traveling a lot at the beginning of the season is actually a great experience for the team.
"Honestly, it's fun to travel. It's a bonding experience. Some of the travel days are tiring, but I think when you're weighing both of those it's more fun and more bonding to travel," said Wasek, the 2009 All-BIG EAST Third Team selection. "You know, we have to travel to play the best competition and that's where we get our experience from for the BIG EAST, so I think it's better for us rather than worse."
According to Sagnelli, who spent the fall semester in New York City on a capstone internship with Union Square Agency, this group of mentally tough athletes has even managed to find the positive aspects of not playing a home game until April.
“I think it's good, because it gives us a chance to really air out our stuff and then come back home when we're at the top of our game, at least that's what we hope to be.
"But you always want to play on your home field, in front of your fans," the Clifton Parks, N.Y. native admitted. "We drive by every day and it's covered in like 12 feet of snow, so we're hoping it'll melt pretty soon."
