Lets Play (Socially Distant) Ball!

SANFORD, Fla. (July 1, 2020) - On a balmy Tuesday afternoon, redshirt freshman Ryan Moore looked straight ahead to his catcher to receive the sign. A low-90s fastball was chopped to the right side, and Moore hustled over to field a toss from his first baseman. Moore stepped on the bag and recorded an out. After a 111-day hiatus, the big righty was playing baseball again.

On March 14, the Tars were in the middle of a strong start to their spring season. They had defeated Assumption College by a score of 13-1 the night before and were prepping for a weekend matchup with conference foe Lynn. However, within 48 hours of their win, the rest of the spring season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Rollins was 13-8 at the time and sitting in 5^th place in the Sunshine State Conference standings. They ranked in the Top 5 in the conference in multiple categories, including home runs, slugging percentage, stolen bases, ERA, and opponent batting average.

Without a season to play, and with no facilities available to them on campus, players were forced to train at home to stay in game shape. After a few months of quarantine, some good news made its way to the Tars' coaching staff. The Florida Collegiate Summer League would be operating under special circumstances for the 2020 season.

Summer ball has been a staple in the collegiate baseball world for more than a century. Players from schools of all levels descend on small towns throughout the country to prep for their return to campus in the fall. Things looked bleak when the Cape Cod league, the most infamous of all summer leagues, cancelled their season in April. Many other leagues followed suit, but the Florida League found a safe way to offer an outlet for athletes to get their time on the diamond.

Working alongside Seminole County officials and True Health, every player, coach, and intern was tested for Covid-19 before the season. In addition, everyone who enters the ballpark each day has their temperature taken. For now, the general public is not allowed to attend games. However, professional scouts and immediate family members of players are welcome to watch the action live (as long as they bring a mask to wear in the stands).

Following two weeks of "spring training" in mid-June, the league officially opened on Monday, June 29^th with ten total teams. Nine Rollins ballplayers will compete in the league on five of the teams. The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs feature Moore, junior pitcher Tate Stone-Frisina, and junior outfielder Cameron Meehan; senior 1B Jack Gonzalez and sophomore pitcher Kyle Kramer will don the blue and white of the Sanford River Rats; redshirt freshmen Parker Smith and Ryan Coleman will suit up for the Seminole County Loggerheads; redshirt freshman Christian Mahlstedt will play for the DeLand Suns and pitcher Jack Curtis will see time for the Winter Garden Squeeze.

The Diamond Dawgs fell to the Squeeze on Tuesday afternoon by a score of 9-3. Moore fired a scoreless inning in his appearance, while Meehan reached base twice. Stone-Frisina did not play Tuesday, but will earn the starting nod for Thursday's game.

For Moore, these summer innings are key to his development. He redshirted during the 2019 season, and only managed to throw seven innings in the spring.

"My main focus this summer is to work in consistency," said Moore after the game. "I want the coaches to have confidence in me to come into a game in the middle of an inning and be able to get out of the jam. It felt good to be out there again, the fastball was working, but I need to shake the rust off my slider."

Meehan was in the midst of a career year for Rollins, leading the Tars in a whopping twelve offensive categories. His name was all over the conference stat leaderboards, and the outfielder had a seemingly legitimate chance at player of the year honors. Tuesday's game was the first time that Meehan saw live pitching in more than three months.

"I felt pretty good, just need to work on getting my timing back down," said Meehan. "The league has some quality arms this season, so I need to get used to seeing the different velocities and need to work on building my confidence. It'll come back with time, and I'm looking forward to trying to win another championship."

Meehan and Stone-Frisina both played for the league champion Diamond Dawgs during the summer of 2019 alongside fellow Tars Luke Reidy, Steven Swift, and James Hoelle. Stone-Frisina was named to the Florida League All-Star team and led the league in ERA. His success carried over to Rollins as he saw his ERA drop from 5.05 in 2019 to a 3.64 mark in 2020. He credits his time playing summer ball as a key component in his improvement.

"I'm looking forward to working with Coach (Jim) Newlin again this summer. I took some time off from throwing when the spring season was cancelled, so my main focus is to build my arm strength back up and be ready to log some innings next season," remarked Stone-Frisina.

All three players are excited to be on the diamond again and relish the opportunity to match up against their Rollins teammates. In addition to personal goals for the summer, Stone-Frisina and Moore agree on one thing … they both stated that their ultimate goal this summer is to strike out Jack Gonzalez.

Fans can watch games live through FLOSports. For schedule and broadcast information, visit FloridaLeague.com.