Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their sixth entry.
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After an emotional weekend against UIC, we headed out to Cleveland for a three game set with Cleveland State. As it always is, the expectation is to go into a weekend series and to win every game. With Cleveland State at the cellar of the conference, it was reinforced throughout the week at practice how important this series actually was.
Typically, when teams come off an emotional win, or series of wins, it is only natural to have a letdown. With that possibility lingering, we knew that we still would have to go out and play competitive baseball in order to accomplish our goal.
At no point in time can we expect to go into a game and go through the motions and expect to win. Unfortunately, the weekend did not completely play out the way we expected. After arriving in Cleveland late Thursday evening, we received our room assignments and got to bed. The weekend schedule changed a little bit due to the weather that was moving into the Cleveland area – we were going to play a Friday doubleheader and a single game on Saturday in hopes of playing the game in order to get back to Milwaukee Saturday evening.
Friday morning came fast. Up early and off to the ballpark it was. Nine hours at the ballpark awaited us and mentally we needed to get ready. After the standard batting practice and infield outfield routines, both teams were ready for battle.
Game one started a little slow for us as we continued to fight the cold and our own mistakes at times. The first five innings of that game were a struggle.
Fortunately, we were able to win the last four innings and propel ourselves to a victory. In the team huddle following the game, Coach Doffek and Bigler reemphasized that our performance was subpar and that we need to elevate our intensity if we wanted to win the second contest. Ironically, the same things the coaches highlighted following the first game was the downfall for us in the latter contest.
A few crucial errors, leadoff walks and untimely hitting lead to our defeat in the second game. We simply did not execute all three phases of the game in order to win. It is extremely difficult to analyze a game following a defeat when we know that the other team did nothing in order to win. We simply beat ourselves and did not play to our potential. The team now had something to sleep on and build off of in order to close out the series.
Game three was set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon, but after rain showers in the morning the start time was pushed back an hour and a half. With game three underway, things seemed to be in control for the most part until the middle innings. After putting up a couple of runs and pitching out of a jam, it seemed as if we were in control. The fifth inning was a little different story. Cleveland State showed their resilience and fearlessness as they plated a couple of runs to cut our margin in half.
Fortunately, Mike Schneider came in and pitched out of another dicey situation to get us back in the dugout. From there on out, the pitching staff shut the door on Cleveland State and we were fortunate enough to walk out of there with a weekend series win. Following game three, everyone was ready to get back on the bus and get home in preparation for a huge upcoming weekend with Wright State.
As a team, we understand that we did not play our best baseball last weekend and that we need to shore some things up before battling Wright State. The Raiders will come to the Hank this weekend with something to prove. Rob Cooper, Wright State’s head coach, always has his team ready to play and this team they have a little extra motivation: we beat them in the Horizon League Tournament Championship in order to go to the NCAA Championship.
This weekend will be extremely important for us, as two titans clash in order to top the conference standings. Come out and support us at The Hank as this weekend should be filled with some high intensity fun to watch baseball.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Road Show Continues ...
Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their fifth entry.
**********************************************************
Sunny with a chance of freezing...
Welcome back all! I am even welcoming Sam and I back, since we took the week off following our Ohio University stop due to the much-needed spring break. Our Ohio trip was lackluster, especially after going 1-3 on the weekend. Not much to be said there, so as we geared up for the week without classes and a ton of free time. There is no doubt we’d be energized to play some baseball in Fort Wayne, IN.
To say we were expecting a complete turnaround in weather, like we were traveling somewhere south, is a stretch. However, we definitely thought by heading a tad south and a tad east we could escape this Milwaukee bitterness. That was completely false. We jumped off the bus on Thursday following a five-hour ride and immediately called for our sweats. This past weekend was something out of the ordinary. We got into the hotel with some time to waste, which is a complete 180 considering we usually get in around 11 pm-1 am local time. Some of us took advantage of the time and went to the local Walmart which was close by. The deals at Walmart are totally worthwhile and I don’t understand how they don’t have a monopoly on the grocery industry yet, but nonetheless I loaded up with Powerade, beef jerky, cashews and some other goodies and got back to the hotel.
The next three days were kind of a blur. Maybe I can blame the cold weather or the long days, but really asking me to remember specific details of each game would be hard at best. What I can remember was how cold it was (20-30 degrees and 10-20 mph winds on any given day), how much I tried to forget about how cold it really was, the benefits of having a jet engine as a heater in the dugout, and our overall record on the weekend.
The first game was won, 5-4, after coming back in the later part of the game to take the lead and win. The second game we found ourselves on the bitter end of a 5-4 score, following a solid effort from Chad Pierce and Gunnar Eastman. I myself allowed the game-winning hit, but I (as for a lot of others) still will not agree with the 2-2 ball call by the umpire on the guy who got the hit. In the third game, a.k.a. the marathon game, we ending up winning, 5-1, following a suspension in the game due to darkness.
It was the second game of the doubleheader which was also supposed to be a seven-inning game. This game was tied at one all the way until the next day, Sunday, in the 12th inning, when we poured on four runs. In the fourth game we ended up struggling to get in a rhythm offensively and we lost 3-0. A weekend split at IPFW.
We can take alot out of the games we played this past weekend. There are areas of our game where we all need to improve. We are stressing it ten-fold considering our first conference series is this coming weekend at The Hank (<<< Home Field!!!).
There are certain aspects of this game that we cannot allow to happen and at times we struggle with disallowing them to happen, however, we are very confident in our abilities and are confident we will succeed. The record for us thus far is something that you can take with a grain of salt. We beat a couple big-time schools, and have played well against some as well. We also have “choked” or basically not played well in other games.
Our true identity is not made in these first 20 games, as we strive to becoming the best team we can as conference play begins. This weekend versus Butler is going to be very fun as well as very telling as to what type of team we’ll be. I urge you all to come out to The Hank (Hampton/Green Bay Ave.) and watch some quality baseball. Whether it is because you enjoy baseball, you know one of the guys on the team, or you just want to show support for a team that will never give up, we would definitely appreciate it!
Sivvy is taking the week off to complete some school work and whatnot. He’ll be back next week for sure to break down our hopeful series win versus Butler. Til next time!
Quick Thoughts From Blow ... this weather is stupid ... cold then warm then somewhat warm then super cold ... figure it out mother nature ... we want to practice and play at The Hank ... Opening day tomorrow!!! Go Brewers! Go Orioles! (<< Personal reasons) ... if MLB Opening day doesn’t get you in the mood for baseball, I don’t know what will ... our trainer Kevin “Flo” Florentino has a lot of sweet pairs of shoes ... my face is still wind/sun/both burned from this past weekend ... I wanna see Limitless, someone let me know if its good ... lastly, it’s gonna feel so amazing not having to travel on Thursday, get into a hotel, and play ... sleeping in my own bed, cooking my own meals and seeing family is gonna be a breath of fresh air this weekend! Good day to all!
They are back for their second go around and today is their fifth entry.
**********************************************************
Sunny with a chance of freezing...
Welcome back all! I am even welcoming Sam and I back, since we took the week off following our Ohio University stop due to the much-needed spring break. Our Ohio trip was lackluster, especially after going 1-3 on the weekend. Not much to be said there, so as we geared up for the week without classes and a ton of free time. There is no doubt we’d be energized to play some baseball in Fort Wayne, IN.
To say we were expecting a complete turnaround in weather, like we were traveling somewhere south, is a stretch. However, we definitely thought by heading a tad south and a tad east we could escape this Milwaukee bitterness. That was completely false. We jumped off the bus on Thursday following a five-hour ride and immediately called for our sweats. This past weekend was something out of the ordinary. We got into the hotel with some time to waste, which is a complete 180 considering we usually get in around 11 pm-1 am local time. Some of us took advantage of the time and went to the local Walmart which was close by. The deals at Walmart are totally worthwhile and I don’t understand how they don’t have a monopoly on the grocery industry yet, but nonetheless I loaded up with Powerade, beef jerky, cashews and some other goodies and got back to the hotel.
The next three days were kind of a blur. Maybe I can blame the cold weather or the long days, but really asking me to remember specific details of each game would be hard at best. What I can remember was how cold it was (20-30 degrees and 10-20 mph winds on any given day), how much I tried to forget about how cold it really was, the benefits of having a jet engine as a heater in the dugout, and our overall record on the weekend.
The first game was won, 5-4, after coming back in the later part of the game to take the lead and win. The second game we found ourselves on the bitter end of a 5-4 score, following a solid effort from Chad Pierce and Gunnar Eastman. I myself allowed the game-winning hit, but I (as for a lot of others) still will not agree with the 2-2 ball call by the umpire on the guy who got the hit. In the third game, a.k.a. the marathon game, we ending up winning, 5-1, following a suspension in the game due to darkness.
It was the second game of the doubleheader which was also supposed to be a seven-inning game. This game was tied at one all the way until the next day, Sunday, in the 12th inning, when we poured on four runs. In the fourth game we ended up struggling to get in a rhythm offensively and we lost 3-0. A weekend split at IPFW.
We can take alot out of the games we played this past weekend. There are areas of our game where we all need to improve. We are stressing it ten-fold considering our first conference series is this coming weekend at The Hank (<<< Home Field!!!).
There are certain aspects of this game that we cannot allow to happen and at times we struggle with disallowing them to happen, however, we are very confident in our abilities and are confident we will succeed. The record for us thus far is something that you can take with a grain of salt. We beat a couple big-time schools, and have played well against some as well. We also have “choked” or basically not played well in other games.
Our true identity is not made in these first 20 games, as we strive to becoming the best team we can as conference play begins. This weekend versus Butler is going to be very fun as well as very telling as to what type of team we’ll be. I urge you all to come out to The Hank (Hampton/Green Bay Ave.) and watch some quality baseball. Whether it is because you enjoy baseball, you know one of the guys on the team, or you just want to show support for a team that will never give up, we would definitely appreciate it!
Sivvy is taking the week off to complete some school work and whatnot. He’ll be back next week for sure to break down our hopeful series win versus Butler. Til next time!
Quick Thoughts From Blow ... this weather is stupid ... cold then warm then somewhat warm then super cold ... figure it out mother nature ... we want to practice and play at The Hank ... Opening day tomorrow!!! Go Brewers! Go Orioles! (<< Personal reasons) ... if MLB Opening day doesn’t get you in the mood for baseball, I don’t know what will ... our trainer Kevin “Flo” Florentino has a lot of sweet pairs of shoes ... my face is still wind/sun/both burned from this past weekend ... I wanna see Limitless, someone let me know if its good ... lastly, it’s gonna feel so amazing not having to travel on Thursday, get into a hotel, and play ... sleeping in my own bed, cooking my own meals and seeing family is gonna be a breath of fresh air this weekend! Good day to all!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
California Here We Come...
Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their fourth entry.
**********************************************************
Pump the brakes...
Another weekend for baseball and yet another tiring travel schedule. Boy oh boy, was Wednesday morning a riot. First of all, I was very happy to only have two days to dedicate to classes this past week. Second of all, it is, however, a very good way to get a little behind in a couple of classes. Oh well.
Wednesday started off as horribly as it could have, with a ton of snow. The snowflakes were literally the size of golf balls as we drove to the Klotsche Center to pack our bags in the bus that would pick us up at the College Avenue park and ride. Alas, there was no bus scheduled (or it just didn’t show up) to pick us up and eventually bring us to the airport. This seemed to be a problem, and if you knew anything about us you’d know we were clowning about it the whole time asking if we had to take cabs or hop on the city bus. Nonetheless, we have a good amount of guys who drive to the park and ride themselves, so getting the majority of us there was not the issue. It was getting the 30+ guys from the park and ride to the airport that was the issue. We had people dropping off others at the airport then turning around to pick up some more and eventually our assistant head coach Cory Bigler grabbed a UWM van to transport about 15 guys and all their bags to the airport.
Amid this cluster of testosterone and morning breath was the feeling of excitement and anxiety as well knowing we are headed to beautiful California but would have to hurdle the most debilitating obstacle of them all, the airport.
If you think getting 35 guys to the airport in a snowstorm was miserable, imagine getting 35 guys checked into a flight, getting their bags tagged and getting them all through security by the time our flight left at 9:40. My expectations were low for Airtran, based on all the horror stories one can hear about an airport. However, they really did a very good job at accommodating us. They had us check in and baggage stowed in the matter of 15 minutes, and since it was already 8:45 we really needed to high tail it through security. Turning the corner towards our gate and seeing the LONG line for the security checkpoint was not the best sight ever. To make a long story short, we made it through in time, barely, and we boarded the plane.
While in route to California we hit some minor bumps in the air and before we knew it we had landed. I have never been to Cali before and let me tell you, I could live there. It only took me about five minutes of being outside to decide that 65 and sunny was right for me (especially after what we’ve seen this winter). We landed in San Francisco, but our hotel was in San Jose, a 40 minute commute. We arrived in San Jose and drove through the downtown area anticipating our destination. We passed several very large and elegant hotels and thought “could it be” (Hangover reference) but to much of our avail we landed a much smaller, nice hotel in the Ramada. This place was about seven blocks away from the heart of downtown but had some eateries within walking distance, no one was going to complain since it was sunny and warm, we’ll walk anywhere in that.
We settled in around 1 pm and some of us decided to walk about the town, get some food, or what not. I went to a nice little diner that is comparable to a Big Boy. My roommate, Kyle Spurley, and I then trekked back to the hotel and continued on to pass out for a good four hours.
I’ll fast forward to the morning on Thursday where we ate some pretty plentiful continental breakfast, not to mention freshmen Ryan Solberg consumed half his body weight in waffles. We were leaving to go to the field at 3:15 so we had from 10 until then to do what we wanted, whether it was go for a walk to campus, or relax, we had some time to kill. I would love to continue on writing, however, I’m going to cut it short and somewhat give Sivvy a nice assignment for the rest. Exams and homework will catch up with ya in the whole scheme of things.
Really Quick Quick Thoughts ... San Jose is very nice, however I wouldn’t recommend that as a destination for a family vacation .... a 106-flavor soda machine must be brought to Milwaukee ... as does a Baja burrito Mexican food place thingy ... Kyle Spurley is the worst at MLB The Show 11 ... Gunnar Eastman needs to learn how to shuffle and deal cards quicker ... the UWM Union MUST get a Jamba Juice ... yummmmmmmmm ... Lastly, airport security is soooo annoying, and you can ask Josh Uhen about that, but it’s completely necessary. Thanks TSA for doing a great job at keeping us safe!
Here’s Siv..
Rejuvenated, and rested, I finally am able to collect my thoughts. Another disappointing weekend on the diamond side of things but a good experience for us all. Thursday evening we took on San Jose State. They came in as the #30 team in the country and basically took it to us. Offensively we were OK, but defensively and pitching the baseball was a let down. That message was reinforced after the game. We need to do a better job of playing all three phases of the game.
Ironically, the next day we came out and took a completely different approach against UC Davis. It started off in the morning, when we went on a nice 30 minute team jog around downtown San Jose. Surprisingly, to me at least, I wasn’t aware that San Jose had around 1 million people in the surrounding area. Huge city. Not what I was expecting at all. As we were running, I had the pleasure of sharing the jog with Coach Bigler and Chad Pierce. Running is never fun whether its for conditioning purposes or just to get a little jog in. Fortunately, with the sense of humor that Coach Bigler has and the collaboration of Pierce and myself throwing a few one-liners in there, the jog was actually quite pleasant. I also think its important to note that the “scenery” around San Jose is NOT bad at all either, which helps open your eyes to things a person might not always see, hahaha, which should be taken as a compliment to all the women out there!
On the baseball side of things, Jordan Guth did a great job keeping us in the game but we just couldn’t get our sticks going. UC Davis brought out a lefty throwing 84 mph, but had a very good mix of pitches. We just couldn’t seem to get anything going as his changeup basically kept us off balance all night. UC Davis was a solid team but were not overly impressive. On the other side, you have to tip your cap because they did nothing to beat themselves. They made all the routine plays and commanded the zone on the pitching side of things. One day it’s the pitching, the next day it’s the hitting. Right now we simply aren’t doing enough to deserve the breaks that other teams are getting.
Following the game against Davis, we went back to the hotel and basically sat around and reevaluated our season at that point. Mentally we needed to check ourselves and come out the next day and play good fundamental baseball against Santa Clara. Outside of our first trip to Tennessee, I’d say that our game against Santa Clara was our most complete game of the year. Chad Pierce gave us his best start of the year while throwing through an impingement in his right shoulder. He straight battled for us and had a “no hitter” through four-plus innings. Defensively, Sam Koenig made a number of great plays at third base that helped save and eliminate the potential for a few big innings for Santa Clara. We were having fun! Kids out there diving around in the dirt, beautiful weather, we were winning, it just seemed like our confidence was at its highest.
Offensively, we were only able to muster a couple of runs, but it was more than enough as we shut out Santa Clara and played a great all around the game. The weekend was looking half decent as we now had a chance to leave California with at least a split.
Unfortunately, Sunday was another disappointment. As we take a step forward, it's two steps backward. We need to hit the ground running and not stop. San Jose came out and put up a few runs in the first inning and the tempo was set. They continued to pile on a few more as the game went on and the offensive surge just couldn’t keep pace as we were playing from behind. They ended up going on to winning the game and closing the door on the opportunity to leave Cali with a split. At the conclusion of the game, our team meeting only provided more fireworks as we were informed of our 6:30 am conditioning session on Tuesday morning when we got home. NO FUN whatsoever.
Following the game, a former player of ours, Jeff Gordon, invited our entire team to some fine dining. Gordon’s father is an investor in a restaurant in Campbell, Calif. (a town next to San Jose), and we were gladly willing to chow on some fine dining. The food was excellent. The restaurant even had touch screen soda machines that had over 100 different flavors of soda. The coolest soda machine any of us had ever seen. The food was great, the atmosphere was fun, and we were able to relax and actually enjoy the trip a little bit more. A big thanks goes out to Jeff! Back to Milwaukee it was around 12:00 pm Pacific time (the team at the airport pictured). The plane was a little, typical way to end a weekend after losing three of four, and we did not reach Milwaukee until about 6:30 am local time.
A long weekend finally came to an end. This weekend we had to Athens, Ohio to take on Ohio University. A four game set is slated for the weekend. Continue to follow us and continue to support us. “Its not where you start the year but where you finish it.”
Thanks for following, and keep checking in for more!
They are back for their second go around and today is their fourth entry.
**********************************************************
Pump the brakes...
Another weekend for baseball and yet another tiring travel schedule. Boy oh boy, was Wednesday morning a riot. First of all, I was very happy to only have two days to dedicate to classes this past week. Second of all, it is, however, a very good way to get a little behind in a couple of classes. Oh well.
Wednesday started off as horribly as it could have, with a ton of snow. The snowflakes were literally the size of golf balls as we drove to the Klotsche Center to pack our bags in the bus that would pick us up at the College Avenue park and ride. Alas, there was no bus scheduled (or it just didn’t show up) to pick us up and eventually bring us to the airport. This seemed to be a problem, and if you knew anything about us you’d know we were clowning about it the whole time asking if we had to take cabs or hop on the city bus. Nonetheless, we have a good amount of guys who drive to the park and ride themselves, so getting the majority of us there was not the issue. It was getting the 30+ guys from the park and ride to the airport that was the issue. We had people dropping off others at the airport then turning around to pick up some more and eventually our assistant head coach Cory Bigler grabbed a UWM van to transport about 15 guys and all their bags to the airport.
Amid this cluster of testosterone and morning breath was the feeling of excitement and anxiety as well knowing we are headed to beautiful California but would have to hurdle the most debilitating obstacle of them all, the airport.
If you think getting 35 guys to the airport in a snowstorm was miserable, imagine getting 35 guys checked into a flight, getting their bags tagged and getting them all through security by the time our flight left at 9:40. My expectations were low for Airtran, based on all the horror stories one can hear about an airport. However, they really did a very good job at accommodating us. They had us check in and baggage stowed in the matter of 15 minutes, and since it was already 8:45 we really needed to high tail it through security. Turning the corner towards our gate and seeing the LONG line for the security checkpoint was not the best sight ever. To make a long story short, we made it through in time, barely, and we boarded the plane.
While in route to California we hit some minor bumps in the air and before we knew it we had landed. I have never been to Cali before and let me tell you, I could live there. It only took me about five minutes of being outside to decide that 65 and sunny was right for me (especially after what we’ve seen this winter). We landed in San Francisco, but our hotel was in San Jose, a 40 minute commute. We arrived in San Jose and drove through the downtown area anticipating our destination. We passed several very large and elegant hotels and thought “could it be” (Hangover reference) but to much of our avail we landed a much smaller, nice hotel in the Ramada. This place was about seven blocks away from the heart of downtown but had some eateries within walking distance, no one was going to complain since it was sunny and warm, we’ll walk anywhere in that.
We settled in around 1 pm and some of us decided to walk about the town, get some food, or what not. I went to a nice little diner that is comparable to a Big Boy. My roommate, Kyle Spurley, and I then trekked back to the hotel and continued on to pass out for a good four hours.
I’ll fast forward to the morning on Thursday where we ate some pretty plentiful continental breakfast, not to mention freshmen Ryan Solberg consumed half his body weight in waffles. We were leaving to go to the field at 3:15 so we had from 10 until then to do what we wanted, whether it was go for a walk to campus, or relax, we had some time to kill. I would love to continue on writing, however, I’m going to cut it short and somewhat give Sivvy a nice assignment for the rest. Exams and homework will catch up with ya in the whole scheme of things.
Really Quick Quick Thoughts ... San Jose is very nice, however I wouldn’t recommend that as a destination for a family vacation .... a 106-flavor soda machine must be brought to Milwaukee ... as does a Baja burrito Mexican food place thingy ... Kyle Spurley is the worst at MLB The Show 11 ... Gunnar Eastman needs to learn how to shuffle and deal cards quicker ... the UWM Union MUST get a Jamba Juice ... yummmmmmmmm ... Lastly, airport security is soooo annoying, and you can ask Josh Uhen about that, but it’s completely necessary. Thanks TSA for doing a great job at keeping us safe!
Here’s Siv..
Rejuvenated, and rested, I finally am able to collect my thoughts. Another disappointing weekend on the diamond side of things but a good experience for us all. Thursday evening we took on San Jose State. They came in as the #30 team in the country and basically took it to us. Offensively we were OK, but defensively and pitching the baseball was a let down. That message was reinforced after the game. We need to do a better job of playing all three phases of the game.
Ironically, the next day we came out and took a completely different approach against UC Davis. It started off in the morning, when we went on a nice 30 minute team jog around downtown San Jose. Surprisingly, to me at least, I wasn’t aware that San Jose had around 1 million people in the surrounding area. Huge city. Not what I was expecting at all. As we were running, I had the pleasure of sharing the jog with Coach Bigler and Chad Pierce. Running is never fun whether its for conditioning purposes or just to get a little jog in. Fortunately, with the sense of humor that Coach Bigler has and the collaboration of Pierce and myself throwing a few one-liners in there, the jog was actually quite pleasant. I also think its important to note that the “scenery” around San Jose is NOT bad at all either, which helps open your eyes to things a person might not always see, hahaha, which should be taken as a compliment to all the women out there!
On the baseball side of things, Jordan Guth did a great job keeping us in the game but we just couldn’t get our sticks going. UC Davis brought out a lefty throwing 84 mph, but had a very good mix of pitches. We just couldn’t seem to get anything going as his changeup basically kept us off balance all night. UC Davis was a solid team but were not overly impressive. On the other side, you have to tip your cap because they did nothing to beat themselves. They made all the routine plays and commanded the zone on the pitching side of things. One day it’s the pitching, the next day it’s the hitting. Right now we simply aren’t doing enough to deserve the breaks that other teams are getting.
Following the game against Davis, we went back to the hotel and basically sat around and reevaluated our season at that point. Mentally we needed to check ourselves and come out the next day and play good fundamental baseball against Santa Clara. Outside of our first trip to Tennessee, I’d say that our game against Santa Clara was our most complete game of the year. Chad Pierce gave us his best start of the year while throwing through an impingement in his right shoulder. He straight battled for us and had a “no hitter” through four-plus innings. Defensively, Sam Koenig made a number of great plays at third base that helped save and eliminate the potential for a few big innings for Santa Clara. We were having fun! Kids out there diving around in the dirt, beautiful weather, we were winning, it just seemed like our confidence was at its highest.
Offensively, we were only able to muster a couple of runs, but it was more than enough as we shut out Santa Clara and played a great all around the game. The weekend was looking half decent as we now had a chance to leave California with at least a split.
Unfortunately, Sunday was another disappointment. As we take a step forward, it's two steps backward. We need to hit the ground running and not stop. San Jose came out and put up a few runs in the first inning and the tempo was set. They continued to pile on a few more as the game went on and the offensive surge just couldn’t keep pace as we were playing from behind. They ended up going on to winning the game and closing the door on the opportunity to leave Cali with a split. At the conclusion of the game, our team meeting only provided more fireworks as we were informed of our 6:30 am conditioning session on Tuesday morning when we got home. NO FUN whatsoever.
Following the game, a former player of ours, Jeff Gordon, invited our entire team to some fine dining. Gordon’s father is an investor in a restaurant in Campbell, Calif. (a town next to San Jose), and we were gladly willing to chow on some fine dining. The food was excellent. The restaurant even had touch screen soda machines that had over 100 different flavors of soda. The coolest soda machine any of us had ever seen. The food was great, the atmosphere was fun, and we were able to relax and actually enjoy the trip a little bit more. A big thanks goes out to Jeff! Back to Milwaukee it was around 12:00 pm Pacific time (the team at the airport pictured). The plane was a little, typical way to end a weekend after losing three of four, and we did not reach Milwaukee until about 6:30 am local time. A long weekend finally came to an end. This weekend we had to Athens, Ohio to take on Ohio University. A four game set is slated for the weekend. Continue to follow us and continue to support us. “Its not where you start the year but where you finish it.”
Thanks for following, and keep checking in for more!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Is it Spring Yet?!?
Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their third entry.
**********************************************************
Holy Barnacle Batman...
What a totally random title for this weeks "Diamond Chronicles". If I could choose a word for the past two weeks, 'random' would be up there. Starting in Clarksville, Tennessee, with two games cancelled due to weather and our lone game on Sunday lengthened by rain delays and numerous “lightning is within 10 miles” warnings.
The doozie, however, was in the 10th inning - Illinois State had two runners on with no outs and, alas, another lightning warning that actually turned into us retreating into the gym due to the tornado sirens blaring outside. As we watched two Austin Peay basketball players shoot around and quite frankly in unimpressive fashion, not dunk, we wondered if the field would still be around when we returned. Long story short, it was, and that game is history. The final game vs. Austin Peay was cancelled and we returned home.
Siv and I did not ignore the Diamond Chronicles this past week. We were actually caught in a very tough position with the amount of schoolwork we had to finish before the Thursday bus departure time. We apologize for not fulfilling our duties as far as blogging goes however, to be brutally honest, we wouldn’t have much good to say. As far as this weekend in Arkansas goes, the same could be said, but we’ll do our best to describe how the team is feeling as a whole following it.
We departed at noon on Thursday and made our way on a 12-hour (or 10, or 14, or 11, depending on which guy on the team you talk to) trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Movies, cards, dumb bus games and some school work later, we arrived and checked into the Clarion Inn.
We all practically hit the sheets right away with the exception of a couple rooms who took the opportunity to stay up a little later to become more acclimated with one another. Breakfast, busing and batting practice all concluded we found ourselves standing on the line at Baum Stadium for the national anthem. It was a really hard fought game, and we gave them everything they could handle and then some, however as you can see we came out on the wrong end of the result. This loss definitely left us with a sour taste in our mouth because of our overwhelming ability to beat ourselves. At this point I can confidentially say that we have yet to really get beaten. We have found a way to break down, one way or another, during the course of two or three innings and give the opposing team the advantage.
It is staggering to see how hard we work and fight during practice and games to get better only to take a step backward during a select 10 minutes of a game. We dug ourselves a six-run deficit early on and proudly we climbed back into the game only to see our efforts squashed following a few walks, errors and a balk in there and lose, 15-6. That final score was not indicative of the game whatsoever. But whatever right, we had to bite our lip and come out with a chip on our shoulder the next day and play the game we love.
Saturday’s game was one that I thought would end in a 20-19 score. The way that both teams scored runs in the first half of the game was scary. Our offense jumped out to a lead only to see it go away. We then built up another lead of three to only see the same happen. That game ended 13-9 which slowed from my anticipated final, but was still a high-scoring game, especially since the new bats this year.
That game featured nine total errors (three for us and six for them) and a handful of walks and hit batsmen. It was another game in which we left with a sour taste in our mouths. We felt embarrassed to be out there for two straight days and perform the same way both days. We mimicked our game one mistakes and mental mishaps and probably added a couple new mistakes. It really isn’t a good feeling, as some of you can attest, to be in the driver's seat of a game to only see the momentum shift so dramatically that you feel as though you’ve had no say in it.
That's how I feel the game went, one momentum swing after another. But hey, we still have another game to play, and we can only log this game into our memory bank and continue onward. Our goal is to continue to get better day after day while playing baseball the right way, whether that is taking a positive and repeating it or taking a negative, such as the last two games, and learn from it.
Quick Thoughts from Blow...The dumb bus games we play (hat game, travel game, “shooting game..?”, camping game, and “this is how you play the game” game) are really fun to do with the freshmen, especially when they are completely flabbergasted ... the expression is priceless ... however, last year pitcher Cale Tassi was sooo confused and mad he went and looked up on google the different games while on the bus, so he didn’t feel left out. Can you say bush league?! ... Freshmen Mike Porcaro is yet to grab the rim ... we’re waiting Mikey P ... Arkansas is a really fun place to play but I hate it so much ... thanks a ton to the Candyman who takes pictures for the opposing teams and brings them treats (tootsie rolls, jolly ranchers, bubbleyum, and even better Peanut butter cookies). We need to get some Diamond Girl tryouts at UWM ... the Clarion Inn was better last year ... mainly because NCAA’s for Track and Field were held at Arkansas and everyone stayed there ... made for a sweet hotel atmosphere ... lastly, I wanna thank The Dave Matthews Band for keeping my sanity on this bus ride ... there is a certain artist and song for everyone, I urge you to find yours. Dave Matthews Band “What You Are” is mine...
Here’s Sam…
Alright everyone, back from a week off and boy do we have some things to catch up on. As Blow mentioned, our week of absence was not intentional but merely influenced by the amount of homework and tests we had to prepare for. All in all, we have been pretty busy between traveling, playing ball and maintain our school schedules. With that being said, we have been playing some baseball along the way.
Blow mentioned our trip to Austin Peay. Definitely was not the results we were looking for. The first game was a total debacle … simply didn’t pitch the ball, hit the ball or field the ball efficiently enough to give ourselves a chance to win.
Ironically, Sunday’s game with Illinois State was the complete opposite of the first game for the first 24 outs. Illinois State took it to us on Saturday, but we came out with something to prove. We wanted to earn some respect and dignity back. We played well and endured the two or three rain/tornado delays that took place throughout the day. Unfortunately, with an 8-4 lead going into the top of the ninth it simply wasn’t enough. They ended up scoring four in the top half and took the game into extra innings. We managed to shut them down in the tenth but as another tornado warning came through the area we needed to the clear the field. All three teams (Illinois State, Austin Peay and us) went into the Dunn Center, Austin Peay's Basketball Arena, and had a little comedic relief watching some of their basketball and football players shoot around.
Eventually, we took the field an hour and a half later and weren’t able to hold off the storm as Illinois State scored five in the top of the 11th to cap off the day with a sour taste in our mouths.
Practice that week was not fun or entertaining to say the least. A lot of groundballs, mechanical work and running was essentially the agenda for the week. We knew we had something coming after the poor performances over the weekend. Although a little hot and bothered by the performance on the weekend the coaches and players alike understood that we needed to put that behind us and prepare for the nationally-ranked Razorbacks.
On to the bus again Thursday and another journey in front of us.
We arrived in Fayetteville, AR, late Thursday evening and received our room assignments. Everyone pretty much went to bed except maybe myself, Doug Dekoning and Eric King. Instead of sacking up for the night and getting some quality sleep we decided to watch four consecutive episodes of “U.S. Marshalls” on A&E and bunked up around 3:00 in the morning. The next morning and the next three days consisted of the same thing. Up early, eat breakfast, get to the field, play our game and back to the hotel and off to dinner. The three game set had its fair share of ups and downs. Blow did a good job of summarizing so I would prefer to not relive the replays of those games considering we could of came out of there with a series win.
Up next, the California sunshine as we head to the west coast to play four games against San Jose State, Santa Clara and UC Davis. Follow us along the way and we will be more efficient in our postings as this one took a while. Once again, we will keep grinding it out, stick with us and the results will be there when its all said and done. Remember its not where you start the year but where you finish it! We’ll see you all next week!
They are back for their second go around and today is their third entry.
**********************************************************
Holy Barnacle Batman...
What a totally random title for this weeks "Diamond Chronicles". If I could choose a word for the past two weeks, 'random' would be up there. Starting in Clarksville, Tennessee, with two games cancelled due to weather and our lone game on Sunday lengthened by rain delays and numerous “lightning is within 10 miles” warnings.
The doozie, however, was in the 10th inning - Illinois State had two runners on with no outs and, alas, another lightning warning that actually turned into us retreating into the gym due to the tornado sirens blaring outside. As we watched two Austin Peay basketball players shoot around and quite frankly in unimpressive fashion, not dunk, we wondered if the field would still be around when we returned. Long story short, it was, and that game is history. The final game vs. Austin Peay was cancelled and we returned home.
Siv and I did not ignore the Diamond Chronicles this past week. We were actually caught in a very tough position with the amount of schoolwork we had to finish before the Thursday bus departure time. We apologize for not fulfilling our duties as far as blogging goes however, to be brutally honest, we wouldn’t have much good to say. As far as this weekend in Arkansas goes, the same could be said, but we’ll do our best to describe how the team is feeling as a whole following it.
We departed at noon on Thursday and made our way on a 12-hour (or 10, or 14, or 11, depending on which guy on the team you talk to) trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Movies, cards, dumb bus games and some school work later, we arrived and checked into the Clarion Inn.
We all practically hit the sheets right away with the exception of a couple rooms who took the opportunity to stay up a little later to become more acclimated with one another. Breakfast, busing and batting practice all concluded we found ourselves standing on the line at Baum Stadium for the national anthem. It was a really hard fought game, and we gave them everything they could handle and then some, however as you can see we came out on the wrong end of the result. This loss definitely left us with a sour taste in our mouth because of our overwhelming ability to beat ourselves. At this point I can confidentially say that we have yet to really get beaten. We have found a way to break down, one way or another, during the course of two or three innings and give the opposing team the advantage.
It is staggering to see how hard we work and fight during practice and games to get better only to take a step backward during a select 10 minutes of a game. We dug ourselves a six-run deficit early on and proudly we climbed back into the game only to see our efforts squashed following a few walks, errors and a balk in there and lose, 15-6. That final score was not indicative of the game whatsoever. But whatever right, we had to bite our lip and come out with a chip on our shoulder the next day and play the game we love.
Saturday’s game was one that I thought would end in a 20-19 score. The way that both teams scored runs in the first half of the game was scary. Our offense jumped out to a lead only to see it go away. We then built up another lead of three to only see the same happen. That game ended 13-9 which slowed from my anticipated final, but was still a high-scoring game, especially since the new bats this year.
That game featured nine total errors (three for us and six for them) and a handful of walks and hit batsmen. It was another game in which we left with a sour taste in our mouths. We felt embarrassed to be out there for two straight days and perform the same way both days. We mimicked our game one mistakes and mental mishaps and probably added a couple new mistakes. It really isn’t a good feeling, as some of you can attest, to be in the driver's seat of a game to only see the momentum shift so dramatically that you feel as though you’ve had no say in it.
That's how I feel the game went, one momentum swing after another. But hey, we still have another game to play, and we can only log this game into our memory bank and continue onward. Our goal is to continue to get better day after day while playing baseball the right way, whether that is taking a positive and repeating it or taking a negative, such as the last two games, and learn from it.
Quick Thoughts from Blow...The dumb bus games we play (hat game, travel game, “shooting game..?”, camping game, and “this is how you play the game” game) are really fun to do with the freshmen, especially when they are completely flabbergasted ... the expression is priceless ... however, last year pitcher Cale Tassi was sooo confused and mad he went and looked up on google the different games while on the bus, so he didn’t feel left out. Can you say bush league?! ... Freshmen Mike Porcaro is yet to grab the rim ... we’re waiting Mikey P ... Arkansas is a really fun place to play but I hate it so much ... thanks a ton to the Candyman who takes pictures for the opposing teams and brings them treats (tootsie rolls, jolly ranchers, bubbleyum, and even better Peanut butter cookies). We need to get some Diamond Girl tryouts at UWM ... the Clarion Inn was better last year ... mainly because NCAA’s for Track and Field were held at Arkansas and everyone stayed there ... made for a sweet hotel atmosphere ... lastly, I wanna thank The Dave Matthews Band for keeping my sanity on this bus ride ... there is a certain artist and song for everyone, I urge you to find yours. Dave Matthews Band “What You Are” is mine...
Here’s Sam…
Alright everyone, back from a week off and boy do we have some things to catch up on. As Blow mentioned, our week of absence was not intentional but merely influenced by the amount of homework and tests we had to prepare for. All in all, we have been pretty busy between traveling, playing ball and maintain our school schedules. With that being said, we have been playing some baseball along the way.
Blow mentioned our trip to Austin Peay. Definitely was not the results we were looking for. The first game was a total debacle … simply didn’t pitch the ball, hit the ball or field the ball efficiently enough to give ourselves a chance to win.
Ironically, Sunday’s game with Illinois State was the complete opposite of the first game for the first 24 outs. Illinois State took it to us on Saturday, but we came out with something to prove. We wanted to earn some respect and dignity back. We played well and endured the two or three rain/tornado delays that took place throughout the day. Unfortunately, with an 8-4 lead going into the top of the ninth it simply wasn’t enough. They ended up scoring four in the top half and took the game into extra innings. We managed to shut them down in the tenth but as another tornado warning came through the area we needed to the clear the field. All three teams (Illinois State, Austin Peay and us) went into the Dunn Center, Austin Peay's Basketball Arena, and had a little comedic relief watching some of their basketball and football players shoot around.
Eventually, we took the field an hour and a half later and weren’t able to hold off the storm as Illinois State scored five in the top of the 11th to cap off the day with a sour taste in our mouths.
Practice that week was not fun or entertaining to say the least. A lot of groundballs, mechanical work and running was essentially the agenda for the week. We knew we had something coming after the poor performances over the weekend. Although a little hot and bothered by the performance on the weekend the coaches and players alike understood that we needed to put that behind us and prepare for the nationally-ranked Razorbacks.
On to the bus again Thursday and another journey in front of us.
We arrived in Fayetteville, AR, late Thursday evening and received our room assignments. Everyone pretty much went to bed except maybe myself, Doug Dekoning and Eric King. Instead of sacking up for the night and getting some quality sleep we decided to watch four consecutive episodes of “U.S. Marshalls” on A&E and bunked up around 3:00 in the morning. The next morning and the next three days consisted of the same thing. Up early, eat breakfast, get to the field, play our game and back to the hotel and off to dinner. The three game set had its fair share of ups and downs. Blow did a good job of summarizing so I would prefer to not relive the replays of those games considering we could of came out of there with a series win.
Up next, the California sunshine as we head to the west coast to play four games against San Jose State, Santa Clara and UC Davis. Follow us along the way and we will be more efficient in our postings as this one took a while. Once again, we will keep grinding it out, stick with us and the results will be there when its all said and done. Remember its not where you start the year but where you finish it! We’ll see you all next week!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Gameday!
Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their second entry.
**********************************************************
Rocky Top ... what does that even mean?
Hey, its Blow (Greg Blohowiak), I first would like to thank those who took time to make the trip to Knoxville for us, as well as those who took time out of their day to watch us on GameTracker, live feed, or listen to the game online. Your support means a lot to us and we are not about to disappoint our fans.
Secondly, that was a great weekend, weather-wise, for baseball. Wow, Tennessee you did your job of being nice and warm and I can be the first to tell you we have guys coming home with sunburn.
Thirdly, Siv and I are gonna change the structure of the Diamond Chronicles. Instead of basically going play-for-play in each game, we’ll instead give you the gist of it. I'm sure for those who are reading it were ones watching the games or at least took time out to check out the box scores. I'll just cover the first two games and add some other tidbits about the weekend.
I can honestly say I was looking forward to this 11-hour bus ride. I had so many things I could do to keep me occupied, so I was geared up and ready to go. Needless to say, I didn’t get to do all those things I wanted to and the 11 hours felt more like three. I’m sure it was all the anticipation of playing the first series of the year against an SEC opponent - but hey, I can’t complain. We made it to the hotel around 1:30 eastern time and they placed us at the Airport Hilton with NO food options within walking distance.
We would have to take the shuttle in order to grab some grub for breakfast or whatnot. Oh well, we got our room assignments and got to bed, as we were all tired from that cramped bus. It is now Friday and we have to leave the hotel by 11:45 a.m. so we can get some early ground balls and fly balls since we’ve been in the good ol' Klotsche Center for the last three months we had to gauge the field of play. The Volunteers field/stadium was pretty nice and, according to Chad Pierce (former Arkansas Razorback), it is in the middle of the road as far as SEC standards go. By ours, it is pretty much pristine.
So we get to BP and get that over with and line up for the National Anthem. All the preparation in the past six months is culminated in this song. Anticipation is at an all-time high at this point and our team is geared up and ready to go. To make a long story short we made a couple mistakes in the game and ending up losing it 4-0. And that is exactly what it was, us losing it, not Tennessee winning it. We gave them three outs on the bases and in the inning where they blew up for three runs we walked a batter and hit one as well. And, anyone who plays can tell you those add up really quick. We were very disappointed, however, we had so much to be encouraged about - our pitching was solid and we belted out 10 hits. We just had to brush off the indoor dust and get better the next day.
After the game we all got pizzas and made our way back to the hotel. Some of us visited with family members, went swimming or in the 2-foot by 2-foot hot tub, or played cards. Before I knew it we were up and showering in time for the next game.
We went to the field and got ourselves ready for the game and eventually ended up dropping the decision, 7-6. We played much better than Friday, as our bats woke up in clutch situations. However, we gave up a couple big innings with some free bases. That has been the issue the past couple games, free bases. The worst thing you can do after you have a momentum swing to your side, and that’s walk a batter to begin the next inning - and I feel like that was almost customary for us. The little things in baseball are going to kill ya, and we were perfect examples of that. We had the worst tastes in our mouths following this game because we feel as though we outplayed them in both contests, but failed to show for it in our record. We were however, again encouraged with the outcome but not happy with the loss. Our thinking at this point is that we have to come out on Sunday and perform at the top of our game, to show the Volunteers what our identity, or brand of baseball really is. If I could reiterate one thing that Coach Doffek relays to us is that we have to develop an identity, and tough road games versus opponents such as Tennessee can further enhance that.
For our dinner that night we went to the best buffet east of the Mississippi, Ryans Steak and Buffet. That was about it for the night, other than more cards being played and hanging out around the hotel there is not much to be said, before I hand it off to Siv.
Quick thoughts from Blow ... shout out to Brian Morgan, the sole man holding down the ticket office over at UWM, keep doing quality work and we’ll keep getting wins ... there is nothing like walking into a buffet with 20+ guys and have all eyes on you ... it's kind of eerie, but now I know what it was like when I saw Brett Favre in church on Christmas Eve of '07 ... once again, our redshirt freshman Mike Porcaro - aka Mikey P - cannot grab rim ... cowtails are among my favorite candies, probably fourth behind sour patch kids, sour jolly ranchers, and Mike n' Ikes ... our assistant head coach/pitching coach might have a sweeter tooth than I do ... lastly, even though we complain about long bus rides, we all embrace it and end up enjoying the camaraderie ... here's Sam.
Thanks Blow, games one and two were great disappointments as far as outcomes, but encouraging in the sense that we were competitive. Blow talked about our identity. What is our identity? Not really sure at this point but we are going to figure it out. This team grinds it out, as can be seen in the first two games. If you were to read anything the Tennessee head coach released in his preseason media day, you would have thought we were going to play the Yankees. Come on, really? I personally think that we gave them everything they could handle. Whether they see it that way is unknown, but we know that we gave away games one and two.
Game three was a different story. We came out with a little different expectation…to win. If one thing is going to help establish our identity, it is the ability to come out and play fundamental baseball day in and day out, grinding out at bats, throwing strikes, and making routine plays on the defensive side of the ball. In the long run, this will keep us in games and get W’s more times than not.
Sunday was a perfect example in the finale of the series. We got ahead early and never looked back. There was some adversity in the middle innings of the game but we overcame the unsportsmanlike crowd and their threat. Regardless, we got a win.
Going 1-2 was not the goal going into the weekend, but there were positives throughout the weekend. This team has the potential to exceed expectations and be a really sound squad if we continue to strive for success. We have to keep our eye on the bigger picture (winning conference) and along the way we are going to surprise some people and turn a few heads. A little snapshot can be taken away from this trip. The boys from Tennessee are playing outdoors practically 12 months of the year, have an unbelievable field, indoor turf hitting and pitching facilities, a strength coach designated just for the baseball team and a quality environment – all the factors that would lead a person to believe that they would come out and smoke us ... not happening with the mental makeup of this team.
We’ve been inside for six months, groundballs off of a gym floor, live hitting with a white back drop which makes it nearly impossible to see the ball and the daily grind of being a team from the North. Nonetheless, we use none of these things as excuses and have the expectation to win. We will continue to improve, make adjustments and grow as a team. Stick with us. The support is appreciated.
We want to make this a memorable season, and the only way to do that is by working hard. This team will not give in and we’ll see where were at when the season concludes. Find a way! – Our team motto … find a way to keep following and we will find a way to put an entertaining product on the field. As we grow and the support grows, the program grows. This is the only Division 1 Baseball program in the state and we will continue to strive to make a name for the Panthers and attract the support that this team and program deserves.
Thanks for everything and let's go win a series this weekend and comeback for some more fun next week.
They are back for their second go around and today is their second entry.
**********************************************************
Rocky Top ... what does that even mean?
Hey, its Blow (Greg Blohowiak), I first would like to thank those who took time to make the trip to Knoxville for us, as well as those who took time out of their day to watch us on GameTracker, live feed, or listen to the game online. Your support means a lot to us and we are not about to disappoint our fans.
Secondly, that was a great weekend, weather-wise, for baseball. Wow, Tennessee you did your job of being nice and warm and I can be the first to tell you we have guys coming home with sunburn.
Thirdly, Siv and I are gonna change the structure of the Diamond Chronicles. Instead of basically going play-for-play in each game, we’ll instead give you the gist of it. I'm sure for those who are reading it were ones watching the games or at least took time out to check out the box scores. I'll just cover the first two games and add some other tidbits about the weekend.
I can honestly say I was looking forward to this 11-hour bus ride. I had so many things I could do to keep me occupied, so I was geared up and ready to go. Needless to say, I didn’t get to do all those things I wanted to and the 11 hours felt more like three. I’m sure it was all the anticipation of playing the first series of the year against an SEC opponent - but hey, I can’t complain. We made it to the hotel around 1:30 eastern time and they placed us at the Airport Hilton with NO food options within walking distance.
We would have to take the shuttle in order to grab some grub for breakfast or whatnot. Oh well, we got our room assignments and got to bed, as we were all tired from that cramped bus. It is now Friday and we have to leave the hotel by 11:45 a.m. so we can get some early ground balls and fly balls since we’ve been in the good ol' Klotsche Center for the last three months we had to gauge the field of play. The Volunteers field/stadium was pretty nice and, according to Chad Pierce (former Arkansas Razorback), it is in the middle of the road as far as SEC standards go. By ours, it is pretty much pristine.
So we get to BP and get that over with and line up for the National Anthem. All the preparation in the past six months is culminated in this song. Anticipation is at an all-time high at this point and our team is geared up and ready to go. To make a long story short we made a couple mistakes in the game and ending up losing it 4-0. And that is exactly what it was, us losing it, not Tennessee winning it. We gave them three outs on the bases and in the inning where they blew up for three runs we walked a batter and hit one as well. And, anyone who plays can tell you those add up really quick. We were very disappointed, however, we had so much to be encouraged about - our pitching was solid and we belted out 10 hits. We just had to brush off the indoor dust and get better the next day.
After the game we all got pizzas and made our way back to the hotel. Some of us visited with family members, went swimming or in the 2-foot by 2-foot hot tub, or played cards. Before I knew it we were up and showering in time for the next game.
We went to the field and got ourselves ready for the game and eventually ended up dropping the decision, 7-6. We played much better than Friday, as our bats woke up in clutch situations. However, we gave up a couple big innings with some free bases. That has been the issue the past couple games, free bases. The worst thing you can do after you have a momentum swing to your side, and that’s walk a batter to begin the next inning - and I feel like that was almost customary for us. The little things in baseball are going to kill ya, and we were perfect examples of that. We had the worst tastes in our mouths following this game because we feel as though we outplayed them in both contests, but failed to show for it in our record. We were however, again encouraged with the outcome but not happy with the loss. Our thinking at this point is that we have to come out on Sunday and perform at the top of our game, to show the Volunteers what our identity, or brand of baseball really is. If I could reiterate one thing that Coach Doffek relays to us is that we have to develop an identity, and tough road games versus opponents such as Tennessee can further enhance that.
For our dinner that night we went to the best buffet east of the Mississippi, Ryans Steak and Buffet. That was about it for the night, other than more cards being played and hanging out around the hotel there is not much to be said, before I hand it off to Siv.
Quick thoughts from Blow ... shout out to Brian Morgan, the sole man holding down the ticket office over at UWM, keep doing quality work and we’ll keep getting wins ... there is nothing like walking into a buffet with 20+ guys and have all eyes on you ... it's kind of eerie, but now I know what it was like when I saw Brett Favre in church on Christmas Eve of '07 ... once again, our redshirt freshman Mike Porcaro - aka Mikey P - cannot grab rim ... cowtails are among my favorite candies, probably fourth behind sour patch kids, sour jolly ranchers, and Mike n' Ikes ... our assistant head coach/pitching coach might have a sweeter tooth than I do ... lastly, even though we complain about long bus rides, we all embrace it and end up enjoying the camaraderie ... here's Sam.
Thanks Blow, games one and two were great disappointments as far as outcomes, but encouraging in the sense that we were competitive. Blow talked about our identity. What is our identity? Not really sure at this point but we are going to figure it out. This team grinds it out, as can be seen in the first two games. If you were to read anything the Tennessee head coach released in his preseason media day, you would have thought we were going to play the Yankees. Come on, really? I personally think that we gave them everything they could handle. Whether they see it that way is unknown, but we know that we gave away games one and two.
Game three was a different story. We came out with a little different expectation…to win. If one thing is going to help establish our identity, it is the ability to come out and play fundamental baseball day in and day out, grinding out at bats, throwing strikes, and making routine plays on the defensive side of the ball. In the long run, this will keep us in games and get W’s more times than not.
Sunday was a perfect example in the finale of the series. We got ahead early and never looked back. There was some adversity in the middle innings of the game but we overcame the unsportsmanlike crowd and their threat. Regardless, we got a win.
Going 1-2 was not the goal going into the weekend, but there were positives throughout the weekend. This team has the potential to exceed expectations and be a really sound squad if we continue to strive for success. We have to keep our eye on the bigger picture (winning conference) and along the way we are going to surprise some people and turn a few heads. A little snapshot can be taken away from this trip. The boys from Tennessee are playing outdoors practically 12 months of the year, have an unbelievable field, indoor turf hitting and pitching facilities, a strength coach designated just for the baseball team and a quality environment – all the factors that would lead a person to believe that they would come out and smoke us ... not happening with the mental makeup of this team.
We’ve been inside for six months, groundballs off of a gym floor, live hitting with a white back drop which makes it nearly impossible to see the ball and the daily grind of being a team from the North. Nonetheless, we use none of these things as excuses and have the expectation to win. We will continue to improve, make adjustments and grow as a team. Stick with us. The support is appreciated.
We want to make this a memorable season, and the only way to do that is by working hard. This team will not give in and we’ll see where were at when the season concludes. Find a way! – Our team motto … find a way to keep following and we will find a way to put an entertaining product on the field. As we grow and the support grows, the program grows. This is the only Division 1 Baseball program in the state and we will continue to strive to make a name for the Panthers and attract the support that this team and program deserves.
Thanks for everything and let's go win a series this weekend and comeback for some more fun next week.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The season is upon us ...
Senior Sam Sivilotti and junior Greg Blohowiak, members of the Milwaukee baseball team, will once again be blogging all season long on the UWM website.
They are back for their second go around and today is their first entry.
**********************************************************
Hey everybody, Greg Blohowiak (Blow) here with your 2011 installment of the “Diamond Chronicles”, featuring myself and Sam Sivilotti (Siv). We are welcoming you on the behalf of the team to our journey this season as we defend our Horizon League tournament championship crown.
First things first, that was a pretty fun season last year and I know that I didn’t get a chance to complete the blog. But, if I could think of one word to describe last year it would have to be 'definitive'. As the year progressed, we as a ball club, were defined by our timely hitting and complete pitching. We attribute our success to hard work and dedication throughout the year, as well as the preseason.
We thank all of you who took time out of your busy schedules to come out and watch us, wherever it may be (shout out to Bobby D. himself!), or if you watched on GameTracker. We appreciate all the support you’ve shown us along the way and look forward to the continuing support this season.
In a quick summary of the fall, we played outside and had fun while getting better everyday, making it that much harder for our coaches to make decisions on who should play, who should pitch and whatnot. The winter is always fun, hanging out inside the good ole Klotsche Center, doing live pitching sessions inside of a cage, as well as taking ground balls on that wood floor. It is a completely different atmosphere inside that place, which is good for us in a way. The floor kicks balls much quicker than outside, the white walls make it much harder to see and hit. We learn to adapt to these conditions and in the long run it makes us much better as players. Ask any of the hitters if they would rather hit in a cage or outside and they would tell you outside. Then ask them how much easier it is to hit outside following the winter months we deal with, and they would answer something like “the ball seems slower” or “the ball seems so much bigger”. It is very beneficial to be indoors during the winter months, but there is nothing like putting your spikes on and feeling them dig into the ground as you run.
As for our team this year, we have alot of talent. Our returning players are ready to build on last year's success and the newcomers are very excited to compete for a championship again. Our expectations remain the same year in and out, get better everyday and win the conference championship. We are told almost daily that this is a group of players with the most potential/talent that have been through the doors and we want to reach our ceiling, all of us, in order to return to the NCAA’s. We are very much looking forward to this next weekend as we head to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on an SEC opponent in the Tennessee Volunteers. We are very anxious to show the world what the only division I baseball team in Wisconsin has to offer and let the NCAA baseball community know we’re here to stay.
I look forward to reaching out to you all throughout the season, through the ups and downs, as well as giving a little insight to the 2011 Panthers. If you have any questions of sorts to as any players, or would like us to divulge into any other topics other than our games just let us know, via Facebook (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Baseball Team) or some team members. I’ll hand it off to Siv so he can give you his words of encouragement! But first...
Quick thoughts...
How bout them Packers!!!!! .... I am the biggest cheesehead after all ... that blizzard was something else, cars buried, stalled, batteries dying and getting tickets (ask Cole Kraft) ... if you haven’t seen the movie Inception I beg you to ... we have two freshmen that can dunk pretty handily and another who can't touch rim (Uhen, Solberg, then Porcaro) ... I really hope the Brewers excel, Melvin made some real moves this offseason ... finally .. EVERYONE should get a Twitter account. Next time I will post the names of teammates on Twitter. We will keep you updated as well as post pictures from where we’re at ... I urge you all to ... (for now if you do follow @gbloho15 <------me!) ... Ok Siv ...
Well guys, back at it and excited that baseball is right around the corner. Blow did a nice job of summarizing what we have been up to for the past six months while providing a little insight as to what we typically do over this time period. Tennessee has quickly approached us and we are ready to go. For the first time in school history, we received national preseason top 40 votes and we look to establish our credibility on a national level.
Our team understands that it's not where you start the year but where you finish. Stay with us. There will be bumps along the way and a few rough patches, but I can assure everyone that we will battle through these adverse times and show up each and everyday ready to perform at an elite level. Blow mentioned that we have an expectation to improve each day. Nothing short of that will be accepted. This is by far the most talented group of guys that I have been around since being here. From top to bottom, there is talent across the board, but talent doesn’t win ballgames.
It's time to go out and execute and play quality baseball day in and day out. The journey will officially begin this Thursday as we hop on that Lamers bus and spend countless hours on the road. In all reality though, us being Northerners (except Davis – Colorado – don’t let him fool you though he’s adapted more than enough to Milwaukee), we wouldn’t have it any other way. The grueling offseason workouts (6:30 a.m. conditioning in the fall, prowlers and sprints in the winter and weights) have prepared us for this opportunity.
Every year is unique in its own right but we look for one similarity in particular from last year – win a conference championship! Let the games begin and everyone enjoy the journey as we embark on defending our title. The support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing all the parents, family and friends follow us around the country and at the HANK whether in attendance or at home on the computer.
Here’s to a fun and enjoyable season and lets make some more memories, for the right reasons again!
They are back for their second go around and today is their first entry.
**********************************************************
Hey everybody, Greg Blohowiak (Blow) here with your 2011 installment of the “Diamond Chronicles”, featuring myself and Sam Sivilotti (Siv). We are welcoming you on the behalf of the team to our journey this season as we defend our Horizon League tournament championship crown.
First things first, that was a pretty fun season last year and I know that I didn’t get a chance to complete the blog. But, if I could think of one word to describe last year it would have to be 'definitive'. As the year progressed, we as a ball club, were defined by our timely hitting and complete pitching. We attribute our success to hard work and dedication throughout the year, as well as the preseason.
We thank all of you who took time out of your busy schedules to come out and watch us, wherever it may be (shout out to Bobby D. himself!), or if you watched on GameTracker. We appreciate all the support you’ve shown us along the way and look forward to the continuing support this season.
In a quick summary of the fall, we played outside and had fun while getting better everyday, making it that much harder for our coaches to make decisions on who should play, who should pitch and whatnot. The winter is always fun, hanging out inside the good ole Klotsche Center, doing live pitching sessions inside of a cage, as well as taking ground balls on that wood floor. It is a completely different atmosphere inside that place, which is good for us in a way. The floor kicks balls much quicker than outside, the white walls make it much harder to see and hit. We learn to adapt to these conditions and in the long run it makes us much better as players. Ask any of the hitters if they would rather hit in a cage or outside and they would tell you outside. Then ask them how much easier it is to hit outside following the winter months we deal with, and they would answer something like “the ball seems slower” or “the ball seems so much bigger”. It is very beneficial to be indoors during the winter months, but there is nothing like putting your spikes on and feeling them dig into the ground as you run.
As for our team this year, we have alot of talent. Our returning players are ready to build on last year's success and the newcomers are very excited to compete for a championship again. Our expectations remain the same year in and out, get better everyday and win the conference championship. We are told almost daily that this is a group of players with the most potential/talent that have been through the doors and we want to reach our ceiling, all of us, in order to return to the NCAA’s. We are very much looking forward to this next weekend as we head to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on an SEC opponent in the Tennessee Volunteers. We are very anxious to show the world what the only division I baseball team in Wisconsin has to offer and let the NCAA baseball community know we’re here to stay.
I look forward to reaching out to you all throughout the season, through the ups and downs, as well as giving a little insight to the 2011 Panthers. If you have any questions of sorts to as any players, or would like us to divulge into any other topics other than our games just let us know, via Facebook (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Baseball Team) or some team members. I’ll hand it off to Siv so he can give you his words of encouragement! But first...
Quick thoughts...
How bout them Packers!!!!! .... I am the biggest cheesehead after all ... that blizzard was something else, cars buried, stalled, batteries dying and getting tickets (ask Cole Kraft) ... if you haven’t seen the movie Inception I beg you to ... we have two freshmen that can dunk pretty handily and another who can't touch rim (Uhen, Solberg, then Porcaro) ... I really hope the Brewers excel, Melvin made some real moves this offseason ... finally .. EVERYONE should get a Twitter account. Next time I will post the names of teammates on Twitter. We will keep you updated as well as post pictures from where we’re at ... I urge you all to ... (for now if you do follow @gbloho15 <------me!) ... Ok Siv ...
Well guys, back at it and excited that baseball is right around the corner. Blow did a nice job of summarizing what we have been up to for the past six months while providing a little insight as to what we typically do over this time period. Tennessee has quickly approached us and we are ready to go. For the first time in school history, we received national preseason top 40 votes and we look to establish our credibility on a national level.
Our team understands that it's not where you start the year but where you finish. Stay with us. There will be bumps along the way and a few rough patches, but I can assure everyone that we will battle through these adverse times and show up each and everyday ready to perform at an elite level. Blow mentioned that we have an expectation to improve each day. Nothing short of that will be accepted. This is by far the most talented group of guys that I have been around since being here. From top to bottom, there is talent across the board, but talent doesn’t win ballgames.
It's time to go out and execute and play quality baseball day in and day out. The journey will officially begin this Thursday as we hop on that Lamers bus and spend countless hours on the road. In all reality though, us being Northerners (except Davis – Colorado – don’t let him fool you though he’s adapted more than enough to Milwaukee), we wouldn’t have it any other way. The grueling offseason workouts (6:30 a.m. conditioning in the fall, prowlers and sprints in the winter and weights) have prepared us for this opportunity.
Every year is unique in its own right but we look for one similarity in particular from last year – win a conference championship! Let the games begin and everyone enjoy the journey as we embark on defending our title. The support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing all the parents, family and friends follow us around the country and at the HANK whether in attendance or at home on the computer.
Here’s to a fun and enjoyable season and lets make some more memories, for the right reasons again!
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