COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Melting away are the few remaining snow piles, revealing the pitching mounds beneath that signify the dawn of baseball season.
The Buckeyes will take to Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina come Friday for Opening Day against Illinois after a span of 359 days since its last game. Eleventh-year head coach Greg Beals said Tuesday that the Buckeyes will adjust to the different COVID-19-releated circumstances in place for the 2021 season.
“Everything is changing, and it’s going to be new to me,” Beals said. “I’m used to having the guys all in the conference room for a pregame meal and then we have a scouting report talk. That’s what I’ve done for 27 years; it’s going to be different.”
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According to Beals, among the changes this season include seating assignments on the team bus, meal plan arrangements and different pregame meeting setups.
Because of the long layover between competition against opponents, Beals said it’s built up and brought an eager feeling within the team.
“This is a very talented baseball team; I think you get the sense of what these guys feel like they’re capable of from talking to those captains,” Beals said. “Now it’s a matter of us keeping ourselves in the right spot, not getting too amped up and consistently executing.”
Senior left-handed pitcher Griffan Smith said he’s “chomping at the bit” to get back on the mound and throw against live hitters. The pandemic didn’t make his offseason workouts easy, however.
With limited access to Ohio State facilities over the offseason, Smith said pitchers had to get creative in order to find space to throw.
“There was a handful of us and we were scrambling each week, two or three times a week going to local high schools trying to see what we could do just to continue to push ourselves to get better,” Smith said.
Redshirt-senior first baseman Conner Pohl said the hardest part of the offseason was finding live pitching because pitchers weren’t on normal, consistent throwing schedules, prompting him to search further and find other means to take swings.
On a wider scale, redshirt-junior left-handed pitcher Seth Lonsway said social distancing procedures have reduced how often the Buckeyes meet as a full team. They’ve had to find other means to build their chemistry with one another.
“It has been tough as far as having that camaraderie in the locker room and having that togetherness,” Lonsway said. “Still, I think we get a lot of good interaction while we’re at practice, even outside of practice texting, communicating, doing pitcher’s meetings on Zoom.”
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Beals said it’s “been a challenge” for freshmen and first-year players to get as acclimated as the previous classes of players have.
“I think we’ve had some guys that have come along a little slower, but are starting to gain ground at a little faster pace here in the last month or so,” Beals said.
As Beals alluded to, the Buckeyes have taken batting practice and thrown on the field at Bill Davis Stadium in recent weeks.
“They’re going to be amped up, and there’s a level of anxiety - they want to get off to a good start,” Beals said. “Our guys want to play well, there’s no doubt about that. We got to make sure we keep ourselves in the comfort zone that allows us to be our best.”
The Fighting Illini await the Buckeyes this weekend. Illinois went 8-5 a season ago and return junior shortstop Branden Comia, who hit .426 while slugging .702. Seven of his team-leading 20 hits went for extra-bases.
The desires to return to the batter’s box and basepaths are common, but the circumstances and protocols surrounding the season are different. Through it all, though, Beals wants the Buckeyes to settle and take it in stride.
“It’s going to be different for all of us, and it’s important me and our coaching staff help lead our guys through that and learn this ‘new’ as quickly as we possibly can,” Beals said.
