Preview of the third season for Hood’s baseball team

On the eve of their third season, Hood College Baseball coach Cory Beddick reflected on the last few years.
“If I could describe our program’s history in one word, I would choose the word ‘competition,’” Beddick said.
A member of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth, Hood baseball’s inaugural season was 2015. Beddick, who graduated from Gettysburg College in 2010, was hired as head coach in 2013 to recruit a team for the 2015 season.
Over the last three years, Beddick has raised one of the most competitive – and youngest – teams in the conference; The Blazers are consist entirely of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. While some might view such a young team as a challenge, but Beddick found a silver-lining in his group.
“The key to any successful team is the individuals it is comprised of. Priority number one was, and, is bringing in high quality student-athletes that can help us build our program into something special. We want to [be] competing for conference championships every year. Our earliest challenge was also a great opportunity. Being a new program, young guys had the opportunity to get experience as freshmen and sophomores. We believe that quickened their development and will enable us to compete at a high level this season.”
When asked what sets Hood apart from schools in the conference, he again brought up the youthfulness of his team.
“Even though this is only our third year as a baseball program, we are probably now the most experienced team in the conference. Even though we do not have one senior on the team, we have many guys that have gotten the opportunity to see the field early in their college career. Within one year, we likely went from the youngest team in the conference to one with quite possibly the most experience.”
His hard work has not gone unnoticed. According to his bio on Hood’s Athletics page, he was named 2016 Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Coach of the Year.
The Blazers are looking to improve upon their 2015 and 2016 seasons, finishing with a record of 14-25 and 16-24, respectively, with seven conference victories in 2016.
“I am most excited to see how our team comes together. We play at least 40 games in about two and a half months. We will face both successes and adversities over the course of the season and it is important that we stick together as one team,” Beddick said, in regard to the upcoming season.
Blazer home games are played at neighboring Frederick Community College, as Hood does not have a baseball field of their own.
Beddick has used this to his advantage, allotting more time for practice and home games, saying, “To my knowledge there are no plans for us to have our own field in the nearer future. However, we feel very grateful to be able to call FCC our home field. We are the only team in our conference that has a home field that is artificial turf. That allows us to get on the field in late February and early March when most of our conference opponents are unable to get on their home field.”
The Blazers’ first home game is Feb. 25, a double header hosting the Catholic University Cardinals, while their first conference home game will be hosting the Alvernia University Crusaders on March 17. A full schedule can be found on the Hood Athletics webpage.
With big goals in mind, Beddick has not forgotten to take it one step at a time.
“The next step for our program is to continue to improve,” he said. “We feel like if we reach our potential this season, we can be competing for a championship in the conference playoffs in May. However, to get there we need to focus on the process which is continuing to get better every single day.”