Union Baseball Prepares For Playoffs

By Kyle Dierking, NewsOn6.com

TULSA,OK -- It was a day of pitching preparation. Union baseball beat the weather and got on the field Monday, the eve of the OSSAA playoffs.

"Our pitchers have got to step up and start throwing the way they pretty much have been all year long," said Union baseball coach Shawn Newkirk. "They've got to have command of their fastball and be able to move it in and out. Our goal is to try to win every inning."

But first the Redskins have to get in the game. Like several other teams, the final week of the season was mostly rained-out, meaning fans on the field and leaving Monday afternoon for a final tune-up.

"The thing of it is, everybody's on equal bases because the rain has pretty much washed away the whole state," said Newkirk.

The Redskins aren't just readying themselves for Sapulpa on Tuesday. They're also making sure the field is rid of all the rain.

"We've found that we've got a couple holes in our tarp," Newkirk said. "We've had the tarp on the field since last Wednesday. We were kind of nervous about what that would do to our infield grass, but it looks pretty good. We just had a few holes we weren't ready for and that's something you've got to deal with."

Redskins coach Shawn Newkirk was also making sure those holes weren't anywhere else.

"You know, we can't look ahead to Bartlesville, we have to look to Sapulpa first and go out and have a good showing there," Newkirk said. "Then hopefully come back the next day and have Bartlesville."

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