The Sinclair Community College baseball and softball teams are taking full swing this season.
The baseball team has been plagued with bad weather and injuries, but are exerting tartan pride and looking to toughen up while going into the mid-season.
In addition, the softball team looks to make a name for themselves and prove that a 21 year absence will not stigmatize its revival.
Steve Dintaman, head coach of the Sinclair baseball team, is going into his sixth season and is embracing the opportunity for yet another conference championship run.
“I’m honored to be the coach here,” he said.
Dintaman gave praise to his players and coaching staff.
“We have a good system here,” he said. “We have a great assistant coaching staff and we were able to get a great recruiting class of players. Guys that can play at the highest level division one and division two baseball.”
Which is something Dintaman and his coaching staff care about.
“We want to be a part of the journey and where these players want to go with baseball,” he said
Weather has not been kind to the Sinclair Tartans as of lately; with several cancelations, rescheduled games in addition to complications as to where they will practice, the Tartans have still refused to become complacent.
Dintaman understands this has been a challenge for his team and staff, but knows how hard his team is working every practice and every game since the beginning of the season.
“It’s been a slow start. We’ve had a lot of injuries earlier in the season, but we are healthy now. We’ve probably won the games were supposed to win and we’ve lost some games were supposed to lose,” Dintaman said.
Scott Haag, a pitcher for the Tartan Pride, is a sophomore transfer from south eastern Illinois and knows how much potential this team is capable of producing.
“Our team has all the potential in the world. I mean, we just have to do it,” Haag said.
Haag feels strongly about the group of players he is surrounded by and would not have it any other way. “Everybody loves everybody; it’s basically a brotherhood. It’s not like one person standing over here. It’s everybody standing here together,” Haag said.
Ben Herlihy, a freshman infielder from Centerville High School, agrees with Haag.
“This is the best baseball team I’ve ever been on. It should be, because we’re a college team,” he said.
Herlihy said his teammates are very good when it comes to playing on the diamond.
“Every player on this team was a good player at their high school and it’s cool to learn from everyone and find your place on the team,” he said.
With well-known opponents such as Potomac State and Parkland Community College coming up in the next couple of weeks, the Tartan Pride looks to get in gear to start conference play beginning March 22. “These next two weekends will definitely determine where we are heading into the conference season. This is the team that can do it. The goal at the end of year is to be in the World Series and I don’t see why not,” Dintaman said.
While men’s baseball is in full swing at the moment, the women’s softball team is firing on all cylinders, prepping for the revival of a program that has been in the shadows since 1991, while beholding the ability to shine on such great heights of athletic will and dedication.
Last year, Steven Beachler was named new head coach of the women’s softball team.
A former assistant varsity coach for softball at Miamisburg High School, Beachler is not timid about what it takes to be a head coach of a junior college team like Sinclair’s.
“It’s a great opportunity, considering there has not been a softball team playing at an intercollegiate level since 1991,” he said.
Beachler is anxious to get his team out on the field and show what they’re all about.
“These players are dedicated and chomping on the bit to prove themselves,” he said.
Sinclair’s lapse in time between 1991 and the beginning of the 2012 season seems unburdened at the moment with its new head coach.
“It’s a great opportunity to put Sinclair on the right track and women’s softball on top,” Beachler said.