PBA struggling to find routine in current weather pattern

The Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs varsity team are feeling the effect of the unpredictable weather in this young Canadian College Baseball Conference season.

The Dawgs have not hit the outside field at Lloyd Nolan Yard yet this season and have ran practices at their indoor facility, which has caused a struggle to find a routine for the players.

“We need some help from mother nature here, so we can get outside and start getting into some routines to get these guys ready for weekends,” said Todd Hubka, PBA head coach.

PBA will continue their normal indoor routines this weekend after the weather forced the postponement of their games against the University Calgary Dinos.

“We’ll hit live off our pitchers and make sure they’re ready (to) go for next weekend and that’s really all we can work on right now and make sure ... we’re staying strong in the weight room and everything else,” said Hubka.

After this past weekend’s performance in Kamloops, Hubka thinks, especially defensively, players need to be outside.

“I mean you can take as many ground balls on a turf indoor field ... as you want and you look like Derek Jeter out there,” said Hubka.

“And until you get outside and be able to see the balls off the bat ,and read hops and all that sort of thing, it’s hard to go from an indoor out on to a field every weekend.”

Communication will be key for the team to stay mentally sharp on the indoor surface.

“The kids know what they need work on and school’s coming to an end too,” he said.

“So we want to make sure we keep our practices short, and to point and make sure that they’re classroom isn’t being affected because we’re two weeks away from being done classes.”

While Lloyd Nolan Yard is in good shape, the snow amount is still too much to play in.

“We’ll get (it) cleaned up and we’re supposed to be at home next weekend against Edmonton,” said Hubka.

“So hopefully the weather changes a bit here and we can get the field cleaned up and ready to go for next weekend.”

PBA split their first four games with the TRU Wolfpack this past weekend and will not hit the field again until they host Edmonton next weekend.

HERALD PHOTO BY JUSTIN SEWARD PBA’s Marc Brisson takes batting practice at Lloyd Nolan Yard’s indoor facility recently. The Dawgs have not seen outside practice time yet during this regular season due to the weather which is impacting player routine.