After nearly two years off from live competition, there is still plenty for Dartmouth coach Bob Whalen (Needham, Mass.) and his staff to learn about the team that will take the field to begin the 2022 season.
One thing is clear. Like its Ivy League rivals especially, the Big Green couldn’t be more excited and appreciative to be returning to the diamond starting Feb. 25 at Louisville.
“Baseball is an everyday game. It’s not like you’re playing on 17 Sundays over the course of the year (like football),” Whalen said. “So, there’s a real impact when some of that is taken away from you. … There’s a natural feeling amongst the players and coaches that it’s fun to be back around them and just have the natural rhythms of our sport.”
Whalen’s roster includes “a fair number of veteran players,” but the major focus to date has been integrating freshman and sophomore classes that haven’t worn the Dartmouth uniform in an official game. The team’s junior class hasn’t gone through the rigors of a single Ivy League weekend series.
