Club sports are supposed to be stress and commitment-free activities. Winning is just a result of good fun and skill, not the ever-consuming "championship or bust" mentality of professional athletes.
So, when the Virginia club baseball team won its conference title, it was both exciting and surprising.
"Winning the ACC Tournament was definitely a shot in the arm," senior pitcher Robert Cox said. "In our earlier scrimmages this fall, we did not play to our potential by any stretch of the imagination."
Beginning the season and going into the first weekend of October, the club baseball team, in its 11th year, was not at its later championship form.
"We got off to a rough start," senior utility player John Arseneau said. "We actually entered the tournament 0-4, losing to Virginia Tech and JMU twice each to start the season. We had been leaving a lot of runners on base, and the balls we hit hard always seemed to be right at people. Once we got in the tournament, those same hard-hit balls started to drop in for base hits, and we started scoring enough runs to compliment our solid pitching."
The team, which had survived pool play and advanced to the ACC Championship, came back from a 7-0 deficit against North Carolina Oct. 2 to claim the game with a 10-9 win. Sophomore Todd Zivic and freshman Justin Armistead stepped up for the team and were named tournament MVP and team co-MVP, respectively.
With the title, the club baseball program took a step to return to its tradition of success while competing for fun.
"It is definitely a step forward," Arseneau said. "We have had a lot of second-place finishes in the last few years. We were a perennially dominant team at one point, winning tournaments and winning our conference consistently. We finished fifth in the nation in 2001 and second in 2002. But the competition was weaker, and a lot of teams have caught up to where we were then. Hopefully, this win is an indication that our organization is on the path to regaining its status as one of the elite programs in the country."
Since its founding in 1994, the 26-person team has joined the governing body of the National Club Baseball Association. Opponents include Virginia Tech, JMU, Mary Washington and Washington & Lee -- teams the Virginia team will compete with in the spring to qualify for post-season play and a chance to play in the NCBA World Series in Bradenton, Fla.
"The competition [we face] is comparable to NCAA Division III teams," Arseneau said.
In the spring, however, when games are more meaningful, the tournament competition is much more experienced.
"A lot of [the competition] depends on how long their program has been around," Cox said. "We played William & Mary last year, and, I believe, it was their first year of having a club team, and it definitely showed. There is plenty of talent out there from the other teams, especially offensively."
With an increasing level of competition, the club team practices regularly, but because of school-related responsibilities, it is difficult to assemble the entire team.
"We have yet to have a practice or game with the entire team there," Cox said.
As comfort, the players always keep in mind that their goal is to have fun.
"We're just a bunch of guys that love to play baseball," Arseneau said.
Both at its home park of Burley Field, located at the end of 10th Street, and on the road throughout the East Coast, the Virginia club baseball team continues its dedication to enjoyment and success.
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