BY: AIDAN SHINNERS; STAFF WRITER
St. Bonaventure University’s athletic department recently made multiple improvements to the baseball team’s indoor training facility.
Multiple Bonnies players said the renovated off-campus training facility has helped the team train during the months of unpredictable weather in Western New York.
“The new improvements we have received in the indoor facility have been a huge help for us,” said senior utility player Chris Hoalcraft. “It gives us as real of an outdoor experience as we can and have gotten a lot of quality game-like reps in.”
The improvements made to the indoor facility include knocking down walls and covering the ground with turf, which allows the team a full infield to practice on, according to junior outfielder Conner Vercollone.
“Before the improvements, we couldn’t really do anything defensively. The floor wasn’t realistic with ground balls, and it was very slippery,” said Vercollone. “Now that we have extra space and turf, we have been able to prepare much better for the season by fitting a whole infield in there. The improvements to the facility have been a big factor in helping us be the best team we can be.”
Junior shortstop Gavin Constantine said the improvements were especially helpful because of the teams they played early in the season.
“Most of the teams we’ve played get to practice outside,” Constantine said. “After knocking down the walls and turfing the floor, we could work on things that we couldn’t before.”
Junior pitcher James Capellupo said players are always putting in work outside of practice in the new facility. Capellupo said this extra work “breeds a culture of workers who strive to be better.”
“The best part of the indoor facility is the opportunity it provides for pitchers or hitters to come and put in extra work,” Capellupo said. “When I come in and throw outside of team practices, I see a minimum of three hitters taking extra reps.”
The improvements to the team’s indoor training facility have allowed the team to do many things they otherwise couldn’t. Junior pitcher Gilbert Saunders III called the improvements “program-changing” for their new ability for multiple pitchers to throw at once, and to host full infield practice.
“We are able to run complete infield drills, host live at-bats, and throw multiple bullpen sessions at once in our new facility,” Saunders said. “These things were possible before renovations but were much harder because of the walls and flooring.”
Chris Hoalcraft expressed his gratitude to the athletic department for making these improvements to the indoor facility, saying it was important for the team to know they “have the support of the athletic department to invest in our team to be the best we can be.” Head Coach Jason Rathbun said these improvements take the team’s facilities from “near the bottom of the conference as far as facilities to near the top.”
The Bonnies travel to Erie, PA. To take on St. Louis University in a three-game series beginning on Mar. 20 at 3 p.m. The games will take place at Mercyhurst University and will be streamed on the Bonnies Online Network.
