Check out some of the college teams on the east coast. They play less games then teams located in the south and on the west coast. They have some decent teams but are forced to practice in a "field house."
I know. The reason why I made the comment I did was that about this time 10 years ago we played a Presidents' Day tourney and a team from Spokane came down and played.
I talked to the coach and questioned why they had come all the way down to play in a AA or AAA level tournament. , That's an OK level of baseball but you can find that level closer to home. And you don't need to travel 2000 miles to find it.
His explanation was that just as you said. They got one day a week where they practiced in a field house and I think they had Astroturf covering maybe a basketball court? Either way they were able to do infield on astroturf. And he explained another day of the week they were able to get indoor batting cages. And they were able to do bullpen sessions in the same building with their P. And catchers.
Their only outdoor work was conditioning and they said the kids complained about constantly. 1 day a week. Those were their three days. They had not played together on a field as a team. Since the previous October or so, maybe November He said individual drills are very helpful, but ultimately this is a team game. I totally got it.
This team had been batting. Fielding individually. Running home to first. All of the chopped up components of baseball. But they had not been able to get nine people on a field and play as a team.
So they actually came down to Southern California to play in the Presidents' Day tournament just so that they could be outside and play together as a team. They did not especially care whether they won the tournament or any games or not.
It gave me new perspective when I was complaining about a cold nights practice or when park and rec screwed up my lighting schedule lol
Gonzaga hasn't even practiced outdoors yet in 2024