By Emily Anastasio
Walking around Springfield College’s campus in mid March can lead one to tap into many of their senses, especially hearing. Birds are chirping gleefully, happy that outside temperatures are warming up once more. Students are outside laughing, playing spikeball and studying under the warm rays of the sun. Baseball bats can be heard crackling over at Archie Allen Field, players getting in their reps for practice before their big games.
This wasn’t always the case, though. Just a few weeks ago, Alden Street was covered with mounds of snow, temperatures were in the single digits, and spring sport athletes were cooped up inside the Field House, barred from practicing outside due to the unpredictable New England winter weather.
The Field House, located in the Wellness Center on Springfield’s campus, gives student athletes a space to practice when weather conditions aren’t ideal for practice outside. There is an indoor track and sand pits for the track and field athletes to use, an annex for the baseball and softball players to use, small basketball courts for both basketball players and students looking to have some fun alike, and so much more.
This winter has been a tough one for spring athletes on campus, with little to no practice time on their own fields due to the several feet of snow piled on to these fields, sequestering them to the Field House for several months.
One of those athletes is Ty Sanges, a sophomore distance runner on the track and field team. While the indoor track season precedes the outdoor track season, and the track and field athletes have a little bit of an advantage there, the training track in the Field House is much smaller than the one located outdoors. That on top of the less than fortunate weather were two big pieces that affected Sanges’ training for his upcoming season.
“As a distance runner, it’s kind of brutal having to do runs on the treadmill, having to do runs on the indoor track, just trying to get miles somehow,” Sanges said. When looking towards warmer days, with the snow melting and the temperatures rising, Sanges also mentioned that he is looking forward to “being out in the sunshine, some warmer temperatures, good energy with the team, and hopefully a very competitive conference meet championship for the NEWMAC this year.”
As the days have passed and temperatures have spiked, rising to 60 and 70 degrees earlier this week, the snow has begun melting rapidly, making room for spring athletes to take their respective fields for the first time this season. While the long nights practicing indoors were harsh for a lot of the athletes, they have been looking past the negatives and reaching towards the positives, overjoyed within the past few weeks to dig their cleats into the dirt and turf of their outdoor practice facilities.
Two of the athletes who have been most excited to run straight back onto Archie Allen Field and Diane L. Potter Field to bask in the spring weather are seniors Kate Katsetos, an infielder for the Springfield softball team, and Nate Kelleher-Mochak, a pitcher for the Springfield baseball team. Both ball players talked about how it has been difficult to practice in the Field House due to limited spacing and lack of outside energy, but having the annex helped to keep them prepared to return to their home fields.
“We get to utilize our annex, which is great,” Katsetos said. “We’re really lucky that we have that. We get to focus on hitting, bunting and honing in on what we need to work on, so that’s definitely a positive of being inside.”
The positives definitely outweighed the negatives, as both athletes spoke mostly about the delights of finally getting to practice and play a few games on Archie Allen Field and Diane L. Porter Field. “The biggest thing is just getting the consistent games in and not having to worry too much about the weather and how much it’s going to affect our game,” Kelleher-Mochak said, discussing how wonderful it’s been to transition from working indoors for the past few months to finally getting practice time outside in the sunshine.
Katsetos also chimed in and spoke about how being outdoors has really boosted the softball team’s energy and overall camaraderie leading into their upcoming games. She expressed, “That transition from being inside for so long to then going outside is like, ‘We’re in a new environment now, this a new game,’ and it’s good for our energy because our team is really high energy, so when that comes outside, it’s like a whole different game.”
Although the long and chilly winter days are seemingly in the past for now, the spring sport athletes of Springfield College are still working diligently to complete their transitions from spending months practicing indoors, to taking all of that hard work and applying it to the freedom that comes with playing and practicing outdoors. Their seasons are officially just beginning, and all of the hope and determination to enjoy the bright and warm seasons ahead of them will take them to the next level.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)