Entry #63 - 1/9/07

Our fall season and our winter strength and conditioning program went very well this year. It has been a great fit for the eleven new faces which we brought in. There has been great cohesion between the new players and our returning players. I have been very pleased with the "closeness" that this group has shown. We currently have our largest roster (30 players) that we have ever had since I've been at ETSU. I usually like to keep our numbers around the 25-28 range; because it is a little more manageable, but we are very young and inexperienced so we decided to add a little depth. Coach Greene along with the assistance of our former pitching coach Maynard McClarrinon did an outstanding job with this recruiting class. This was Coach Greene's first class as our recruiting coordinator, and he has set the bar very high.

We lost some very talented players from last season who gave us a ton of production for a long time. When your ball club loses five players to the major league draft, along with three other everyday players, then it is obvious that we will be hard pressed to replace their output. Let me give you an example: We lost 61% of our hits, 61% of our doubles, 67% of our homeruns, 59 % of our rbi's, and 73% of our stolen bases. When you add to that the loss of your number one starter and your best reliever, I guess you can say we have our work cut out for us. Those percentages sure make success in the upcoming season seem very daunting, but I'm hopeful that others who have been waiting in the wings and some of our new players will take advantage of this opportunity.

Even though we have yet to play a game, I really do like our ball club. We are young and somewhat inexperienced, but we are very talented. This team's ceiling is very high. In some years when you fill out your lineup or pitching rotation, you hope that some individuals will play over their heads. With this roster, I sincerely believe we will be successful if our players just play to their potential. We don't necessarily need "Herculean" efforts. We just need our players to keep improving, striving every day to be the best they can be and play to their abilities. I would much rather have a team that has talent and little experience, than have a team that has experience and little talent.

So as our staff prepares for the return of our players, we cross our fingers hoping that they will return to campus, having maintained their conditioning, strength and flexibility they worked so hard to obtain over the winter. Working hard has not been an issue for this club and that is a tribute to our upperclassmen and all the players who have come before them. I take a lot of pride and I know our baseball alumni take a lot of pride in the work ethic of our players in our program. Once our players return to campus we will only have 25 days until Opening Day so we can't afford to waste anytime. As long as we don't have a lot of rain, I think this is plenty of time to prepare. We just have to make sure that every practice is productive.

Before I sign off, I want to congratulate Coach Greene and his wife Heather on the birth of their son, Aaron Jay Greene. "AJ" was born October 8th and is doing very well. He is as cute as can be and if he keeps growing like he is, he wont' be stealing bases like his father used to do; he will be in four point stance wearing a football jersey with the number 72 on it. He is not four months old yet, but he is strong as an ox. You should see Coach Greene change those diapers. He may be the fastest diaper changer this side of the Mississippi River. We are very happy for Clay and Heather and we wish them well as they experience the joy of parenthood. Until Next Time...

Coach Skole