We didn’t have a game scheduled this week until Saint Joseph’s came to town on Saturday, which allowed us to right the ship after our stumble last weekend. After a few spirited practices, it seemed everything was rolling right along; that is, until Friday.

Typically the day before a weekend series is set to begin, we have a toned down practice. We will take BP, maybe run through some bunt defenses or 1^st and 3^rd situations and in two hours we are finished. This week’s schedule was no different. The practice itself was great, guys were bouncing around and everyone was ready for the weekend. However, nobody could have been prepared for what was going to happen next.

At Elon, it is a running joke amongst players that the administration overemphasizes the aesthetics. Coach organized different guys to get the field looking right for Saturday’s home opener. The team reconvened for tarp duty not because we were expecting inclement weather, but rather we wanted a tighter roll with less tarp flapping in the wind; basically we wanted it to look better.

Initially, we thought no big deal; we have rolled the tarp dozens of times. So logically, we assumed a 10- to 15-minute task at max. But you know what they say when you assume. Sure enough, we were dead wrong. Our first re-roll of the tarp was unsuccessful in the eyes of some. While others were wondering (some out loud) why this even matters? Needless to say, the second and third attempts were half-hearted.

Thus, the problem lingered as the team wandered aimlessly around the tarp like lost tarp. We heard the infamous phrase, “Do it wrong, do it long.” We could only hang our heads in dissatisfaction.

As any college baseball player knows, when it comes to tarp duty, there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Much to our demise, we had 30 different opinions on how we should solve our tarp dilemma. After an hour had passed and everybody was standing around the tarp, waiting for divine intervention, Coach chimed in. “Enough of your way, we are going to do it my way.” The 30 chiefs quickly turned to 30 Indians.

So we unrolled and then unfolded the whole tarp. We finally got the tarp tucked away, with only a slight improvement from the initial roll. But as our coach sent us home, he left us with another cliché, “You must take care of it for it to take care of you.” Luckily the tarp wasn’t an indication of our play during the weekend.

With the tarp fiasco behind us, we were able to take both games of a chilly doubleheader. On Sunday, Chris Vasami led the way with his second consecutive five-RBI game, effectively putting away a pesky St. Joe’s team.

Once again we do not have any midweek games scheduled, but this week will be exciting, highlighted by our trip to Miami on Thursday.

Drew Davis

(photo courtesy of Elon Media Relations Office)