On a fateful night in Alabama, the Spartans varsity baseball team mobbed the field after winning the fourth national baseball championship in school history. Six months later, the celebration lingers in the hearts and minds of the team. As the team inches closer to the start of the season, it is now back to work, and head coach Joe Urso has his team on a one-track path.
“In the first meeting of the year I told our players that last year’s championship is over and it is time to focus on the upcoming season,” Urso said.
The team that he spoke to at this meeting was drastically different than the one he led to his first championship as head coach. Gone are superstars Lee Cruz, Sergio Perez and Aaron Cook. Arriving at UT are left-handed pitchers Kevin Ferguson and John Wiedenbauer and position players Paul Cruz, Junior Mahia, and Ryan Williams. Overall the team lost thirteen players, and Coach Urso has three goals for this year’s Spartans.
“We have three goals as a team. First is to win our conference. Second is to win Regionals. Last is to win the National Championship,” Urso said.
One of the main things Urso has stressed is for the team to hit the weight room. With the help of strength and conditioning coach Eric Hall, the team has improved in their weight training. As opposed to last year, Hall has the pitchers and position players working out together in hopes of building team chemistry. He also has had to transition his training methods to fit a different team.
“Last year’s team was more power-oriented, whereas this year we have a more speed-oriented group. We have been working on their endurance and have been doing a lot of speed training,” Hall said.
With the team doing well in their training, coach Urso still has one major challenge in terms of team philosophy this preseason.
“The toughest thing for me is getting the team to stop talking about last year and to shift their focus to a new season,” Urso said.
One player Urso doesn’t need to convince is infielder and team captain Jose Jimenez. Jimenez played a crucial role in the Spartans championship season last year, and he knows that in order to be successful the team must forget about last season.
“Last year is over. We had our celebration and now it’s about being ready for the upcoming season,” Jimenez said.
This past Saturday coach Urso and his staff went out for a surprise birthday party for assistant coach Sam Militello. By night’s end they were fondly talking about memories of last season’s glory. Fast forward to a Monday afternoon in the baseball offices, and it’s all business. The Champs are back to work on Feb. 1 when they begin defending their National Championship at Eckerd College against the Tritons.