The sound that’s made when the barrel of the bat connects perfectly with a fastball is one of the purest sounds in baseball.
If your eyes are closed when you hear it, your mind is instantly transported to the ballpark.
On a hot, dry August afternoon at Cairns field when Rhett Krysak connects with a 3-1 fastball, launching a two-run shot over the wall in left field, the crowd at the ballpark couldn’t help but cheer, a feeling shared by his head coach Matt Kosteniuk.
Every year, as spring turns into summer, Kosteniuk is filled with a sense of purpose, one that drives him along the four-month grind that is a standard Saskatchewan Premiere Baseball League (SPBL) season.
However, this season, a season like no other, was almost lost.
“At one point I was looking at golf memberships, and was kind of happy,” said Kosteniuk, the Diamondbacks head coach.
“But, at the same time I was like, as much as I want to be on the golf course, the baseball diamond means everything to us.”
Although ecstatic to return to his second home of the summer, the dugout, he sees the shortened campaign that his squad and the rest of the SPBL were able to play as a huge victory for player development.
“If it wasn’t for this season I’d have guys that are a season behind,” Kosteniuk said.
“Unfortunately once you’re a season behind it gets tough when you get to that college level because those guys down south are still playing 365 (days of the year).”
It’s a sentiment echoed by not just the coaches, but players around the league.
“Two weeks from the season they said we could get going, so we gotta get ready quick,” Sask Five Giants catcher Alex Ozar added.
“We’re just happy to play ball. Even though it was a short season, we were just happy to be out there.”
With such short notice to begin a condensed six-week season, many players faced challenges that they’d never experienced before, including a juggling act between getting in game condition, while maneuvering around work schedules.
Diamondbacks third-year first baseman Jack Norrish was one of these players; he spent July working at Douglas Provincial Park.
“I’d wake up at six every morning, work an eight-and-a-half hour shift, then leave at 3:30 for a 5 p.m. practice,” Norrish said.
Although the mental and physical grind was a new one for Norrish, it helped him to improve his mental strength.
“If you’re showing up with a negative attitude, and showing up tired, and sloppy, that’s usually how (the rookies are) going to act in practice too,” Norrish said.
“But, if I’m showing up with a positive attitude, even after I’ve worked for eight-and-a-half-hours, it’s going to rub off on them, and they’re going to have the exact same mentality.”
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