It’s been nearly a quarter century since they stood on the diamond together wearing Spartan green and today they find themselves spread over seven states, but a group of Castleton baseball alumni haven’t allowed time or distance to keep them apart. Each year, the eight former teammates, whose graduation years span from 1991-1994, pick a new spot on the map as a destination for their long weekend reunion.

Over the last decade, the group of Dan Murphy ’92, Mike Baranski ’94, Jeff Briggs ’91, Greg Pasha ’92, Joe Dean ’94, Steve Studley ’93, Shawn Quinn ’92 and Scott Olivieri ’93 have ventured to Baltimore, Atlanta, Rhode Island, Lake George, Phoenix, New Hampshire, Virginia and even back to Castleton, to relive their days as Spartans.

“The trips have all been great,” said Studley, “And they’ve all been so different.”

Each year and location is unique from the ones before, but Studley said there is one common thread to the trips.

“We try to have one ‘field trip’, if you will, on each trip,” he said.

While many of these weekend extras have centered around baseball and included attending Braves, Orioles, Nationals, and Diamondback games, others have been more imaginative.

“We try to get creative. We did paintball one year and whirly ball another,” said Studley.

Their Castleton trip in 2011 marked the first time back for most of the group since they crossed the stage at their own graduations. On their campus tour they said they saw a university that had transformed as they laid their eyes on Spartan Stadium, Spartan Athletic Complex, and Castleton Hall for the first time. Before spending the rest of the weekend on Lake Bomoseen, the former Spartans said they made sure to wander down Main Street for lunch in the diner after nearly 20 years away.

Two years after their campus return, the group found themselves buying an extra round of plane tickets when they learned Briggs was battling cancer.

“We were all able to work into our schedules to fly into Albany and surprise him,” Studley said. “The whole trip probably wasn’t 24 hours and we spent most of it watching football with him on the couch.”

This past summer the group gathered in Suffolk, Va., all in good health, to celebrate their tenth reunion. They met the milestone with just as much competition as they once brought to the plate and created a Castleton Yard Games Olympics. The games, which included corn hole, horseshoes, and bocce, followed a structured point system and were brought to a close with a full medal ceremony.

“We’re still pretty competitive with each other,” laughed Studley.

Looking at 2017, the group said they are still unsure of where trip 11 will take them, but they said with certainty that they will find a place to come together as Spartans once again.