Florida Spring Training Builds Panther Skills and Team Spirit
What do Principia’s baseball Panthers have in common with the Cardinals, the Yankees, and the Red Sox?
They all do some serious spring training in Florida!
Starting in 2013, Upper School students participating in the baseball program have had the option of spending a week training in Florida to sharpen their skills, get some game time against a variety of other high school teams, and bond as a team. (Of course, there are also early morning beach runs and that beautiful warm Gulf water!)
This year was Coach Chris Marston’s second time accompanying the varsity and JV boys to the Tampa Bay area (along with his dad and co-coach, Bill Marston (US’75, C’80)), with Boys’ Dorm Residential Head Clark Shutt managing the logistics and communications. Referring to the 2014 trip, Chris Marston (US’06) says, “Our theme for the week in Florida was growth and progress. This tied into our goal for the year to improve every day. We saw lots of growth during our week as we finished with a record of 2–2,” which included a tough game against one of Canada’s top-ranked club teams. The boys saw growth in a variety of areas, Marston says, including “self-confidence, attitude, selflessness (team first), perseverance, dealing with adversity, and breaking limitations.”
One of the highlights of the week was a meeting after Wednesday church with Pete Paciorek, a former Principia College coach and a professional ball player in the minor leagues. Paciorek shared with the boys that his best years in baseball were his last two, when he realized the importance of playing to glorify God. To paraphrase Paciorek, It’s not about self, stats, or money; it’s all about playing to honor and serve Him.
Both the JV and varsity teams have a busy season ahead, with several games this weekend. Check out the schedule.