The Fatima Comets were just happy to finally step foot onto a baseball diamond Monday for a Jamboree at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"The main thing was actually get on a field," first-year Fatima coach Brian Bax said after the Comets fell 4-2 to Blair Oaks, 4-1 to Helias and 2-1 to Jefferson City in their three, three-inning exhibition games.
"We had not had a chance to get on a field. We've been stuck in a gym hitting and throwing. I had a decent idea of what we have, but getting on the field and seeing it against opponents is always going to give you a better idea of what you've got."
And while having the opportunity for game action, Bax made sure to get as many players on the field as possible.
"I had quite a few sophomores that I wanted to see at least on the field even though some of them may not get much varsity time," Bax said. "So I played like 20 guys tonight. We weren't out here to win a game or anything."
Austin Wegman tossed a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts against the Falcons. Dawson Peters allowed an unearned run and a walk in the second inning.
Against the Crusaders, Austin Troesser struck out two, walked one and allowed a hit in a scoreless first inning.
Josef Keilholz started against the Jays, striking out one and walking one. Landry Bailey pitched a perfect third inning.
"Our big four or five I saw what i thought I would see," Bax said of the pitching staff. " With all the pitchers I didn't let them use any breaking pitches tonight, so we just threw fastballs and changeups. I wanted to challenge them to try to get good hitters out with just those two pitches. We're going to start spin drills this week and start mixing in some breaking balls within the next week or two in games."
Offensively, the Comets had six hits in the nine innings Monday.
"We struggled a little bit at the plate tonight, but we haven't seen pitching from 60 feet yet this year," Bax said. " That's challenging for the kids. I'm going to give them a pass on that. We've got some pretty good sticks and I know they are going to catch up."
Fatima will get its season started Saturday as it plays Borgia and Jefferson City in Washington.