Live from Florida

On the road with Tim Stried, SID.
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Follow the baseball team in Sarasota.
Follow the softball team in Orlando.

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Saturday, March 11: 10:17 p.m. from the Fairfield Inn, Dalton, Georgia.
We're at the halfway point here in Dalton, Georgia. We went through a couple thunderstorms today but the trip was fine and everyone made it to Dalton just fine. There was a mix-up at the hotel here and the softball team ended up having to seek another hotel here in Dalton. They got into the Country Inn just across the street.

We are all dreading the snow covered plains of northwest Ohio. It's cold here at 42 degrees right now, but we don't have quite the 4" of snow that awaits us up north. However, it will be good to get home.

It's been my pleasure to keep everyone up to date during the trip. I hope you enjoyed following the teams! See you in Bluffton.

Friday, March 10: 11:55 p.m. from the Days Inn, Sarasota, Florida.
The BC baseball had an amazing finish to the fourth annual EMU-Sarasota Spring Classic today. Senior Bob Sierer threw a no-hitter as the Beavers shutout Kenyon 13-0 this morning, then BC knocked off tournament runner-up Eastern Mennonite in the nightcap 11-7 in nine innings.

Sierer along with sophomores Todd Pickthorn and Dustin Kreis were named to the All-Tournament Team. Pickthorn hit .448 in the eight-game tourney, while Kreis led the squad with a .450 average. Both knocked in eight runs.

Senior Joel Parrett pitched the entire nine innings for BC in the EMU game, which is the traditional last game of the week. The Bluffton victory marked the third win over EMU in the final game over the first four years of the Classic. I'll be doing a little research in the coming week to uncover the last Bluffton no-hitter before Sierer's today, but I am confident that it's the first in many years.

We didn't get back to the hotel tonight until 11:30, so our results didn't make any of the newspapers. We are heading out Saturday morning at 9:00, with Dalton, Georgia as our destination. I understand the weather is nasty up north, so hopefully it'll get better before we hit that region on Sunday.

I'll check back in Saturday night.

Thursday, March 9: 11:14 p.m. from the Days Inn, Sarasota, Florida.
The BC softball team dropped two close games today, 2-0 to Mount Union and 3-2 to Montclair. So, the women wrapped up their Florida action on a down note, but with a 5-3 overall record, the Beavers are ready to head north and take on the HCAC. Head Coach Ty Cook said most of the team will spend Friday at the Beach before heading home on Saturday.

I went to the President's Dinner here in Sarasota tonight where the Bluffton Camarata Singers performed, and let me tell you they made us proud. All in attendence (around 125) were very impressed. BC folks in attendence were Joyce Shumacher, Carlin and Sharon Carpenter, Merv Miller and myself.

The presidents from Eastern Mennonite, Goshen and Hesston gave a brief report of their college, as well as Joyce of BC. It was held at the Der Dutchman here in Sarasota, which is quite a place.

Vince Koza told me tonight that the weather turned cold up there tonight! That's too bad, looks like we better enjoy the 80 degree weather down here in Florida while we have it.

Thursday, March 9: 4:40 p.m. from the Days Inn, Sarasota, Florida.
After a night of unsuccessful attempts at dialing back into campus, I'm back with good news and bad news. The good news is that the softball team is now 5-1 in Orlando after posting two wins on Wednesday. The bad news is that the baseball team dropped two games yesterday and today and is now 1-5 in Sarasota.

I haven't heard yet how the softball team did today in their last two games down south. They'll be taking Friday off for some spring break activities before getting back to I-75 for the trip north.

The baseball team enjoyed their day off yesterday, spending quite a bit of time at the beach before seeing the Cincinnati Reds play the Pittsburg Pirates last night in a spring training game. Ken Griffey Jr. and Dimitri Young both homered for the Reds, and a wide array of pictures from the evening will be posted tonight.

My alumni luncheon in Pinellas Park was enjoyable, and the President's Dinner here in Sarasota begins at 6:30, so I'll be taking off pretty soon. I'll check back in tonight.

Tuesday, March 7: 11:38 p.m. from the Days Inn, Sarasota, Florida.
Bluffton teams went 1-3 today, as the softball earned went one up and one down and the baseball team dropped two close games. The weather remains great, though, and the drive from Orlando back to Sarasota was highlighted by a stop at a Waffle House.

The baseball team has Wednesday off, while the softball team has two games on the docket beginning with a 9:00 a.m. contest with Haverford. I will be traveling to Pinellas Park for a BC alumni and friends luncheon.

The Oceola Softball Complex is quite a site. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice. Unfortunately the pictures I took last night didn't show up too well, but I'll put them on the website anyway. Off to a 3-1 start, the Beaver softball squad is looking good for a high tournament finish.

The BC baseball team is heading to see the Cincinnati Reds play Wednesday night against the Pittsburg Pirates at their spring training facility here in Sarasota. The team has the day off and will aim to get back on the winning track Thursday, as they return to the diamond for a 9:30 a.m. game against Moravian.

Monday, March 6: 11:14 p.m. from the Holiday Inn, Kissimmee, Florida.
The BC softball team raced out to a 2-0 start at the Rebel Spring Games today, clipping Ursinus 2-0 and spanking Alfred 12-0. Erin Kurtz won the first game as Heather Thornton knocked in both BC runs, while Emily Kurtz earned the victory in the nightcap as a host of Beavers clubbed hits.

The baseball squad split their two games today, as BC dropped their first game to Juniata 4-1 before taking their first win of the season over Moravian 5-4. Joel Parrett earned the Beaver win, the 18th victory of his career at Bluffton which now puts him at number one on the all-time list. He and 1999 BC grad Paul Von Lehmden were tied with 17.

In talking with the Lima News and the Findlay Courier tonight, it appears that Ohio is having just as nice of weather as we are having here in Florida. The high in Sarasota today got up into the lower 80s, while the temps here in Orlando reached near 80. Many a baseball player left the ballpark this afternoon with a red tint to their arms and face.

I'll be covering the softball games on Tuesday morning before heading back to Sarasota to see the baseball team's 7:30 p.m. game against Eastern Mennonite.

Sunday, March 5: 10:44 p.m. from the Days Inn, Sarasota, Florida.
Greetings from Sarasota! The temperature today when we arrived was a pleasant 75 degrees, and the high tomorrow is 78.

The baseball and softball teams parted ways this morning as the men landed at their final destination in Sarasota and the women moved onto Orlando. I'll be covering two baseball games tomorrow and then heading east to catch the evening softball game.

It's the baseball team's fourth year at the EMU Sarasota Spring Classic, and each year the surrounding community gets more involved. The facility upgrades and attendence figures prove it, too. The Beavers get the tournament started tomorrow at noon against Juniata before taking on Moravian at 2:30.

The softball team begins their season tomorrow against Ursinus at 4:20 p.m., followed by an 8:00 p.m. contest against Alfred, which I'll be covering.

Saturday, March 4: 10:17 p.m. from the Fairfield Inn, Morrow, Georgia.
Both teams departed from BC this morning at 8:00 a.m. Remarkably, both squads picked the same lunch spot exit just south of Lexington, Kentucky. Most players and coaches ate at Fazolies.

The baseball team arrived at our hotel tonight at 8:30. The softball team arrived at around 9:00 and after a little room shuffling everyone is settled in.

Both teams depart tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. The baseball team will head onto Sarasota, while the softball team will venture to Orlando.