The Plattsburgh State baseball team walked off the diamond somewhat perplexed this weekend due to the unpleasant fact that they will not be participating in the playoffs this season. However, if you look at the collective statistics of the team, what you find may come as a surprise.
The Cardinals batted a respectable .390 as a team and had a solid starter in the right arm of junior pitcher Scott Orr, with an ERA of 3.20. All in all, PSUC had an experienced roster that had the ability to make a good run at the SUNYAC title, but select games held them back from achieving their goals.
“Honestly, we were a pretty good team,” head coach Kris Doorey said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t take advantages of the situations we were presented with.”
Prime examples of the situations that Doorey was talking about can be found in the games the Cards played against New Paltz and Brockport.
When the Cards faced off against Brockport, they were able to pull ahead with a grand slam. The Cards were up by the four runs heading into the seventh inning, and then everything started to fall apart. In the bottom of the seventh, PSUC committed four costly errors that caused them to lose the game. This was the first of two losses that stood out to Doorey.
The next of the losses that Doorey believed cost the Cards a shot at the postseason came against their SUNYAC competitors, the New Paltz Hawks. The Cards came out ready to play. The pitching was phenomenal, holding the Hawks scoreless for most of the game. PSUC got ahead to an eight- run lead, and then, once again, things started to fall apart. The Cards ended up on the losing side of that matchup, 8-9.
These types of games have been a topic of discussion for the team for quite some time, especially for Orr.
“We’ve had the same opportunities as other teams throughout the year,” Orr said. “We really just didn’t take as much advantage of them as we could have.”
Although the Cards did not take advantage of some situations, there were other circumstances where the team was not even given a chance. This past winter proved to be brutal and took away from PSUC’s season. In a normal season, the team would be able to play approximately one non-conference game a week. This season, the Cards played only one non-conference game against, St. Lawrence.
“You need those games,” Doorey said. “The best thing about baseball is that you always get to keep playing, but we lost about five games due to the weather. Those are games that could have started a winning streak.”
Senior outfielder Nick Lupo said the team can’t look back on what could have been. The way the season turned out just wasn’t in favor of the Cards.
Although PSUC will not be making a run at the SUNYAC title this year, that doesn’t mean that nothing good came of the season.
Underclassmen players developed, veterans reached their potential and, as always, the coaches learned aspects of the game they need to work on.
Baseball is a project that is never truly finished. It is a science that is filled with various hypotheses as well as many failed experiments. For now, the Cards just have to go back to the drawing board and prepare for next season, just as they always have.
Email Kevin Morley at kevin.morley@cardinalpointsonline.com
