Although baseball season doesn’t start until late winter, Chapman’s players have already begun preparing.

Athletes from both teams are able to participate in “fall ball” from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1 as long as they do not play a fall sport.

Fall ball allows players to get extra reps and face tougher competition to prepare for the upcoming season.

“Keeping the competitive juices flowing in the offseason is vital to being ready to go once the actual season begins,” head coach John Goodwin said.

One drawback to fall ball is that teams may miss key players who are involved in other sports like football.

Goodwin, who also leads the fall ball program, said missing players isn’t necessarily a major issue.

“Missing our guys that also play football provides other players with opportunities for extra work and to improve,” Goodwin said.

Although the coaches view missing players as an opportunity, the players sometimes see it as a setback.

Junior Chase Jackson said there are certain things that make a team better overall and that they’re missing important factors with other sports in season.

“This is kind of a struggle because we are missing some key arms that we usually need,” Jackson said.