TRAVERSE CITY -- Center fielder Mike Epping was keeping track of Tropical Storm Hanna on Friday, soon after arriving home along the coast in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, manager Jon Cahill was making the long drive to Boston.
The Traverse City Beach Bums scattered to all parts of the country late last week after their season ended -- and the Frontier League playoffs started.
The Beach Bums finished just out of the running, a game behind Gateway for the fourth and final playoff spot.
"Obviously, it's disappointing (to not make the playoffs), but at the same time we had a successful season," Cahill said by cell phone. "The guys we had performed as best they could."
The Beach Bums finished 50-46 to place second in the six-team East Division. It was an eight-game improvement over last season.
However, Traverse City's inability to win at home proved a stumbling block. The Beach Bums were 30-21 at the All-Star break -- and had 33 of their remaining 45 games at home. Although the Beach Bums went 7-5 on the road the second half, they were only 13-20 at home.
"That's (home) where you should excel," Cahill said.
Overall, Traverse City was 27-27 at Wuerfel Park and 23-19 on the road.
"It's hard to explain," said Jason Wuerfel, the team's hitting coach and director of baseball operations. "Our hitters had a difficult time hitting in our park. We hit 35 home runs in 42 games on the road. We hit 11 home runs in 54 games at home. We hit .275 on the road. We hit .220 at home. And when you play the majority of your games at home, it's tough to win when you're only scoring two to three runs a game. That's where we struggled the most."
The lack of a consistent hitting attack led to a "rollercoaster" season, Wuerfel said.
"We had a lot of ups, a lot of downs," he said. "That was evident in our record -- win five, lose six; win six, lose five. We had a tough time being consistent."
Part of the problem was that Traverse City lost some of its best players before and during the season.
"We had some difficult obstacles to overcome," Wuerfel said. "Curtis Ledbetter, one of our returning veterans (hit .306 last season), retired a couple days before spring training. Bryan Rembisz, our pitching ace, was signed by the (Los Angeles) Angels. That was awesome for Bryan, but you can't replace a guy like that a month and a half into the season. Bryan had a chance to be the Pitcher of the Year in the league, considering the pace he was on.
"Then, Mike Goetz, who was in the top five in hitting, signed with the (Pittsburgh) Pirates; and Joe Blackburn, who could have been a big contributor with his bat down the stretch, signed with the (Philadelphia) Phillies."
That's not to mention outfielder/designated hitter Jake Whitesides, whose season ended prematurely when he separated his shoulder.
"It was a season filled with bittersweet moments," Wuerfel said. "Obviously, there's a pride thing in having three players realize their dreams and move on to affiliated ball. I don't think there was another team in the league that lost three players like that.
"But it was difficult for us, too. Guys like Goetz and Rembisz were All-Stars. They were irreplaceable. And Whitesides was an All-Star. When we had our whole team together we did really well.
"But that's how it goes in independent baseball. When you start doing well, people notice. They took away our best players.
"But the players that we did have (for the season) scratched and clawed all the way to the end. They gave us everything they had."
When Wuerfel and Cahill assembled this team, they put an emphasis on pitching and defense. The Beach Bums led the league in team ERA (3.57) and in fielding percentage. Traverse City, however, was 10th in the 12-team league in hitting (.249).
"When you're not hitting, you rely on your pitchers to do a little extra," Cahill said. "You can't lose 19 games by scoring less than four runs.
"If we had been in the middle of pack (in hitting). we wouldn't be talking right now. I'd be having batting practice."
Epping was one of the team's top hitters. He batted .284 and stole a franchise best 38 bases.
"You always think you can do more, but overall I thought I had a successful season," Epping said.
"As a team, we had a winning record, played hard right down to the last game, but we came up short. Obviously, one of our goals was to make the post-season -- and we didn't."
Cahill said the team's poor start in the second half, which brought Traverse City back to the pack, proved crucial. In the end, the Beach Bums needed Southern Illinois to sweep Gateway in the final series to have a chance at making the playoffs. It didn't happen.
"We put ourselves in a hole," Cahill said. "We would have liked to have been in a situation where it would rely on us winning rather than having to rely on another team losing in order for us to get in."
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