Blake Baseball Team Had a Rebuilding Season

- (Photo courtesy of Blake Athletics)

The Blake Baseball Team is having a rebuilding season with a very new team, that isn't as experienced playing with one another

There are many factors that make this a building year for the team. The team has five returning Varsity players, only three of which were starters last year. This team has fourteen underclassmen who will be returning next year. Most of these players are getting a lot of playing time this year.

During the first month of the season rather than learning plays and mechanics to prepare for upcoming games, Coach Steve Murfin and his staff spent that time teaching the team basic baseball fundamentals.

This team is the youngest team in Blake Baseball history. “We have a very young team. 13 of the players are 9th and 10th graders. 1 junior and 5 seniors… The 7 9th graders never played even JV ball. Their highest level of experience was REC ball in MCBA and Travel Ball, none of which is the level of HS Varsity Ball,” Murfin said.

Although many players on the team may be inexperienced, there is lots of talent on the team including senior pitcher Phoenix Spiller. Spiller is one of the few players on the team that played on varsity previously. As one of the few seniors on the team, Spiller tries to play the leadership role on the team.

“ I’m one of the few seniors, so I think my role is to tell the young guys how to act, what to expect, and sometimes to move them to the right position in the field. I guess it’s really up to me to play by example,” Spiller says.

Despite the fact that they are a new team, the players on the team get along excellently. Having great team chemistry might be one of the most important traits to have for the team in their future seasons.

“Overall, our teams chemistry is fairly strong. The fact that we have not won many games has had us pointing fingers at one another but we always realize that it is never one person's mistake. Every win and loss is done so through a team effort,” junior shortstop David Hill said.

One piece of advice that Murfin and his coaching staff tell the team is to play with the 721 effort. The 721 effort means that the team must be locked in and play their hardest for seven innings and 21 outs, both physically and mentally. Murfin also communicated with the team during the season, telling them to “trust the process” , believing that they can become one of the better teams in the county.

“ We are learning and growing as a team. If you follow what we teach you and practice it, we will win. Our methods have led to a tradition of excellence at Blake for 20 years.Trust the process. Have a positive attitude. Hustle all the time. We will win,” Murfin says.

Blake Baseball finished their season 1-15. While this season was difficult, good things are around the corner for this team.