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Back To School
Created: 9/26/2005 11:53:54 AM
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In the summer of 2004, Princeton pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, a hard-throwing Texan, was taken in the fourth round of the major league draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Just a junior at the time, he was back in the fall for his senior year, trying to complete his degree requirements in operations research and financial engineering (Ohlendorf was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection). With his commitment to the Diamondbacks, he had to take the spring semester off as he joined the South Bend Silverhawks of the Midwest League. He had an all-star season and his team won the league championship little more than a week ago, beating the Wisconsin Timberrattlers, three games to two. Ohlendorf pitched a gem in game two, going 7.2 innings, allowing a run on five hits while striking out eight for the win. And when the championship was over, he immediately headed back to Princeton to finish his classwork. Here is his perspective of the season:
It was April 2nd. Spring training would be over in two days, and I was about to find out where I would be calling home for the next five-and-a-half months of my life. While I was fairly certain that I would be making the trip to South Bend, Ind., to play for the Diamondbacks' Low-A affiliate, some of my new teammates were unsure of what lay ahead for them.
As I entered the complex for the 30th straight morning I found a long line of players by the front door. The teams had been posted and everyone was anxious to see where they would be going. Most of the veteran players had a good idea of which team they would be making, but many of the younger ones did not.
Thirty of us had been working out together for the last month. We were called the “South Bend Workgroup,” yet this title did not mean that we would all make the final roster. In fact, our group increased in size each week due to the trickle down effect of players coming down from Big League camp to the Triple A team. As spring training continued it became more and more evident that only about half of our original group would be making the roster. Those who were not so fortunate would be left behind for extended spring training, which meant another two-and-a-half months living in a hotel in Tucson, Ariz. If they had not been released by the end of that period they would be headed to Missoula, Mont., or Yakima, Wash., to play for one of the short-season teams.
Luckily, I found my name on the South Bend roster alongside two of my good friends Steven Jackson and Adam Howard. Two days later the three of us made the drive to Indiana where we were able to find an apartment across the street from Notre Dame’s campus.
Unlike Yakima, the team for which I had played the previous summer, South Bend did not have host families, so we were responsible for find our own housing. After moving into our rooms and having a single practice at Coveleski Regional Stadium, home of the South Bend Silverhawks, we were ready to begin our 140-game schedule.
For the first few weeks of the season we did not realize how good our team was. In fact it wasn’t until late April that we made a move for first place, where we remained for the duration of the season. As we traveled throughout the Midwest, from Dayton, Ohio, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and 11 stops in between, we rarely lost a series, compiling an 84-56 record — good for second best in all of minor league baseball.
The culmination of the season came as we won the league playoffs, which concluded with a 4-0 win in the fifth and deciding game of the championship series. Minor league baseball is about developing as a player so that you can hopefully one day make it to “The Show.” Even so, I must say that playing for a winning team makes it much more fun.
While the team consistently won, I certainly had my ups and downs. I started the season with a respectable ERA and led the league in strikeouts. I even pitched well enough to make the all-star team, which may have been more of a curse, because soon thereafter my ERA increased by a couple of runs and I had trouble making it to the fifth inning for several starts in a row.
After a while I realized I was no longer pitching with my usual confidence. I was worrying too much about control, and in doing so I was not pitching with the same velocity or movement I had the last several seasons. Once I returned to my aggressive style everything seemed to fall into place. Instead of losing velocity at the end of the season like many of my teammates, I actually got stronger and ended the season with several of my best starts. I was able to finish second in the league in strikeouts, after falling as low as fifth or sixth.
The season was long and a little monotonous at times, but overall it was a lot of fun — thanks in large part to my teammates. I was lucky I got along very well with my roommates, but I felt even more fortunate to be on a great team. There is not much interaction with people outside of your teammates when you practice and play 140 games in five-and-a-half months, so having people you enjoy on your team makes playing that much more fun.
In college, we would see each other a few times a week in the off season, and each of us had many friends not on the team to broaden our social perspectives. If the team had not been comprised of such great personalities, it certainly could have made for a much longer season. The social aspect of the team was also affected by the fact that nearly half of the team had grown up speaking Spanish. These players came from Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Fortunately most of them had been learning English for a couple of years because, though I did pick up a few words, I have not taken Spanish since sixth grade.
Speaking of taking classes, I have returned to Princeton for my last semester, along with my Princeton teammate B.J. Szymanski. B.J. spent the summer playing for the Dayton Dragons, also of the Midwest League. Princeton was very understanding of the fact that we needed to take the spring semester off but still wanted to graduate as soon as possible. Not only did they allow us come back this fall, but they also gave each of us the option of “walking” with the Class of 2005 last spring.
It is a little weird being back on campus without my classmates, but at the same time it is great to be back and I am looking forward to the semester and to returning to Arizona next February for another season of baseball.
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Related Schools: Princeton
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Related Sports: Baseball
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*This Article has been archived.*
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