Baseball has always been a fair-weather sport, therefore training in the winter can come as a challenge. However, that doesn’t stop the Trojans.

Winter training in Washington brings crisp and frosty mornings as well as lots and lots of rainfall.

 The baseball team has been training for months now in preparation for the upcoming season, despite the inconvenient temperatures and downpours that come with winters in Washington. Indoor facilities and turf playing fields have allowed the team to combat the harsh conditions and continue to make improvements as a whole.

The players’ main focus for this offseason is to stay healthy, or continue to get healthier. In particular, A.J. Pignataro, a freshman and a pitcher for the Trojans said “Coming off an arm injury, I’m just trying to keep my arm healthy and not hurt it again.”

Certain drills are put into place to strengthen players’ arms, as well as increase strength and velocity at the same time. While tending to his previous injury, Pignataro also stated that he would like to reach the ever so sought after 90 MPH mark with his fastball.

EVCC baseball has played in the NWAC championship the past two years, ending the year as the runner up for the division in 2016 and 2017, making 2018 a year of redemption for this team. The goal every year is to win NWAC, but this year the players are working towards the championship with a chip on their shoulder due to coming so close in recent attempts.

Mitchell Albin, a sophomore and Everett’s third baseman said “Win NWAC” in regards to both his personal and team goals for the upcoming season.

Recently, Everett lost their head coach of 19 years, Levi Lacey who moved on to a new part of his career by becoming a Texas Ranger scout. JoJo Howie was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2018 season.

Jake Bradley, a freshman and Trojan pitcher said “With Levi (Lacey) leaving, the team hasn’t skipped a beat. JoJo is doing great as our new head coach.”

Derek Knox, also a freshman pitcher for the Trojans seconds Bradley saying “Levi is gone now but the team is still thriving and moving forward.”

The team as a whole has made it clear that the one main focus for 2018, and every year, is to win NWAC. Individual improvements are being made this offseason as well as team improvements to make sure that goal is attainable and is reached come time for that championship game in this upcoming season. Staying healthy, improving strength and working on specific fundamentals of the game are at the core of the offseason work this winter for each player as an individual. The work put in with these individual facets of the game will translate to an improvement in the overall performance of the team as well.