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The Brigham Young University baseball preseason is officially underway with intrasquad scrimmages. The bat cats are getting into the swing of things in preparation for the 2021 season.
Head Coach Mike Littlewood said that the team is trying to find their normal routine in the midst of a pandemic.
“But I think the guys who are here are doing a great job just being resilient, you know? Rolling with the punches, and we’re trying to make it as normal as possible. They come off quarantine and they matriculate back in, and it seems pretty normal. If this were to happen a year ago and guys would go out, it would be crazy, but now it’s just kind of the new normal,” said Coach Littlewood.
With a shortened 2020 season, the Cougars have an extremely young team. That makes talented senior Mitch McIntyre more important than ever.
Talking about his leadership, McIntyre said, “Coming in last year, we had so many younger guys that I tried to show them the way, and just show what it’s like to play at BYU. So, to me, being a leader is just being there for my guys and doing whatever I can to help the team win.”
McIntyre is used to playing an important role on the team. In fact, his value extends to multiple positions.
When asked about playing both ways, McIntyre said, “I don’t know, staying locked in the game and whenever they need me on the mound, just go out there and pitch, but try to play the best defense I can when I’m not pitching and hitting. But, I’ve really enjoyed it. I think it’s been a lot of fun.”
When Coach Littlewood was asked about the identity of this year’s team, he said this squad is all about mental toughness.
He explained, “I think we’re mentally tough. That’s one thing we’re just trying to work on every single day is not let the outside stuff affect us. And it’s been kind of eye-opening to see the guys be able to do that. Usually it’s crowd noise and the opponent saying stuff to you — now it’s COVID and all this other stuff.”
The bat cats hope to begin their season in February of 2021. If you missed any of the scrimmages, recordings can be found on the BYU Baseball Facebook page.
