Long road trip part of learning game for young State College Spikes

It’s something every athlete — college and pro — has to get used to: the long road trip.

By the standards of the New York-Penn League, however, this was out of the ordinary.

The State College Spikes graced the green grass of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Wednesday night — they were rather ungraceful, actually, losing 11-1 to the Williamsport Crosscutters — but it was the team’s lone home game over a 13-day span.

Spikes fans can be excused for missing their favorite summer baseball.

For the guys who put on the uniforms, it’s part of the introductory experience.

“You kind of learn to be a nomad as a pro baseball player,” said pitcher Andrew Summerville, who had his first pro start and win during the trip. “Always have your bags packed and be ready to go.”

Despite the unusual circumstances, it has been a pretty successful stretch so far, with the Spikes winning six of the first eight games, including sweeping a doubleheader Tuesday at Williamsport. They also took two of three games at both Tri-City and Brooklyn.

After the home loss, they are back on the road Thursday for three-game series at West Virginia.

Manager Joe Kruzel said he doesn’t make a big deal out of the trip or do anything special — they’re on the road because the schedule says so.

“I try to stay out of their way,” he said. “But we were fortunate. We played extremely well on the road.”

Actually, they did get to at least sleep in their own beds a little, returning to State College and bussing back and forth to Williamsport for the two games at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field for a rain out and then the doubleheader.

The success helped the team rise up the league standings, now part of a three-way tie for the Pinckney Division lead with West Virginia and Mahoning Valley, with their 17-12 records tied for second-best in the league.

Aside from this stretch, there are no other road trips longer than six games on the Spikes’ schedule, with one departure of eight days in mid-August thanks to a six-game trip right after the league’s All-Star break.

For the players who were drafted last month, it is a time to learn.

“It’s about how you go about your business on the road,” center fielder Scott Hurst said. “Getting the right amount of sleep and making sure you have enough rest time and everything. It’s how well you prepare your body for every day.”

Hurst enjoyed the trip more than anyone — statistically. He is now on an 11-game hit streak.

Although there were plenty of long road trips in college for players like Hurst, who went to Cal State-Fullerton, or Stanford product Summerville, pro road trips tend to be more enjoyable.

“When we’re traveling for school as soon as we get to the hotel, we’re either sitting down and writing a paper or finishing off a computer program or a math problem,” Summerville said. “It’s pretty refreshing to be able to relax and sleep as much as we want and not have to worry about school.”

Another part of the learning experience is forgetting about a game like Wednesday’s 11-1 loss. Otherwise, there will be a lot of time to brood about what went wrong Thursday.

“It’s just one game, just like it always is,” Kruzel said. “Whether you win or lose, tomorrow’s another day and we’ve got to get back on the bus tomorrow and go play West Virginia. That’s what we’ll do.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Long road trip part of learning game for young State College Spikes."