Mandan Braves baseball making the best of practicing indoors

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - April 1 is on Saturday. It was supposed to be the date for Mandan’s first baseball game of the season. You can put that on the list of sporting events that will not happen in North Dakota.

The Braves are practicing indoors with the hope of getting outside sooner than later. Mandan does have the All-Season Arena which helps a little.

“We typically run into weather problems every spring. The last couple of years we’ve been fortunate to be outside on our turf field. This year, it’s pretty deep on the field,” said Dewitt Mack, Mandan’s head coach.

“It’s just the lack of space and not being able to get everything done like outside but just working on what we can when we’re working in here,” said McCoy Keller, Mandan senior.

“The turf pulls in a little more heat. It warms things up a little quicker which is nice, and we don’t have to worry about the frost coming out and the mud with the previous field, but it does allow us to get on a little sooner,” said Mack.

While nobody wants to be forced to practice inside, there is a lot of melting that needs to happen before we get back to normal. The players understand that what they do inside will play a factor when the games begin.

“Focus, we have to be way more focused in here. Outside you get the real feel and you seem focused enough but in here the focus has to be there because if not then you’re just really wasting your time and you’re definitely hurting yourself,” said Seth Gerhardt, Mandan senior.

Gerhardt says the goal this spring is the same as every year: qualify for the state tournament.

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