Little Tiger junior preparing for baseball with sprints
By: Justin Feil
Robby Begin noticed that he was ahead of most of his Princeton High baseball teammates in wind sprints, and that was part of the reason he came out for the Little Tigers’ winter track team last season.
Another reason was to make sure he wasn’t just the fastest player on the baseball team but one of the fastest in the area.
Begin looks headed in the right direction. He won the 55-meter dash and 200-meter sprint as well as being a part of the winning 4×400 relay in PHS’ 50-32 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro South last Friday. He’ll look to continue his successful season, and prepare further for baseball, when PHS competes at the Mercer County Championships at Widener University on Sunday.
"Last year, I was more 200- and 400-oriented," said the PHS junior. "This year, I told Coach (John) Woodside that I wanted to do the dash more. College baseball coaches like to see a 60 time, so I’ve been able to work on that some more. I’ve been training for it more.
"We had a lot of really good 55 runners last year. He just decided to put me in the 200 and 400. He thought I’d excel there more."
Begin had the Little Tigers’ second-best time to now-Princeton University freshman Matt Susan last year. Now Begin has the top time on the team, as well as the best dash time, though shot-putter Tim Tsoi has also shown plenty of short speed. For Begin, concentrating on the dash this season is preparing him for baseball.
"That’s what I was intending to do," Begin said of last year. "It got pushed to the wayside when I had the best 200 time other than Matt Susan. It was fun. I won medals. But it was my intention because it’s more like baseball. I saw how important it was and I’ve worked at it."
Begin, who plays outfield as well as pitches, found benefits during baseball season from last winter’s first season of track. He’s hoping for even more improvement this spring.
"It’s definitely improved my reaction time because of the gun," Begin said of the quick starts required in the dash. "On fly balls or ground balls, my reaction’s better. And when I’m pitching, I have more stamina because my legs are a lot stronger. I can go longer than I used to be able to when I’m pitching."
Stamina is something that’s just beginning to come around for Begin, who suffered a broken jaw last summer during the American Legion season.
"He came back a little slow," Woodside said, "but he’s really been running great all month."
In a Jan. 10 meet at Lawrenceville, Begin posted times comparable to last week’s dual meet against the Pirates. Against WW-P South, Begin was a dash winner in 6.8 seconds and captured the 200 in 24.3 seconds.
Begin, who is currently playing winter baseball for a Flemington league, now has his sights helping the Little Tigers improve on last year’s third-place county finish.
"I expect us to place at least in the top three," Begin said. "We’ll need really good performances in all events. We have a good 4×400, and hopefully we can place in the 55 and our distance guys are really good. Hopefully we’ll win the county. That’s the goal. We finished third last year, so hopefully we match that or improve upon it."
Begin could certainly help by lowering his own times, though they’re pretty nearly what he had hoped for coming into the season.
"My goal was to break 24 (in the 200)," said Begin of the event that is not contested at counties. "I ran 24 low, and my best time ever is 24.1, so I was close. My goal for the dash was 6.75 and my best time ever is 6.7, so I met my expectations in that."
Woodside is particularly thrilled to see Begin’s latest exploits. It seems that he’s peaking just in time for the big
"All of a sudden, Robby really started coming on," Woodside said. "I’m looking forward to Sunday. He’ll have to step up another notch to get top six, but he’s got it in him. I just wish I had him more than one season a year."
But, alas, the whole reason that Begin came out for winter track is because of his primary sport, baseball. When track ends, he’ll be into his favorite sport full-time, but not without many thanks to his track background.
"I did it to stay in shape and get a lot better at baseball and running," Begin said. "I enjoy running. It might be something I want to do in college."
Getting to that level could happen with another season of development, and even thinking about it has to keep Robby Begin at the front of the baseball team’s wind sprints.