4 July 2007

Meet a Mariner: Steve Strausbaugh

By Matt Rice
GateHouse News Service
Wed Jul 04, 2007, 06:09 AM EDT 

Harwich - 
Name: Steve Strausbaugh
Hometown: Venice, FL
College: Western Carolina
Age: 20
Position: Outfielder
Stats: 5-10, 190 pounds

Making his second appearance in the Cape League, Harwich outfielder Steve Strausbaugh is second on the team with a .294 average (15-51) and leads the team with nine RBI. Last year, as a member of the Y-D Red Sox, he batted .225 after a hot start, but knocked in league high four RBI during the teams championship run.
In 14 games in the outfield for the Mariners so far this year, he’s only committed one error.

Q. This is your second summer playing in the Cape League; how much has it helped you having that prior experience up here?

A. It’s helped a lot. Knowing what to expect has made a big difference in the way I approach each at bat. The pitchers in this league are more confident and tend to stay around the plate much more so you really have to stay aggressive and look for a pitch to hit early in the count. Last year I started the season doing well, but the pitching caught up to me in the middle of season. Making adjustments to your swing when you play everyday can be very difficult but by the end of the season and the playoffs I started to get it going again.

Q. Did you make any adjustments to your swing coming into this summer based on last summer?

A. I actually changed up the mechanics of my swing at the end of last summer so I wanted another chance this summer to prove what I can do.

Q. Have some of the guys on the team come to you for advice?

A. Not really actually. A couple have but for the most part I just tell the guys to be prepared and be aggressive.

Q. The team has struggled in the past week or so, what’s been the mentality of the team through this losing streak?

A. The funny thing is, for the most part we haven’t been playing bad games. We just can’t seem to put things together and get a win. But I think once a little more time passes, and we have a chance to gel more as a team, then maybe we can reel off four or five in a row and get things going for us. 

Q. What do you think of the below normal temperatures here during the past week?

A. I like it. It’s not too cold, not too hot, great for baseball. I’m from Florida where it can get pretty hot during the day and doesn’t really cool down at night so I’m loving these cooler temps.

Q. What’s been some of your favorite things to do on the Cape when your not playing baseball?

A. We’ve been lucky so far and haven’t had to play a make-up game on our days off so hopefully that will continue. Of course the beach, but I’m a big fan of fishing so I’ve been able to charter a boat and get some striper fishing in.