With MLB spring training starting this week in Florida and Arizona, the beginning of the baseball season heralds the imminent coming of spring. Here in Hanover, however, baseball players practice indoors until 10 p.m. and then trudge back to their dorms in the snow.
Used primarily by the varsity track and field team for practices and competitions during the indoor season, LeveroneField House also serves as the only consistent winter practice venue for a number of other varsity and club sports.
Senior associate athletic director for facilities and operations Richard Whitmore said he works with the athletics department to schedule use of Leverone equitably.
Practice time is scheduled around the track and field team’s needs, and teams are slotted for Leverone’s space based on their upcoming schedules. In the spring season varsity field sports get the first pick, followed by the other varsity field sports and club sports.
Club teams arrange their schedules in person. Representatives for each club team attend a meeting at the beginning of the term where associate athletic director for intramurals and club sports Joann Brislin divvies up practice time. Teams that have championships in the spring, like men’s club lacrosse and ultimate frisbee, get priority above others.
Schedules can change day-to-day based on the weather, Whitmore said. Snow and other inclement conditions make even the teams that practice outside over the winter months turn to Leverone.
“It’s oftentimes a moving target because we try to get teams outside when we can,” said senior associate athletic director for physical education and recreation Roger Demment, who schedules club sports’ time in Leverone.
Scully-Fahey field, where the varsity lacrosse teams compete and practice, is also a priority facility in the winter, Whitmore said. When possible, the field is cleared for the lacrosse team to use, as it is the most likely team to practice outside.
The men’s lacrosse team only uses Leverone when its field is unworkable, said coach Andrew Towers.
Varsity baseball uses Leverone regularly as its outdoor field is essentially unusable until the spring. Due to Leverone’s scheduling constraints, the team often practices late at night.
Practicing indoors presents a variety of challenges beyond scheduling, including practicing on a field with different dimensions and a different surface from the one where they will compete.
The baseball team, along with the softball team, is one of the few teams that does not practice on the same surface on which it competes, baseball coach Bob Whalen said.
“But we’re very fortunate to have Leverone,” he said. “It’s a great facility and though everybody would prefer to be outside, it’s just the reality of where we are, and you try to make the best of it.”
The height of Leverone’s ceiling poses challenges to the baseball team, as players cannot field fly balls like they would on the field, Whalen said. Though there is enough space in Leverone for a full size infield, simulating an outfield is difficult.
The team spends some time outside to focus on skills like working on the outfield, he said.
The ceiling height poses similar challenges to the varsity softball team, making it hard for outfielders to get a sense for how the ball is coming off the bat, team co-captain and second baseman Kara Curosh ’14 said.
“Connecting infield and outfield is harder in Leverone because we don’t have the same depth and space as our outdoor field,” Curosh said.
Pitcher Adam Frank ’15 said that practicing in Leverone also affects his position specifically, forcing pitchers, to practice on a surface that doesn’t accurately simulate game conditions.
“We’re used to pitching on dirt, but in Leverone we use a turf mound,” Frank said. “The mound is lower and it affects our footing.”
Whalen and Frank said many teams they compete against can practice outside year-round, or at least more frequently than is possible in Hanover, but that it doesn’t impact the way the team approaches indoor practices.
“Whether it’s inside or outside, our job is to get ready to play,” Whalen said. “We go in there every night with the purpose of getting better.”
When the baseball and softball teams travel to Florida later this month, they will be at a competitive disadvantage as they will be playing against teams that practice outside all winter.
“You just do what you can and go into the game knowing that it might be an issue, but make a point to not let it get you down or frustrated,” Curosh said.
Though Leverone is in high demand, Whitmore said he feels that the teams and staff are satisfied with the current schedule.
Players and coaches understand the challenge of scheduling so many teams in a limited facility, Whitmore said.
“There’s a very fine balance with the schedule,” he said. “It’s a complicated puzzle that we’re trying to put together every day.”
