Entry #17 - 2/27/04

I apologize to everyone for the confusion of the last entries. This entry is going to catch me up to the present. It is going to cover all the games we have played to date. It is going to be a long one, but it will start with our first game and end with our ninth game. It should bring everyone up to date.

There is nothing like “Opening Day”. No matter how old you are, if you ever were a baseball player the first day of the season will always be special to you. There is no doubt this ‘Opening Day” has been long in the waiting. Last year was a tough year for me and our program. We lost some many close games and we just could never seem to put it all together. We had some tough injuries and played a lot of young kids, but we just never got it going. It was as frustrated as I have ever been in my athletic career. So needless to say after bringing in a talented recruiting class, seeing the progress most of our returning players had made in a years time, I was anxious to see this ball club get on the field.

Early in January my brother Scott had called to see how the team was doing. Scott lives in Tampa and was excited that we were opening up versus South Florida. He seemed concerned though because he had looked at the schedule and asked how I slept at night knowing we are going to have to play against so many quality programs throughout the year. I told him not to worry. Looking at our schedule for this season makes me sleep just like a baby…I wake up every two hours crying.

In Game One versus USF I could see our guys were anxious and nervous to finally get the season underway. I knew it was going to be a tough day for our hitters as we were facing a young man from USF who would touch 92-93mph, and if he was on could have a knee buckling breaking ball. South Florida jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on us as our starter Steven Calicutt was struggling finding the strike zone. This was very uncharacteristic of Cutt, and after he settled down he was fine. Finally in the top of the third Matt Traylor delivered our first hit of the season. It sure is nice to have Matty back in the lineup. After having one of the best freshman seasons in ETSU history, Matt had to sit out last season after undergoing major knee surgery. It was a tough year for Matt and he had to do a lot of soul searching. Now he is back, poised and ready to have a big year for us. When you have an 18 month layoff from baseball it takes some time to get back in the groove, but I don’t think it will take Matt too long to heat up.

Heading into the top of the sixth we found ourselves down 7-0. We had roughed up USF’s starter for two hits so they went to their bullpen. This was the break we were looking for. After the first two batters were retired, freshman, Steven Douglas started things off with his first collegiate hit, a double. Greg Roberts was then hit by a pitch and Caleb Moore induced a two out walk. Senior, Tim Turner then stepped to the plate and delivered his first hit of 2004, a towering grand slam to right field. Finally we were on the board and showing some life. Freshman, Caleb Glafenhein had come into pitch and was flat out dominating. He retired USF in order the next two innings thus keeping us in the game. In the eighth, Douglas drove in his first run in his collegiate career and we were now down two heading into the ninth. USF has a dominant closer who had double figure saves last season and I knew we were now going to see him. With one out in the ninth Traylor and Shane Byrne delivered singles. Ryan Spriggs then came to the plate and in his first at bat as a Buccaneer delivered a clutch RBI single. We were now down one with runners at first and second. A ground ball to SS would move the runners to second and third with two outs. Josiah Glafenhein was now up to bat and poised to deliver the knock out punch, but it was not to be, as their tough closer got Jo-Jo to fly out to right. Josiah was upset after the game for not getting that hit in the ninth, but it was a tough match up and I know in the future he is going to get many big hits for us throughout the year. So we went back to the hotel disappointed but eager to get back on the field.

In Game Two we sent sophomore Jeremy Hall to the bump. Before all is said and done I really believe “Booner” is going to be one of the best pitchers ever to come to ETSU. He gave us a solid outing and the score was tied 4 to 4 going into the sixth. Our defense let us down in the bottom of the inning as we allowed USF to score two unearned runs, which would be the final two runs scored of the game. Again we missed many opportunities with runners on base and just could not seem to put anything together. Final score 6 to 4.

We got out to an early 1 to 0 lead in Game 3 as Andy Howdeshell hit his first homerun of the season, a towering shot to left center field. USF answered with three of their own in the bottom of the first and then our starting pitcher, Tim Turner went to work and blanked them for the next five innings. We were down 3 to 2 heading into the sixth and we had our leadoff guy on board. Our failure to execute a sacrifice bunt hurt our chances to tie the game as the next hitter after the failed sacrifice delivered a hit which would have tied the game. Another strikeout with a man in scoring position would end our threat. USF would score five runs late to finish us off 8 to 2. This game was really a game of missed opportunities for us as we left 8 men stranded in scoring position.

Now we were headed to Athens, Georgia to play the University of Georgia in a midweek two game set. I was extremely disappointed that we did not fare better in Florida. I thought we had played well enough to win all three games, but we just did not come through in some clutch situations. I talk frequently with our kids about having “Competitive Greatness”. It is something that successful people always have. “Competitive Greatness” is simply being your best when your best is needed. I felt that our club had really failed in this area in our first three games.

After a good workout at UGA’s field on Monday, I was interested to see how we would match up against the much improved Georgia Bulldogs. I was hoping that our bats would start to come around a little bit. I remember Coach Port used to always tell us, “You know, Coaches aren’t supposed to have favorite players on their ball club. But I do! You know who my favorite players are? My favorite players are the SOB’s driving in the runs.” It killed me every time I heard him say that because he usually said it after I had failed to drive somebody in. But boy was he right. As a coach you love those guys who take pride in RBI’s. The guys who love to come up with men on base. The guys who yearn for that opportunity to get that big hit. A couple of years ago we had two guys who were RBI machines in Nathan Copeland and Andy Baxter. They were as good at getting that big hit for ETSU as anyone in the last twenty years. Coach Goulet and I are still looking for our “favorite players”.

I thought we were coming out ready to play in game one versus Georgia as we jumped on them with two runs in the top of the first. Josiah Glafenhein delivered a clutch two out double to do the damage. But that was about all the magic we could muster as Georgia played about as well as any college team I had seen in a long while. They made some unbelievable defensive plays and every ball they hit seemed to find a hole. After Jo-Jo’s double the only bright spots were Caleb Moore’s first homerun of the year and Caleb Glafenhein pitching four innings of scoreless baseball.

In Game two we decided to start Steven Calicutt for the first three innings and then give the ball to Jeremy Hall for the next three. I was curious to see how our top two guys would fare against these SEC hitters. Cutt and Booner didn’t disappoint as they were as sharp as ever. Cutt gave up only one hit with three K’s in his three innings, while Booner gave up one run on two “chink” hits in his three innings. So the score was 1 to 0 going into the 7th. Offensively we continued to struggle to with runners in scoring position. We just couldn’t seem to get that big hit.

In order for a team to win in college baseball, you must have quality pitching. All the teams at the tops of their league will always have it. In Division I baseball just about every program has two or three quality starters. What separates them from the rest of the pack is their bullpen. Now for many college pitchers the role of coming out of the pen is not their first choice. They were all successful starters in high school and now they look at coming out of the pen as being not as important. Boy, they couldn’t be farther from the truth. The guys coming out of the bullpen in college baseball are the ones who have to eat up those important innings. Whether it is to protect a lead or to keep your team in the game if you have fallen behind. They are also the ones who are going to make your starts in the middle of the week non-conference games. For our program, these games are going to ultimately decide whether our club deserves a chance at an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. You have to win your midweek games. I am only hopeful that the pitchers on our staff, who fill this role, will begin to take some pride in what they are doing. If they can’t get the job done, the chance of us accomplishing our goals is very slim.

Back to Game 2 at UGA. Our bullpen was terrible and they scored six runs in their last six outs. We ended up going 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Can you say, “Missed Opportunities?” David Yates was our only bright spot getting his first two collegiate hits in the DH spot.

So after a long, tough, humbling, 0 and 5 road trip we headed home to prepare to play a four game set versus Xavier University. I did not know too much about Xavier, except I knew they were well coached and they are always talented and play extremely hard. I was very nervous, unsure of how our kids would respond after our poor start.

We sent Jeremy Hall to the mound in Game One and he responded with a dominant performance giving up only three hits in six innings to earn his first collegiate win. Caleb Moore came on in the last inning to earn his first save. It sure is fun to watch Caleb pitch. He can flat out bring it! He also has a nasty slider and a very good change to go with it. What we are asking Caleb to do this year isn’t that tough. Catch just about every day, close every game on the mound and drive in fifty runs. Am I asking too much? I really don’t think so. Ever since Caleb walked on campus he has been loaded with ability. He started for us behind the plate as a freshman and then suffered an injury mid way through the year. Last year I challenged him to get tougher and play the entire year. He responded and stayed healthy playing in 47 games, catching 42. He did not put up the numbers I know he expected, but he had a great summer and I believe he is ready to have a breakout year. He is simply loaded with talent. He could be a difference maker for us this year. I have yet to see a college catcher throw like he does. He gets the ball to second base between 1.8 and 1.9 every time. When the ball reaches our middle infielder at second base it has enough “juice” on it to carry to our center fielder.

Steven Calicutt took the mound in game two and was masterful. He gave up one run, three hits and six strikeouts in six innings of work. Blake Church provided the offense going three for three with 2 RBI’s, while Caleb Moore hit his second homer of the year and also drove in two runs. Tim Turner also displayed why I think he is the best defensive outfielder in college baseball, making two of the best catches I have ever seen.

In Game 3, T. Turns returned to pitch seven strong innings allowing only four hits to go with five strikeouts to earn his first win of the year. Tim was simply dominant. C. Moore continued to stay hot, hitting his third homer of the year and adding two more RBI’s.

To beat a team four times in a row is a difficult task and just doesn’t happen very often in sports. So what the heck, we decided to give the ball to freshman, Caleb Glafenhein to make his first collegiate start. Caleb was not as sharp as he had been earlier at USF and UGA, but he was just as tough as he hung in there, persevered, and earned his first win as a Buccaneer. Blake Church had a big day at the plate going 2 for 3 with four RBI’s and connecting on his first homer of the year.

It was a great feeling to complete the sweep and I thought we pitched it and caught it very well, but honestly I felt like we did not play very well offensively. We did enough to win, but once again we just could not seem to break out. As a team we hit exactly .300 for the weekend, but we were a measly 9 for 36 (.250) with runners in scoring position. If we don’t improve in this area our chances of winning will diminish greatly. I’m still looking for my “favorite players”, the guys who are going to drive the runs in. Blake Church, Caleb Moore, and Shane Byrne all had good weekends at the plate hitting .545, .500 and .417 respectively but we need more guys to step up.

It is now late Friday evening and we were supposed to play Central Michigan today, but yesterday Mother Nature delivered seven inches of snow to the Tri-Cities. At 8:00am this morning it was very discouraging to see the entire filed covered with that much snow. But through the hard work of Coach Goulet, our trainers Brian Johnston and John Otey, our players and the Johnson City grounds department, at 5:45pm this evening, the snow was completely off the field and the field ready to play. We actually could have played this evening.

So now we will play a doubleheader Saturday (two nine inning games) and a single game Sunday. We have a tough challenge ahead of us. Central Michigan has a lot of baseball tradition, is well coached and they have a tremendous amount of talent on their roster. Seeing them today (they stopped by the field this morning to check out all the snow) you could tell they were good athletes. Big and strong. If the benches clear this weekend our guys will have to bite their ankles. So I guess it is going to be another tough night of sleep at the Skole household. Although I’m quite sure our players will sleep well tonight after all the hard work they did moving snow off the field. I just hope our hitters are dreaming of RBI’s. Until next time...

Oops! Hold on. I must wish my son Tilo a happy birthday. On Thursday he turned five years old. Gosh, where has the time gone? He only asked for two things. A Notre Dame Football helmet and a TPX Tee Ball bat. He is at the age where he sees everything, hears everything and is not afraid to comment about anything. At our games he is usually running all over the place and it amazes how Jody keeps up with him and his brother. But I noticed at UGA and during the Xavier series he was starting to actually watch some of the game and cheer for our players. He actually knows the name, number and position of just about every player on our roster. For our returning players he knows the song which plays when they come up to bat. After the final game at Georgia, Nate, Brian and I were getting ready to shower. Tilo was riding on the bus back with me, so he was in the locker room with us while we were getting dressed. Nate and I were analyzing why we lost and complaining about missed opportunities. Nate was frustrated and said something like, “Why do we always feel this way? We are so close. I’m tired of feeling this way.” I told Nate that I felt the same way. And then out of the blue Tilo chirped in and said, "Hey Dad! Why don’t you guys try winning for a change? Maybe you won’t feel this way." Wow! What a solution. Until next time...

Coach Skole