Despite So Many New Faces, Huskies Putting The Pedal To The Metal
September 29, 2015 | Baseball
SEATTLE – The first day of fall ball started Monday for the UW Baseball team on a sun-soaked field at Husky Ballpark. With a nip of autumn in the air, a mix of veteran and rookie Husky hopefuls – all with aspirations of reaching Omaha, Neb. in June to compete in the College World Series – took the field for the first time as a team.
Among the players on the field were a large gathering of newcomers. Having such an infusion fo talent certainly has it challenges, but knowing everybody's name was not one of them for Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs.
“I did know who everybody was on day one, so I feel good about that,” the UW skipper said. “Now the challenge is to figure out where everyone belongs.”
Meggs and his staff will have 27 days of practice and 20 hours a week to learn their new team and evaluate the talent on the roster. With time of the essence and many position battles up for grabs, he expects fall camp to be very competitive. And, Meggs was not disappointed with how the players competed on Monday.
“The first day is always interesting anyways, but today we had energy off the charts because of all the new blood and the returning guys excited to get back to it,” he said. “You can already see that we're going to have a lot of interesting battles at almost every spot, so that is going to make everybody better.
“And our numbers are higher, so that makes it even more competitive and that is kind of what we wanted. As far as a first day goes, it was everything that we were hoping it would be.”
Besides the rookies, the Huskies return plenty of players from last year's squad. Among the returnees are 10 who were on the 2014 team that participated in the NCAA Regionals. That veteran group – including pitcher Troy Rallings, who was selected in the 36th round of the 2015 MLB Draft – is taking the lead and helping the acclimation of the new guys to the rigors of Husky Baseball.
“Being a senior, I'm definitely accustomed to it,” Rallings said of returning to the practice field. “I know what to expect and I know how hard I have to work. What's exciting for me is that for the first time in four years I'm actually looked at to be a leader and show guys the way instead of just working hard myself.”
Several of the veteran players approached Meggs during the off-season and asked how they could help make the learning process easier for the newcomers. The skipper was impressed by the move and likes the way his core veterans are molding the personality of the team.
“They have really taken ownership,” Meggs said of the upperclassmen. “They have been great in terms of leadership aspects -- the effort and organization. They are taking a lot of pride in making our new guys feel like they are a part of the program.”
The veterans not only helped make the transition more seamless for the first-time Huskies, but they were able to speed up the process of bringing cohesion to the team.
“We have great team chemistry already – surprisingly fast actually," said Rallings. "We're really meshing well."
Not every day will go as smoothly as day one did for the Huskies. With so many fresh faces, there are bound to be some highs and lows. But Meggs is embracing the trials that each day brings and is eager to start a new season.
“The great thing about baseball, in my opinion, is that the game is perfect. It was designed perfectly. Everything about it is perfect. It is the people who complicate it,” Meggs said.
“So when the challenge is just to play it right, that gets me going. When you have (a bunch of) new guys who are really thirsty for knowledge and want to be coached and bring the energy, it gets you excited. We're just going to go pedal to the metal and meet the challenges every day.”
