Club baseball building team chemistry to boost competitiveness

With the spring season well underway, the University of South Dakota Club Baseball team can finally call the Prentis Park baseball field home.

While baseball is not a sanctioned sport at USD, the club allows any student who has a baseball background to join the team and continue playing the sport.

Senior catcher Sam Parkinson said the team is still fairly young, as a lot of the older players graduated last year.

“I would say a majority of the team is mostly freshmen and sophomores with only seven returning guys from last year’s team,” he said.

Because student responsibilities must always come first, it is a challenge for the team to make the club their number one priority. The team does manage to get together and practice two to three times a week to stay sharp.

“Even though we love to play baseball, we really don’t make it our only priority, class always comes first,” senior outfielder Chris Zimmer said.

The team started the season this year with three losses against a tough Iowa State, but its latest games have proved players are getting better, Parkinson said.

“We really started to play better as a team, especially against Mount Marty’s baseball team and continued playing well against the University of Sioux Falls,” he said.

Even though the team seems to have hit its stride so far in the year, Parkinson and the other players believe once new players get to know their teammates and the swing of things, the team will be more competitive as it prepares to host a doubleheader against the University of Iowa at Prentis Park April 18.

“We have a lot of new players that are trying to build chemistry with the rest of the team,” Zimmer said.

Jhett Cihak, first baseman, said he enjoys the atmosphere of the team.

“I like (that it’s) a bunch of guys hanging out, getting a chance to compete in baseball again — (it’s) what this team is all about,” Cihak said. “It is safe to say that I have met a lot of good friends on this team as well.”

(Photo: Senior Kirby Nitzschke bats during practice at Prentis Park April 14. Miranda Letcher / The Volante)