11 August, 2005

Lessons learned during long season

Like his counterparts at the top baseball schools in America, the Bourne Braves' Andy Goff has been playing competitive ball without any real time off for the last seven months. The Cape League playoffs began Tuesday, extending the season for those players on the league's top teams, including Goff.

It's no surprise, then, that August tends to separate the men from the boys in Cape League play.

"You can tell that some teams are tired. Those teams on the bubble, you can see a difference in how they're playing," says Goff. "It's grueling, especially for guys who were freshmen last year and were used to playing 20 games in high school."

Goff admits he's feeling the effects of the 44-game schedule, in both good and not-so-good ways.

"My body's pretty beat up," he says. "Every day it's the same thing. It hurts to warm up, but then you get going and you get better.

"If anything I'm feeling physically a little weaker. During the season, we lift to maintain our strength, not to get physically stronger. But my skills have definitely gotten stronger and part of that is having to focus. You're tired so you have to mentally be in the zone. You have to really concentrate at this point."

The Braves, who have remained atop the West standings, clinched a playoff spot last week and face Cotuit in the division series. According to Goff, the attitude in the clubhouse is to prepare to beat whoever stands between the Braves and a CCBL title.

"The guys are loose. They've all been on winning teams before," he says. "I was on winning teams until I got to Wake Forest. We went 30-30 and I couldn't handle being .500. I just wasn't used to it.

"Being up here and being successful is what most guys know. Since we clinched it's been even more fun. It's more relaxed," says Goff, "and it's still baseball, even when the playoffs start. That's how you have to see it."

Goff is coming off a two-week period when his bat was suffering. The infielder has tried to stay loose while hoping his next hit could come at any time and break through the slump.

"When that happens, you just want to get a hit and get it over with. You don't care how you get it, you just want to buy yourself a hit and forget about it."

Goff's came against Brewster. "A bunt single and I was back," he says, opening the door to more hits in the last three games and a return to an average above .200. "That one hit changes everything, but you still have to take one pitch at a time."

Goff was able to see his family when they arrived for a week on the Cape last Sunday, but by August, the Cape League teams become an extended family. For the Braves, who could win their first-ever championship this season, success has brought a team of ballplayers together on a unified mission.

"We talked about this point of the season at the beginning of the summer," says Goff. "We said if we're in the playoffs, we're going to win the whole thing. That's it. If we're in, we win. That's how we're going into the playoffs."

Andy Goff of Pittsburgh and Wake Forest University is sharing his experiences on and off the field as a first-time Cape League player.