By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
It isn’t too tough to tell that there is a different vibe around Springfield College’s baseball program this fall. Largely stemming from the offseason hiring of alum Chad Shade as the team’s head coach, the sense of optimism and new possibilities is clear.
And though the Pride dropped their season opener against Amherst by a final score of 5-0 on Saturday, the team believes they are primed for a formative season. Lots of this comes from a new culture that is in the process of being instilled by Shade, one that is defined by playing a focused, success-driven style of baseball.
“The most important thing that we’ve talked about is really what we started in the fall and our three values of competing, having a winning mentality and giving great effort,” Shade said. “Those three things for me are non-negotiables, they’re standards within our program. If we continue to do those on a consistent basis, the wins are going to come with those.”
These non-negotiables in the eyes of the coach become part of the standard when the team’s veterans work to enforce them, and that exact dynamic is unfolding in real time in and around Archie Allen Field.
Springfield’s three captains this year, senior starting pitcher Nate Kelleher-Mochak, senior shortstop Jack Dunaisky and graduate student outfielder Michael Lepere, have all played key roles in working to put this new culture in place.
“I think we have some great leadership with our guys,” Shade said. “One of our senior captains, Dunaisky, you can see the leadership skills that he has. Guys revolve around him as a leader, and I think that’s something that’s really important.”
“Along with our two other captains, Lepere and Kelleher-Mochak, what’s great about those three guys is the dynamic between them,” Shade added. “They all have three different personalities in the way they go about their business, but it all really blends and works well together.”
For his part, Kelleher-Mochak has taken note of a different vibe around the team this year. He detected a more serious tone around the team months back, something that has carried over throughout the winter, the preseason and now into game action.
This shift excites Kelleher-Mochak, as he enters his senior campaign hoping for a successful season, individually but more importantly as a collective unit.
“It’s definitely been a change of tone with coach Shade coming in,” Kelleher-Mochak said. “It feels more like we’re on the path to success rather than just on the path to competing and hoping to stay in games. We’re really trying to change our mindset into winning is the first priority, and if we don’t win, that’s kind of a failure most of the time.”
Specifically, preparation has been a hallmark of Shade’s approach so far. He wants his players to be as ready as possible, and this has manifested itself in the form of thorough work being done behind the scenes, including on the situational components of the game.
“The development of what practices look like, how people have improved, what lifts have looked like, what the schedules have looked like has improved so much,” Kelleher-Mochak said. “It’s allowed for a lot more consistency with leadership and how the players interact with it.”
With an emphasis placed on practice, one would think this would lead to players taking notable leaps forward, and that is exactly what has happened since last season ended for the Pride.
“Pretty much every guy on our roster has made some type of jump in some way, shape or form,” Shade said. “Our graduate assistants have done a great job taking some extra time on our practice days to do some side work with guys to continue that growth and development.”
As the Pride settle into a rhythm this season, they have aspirations of postseason success, like always. However, this year, the foundation being put into place has the team believing if they continue to do things the right way, they can achieve their lofty goals.
“A big goal we’ve had is to obviously win the NEWMAC,” Kelleher-Mochak said. “That doesn’t happen on day one, doesn’t even happen maybe halfway through the year or the end of the year. It happens day in, day out. Putting in that work and consistently building up reps, and everything that will allow us to ultimately play deep into May and maybe even into early June.”
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)