Instead of going home, the Cabrini baseball team headed to Florida to participate in the RussMatt Invitational in Davenport, Florida. The team was set to depart Feb. 23 and returned March 2.
Throughout the week, the team played eight games. According to head coach Nick Weisheipl the trip is a necessity and that the whole team went.
“Getting 40 games completed in the Mid Atlantic weather is hard to accomplish without making this trip to Florida,” Weisheipl said. “It’s a positive experience for the guys.”
This is not the first time the team has made the trip to Florida. The trip is an annual one that serves as team bonding and training.
RussMatt is the largest spring baseball invitational in Florida with over 250 teams competing annually. The group helps teams take care of not only scheduling, but lodging and facilities as well.
The group prides themselves on their affordability and their customer services according to their website. RussMatt also makes sure that officials and umpires are well trained.
Cabrini’s baseball team gets the opportunity to play against other division three schools that are not in the same conference. The team played against schools from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indianapolis and others.
“I’m excited to be playing some good competition and plenty of games While in Florida,” Steve Priest, a member of the baseball team, said. “I’m looking forward to playing Augustana the most.”
While the team played eight games over the course of a week, they did have a day off. Players had the opportunity to go to the beach, visit their families or even go to Disney World.
“For my day off I planned on spending some time with my family down here,” Priest said.”Any time I get to see them it’s a good time.”
While the players may be excited to get that chance, their coach is excited to see them play.
“I’m excited to get to play in 80 plus degrees and seeing our guys compete together for a common goal,” Weisheipl said.
The team planned on playing each game one at a time. Focusing on what happened or what can happen can cause more problems, according to Priest.
“If we start looking ahead we won’t be focused on where we’re at right now,” Priest sad.”I think our team is very talented and if we keep our focus one game at a time we should have an extremely successful weekend.”
