The first day of practice for high school baseball and softball serves as a reminder that winter is nearly over with longer days and warmer temperatures ahead.
After taking a look at the weather forecasts, local coaches understandably have an added level of excitement beyond the usual amount that comes with the start of the preseason.
With high temperatures in the 60s and no precipitation forecasted, Monday’s first day of practice, and the few that follow will be able to be held outside, rather than modified workouts inside the school gym.
It’s certainly a welcomed gift as compared to previous years where the fickle March weather limited outdoor practice time and scrimmages.
“The weather we’re going to get is amazing so this week’s going to be great. We get to go outside.” North Arlington baseball coach Paul Marcantuono said. “For me personally, I get a lot more done outside than in the gym. I feel like a lot of coaches, a lot of teams are going to get a nice start to the season with this great weather this week. Hopefully the weather keeps going and we get to get scrimmages in the week after.”
The mild weather not only is appreciated, but frankly a necessity for most teams. In recent years, the lead up time before the start of the regular season has been shortened. This spring, most teams will be starting the regular season on Monday, March 31, leaving just three weeks to get ready.
“We’re pretty much losing a week when we start now on the 10th,” said Lyndhurst baseball coach Patrick Auteri. “We’re opening up on March 31, so the more we can do outside right away is definitely going to be a blessing and obviously help our kids get better.”
In less ideal weather, outdoor work for Auteri and the Golden Bears would be limited to maybe some defensive drills on the turf before returning inside to the gym for hitting.
As a way to beat the weather and be well prepared for opening day several programs, including Lyndhurst baseball and Nutley softball among others, take annual March trips to Florida or other warm weather areas in order to get extra practices and scrimmages.
Lyndhurst will be spending six days in Florida, a period which Auteri anticipates being able to get in six scrimmages as well as some additional practices in. The motivation is obvious, to try to counteract the fickle nature of March in the Northeast.
“That’s really the reason why we do it, knowing that March around here in the north, it’s still winter,” Auteri said. “So even though this week looks pretty good, you never know what could come in.”
For Belleville softball coach Chris Cantarella, the prospect of bad weather, while not ideal, is not the disastrous development it might have been in the past thanks to the recent opening of Belleville Public Schools’ Indoor Athletic Training Facility.
“Our new indoor facility is fantastic and a huge improvement over where we used to practice,” Cantarella said. “The baseball team and us have the best of both worlds. The turf fields are a huge asset since we don’t have to worry about the softness or unplayable fields.”
Monday’s first day of practice is always a day for optimism. Thankfully this year provides the weather to match.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)