Bryant & Stratton College head baseball coach Alex Tomter is hopeful his team will be able to start and finish a normal season next year.

Last year was Tomter's first season as head coach. The team was off to its best start in school history at 3-2, taking down two nationally-ranked teams. Then COVID-19 happened.

"It was brutal," said Tomter. "We were in Tucson and I remember driving in the van hearing about Rudy Gobert contracting the virus. Then shortly after you heard the NBA was delaying the season, and at that point I kind of knew we were done. I felt bad for the sophomores because they were playing well and had a chance to be scouted by some good schools. A couple of them were able to get scholarships but you never know what could have happened had we played the whole season."

With the uncertainty surrounding college sports during this pandemic, Tomter is aware of his challenges leading up to the season.

"The biggest thing is the unknown," Tomter said. "I have to make sure we have all our ducks in a row. Every morning the players must fill out their COVID-19 survey or they can't come to practice, so what that means is I have to check every morning that all 44 players got it done. Player safety is the most important thing. I think it's in the back of all our minds that if someone on the team gets sick, things could go bad, but I'm confident in the protocols we have in place and I'm remaining hopeful we'll get through these challenges."

Despite the inevitable challenges Tomter will face this year, he hasn't let that deter him from focusing on the task at hand of building a preeminent baseball program here at BSC.

"I have high expectations for the team this year," said Tomter. "I'm confident in my returning players because I know what they bring to the table, but I'm excited to see the new crop of players we brought in with this being my first full year at BSC. We got some studs coming in, so the returners will be pushed, and I'm anxious to see how they react to the new guys. When we have our first official practice it's going to be the returners and transfers facing off against the freshman. The only way we'll get better is if we push ourselves, so I believe It's good to have some competition right away so we can see where everyone stands in comparison to each other."

Tomter also noted that his assistant coaches would play a massive role in this team's success.

"I'm a firm believer that a college program is only as good as the staff's assistant coaches. I have three great coaches in Brandon Nelson, Corey Brandt, and Mike Aiello that carry a lot of the weight around here. They do their part and make my job a lot easier, and because of that, I'm confident we'll be a tough team to beat this year."

The Bobcats have several fall scrimmages in September and October and are set to open the 2021 season in February. The team will be doing its spring trip to Virginia Beach and will also play in Iowa, Tennessee as well as its NJCAA Region IV schedule.