The Lakeview Baseball team is back from Myrtle Beach and they are looking to build off the competitiveness, the friendships, and the experience they got from playing some of the best teams on the East Coast and the friendships they built.
Over this Spring break, the Bulldogs took a trip South to South Carolina, where they were looking to play some of the best teams from the East Coast to improve and get better for this long season ahead of them.
This was not the only point of the trip for Head Coach Cameron Carson. The point of the trip was to become closer together as a team and build memories that will never be forgotten. Team bonding is a huge key to success in sports and it helps in the long run as the season gets tougher and the team is trying to win as many games for the postseason.
Coach Carson, who is in his third season under the helm of the Bulldogs, talked about some key points of the trip and if he thought that his team executed the game plan that Carson intended.
Carson stated, “Although record-wise we did not meet our expectations for the trip, I believe that a lot of good still came from it. I feel like our team brought home a lot of good memories with their friends that they will remember for years to come. I think baseball wise our guys learned a lot more than they realize. I believe the situations we were put in down there will pay off during meaningful games and/or moments later in the season.”
The following players talked about key activities they did together over this trip and how it made them come closer together as a team.
Senior Nolan Toth stated, “Myrtle gave us the chance to hang out with some of our teammates outside of a baseball setting that we usually wouldn’t. It was a great opportunity for us to grow closer as a team and I think we succeeded. We needed this as we had a lot of sophomores and a lot of seniors and we needed to bridge the gap between us. I think this will go a long way for us as the season continues and will help us come together and build to be the best team we can be.”
Senior Jake Nicholas elaborated “Myrtle was fun, and we did a lot of fun things like swimming in the ocean, getting in the hot tub, going on the boardwalk together, playing put-put, go-carting, or just being together in the same room for a couple of nights. Doing all of these activities together really made us closer as a team and we made memories that will never be forgotten. This trip really helped us as a team and it definitely filled in the missing piece for us and it will help us get better and better.”
With all the fun and games aside, it was time for the Bulldogs to get their bats out and play on the diamond. The Bulldogs opened their trip up with a doubleheader against the Tallmadge Blue Devils and Mercy Hurst Prep.
The Bulldogs fell to Tallmadge 12-1 and then lost to Mercy Hurst Prep 4-0. The Bulldogs did not start the way they wanted to, but they came back the next day knowing what needed to be done.
They started off the day with Hopewell-Loudon-Chieftains, where they went down 12-0 in the first three innings, but the Bulldogs did not give up and they fought to come back to win 17-16 in a nail-biting fashion. The Bulldogs then ended their trip with Franklin-Simpson, a team based out of Kentucky, where they fell 12-2.
All in all, the Dogs did not end the trip how they wanted to, but the experience they got and the competition they faced will be a huge factor this season and how they play their league opponents as they look to go back-to-back in the NorthEast 8 Conference Champions before the playoffs will start.
The Bulldogs open the week with Hubbard on April 9th at Home, and April 10th Away, where they will play Ursuline away on the 11th and Niles under the lights on Friday, April 12th.
Come out and support the Bulldogs this season as they look to build off of last year’s success and the competition they got from Myrtle Beach.
