Sunday, March 28th, 2009

It’s Spring Again and With Spring, Hope Springs Eternal

JACKSON, WY. (JHYB)

By, Chris Moulder

January and February, the two months of the year that tend to feel as though they will
never end. March however, not only brings with it the anticipation of snows receding to reveal
brownish dormant grass, tulips and crocuses poking their heads up in search of the warming
glow of longer sunlit hours but as well, the young of Jackson Hole also come out of their dens in
a dull, post-hibernation like trance looking only to feed on baseballs. Along with these sleepy,
boys of summer, are the parents and fans looking for breaks in the weather as well as glimpses in
each other eager to start the dialogue necessary to forge in their minds the potential of the
impending season.

“ …spring begins with rain and melt. For that matter, it continues to snow, at least from time to
time, in late March through April. Spring snows rattles winter’s death- or is it the triumphant
final tour of winter? Well, almost final: perhaps one more go at Hedda, for charity of course.
Or winter returns like a forty four year old relief pitcher, who has been practicing a knuckler in
the backyard, throwing to his mother. Now we become impatient: Let us give winter its gold
watch; let us award it an honorary Oscar or a day of its own at Cooperstown; let us push it off
to a condominium in the keys of Antarctica and stop all this damned nonsense about a
comeback.”

Donald Hall, Spring, from the book; Seasons at Eagle Pond

Typically, baseball in Jackson Hole starts with a meeting in

mid-February by Coach Pat Euart for all interested young
ballplayers wishing to play on the American Legion club.
Schedules and expectations are laid out before players and parents
and received with tones ranging from cool understanding by the
older veterans to mild hysteria by the younger first time rookies.
Regardless, this initial meeting always starts a ball of excitement
rolling for the coming season and that indoor practices will soon
start around the 1st of March in spite of the mounting snows
outside and the sub-zero temperatures.

In the past, our Hometown Hero Jackson Giants start the

season behind their competitors largely due to the fact that they

Coach Pat Euart

rarely touch an actual outdoor field prior to their first game, the biggest setbacks always being
pitching and hitting. In years past, the Giants have had to settle for grabbing indoor gym time at
the schools whenever the High School programs were not using them. That scenario has not
changed this year but with the ingenuity of Coach Pat Euart who petitioned the various school
entities to allow the Jackson Youth Baseball Program to install two indoor batting cages in the
mezzanine above the gym of the Jackson Middle School, the outlook for the season opener
seems brighter. With the help of a small group of volunteers particularly, Paul Rossolo of
Dembergh Construction, the tricky installation went quickly and efficiently. This new amenity
has allowed the Giants as well as other Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken kids to come and practice
after school and get a head start on developing their hitter’s eye and timing. No amount of
hitting tennis balls or Wiffleballs lobbed into the air can substitute hitting real baseballs with real
bats at real speeds.

Bull pen sessions are still much as it was in the past though and the Giants pitching staff
will still be needing some outdoor time to develop. Last year’s first steps into the season saw
our senior chuckers struggle with making subtle adjustments from pitching on a flat hardwood
gym floor with sneakers to a sloped dirt mound with cleats. It took a few games for our
hometown hurlers to get their game dialed in but once they did, holy smokes!

This year is starting off looking a little thin for the Giants as many of last year’s Western
Wyoming District Champions have graduated and are ineligible to play this year. Charlie Wild
who was able to take advantage of a newer Legion birthday extension last year, literally came
from the classroom at the University of Wyoming to the baseball field in Evanston to help out the
Giants with an exciting year. Wild who is taking some time from his studies this year to achieve
a journeyman’s position as an electrician in Jackson, is helping out Coach Euart with his indoor
practices despite not being able to play. Charlie is a fine example of how hard work and
dedication along with a love for the game of baseball can be passed on to the younger generation
of ballplayers. Grant Smith, Colter Huhn, Bryn
Windle, and Sky Garnick have all graduated and
by virtue of their birthdates are too old to return
to the Giants lineup. Pitching ace, Lucas Moulder
and middle infield sensation Cameron
O’Donoghue are eligible to return to the Giants
Lucas "The Horse" after attending a year of college and have Cameron
Moulder O'Donoghue
reported to practices with the Giants while home
from spring break from the University of Kansas and
the University of Wyoming respectively. Chucklin’
Charlie Keegan who is a senior at the Westminster
School in Simsbury, Connecticut is currently at
spring training in Orlando, Florida, training with his
team, the Westminster Martlets where Keegan is in a

Chucklin' Charlie Keegan

 leading role as team captain. Of these three, Cam O’Donoghue is the only one yet to give
Coach Euart the official thumbs up regarding his return. It is understood that Coach Euart is in
negotiations with Moulder and Keegan still, regarding playtime and work schedules for the
spring and summer months.

Other returning veterans for the Giants will be Patrick Renz who
is currently recovering from a fractured finger which required surgery,
Ryan Weber who is recovering from shoulder surgery last fall, Carlos
Toledo who is recovering from an unscheduled, covert trip to Mexico as
well as Ian Chapman, Robbie Caesar and Ethan Moulder who are just
recovering from being Juniors at the high school. Paul Vik is
understood to come up from Babe Ruth where he played last year along
with participating on the Legion B team last summer, but there are not
Patrick Renz many of his mates, if any, from last year’s Babe League coming up to
Legion for unknown reasons. Euart is going to have to pull a rabbit out
of his hat to create and maintain a viable roster for the season this year.

In the meantime, a strong showing of younger players continue to

attend Coach Euart’s practices while the snow continues to fall here into
late March. As of this writing, the Giants are scheduled to start their
season May 2nd in Belgrade, Montana where the Giants will be hosted for
Ryan Weber a two game set by the Belgrade squad.

Ian "Chappy"
Carlos "The Robbie Caesar Ethan Moulder
Torpedo" Toledo

Paul VIk