Entry #70 - 3/15/08

It is pouring rain and we have decided to not play today. We will play a doubleheader tomorrow on Sunday. The off today will give me an opportunity to catch up. We lost a tough game last night to the Mercer Bears. We just couldn’t seem to get anything going offensively. This theme has really plagued us through the first quarter of the season. The pitcher for Mercer, Boone Webster had a lot to do with that as he pitched a courageous game. Early in the game our center fielder, Jacob Fabry hit a line drive off his throwing elbow. The ball careened off his arm all the way to their dugout. It was a scary scene at first, but Webster shook it off stayed in the game, throwing 98 pitches. He then seemed to get stronger as the game went on and simply stuffed our hitters. It was quite a performance.

I talked about handling adversity in my last entry. I was hopeful that right after that entry, we would start playing better and begin to turn things around. But it just hasn’t happened. The baseball Gods have not been kind to us and have decided to give us a quadruple dose of adversity. Our performance has been very frustrating for our staff and our players. I have never been around a team where so many players were struggling all at the same time. Our players have been working hard and although we haven’t had as many practice sessions as I would have liked, the ones we have had have been very good. But it just hasn’t equated to playing a complete game. I have all the trust in the world that my players can play through this difficult time.

There have not been any signs of quitting or hanging their heads. Since this group first arrived on campus, I have made the comment numerous times, that this group is comprised of some very confident individuals; sometimes over-confident. I think this confidence in themselves is what is eventually going to enable these guys to get it going in the right direction. I definitely feel their frustration and I know they are disappointed with their performance. But I still feel very god about our team and what the future holds.

I especially want to thank all the people that have reached out during this time of struggle and offered their support and kind words. You really find out who your friends are and who really is in your foxhole during difficult times. The calls from former players, parents, other coaches and of course family and friends have meant so much. I can’t even begin to explain how appreciated those calls and messages have been. The start of this season has been the most mentally difficult thing I have ever gone through in athletics. There have been a lot of sleepless nights and extra hours put in over the last couple of weeks. There have been many nights when our staff has worked into the early morning trying to come up with something new to see if we could spark our kids to play better. To say that this has been extremely difficult is a huge understatement. I’m sure my wife and kids will be happy when we start playing better. I’m sure I haven’t been very fun to be around.

Of course the question that many of the people I have talked with and the question that our staff has been trying figure out is, “What is causing us to not have success on the field? Often in athletics there is such a fine line between winning and losing. Baseball is a game where the little things seem to be so important. Our staff tries to always make the game as easy as possible for our players. We want them to be fundamentally sound and do the fundamental things very well. If they can do that, then their talent and ability will allow them to take it to another level and expand on their performance. When this occurs, this is when teams really start to play well. I’ll share with you some of the things we talk with our players about on a daily basis. We actually call these items our ETSU Baseball Commandments. We feel that if we can do most of these things well, then we will have a great chance to be successful on that day.

Here are the ETSU Baseball Commandments:

1. Execute and Defend the Short Game (On offense this means getting our bunts down, running the bases intelligently, executing hit and runs, being tough once you get two strikes on you. On defense this means getting an out when the opposing team bunts and controlling our opponent’s running game.)
2. Execute with Runners in Scoring Position (Our inability to get the big hit has really been hampering us this year. We are currently batting .202 with runners in scoring position while our opponents are close to .400. We simply have to start driving in some runs. By not getting runs on the board we put our pitching and defense under great amounts of stress.)
3. Execute Commanding the Strike Zone (This is simply our pitchers throwing strikes. When we do this we have a chance to win. If we are always behind in the count or giving up base on balls then it is hard to slow down the other team.)
4. Execute Handling the Baseball (Make the routine plays under pressure. We are not going to always play error-less baseball, but we are good enough to make the routine plays on a consistent basis. We must do this when we have two outs and they have a runner in scoring position. Errors are a part of the game and they are going to occur. The teams that win consistently don’t let what happens around their errors hurt them.)
5. Execute Eliminating the Big Inning (This means keeping our opponent from scoring more than one run in any inning. In many games this year, our opponents have scored more runs in one inning than we have the entire game. We have to limit their production and get back in the dugout before they put crooked numbers on the scoreboard.)
6. We Must Control Our Approach and Response (This is a constant battle with our guys because we have so many playing below their potential. In baseball, you can always control how you approach things whether it is an at bat, playing defense or taking the mound. We can always control our preparation, focus and concentration. We can also always control our response. This is simply how we respond to the outcomes of our at bats, defensive plays or pitch being made. But we have no control over our outcomes. We can have a great approach at the plate and do everything right and hit the ball perfect, but it still may go right to somebody for an out. We can make the perfect pitch to the desired location, at the desired speed and their hitter may still find a hole in our defense. We can do everything right but then still have an unfavorable outcome. When this happens we must control our response. We can’t pout or feel sorry for ourselves. We definitely can’t let the thoughts that we are “snake bit” or “it’s just not my day” enter our minds. Those kind thoughts will affect our attitude and it will definitely affect our approach to our next at bat or pitch to be made. And if we consistently have a bad approach, we are more than like to consistently have another bad outcome.)

In the games we have played thus far, you can usually point to a lack of execution in a few of these areas and this has cost us an opportunity to win that particular game.

As a coach, motivating your players is a difficult thing to do when nothing seems to be going their way. Our staff has approached it from just about every angle. We have done everything form challenging them to coddling them. We have tried new routines, new practice schedules, we even changed our workout schedule. You name it we have tried it. When you are not getting the results you want, it is hard to stand pat and not make changes. I have always had great belief and faith in our process of developing ballplayers and young men, but when you have struggles it makes you question what you are doing. It makes you question your foundation.

So sitting here today at our kitchen table, looking for answers while watching the rain come down, I realized that the one advantage we have is just that, our foundation. Every team I have ever coached, no matter what our record has ended up being, my players have always been better for going through our program. My alumni baseball players are great examples of this. No matter what the circumstances, I have always felt that it was my responsibility to make sure that our players leave our program prepared to be successful for the remainder of their lives. This foundation is why I have trust that our players will get through this tough time. In the long run, whether it is a couple of weeks from now or many years from now, I know our players are going to be better for handling this adversity the right way. It will become a solid part of their foundation.

I’ll share a story by Dr. Robert Schuller Sr. with you. We have adopted the theme of this story as the motto for our program. The motto is “Push the Rock”. Here is the story.

Once there was a young man who had a deep desire to please God and perform diligently his life mission, no matter what that might be. So he asked God what he should do to give his life meaning. God showed him a huge rock in a field, and said "Push the Rock."

The young man began to push the rock, as God had told him. He got up early in the morning and pushed the rock. He stayed up late at night and pushed the rock. Every day he continued to push the rock, no matter how exhausted he became.

If the weather was dreary, he still pushed the rock. Through storms and snow, and dark of night, and all his life events, the man pushed the rock. He made many sacrifices so that he could push the rock. Day after day, month after month, he pushed the rock.

After many years of pushing the rock, the evil one came to him and whispered in his ear, "What good have you done all these years? You have spent your life pushing this rock, and for what? The rock hasn't moved one tiny bit."

The man thought about all his effort, and realized it was true. No matter how long, and how hard he had pushed the rock, still it hadn't budged from where it had been when he started. All those years of effort had not resulted in the rock being displaced even the smallest bit.

Immediately the man was discouraged. He began to sorrow, and be angry. He felt his life had been wasted, pushing the rock. All of his hard work had been for nothing. He had made no difference at all. The rock had not moved. He had failed in carrying out his mission. He had accomplished nothing.

He desperately cried out to God, "All these years I have been pushing this rock, and it has not moved a bit. Why did you ask me to do this, when I have made no difference at all?"

God looked with compassion on the man and said, "I didn't tell you to move the rock, I told you to push the rock.

“Look at yourself. Your legs, which had been weak and skinny, are now strong and able to go long distances. Your arms, which had been thin, are now powerful and able to carry heavy loads. Your shoulders, once narrow, have become broad and able to bear large burdens. Your mind, once so immature and easily distracted, is focused, and able to solve difficult problems. Your heart has been seasoned by patience, and softened by hardship."

"Your mission," said God, "Is not in what you do, but in what you become as you do it."

Have faith, and push the rock.

So as I sit and analyze every pitch from last night’s game, I have am hoping that our players will draw strength from the encouragement that many people have sent. Once again I can’t begin to tell everyone how much I have appreciated their kind words and encouraging thoughts. In all of these messages the theme has been very similar. There will be great lessons learned from persevering through this difficult time. I have so much trust in our players. I know they will get through this and be better for it. I have to commend them for having such a positive attitude even though our club has struggled. We have shown glimpses of playing good baseball, but just haven’t put it all together yet. I’m confident that there will be better days ahead for this team. I’ve realized that a quick fix is not going to do the trick. We have got to continue to “Push the Rock”. If we do that then everything will be alright. Until Next Time...

Coach Skole