Baseball season at a quick glance

This will be the last season of baseball for the STLCC-Forest Park Highlanders and the STLCC-Florissant Valley Fury. Budget cuts forced the decision to discontinue fielding the teams on July 1. STLCC-Meramec Magic baseball will still be here. The Magic have had the highest winning percentage of the three STLCC baseball teams as of the end of April. The Magic, however, are seldom simply better than another given team.

 

Frequently, the Magic will flip from doing poorly against a team to doing well against them, and vice-versa. These flips may happen within days, or hours.

 

The first three games of the season were against Northeast Texas Community College, on Feb. 27 and 28. Meramec made a comeback by the third game. The first two Meramec lost, 11-1 and 4-0. The third, Meramec won 5-1.

 

When Meramec played Joliet March 4, Meramec Magic started slow but gained speed. The first game between Meramec and Joliet went into extra innings, with Meramec winning in the end 5-4. Meramec won the next game that day against Joliet, 5-2. The next day the Magic beat Joliet 12-2.

 

On April 20 the Meramec Magic played two ballgames against Forest Park. The first of these two games, Meramec won 16-1. The second game they lost. The score was 5-1.

 

Head coach Tony Dattoli said, "We have a strong team. We are strong in the three phases of baseball, which are offense, defense, and pitching. We have a very good opportunity to win." 

 

Regarding the team's weaknesses, Dattoli said, "There could be a fourth phase of baseball, the mental game. This aspect had been challenging. The season has been challenging. The mental game consists primarily of focusing and knowing what is needed to be done in certain situations."

 

The Meramec Magic baseball team will have had two five-game winning streaks by the end of April. The first winning streak slid by when playing Joliet and Lindenwood from March 4-6. The second happened between Meramec, Florissant Valley, Three Rivers College, and Forest Park April 13-20.

 

Additional challenges have included financial challenges. “I've been around for plenty of budget cuts for all different reasons," Athletic Director Bob Bottger said. "Many opponents have had their funding increased compared to ours so that has become a taller mountain to climb." Bottger said they need scholarship assistance and dramatic improvements to the baseball field.

 

The future of STLCC baseball will be left in Meramec's gloves, but the season isn't over yet. Meramec's next home game will be Saturday, May 8 against Forest Park. Magic's overall record, as of May 3, was 27-24. Meramec's conference record was 9-11.