Spring is just around the corner, which means the wait is over for the Boise State club baseball team.
The wait, however, has kept the players on their toes, as they have been relentlessly training and practicing for their upcoming season since the end of their fall campaign, in which they went 8-1. This is a good sign for the team and its fans, as these nine games were all against conference opponents of the Broncos.
The players have kept this excitement from the fall season all throughout the winter, according to junior catcher and pitcher Grant Gaynor.
“The fact that we know we are going to have a full season without COVID is really exciting. Everyone is 100% bought in,” Gaynor said.
Senior catcher and third baseman Rory Patterson also voiced his anxiousness for the upcoming season.
Photo courtesy of Grant Gaynor
“There is a lot of good talent this year, and I think all of us are just really looking forward to getting on the field again,” Patterson said.
As many know, the baseball program at Boise State took a massive hit in the COVID-riddled year of 2020, as the university made the decision to revoke the team’s Division I status, completely cutting off all funding and eventually leading to the disbandment of the team.
As a result, many of the team’s players departed from Boise State and continued their college careers elsewhere.
But the thought of baseball at Boise State did not die with the loss of the program. It was instead brought back as a club with a new vision according to Coach Dan Thomas.
“We want guys to come to Boise State to get a great education, while also getting to play some great, competitive baseball,” Thomas said.
Thomas has a history with Boise State, and not just as the coach of the baseball team for the last ten years.
Thomas was a student at Boise State in the late 70s and early 80s. He witnessed firsthand the first time the Boise State baseball team was disbanded in his second year of college.
Now seeing it again, it was disheartening.
“I was most disappointed in the fact that players could not work their way up to the varsity squad anymore. It definitely drove kids to work harder,” Thomas said.
But the competitive edge has not died for the baseball program, even when the sport was reborn as a club. The school has continued supporting the program as a club as well.
“The school is definitely one of the best in the support they provide for our program,” Thomas said. “We are in the top bracket for clubs, as far as support from the school.”
There is one thing, however, that Thomas wishes the school could improve on.
“I will say that I wish the school could advertise more about our club, all clubs in general really,” said Thomas.
Even without all the hype and fans that some of the more popular sports and clubs have at Boise State, the program is just excited to be back on the field and playing again.
The Broncos’ next matchup will be an away series versus the Bengals of Idaho State, where they will play two games on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and then again on Sunday at 11 a.m.
