By Dave Buursma

Staff Writer

While most college students were kicking back and enjoying a relaxing week off from school, the Calvin baseball team was opening up their grueling regular season campaign with a weeklong tournament in Fort Myers, Florida. The team traveled down in tight quarters, as they were joined by the softball team for the 24-hour bus ride. ``By the 20th hour it started to get cramped,'' said freshman pitcher Jim Deters.

During their nine-day trip, two of which were spent on the road, the Knights were able to cram in ten games.

The Knights, led by senior tri-captains Mark Jansen, Mike Ott and Ben Dykhouse, headed into Fort Myers with some gaping holes to fill due to the graduation of some key players last year. The team transitioned nicely though, as some of the players with limited experience were able to step up and the Knights came away with their best-ever Spring break record at 7-3. With the expectation of finishing around .500 on the trip, the Knights were pleasantly surprised with their efforts. ``We got a couple breaks and a couple breaks didn't go our way,'' said Deters. ``I think overall everyone was pretty happy with the way the trip turned out.''

In fact, the Knights were able to accomplish something that they had never been able to on any of their previous trips to Fort Myers: they won their first game. ``The first game when you get down there is the real challenge,'' said senior pitcher Matt Schmitz. ``Because you haven't slept for more than 4-5 hours on the trip.''

Calvin didn't appear to be fazed at all by the bus-ride, as the Knights exploded to a 13-4 victory over Roger Williams University. The bats continued to carry the Knights throughout the week, as the team combined to hit over .300 and scored nearly six runs a game. At one point late in the trip, Calvin boasted four players either at or above .500 from the dish. Sophomore outfielder Terry O'Neil provided some unexpected power in the top of the lineup as he laced two home runs in a single game after driving in only one run all of last season.

The Knights opened the week with a 2-2 record before erupting on a 5-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents by a count of 28-16. Calvin's pitching staff played an integral role in the winning streak, as a number of inexperienced throwers were able to get some quality time on the mound. ``We had a lot of young guys who had never played before that did a wonderful job for us down there,'' said senior pitcher Matt Schmitz.

Most notable was freshman Jim Deters, who took full advantage of his first starting job, throwing a complete game shutout against a previously undefeated Wittenberg team. ``It was a lot of fun for me just going out there and pitching well and starting out on a good note,'' said Deters.

The week ended on with a loss, but the team was able to come away with some useful preparation for the upcoming MIAA campaign.

``There were some pressure situations and we learned a lot about ourselves,'' said freshman Josh Vriesman.

After a rigorous week of baseball that included 10 games packed into six days, one would expect the team to be weary and ready to take some time off. Think again. Many of the guys would have been pleased to keep on playing.

``I wanted to stay down there and play,'' said Vriesman. ``It would be an ideal lifestyle to stay there and play baseball.''

``Physically it was probably time to go home,'' said Deters. ``But I think mentally everyone wanted to stay down there.''