NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- While going on the road is enjoyable for many sports teams, there's nothing quite like being at home. Players and coaches hear the cheer of their home crowd, are familiar with their surroundings and can sleep in their own beds.
Old Dominion baseball won't be doing much of that come the start of the season.
The renovations on Bud Metheny Baseball Complex have begun. The finished product will be a beautiful new facility, but the flip-side is that the Monarchs will not be able to host any games at their home ballpark during the 2025 campaign.
"We're just going to adjust as we have to go," ODU head coach Chris Finwood said. "The field is fine. We're still able to get our work in. Our players have been tremendous. They've just, from the get-go, said 'tell us what we need to do. We're going to be ready to adjust and do what we can and move forward.'"
"It's a great group," added senior shortstop Kyle Edwards. "We love to get to work and we love to have fun and the outside noise, it'll be there, but we don't dwell on it."
Thursday found the Monarchs practicing with construction going on in the background. A bulldozer and truck were clearing debris from where the concession stand once stood behind home plate. Sounds of the equipment were audible from the field as the silver and blue went through practice. Finwood and the team know it will all lead to bigger things for the program.
"Nothing changes out here," he said motioning to the field. "The background, there's noise, there are buildings getting torn down, rubble getting put in a truck to go to the dump and some strange sounds sometimes, but it's all part off the progress of the new stadium."
Despite being temporarily displaced on game days, the Monarchs will still get the chance to play a handful of games in Hampton Roads. Their first and their last Sun Belt "home" series will be at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, as will their April 15 meeting against VCU, with their other three "home" sets taking place at Harbor Park. All of their other contests will require travel, which can take its toll, but Finwood knows his players will be prepared.
"We've been talking about it from day one," he pointed out. "We're going to have to do hard things and winning on the road is hard, so it's just going to be us and we're what we've got and so we've got to lean on each other and be ready to do that."
Finwood also noted that many of his players are taking more online courses this semester in preparation for more road trips.
"We can do hard things," Edwards said. "This season, the MO is do hard things well and be uncomfortable in those situations, so I think it's an opportunity to go on the road and kind of show the world what we're about."
Old Dominion opens its 2025 schedule with a weekend series at Georgia Tech beginning February 14.
