Despite being the middle of winter, Erickson was daydreaming about palm trees, beaches and the ocean because the Bengals are going to Tampa for spring break in March and April.
Erickson and his team are excited about their upcoming trip to the Sunshine State which is the first time in program history the Bengals have gone south to play baseball.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Erickson said. “It’s gonna be warm. Our resort is right on the beach as well, so when we’re done with baseball for the day I just get to tell the guys, hey guess what? ‘Go out to the beach. This is our playground for the next little bit. Get some sun and relax and enjoy Florida.’ ”
The Bengals had plenty of highlights in 2025 as they finished with a 22-4 record and were ranked number one in Minnesota for part of the season. Blaine hopes to build on that success in 2026 and Erickson is bringing 32 players to Tampa for practices and three scrimmages against teams from Canada, New York and Ohio.
“There were players I know who were questioning should I play baseball this year or not,” Erickson said. “As soon as they heard we were going to Florida for spring break they all went, ‘yup, yeah we’re coming along.’ ”
“Huge advantage”
Erickson believes the Bengals will benefit greatly from their Tampa trek.
“I think it’s gonna be a huge advantage for us this year, along with the other teams that have the opportunity to go south,” Erickson said. “There’s some seasons up here where we go straight from the gym to it’s finally nice enough and we’re outside playing a game.”
To make this trip to Florida happen the Bengals had to fundraise and get support from the local community.
“It is a business trip, so we are doing baseball down there, but our baseball days are pretty much done by 1 or 2:00 each afternoon,” Erickson said. “We’re gonna have some opportunities for team bonding. We’re gonna have opportunities for beach time. I hope to get a little sunburned when I’m down there too. We’re gonna go watch the University of South Florida play a baseball game and check out their campus.”
The trip is definitely making it easier for Erickson to tolerate the frozen conditions in the North Metro
“I’m excited,” Erickson said. ” It’s one below right now in Minnesota.”
Besides traveling to Florida, Blaine is going to play Mounds View this season at Target Field on May 2 after the Toronto Blue Jays-Minnesota Twins game.
