Haymarket Senators looking to repeat as VBL champs

Winning the Valley League Baseball title last year for the Haymarket Senators was obviously the highlight of the season for Ryan Fecteau.

That’s a given.

But his favorite part of the 2010 campaign was almost already upon him before the August 2009 post-championship party had even wrapped up.

“Probably my favorite part is putting the team together,” Haymarket’s third-year head coach said. “I love it.”

The St. Lawrence University assistant even likened the process to playing franchise mode on the Madden NFL video games, quickly simulating the campaign to get to the offseason full of free agents, trades and the draft.

Building a summer league collegiate baseball team is a little different than that. But the rush he feels is the same.

Not long after savoring Haymarket’s first league title, Fecteau was on the phones contacting programs to recruit players for this season.

Fecteau used to have to work hard to sell the Haymarket area and the club.

But thanks to that shiny trophy his players earned, that was no longer the case.

“We went back to a lot of the same colleges where we had someone already,” he said. “We had relationships with those coaches. We had more people contacting us. It wasn’t so much us selling Haymarket as it was they saw what we did and word of mouth is getting around.

“We got a lot of feedback that coaches were happy that their guys had success. That’s the kind of program they want to send their guys to, a winning program, and we’re trying to get guys from winning programs. The reputation of Haymarket is getting [to be] very good.”

Fecteau added that not only are programs seeking him and Haymarket’s organization, but the Senators, who opened their 2010 season at Front Royal last night and have their home opener tonight, are hearing from top programs like Florida International University, a perennial NCAA contender.

The Golden Panthers even feature Garrett Wittels, the player chasing Robin Ventura’s 1987 record of hitting in 58 straight college games. Wittels’ streak stands at 54 games.

“Turtle Thomas from FIU sends guys to the Valley every year, but typically to Luray or Covington,” Fecteau said. “He’s sending [Haymarket] three this year, and he called us.”

Indeed, infielders Rudy Flores and T.J. Shantz in addition to outfielder Yoandy Barroso are expected to join the Senators family as soon as FIU finishes its season. The Golden Panthers, the Sun Belt champions, are competing in the NCAA regionals.

That’s actually a common problem for Fecteau this year. The Senators are without 10 players to start the year due to the NCAA postseason.

That can be seen as both a good and a bad problem as it means Haymarket is receiving quality players but will have to do without some of them for a while.

“We’re getting burned a little bit by the regionals,” said Fecteau, who will start the year without 2009 ace Grant Sasser while he finishes up his season with N.C. State. “We’ve had to piece together some things right now.”

The Senators can carry only 28 players, so some of the players replacing those in the collegiate postseason will likely not remain with the team for the entire summer.

Bernie Schaffler, a member of the Senators’ four-person ownership group, said he has seen an increase in recognition in Haymarket.

“We did a lot of community events,” Schaffler said. “And when you go out there and people see our table or my hat, they say, ‘Can I have a schedule?’ The branding of the ‘H’ is starting to work, and that’s neat. People are recognizing who we are.”

There is no denying that the championship has changed the program.

And Fecteau would like to see another one change it even more.

“I hope so,” he said with a quick smile.

It would certainly make his version of franchise mode more interesting.

Staff writer Joe Conroy can be reached at 703-530-3912.