Blohowiak is back for his third season of blogging, while Porcaro gets his first go at it. Today is their third entry for the 2012 season.
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Minnesota Wild’n Out
The great thing about playing baseball is the quick turnaround and how it forces you to have a short memory. Three games in two days; four games in three days; so be it. Heading off to Minnesota on Thursday to play a four-game set in the Metrodome versus the Golden Gophers is a welcome challenge, especially after the sour taste the ECU weekend left in our mouths. Practice all week was intense and it prepared us both mentally and physically for the four games in three days.
I cannot continue this blog without mentioning the all too-usual stop at a Chinese buffet on our way to Minneapolis. What great food those places have to offer, not to mention the soft-serve ice cream machines that pump out four gallons of ice cream for our team alone (maybe 1 gallon just for Kaleb “Gulk” Engelke, to drop on the floor as we’re leaving).
There is nothing better than coming out of the bathroom to Gulk, toothless and all, staring in awe at the clump of chocolate/vanilla mixed ice cream on the ground at his feet, along with several others, Coach Bigler was tickled pink with amusement.
All in all, the trip there was, blahh, a few movies and some card games consumed the six hours of travel. We arrived at our AMAZING hotel, The Reniassance Inn (fully functioning hotel with an in-house ice rink and waterpark), and quickly took cover in our rooms examining the cozy beds, or cots (as Paco is very accustomed to, being strapped into his standing up in the early part of the night), and wasted the night away exploring the hotel as well as kickin’ it with teammates or family members who made the trip. To sum up the excitement of seeing friends and family members in Minneapolis I give you Pitcher Cale Tassi’s take on it. (It's ok, he won Pitcher of the Week, but who knew most of his family has a different last name..?
Seeing all the parents there this weekend, including my own (Bartman and Debra), was a breath of fresh air, as well as a reminder of the amazing support system this team has. The players are extremely appreciative of all the support, both fanatically and financially (in the form of dinners and snacks during the game) that the parents offered. Seeing all the familiar faces so far from home is indeed liberating and it is something that we will never forget. I hope that the support is maintained throughout the year, whenever plausible, as we want to share a special experience with all supporters and hope to create some new supporters throughout. Thanks again all who came to the Metrodome, we appreciate it dearly! Paco and I also appreciate the positive feedback from some parents about the blog, whether it be our 7th grade writing level (right Mr. Capasso?) or the behind the scenes perspective we provide.
I don’t have much to say about the games, as I hope those who are reading this also were either at the games or watched via GameTracker (or listened). If nothing else hopefully you all read the game capsules and saw that we split the series 2-2. Ask anyone who was there, other than the Gopher followers, and they would say we easily had the opportunity to sweep the series.
Our pitching and defense has been outstanding thus far and the big hit was eluding us, and once that happened you could see a switch being turned on. Jon Capasso found a way to get that big, if not HUGE, hit in game three to propel us to victory and after that, you could sense a calmness - as if a big sigh of relief was let out from all on the team.
Hitting is contagious and I think you saw a taste of what we’re capable of in the batter's box. The Gopher pitching is pretty good too, with a lot of arm strength and ability, our hitters did a great job grinding it out and not giving in. All in all we split 2-2.
I think I am going to cut off my portion and hand it off to Mike “Paco” Porcaro to try to fill in any gaps that I am missing, and I’m sure I’m missing a lot.
Quick thoughts from Blow....
We really missed sophomores Tell Taylor and Derek Peake on this trip as they are both fighting injuries ... we hope to have them back as soon as possible ... UPDATE on Peake too - he had surgery on his finger and will be out for about 3 weeks ... prayers for a quick recovery! THANKS again to the friends and family, and even some Panther alumni who came by! Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis has Water Street beat any day of the year ... that street is just jam-packed full of people all day every day ... soo many interesting shops and clubs ... very upscale though ... every time a plane would fly over the Metrodome, I was afraid the roof was going to collapse ... I HATE the ViQUEENS ... The skyways that basically connect the whole city are amazing! Milwaukee needs them ... dearly! Ricks...Shoutout to the fellow Panthers who did amazing this weekend, whether it was winning championships or just matches, great job Men's/Women's Swimming and Diving, Men's/Women's Indoor Track and Field, as well as Tennis, Women's Basketball, and Men's Basketball! Good luck during your spring seasons Women's Soccer and Volleyball! I'm sure your coaches are having a great time getting the competitive flames going during the spring ... I know for sure Volleyball Head Coach Susie Johnson, who is awesome, is ... she is always looking ready to jump on the court at any time and I'm sure she still has it in her to keep up with her players!
There is soo much more I want to touch upon ... but I’ll stop ... here’s Paco (pictured)!
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Man, does it feel good to type this with a couple of wins under our belt. I’m extremely happy with the way our team battled back after dropping the first two games of the series. It sure was nice gaining some momentum as we head to San Diego this week. Like Blow said, seeing all of the parents and family there was really refreshing. It was nice to look up in the stands and see those familiar faces. Panther Nation sure does travel well!
We arrived at The Reniassance Inn at around 10:30 Thursday night. This hotel was so nice!! They treated us like professionals. When we arrived they had water and popcorn set aside for our team. They even had cozy cots set aside in the rooms so the third person didn’t have to sleep on the floor. With the first game not until 6:35 Friday night some of us didn’t know what to do with so much down time. To pass the time on Friday, I ate Subway not once, but twice, and surfed the web while watching Ryan Braun tear up his press conference. Brauny’s Free!!!!
A lot of us got to enjoy some nice dinners with our families after the games. On Friday night, The Old Spaghetti Factory was a hot spot for dinner. Saturday night, my family and I went out with the Capasso and Pearson families to JD Hoyt’s while other guys enjoyed some burritos at Qdoba. One of the best things on the road is getting to enjoy some good restaurant food. Sure does beat the ham sandwiches I make at home.
Sunday’s game was big. We needed a win to get the split. Preparation began early in the morning with breakfast as most of us enjoyed a nice buffet downstairs in the hotel. We headed to the Metrodome at 10:45 ready to hunt some Gophers. Right when we got there freshman Justin Jaquish, AKA Quish, was informed that he would be making his first career start that day. Quish rose to the occasion, throwing into the sixth inning allowing just one run on five hits while striking out five. He settled in nicely after the first inning and looked like a seasoned veteran as the game went on. Great job Quish!!
Luke Meeteer, also a freshman, did a great job this weekend playing in centerfield and in the lead off role. He tracked down nearly every ball hit his way with his blazing speed. Big shout out to Mitch Ghelfi, another freshman, who won the brother battle in game 4 when he singled off his brother, Drew Ghelfi, who pitches for the Gophers.
All in all, it was a good weekend and now we get to take our talents to San Diego. Our pitching and defense has been awesome so far and hopefully the warm San Diego weather will heat up our bats! We got the monkey off our back this weekend getting the first win out of the way so now it’s time to go bananas!
Paco Thoughts ... Aaron Rodgers defending Brauny on Twitter was awesome! Our athletics program is pretty good ... FOUR Conference Championships this weekend!! Congrats track and swimming!! Good luck to the Men’s basketball team as they prepare for the conference tournament!
Cali, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!
