Written By Xavier Serrano
Photos By Ashley C Neyra
With the new season starting you can expect to see a couple of new faces as well as returning players. The team brings forth positive energy as they look forward to their new season against the game competition. As the future is uncertain for the team, a playoff run looms in the distance for the Montgomery College Raptors.
Daniel Rascher, coach for the Montgomery College baseball team sat down with the Globe and provided useful insight on what he envisions for his team in the upcoming season. As one of the Globe reporters waited in the hut area of the baseball field, members of the team greeted the Globe member with open arms.
Q: You’ve been coaching baseball for quite a long time so it would be fair to assume that you have a keen eye for good talent that is on the team. Are there any stand-out players on the team for this season?
A: We got a number of very good players..to stand out we’re going to have to play a couple of more games to see who really stands out. We have very good incoming freshmen, and we have some good seniors coming back but I’m not going to say standout yet until we actually get out there and play some games
Q: What do you hope for your team to achieve this season?
A: I want us to play good baseball and win the games that we can. Once we can build off of that we can try and go for a playoff run by the end of the year.
Q: Going back to the team, are there any limitations to having a community college baseball team?
A: Well, probably the biggest limitation is the two-year school, you only have the guys for two years and a lot of our guys are still developing during those two years and then they go off to play in a four-year school. That’s probably one of the biggest limitations–sometimes you have really good teams and you want them to stay longer but they’re gone in two years. But if you have a team that isn’t too good, you can move on in those two years. I think that is our biggest limitation. Other than that, we have all the capabilities of doing what any other baseball program can do, It’s just the two years that go by really quick
The baseball team provides unity and works together very efficiently. The Raptors look forward to a bright season with a plethora of new players. The matches will be mainly home games against other college baseball teams, The team brings forth another season of excitement as the players rise to the occasion and take home the win.
The game times will be listed below:
March 4- Dundalk- Away- 12:00 pm – DH
March 6- College of Southern Md – Home – 1 pm – DH
March 10- Anne Arundel CC- Away – 12 pm – DH
March 12- Travel to Myrtle Beach
March 13- Suny Sullivan- Home- Myrtle Beach- Ebbets Field 9 pm
March 14- Sussex County CC- Home- Myrtle Beach- Socastee HS- 11 am
March 14- Bergen College- Home- Myrtle Beach- Crosley Field- 6:00 pm
March 15- College of Morris- Away- Myrtle Beach- Crosley Field- 7:00 pm\
March 16- Brookedale CC- Home- Myrtle Beach- Crosley Field- 3 pm
March- 18- Uconn Avery Point- Home- 12 pm- DH
March- 21- Shenandoah University JV- Home- 2 pm- DH
March- 25- Garrett- Away- 12 pm- DH- 7:30 pm
March- 28- Christendom College- Away- 5 pm- 9 innings
March- 30- Christendom College- Away- 5 pm- 9 innings
April 1- CCAC South- Away- 12 pm- DH
April 4- PGCC- Home- 2 pm- DH
April 8- Allegany College- Home- 12 pm- DH
April 11- Harford- Away- 2 pm- DH
April 15- Catonsville- Home- 12 pm- DH
April 18- Essex- Home- 12 pm- DH
April 22- Frederick – Home- 12 pm- DH
April 23- Hagerstown- Away- 12 pm- DH
April 26- Gettysburg College- Away- 4 pm- 9 innings
April 29- Chesapeake- Home- 12 pm- DH
May 3- Cecil- Away- 1 pm- DH
May 9- Region XX Tournament – 1st Round at Higher Seed
May 12-14- Region XX Final Tour- At Cecil- TBA