Club team finally coming full swing

Junior Matt Ostrega's vision of an IU club baseball team, and ten months of hard work creating one, will come to fruition Tuesday.\nClub baseball, for the most part, is similar to that of IU's varsity baseball team. Like college ball, the team carries 25 to 30 players on its traveling roster, plays other college clubs and is open to all full-time students.\nOver the course of the year, the team will play 15 fall games and roughly 40 spring games, starting in February. If the team does well enough and wins their conference, they can compete in regionals and try to get to the World Series of club baseball.\nUnfortunately, the club team does not receive any financial support at all from the school, which has hindered the process of putting the club together.\n"Pretty much all of the money we make is through fund raisers, donations and player fees," Ostrega said. "We receive little to no money from the University."\nBecause of the amount of money club baseball has to raise, players who make the traveling team must pay a $350 fee, and those who make the B team will owe $60. The B team encompasses all players at tryouts who don't make the traveling team. Since club baseball is not a varsity sport, there are no cuts.\nDue to the lack of moneythe team receives, Ostrega has already spent $1,000 out of his own pocket in order to help pay for conference dues. So far, Ostrega has been putting in hundreds of hours of effort.\n"Matt has the organization and energy to make this thing happen," said business professor James Pratt. "He asked me to help out, and I'm just trying to do what I can."\nOstrega asked Pratt earlier this year to be the adviser for IU's club baseball team. Pratt originally played baseball for Purdue and was once drafted by the Chicago White Sox, but decided to follow other endeavors.\nAlong with the role of adviser, Pratt will aslo help with the coaching aspect of the team, as well as help determine who makes the traveling team in tryouts.\n"It's been rough trying to find people to help out with coaching, so we're very grateful that professor Pratt has been able to help us out," Ostrega said.\nEven with the difficulties of creating this team, Ostrega is optimistic and is dedicating himself to making sure this season runs smoothly. So far, the team has a sponsor and Rawlings has donated uniforms.\nIt seems that after months of work, the whole process is starting to come around.\n"Hopefully we can gain enough interest to keep this thing going," Pratt said.\nOstrega is also very pleased with the amount of people who are interested in club baseball and hopes the club will continue for years to come.\n"Guys are going to be able to say that they were a part of the first-ever season of club baseball," Ostrega said. "Hopefully, I can come down five to ten years from now and see it running strong"