The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Middies ‘feel great’ to get back to work
First-year coach Morgan welcomed players to field for workouts beginning June 8
After a long layoff, the Midview baseball program is back in action.
The Middies began taking batting practice as a group June 8 and June 11 was just their second day back together as a team.
First-year coach Ryan Morgan and his players were happy to be back together after an extended absence caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“It feels pretty good to be back out here,” Morgan said. “Being my first year and not getting the chance to work with the seniors from last year was a bummer. That class was extremely talented, but being able to be out here with this younger group, it’s been extremely awesome.”
After not having a high school baseball season, Morgan and his players admitted that there was some rust that needed to be shaken off.
“It feels pretty good,” Midview senior Bryce Sanders said. “Haven’t seen people in a while and it’s nice to get back to work. It feels pretty good (to swing a bat) and I’ve had to shake some rust off. It’s nice to be back out here to get some of the rust off.”
Midview players of all classes were present for batting practice. Some of the players present included Sanders, sophomore Ryan Bors and freshman Spencer Mueller.
“It feels great,” Bors said. “We really enjoy playing baseball all together. It’s been boring since we’ve all been in quarantine for so long. It’s just nice to get out and play for once. It’s a good feeling.”
Having a summer workout program is something new Morgan is pleased with being able to introduce to the Midview program.
“This is our first week back. So people are still getting into the groove,” Morgan said. “It’s good to be out here with the guys. I know in years past there really hasn’t been a summer program. So being able to do this this year is something that (is) extremely fortunate.”
The school built a pair of new batting cages in 2019 that sit just beyond the baseball field’s center field fence. This enables the Middies to take batting practice together on school grounds.
“It’s extremely nice,”
Morgan said. “There’s other high schools that are not fortunate to have this. So this is an extremely nice cage that our kids can get to work in. We’re very fortunate to have this.”
Midview is planning on getting together to workout and take batting practice as a team twice a week. The team is split into two groups that show up at separate times in order to adhere to the health and safety guidelines established by the Ohio Department of Health.
While this can pose a challenge, Morgan is looking at the positives in a situation that is very new to everyone.
“That is the tough part because in baseball, you have nine positions out there at one time,” Morgan said. “Each coach can only work with nine kids at a time so if you are trying to do a full program workout, it’s very difficult to do.
“The nice thing about that is, these guys get an hour worth of time and they can get as many reps as possible in that hour. If we had everyone (here at
once), they wouldn’t get as many reps. So you try to look at the benefits of it but if I could have everyone out here, I would. However, you have to stay safe with the precautions.”
Midview players made sure to take part in workouts at home in order to stay in shape and be ready.
“I tried to stay in shape and I ran (a lot),” Mueller said. “I also worked out by myself with the equipment that I had. I (also) hit and did whatever I could by myself to try and stay in shape as much as possible.”
Sanders has been incorporating football workouts into his routine to help him stay conditioned.
“I’ve been doing a lot of lifting,” Sanders said. “We started football conditioning so I am getting back into running.”
During the layoff, Morgan made sure to stay in touch with and motivate his players in any way he could.
“We have a communication app just so I can stay in contact with them as much as possible and build the program,” Morgan said. “Whether it’s through Twitter
or the communication app, we put out senior spotlights and anything that highlights the program.
“I (wanted) to get the guys to take it on to their own selves to stay in shape, especially during that time (off). They go from doing baseball every day to not being able to do it at all. We would monitor them and make sure they were staying in shape.”
Morgan and his players were disappointed in not being able to have a baseball season in 2020. However, they aren’t letting that stop them from looking ahead to next season and beyond.
“I did get a chance to do an offseason with the senior group so the guys that are returning know what to expect from me from an offseason standpoint,” Morgan said. “That senior group laid the foundation and these guys are picking it up and running (with it). We have a very talented senior group that will be this year’s group. We have some good leaders ... and these are all seniors that are going to be (important) to our program.”