Published: April 12, 2009 10:42 pm      

BASEBALL: Spring training in Florida builds team chemistry

When the North Tonawanda softball team arrived in Orlando last Wednesday, they were greeted by sunshine and a high temperature near 70 degrees.

Meanwhile, back here, the Tonawanda and Kenmore West baseball teams, among others, were practicing in their respective gymnasiums. They couldn’t go outside because it was an unseasonable 27 degrees, and some fields had received a dusting of snow.

Orlando will see highs in the 80s this week with plenty of sunshine, while Buffalo Niagara will top out in the mid- to high-50s, with a few sunny days and several others that appear to be washouts.

The unpredictable April weather is one of the biggest reasons so many local high school baseball and softball teams spend much of their spring break in the sun-kissed confines of Florida, where practices and scrimmages are rarely canceled due to rain, and never because of snow or cold weather.

Softball teams from NT, Kenmore West, Niagara-Wheatfield and Mount St. Mary Academy are in Florida this week, as are the Cardinal O’Hara and St. Joe’s baseball squads.

North Tonawanda softball teams have headed South for spring break for 28 of the past 29 years, all under coach T.K. Murphy. While NT and other programs take some criticism for going to Florida, Murphy says it’s well worth the cost.

“Everybody always says, ‘Why are you spending so much money, why are you going down there?’ Well, if you stay here, half the kids leave, they go on vacation, so why practice?” Murphy said. “And the other thing is, it’s the camaraderie and the growth that happens. It’s just priceless.”

The bonds that have been forged on Florida trips are especially valuable to the players. That was the case for St. Joe’s senior Alex Drennan, who went to Florida as a sophomore on the Marauders’ varsity squad.

“It’s great baseball down there, and the weather’s great, but I think more importantly is the team bonding,” Drennan said, adding that spring training affords players a chance to get to know one another and be away from parents and school.

“It’s a great team building experience,” Drennan said. “I went down as a sophomore and really didn’t know many people. But after that trip, I was good friends with all the seniors. They just made me a part of the team.”

That team chemistry is built in myriad ways. For instance, Kenmore West coach Matt Chimera’s Florida itinerary includes team meals, beach time, a sunrise Mass on the beach on Easter Sunday, and team building activities.

The trips, however, are not all fun and games. Coaches take advantage of the perfect weather with several hours of practices scheduled each day, making that relaxation time well deserved.

“Not only do they have responsibilities as far as themselves and taking care of themselves and getting up, especially when you’re spending seven to eight hours on the field a day, but they also have chores around the house that they have to do, too,” Murphy said. “I have some pretty stringent rules for them. Every minute’s planned for.”

In fact, Murphy said, in the nearly 30 years he’s taken his teams South for spring break, he’s never had a serious problem.

No one is allowed to go anywhere without a partner. “If I catch you, you become my partner,” Murphy said, adding that one player was caught last year running between the two houses the team stayed at without her partner. “After an hour and a half (of being Murphy’s partner), they were begging me, please, they would never ever do that again,” he said.

North Tonawanda junior Allie Gibson, who pitched last year on varsity, said a noticeable transformation occurs during spring training.

“We get a lot of stuff done and the team really molds together. When we come back, it’s like we’re family,” she said.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.