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High School Baseball is Back. A Sit Down with the Jamesville-DeWitt Baseball Team High School Baseball is Back. A Sit Down with the J-D Baseball Team

By Sean Manzella

Glove on the Jamesville-DeWitt Baseball field as the team warms up behind it.
© 2021 Sean Manzella

RYAN DARA: Our first day of practice on Monday, no one was talking. And it was like an eerie feeling. You know, because they didn’t know how to act anymore. That was the biggest thing. Just letting them be kids. Knowing that the game is fun. And just- Let’s get back. And start getting back into the swing of things competing, being part of a team, and that’s what I saw.

MATT ALEXANDER: I wasn’t even phased. You know I’d miss a ground ball here and there and I’d be laughing it off just happy to be out here.

ALEXANDER: My friend over here is making fun of my missed ground balls now. Lovely stuff.

SEAN MANZELLA: That’s senior Matt Alexander and he’s excited to get back on the dirt and grass this year; however, he really wants to bring that fun dynamic with him.

ALEXANDER: Oh that was good. Good start. That was less good. He’s just an animal when the media’s watching. Yeah, you are going to have to give me good pitches for once. That’s not it.

MANZELLA: While the friendly dynamic Coach Ryan Dara and Senior Matt Alexander really do enjoy is finally back on the baseball field, they faced a lot of challenges getting out of that couch state and back on the baseball field.

ALEXANDER: It was tough not going to practice everyday. Being home just working on school work. It was tough.

DARA: Sometimes you just get in a rut. Like ahh, you just couch potato, or you like to Netflix and Chill as they all say. It’s just a matter of getting out there and just living. Realizing, oh this is fun and you can see they’re starting to get out of that comfort zone getting out of that covid fatigue as they say.

MANZELLA: While many of the other players may be struggling with covid Fatigue, Matt has a very different philosophy looking forward.

ALEXANDER: So we’re going to go at every game as if we’re playing a championship and we have one game left to play because after last year it could be your last game.

MANZELLA: Sean Manzella, NCC News.

After nearly a year hiatus high school baseball is making a return. Jamesville-Dewitt senior captain, Matt Alexander, recently committed to play at Bucknell. He talked about some of the challenges he faced missing his entire Junior season. Alexander said the hardest part was not having daily practices any more. His energy outlet had been taken away with little explanation besides “covid protocol.”

Coach Ryan Dera said his team struggled to get their fun mentatlity back after a year off. Coach Dera has pushed a fun first team dynamic his entire career. The team mantra, “All heart, can’t lose” goes back to this mentality. Alexander himself said this doesn’t mean they won’t lose any games, but rather that if they play with their whole hearts as a team it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says.

This mindset is something that both Matt Alexander and Coach Dera will look to carry into their games that start on Friday.

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