{"id":2080,"date":"2019-03-27T21:14:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T02:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2080"},"modified":"2019-03-27T21:14:13","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T02:14:13","slug":"being-a-bradley-baseball-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2019\/03\/27\/being-a-bradley-baseball-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a Bradley Baseball Player"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By: Ben Pollard and Younes Dayekh<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Being a Bradley Baseball Player\" width=\"352\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QuhW3hJZ97Y\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Connor O&#8217;Brien, Brendan Dougherty and Adam Brian discuss the team&#8217;s travel schedule, as well as their training regiment. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The responsibilities of a <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?path=base\">Bradley baseball player<\/a> extend well beyond the baseball diamond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like any student-athlete, the Braves players must <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncaa.org\/student-athletes\/play-division-i-sports\">maintain respectable grades<\/a>, practice well, attend workouts, travel and play in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/25\/sports\/baseball\/pace-of-play-college-world-series.html\">games<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, these commitments resemble a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2017GOALS_Time_demands_20170628.pdf\">full-time job<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, third baseman Brendan Dougherty estimates the players only have a couple hours a day of free time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Managing these responsibilities, while having little free time, is extremely difficult and creates many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c2kOeLSZlFA\">challenges<\/a>, despite what the NCAA wants people <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCAA\/status\/1107386124081811457\">to believe<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the many challenges that Bradley\u2019s players face during a season is missing classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Bradley is in Central Illinois, the\nweather is typically snowy and cold when baseball season begins in February. As\na result, the Braves are forced to travel for the first month and a half of\neach season. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the 53 <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/schedule.aspx?path=base\">scheduled games<\/a> this year, 32 of them are away from home. For these contests, the team usually leaves on Friday and does not return until late Sunday night or early Monday morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This frequent travel interrupts the class schedules of many of the players. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will miss a couple classes. Typically, we will miss just Friday classes, but if we leave Wednesday or Thursday, we\u2019ll miss the ones on those days, too,\u201d said freshman infielder\/outfielder Connor O\u2019Brien.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite being on the road, the players are still expected to complete assignments on time. Finding time to finish those assignments, however, poses its own set of challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile we travel on the bus, we try to get as much done as we can,\u201d said O\u2019Brien. \u201cOtherwise, you can try to catch up on work at the hotel at night, but most of it is done when you get back. You just have to do double the work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To limit the amount of work they have, some players take less credit hours during the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe usually take about 16 to 17 hours in the fall, and we try to take about 14 or 15 in the spring,\u201d said Dougherty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer classes and courses over winter break are also popular options for members of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of completing assignments on the road, the Braves practice on days they do not have games. The team is awarded only one day off per week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPractices last between two and a half to three hours during the season,\u201d said Dougherty. \u201cIn the fall, it gets a little longer because we have scrimmages on the weekends, and we usually have practice right before that, too. Those practices can run between four and five hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, the frequent practices have paid off for Bradley. The team has lost only one season series this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to practice, the team also participates in training sessions during the offseason and season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on the time of year, the type of training varies.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the offseason, the team focuses on gaining muscle, so heavy weights are frequently used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The focus shifts to explosiveness during the season, so lighter weight and more repetitions become standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of the kind of training, staying fit for the season is a year-round endeavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn September, we\u2019ll start training. From\nSeptember to October, we\u2019ll play fall ball. Then, from October until around\nwinter break, we just have lifting five days a week. After we get back from\nwinter break, it\u2019s basically time to get ready for the season,\u201d said freshman\ncatcher Adam Brian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the season starts, the amount of\ntraining decreases because of practices and games, but players are still\nexpected to lift weights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe lift on Tuesday and Thursday mornings during the season around 7 a.m. It can get a little tough when you\u2019re on the road, and you get back at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. Monday. It\u2019s a quick turnaround to Tuesday morning,\u201d said Dougherty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout this offseason and season, the Braves have managed to conquer the challenges that come with being a student-athlete, both on and off the field, and their record reflects that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bradley is currently 12-7 and is in <a href=\"http:\/\/mvc-sports.com\/standings.aspx?path=baseball\">third place<\/a> in the Missouri Valley Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Ben Pollard and Younes Dayekh The responsibilities of a Bradley baseball player extend well beyond the baseball diamond. Like any student-athlete, the Braves players must maintain respectable grades, practice well, attend workouts, travel and play in games. Together, these commitments resemble a full-time job. In fact, third baseman Brendan Dougherty estimates the players only have a couple hours a day of free time. Managing these responsibilities, while having little free time, is extremely difficult and creates many challenges, despite what the NCAA wants people to believe. One of the many challenges that Bradley\u2019s players face during a season is missing classes. Since Bradley is in Central Illinois, the weather is typically snowy and cold when baseball season begins in February. As a result, the Braves are forced to travel for the first month and a half of each season. &nbsp; Of the 53 scheduled games this year, 32 of them are away from home. For these contests, the team usually leaves on Friday and does not return until late Sunday night or early Monday morning. This frequent travel interrupts the class schedules of many of the players. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cWe will miss a couple classes. Typically, we will miss just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-2080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-bucom360"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2080"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2095,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions\/2095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}