Entry #45 - 03/30/05

March 30, 2005

“March Madness” is finally winding down. As I look back on the past thirty days, they seemed to go by rapidly, but there were some weeks that I thought would never end. We originally had 19 games scheduled in the month of March but Mother Nature washed out five of those contests. It has been difficult for our club to get into a rhythm of playing. This weekend will be our fourth week out of six which we will not play a midweek game, thanks to a rain out at Virginia Tech yesterday. Luckily we will be able to make that game up in April, but because their field has taken so much water the last couple of days, they were forced to cancel the game even though it was 65 degrees and sunny in Blacksburg. Our record in March was 7 and 7 and I am not happy with that performance, but I feel that our club is beginning to figure things out. We have had to learn to deal with success and we have had to learn to deal with adversity. Our players and pitchers are beginning to fit into their roles. On an individual basis, all of our players are learning to make the necessary adjustments in order for them to be successful. We still must continue to improve and keep moving in a positive direction, but for the most part I like what I have seen thus far in our team. In every game we have lost, we have been in that game and had a very good chance to win. The month of April presents an even greater challenge, as things in our conference will really begin to sort themselves out. We play twenty games in thirty days. At the end of this month we will have a clear picture of where our season stands. We will only have two conference series left once May arrives. So as easy as it is to look ahead, we have to continue to take it one game at a time. Good or bad, win or lose it is important that we don’t get in a habit of repeating yesterday. We need to continue to approach each day in a fresh, new, innovative way. If we get comfortable and repeat yesterday, we stay in motion but we lose direction. We constantly have to ask ourselves, “Are we in direction right now or just in motion?” We need to stay off the treadmill of repeating yesterday.

Last weekend I was extremely proud of our team at UNC-Greensboro. Although early in the season, we found ourselves in a must win series on the road. I knew this was not going to be easy as UNCG is one of the top teams in our league and they have been playing at a very high level. It didn’t look good for the weekend, because on Friday we ran into UNCG’s ace Chris Mason. He is definitely one of the top pitchers in college baseball and he proved it Friday night. He simply took it to us throwing a complete game and striking out 16 batters. It sounds funny when a pitcher throws such a good game at you, but I was actually really proud of our hitters. We were aggressive, had some great at-bats and just missed out on a few opportunities. If it wasn’t for one bad inning on defense in which we didn’t handle two sacrifice bunts (not getting an out when the other team bunts and not executing a sacrifice bunt when we are on offense really boils my blood), then we very easily could have won that game. Anyway, before we got off the bus to go into the hotel on Friday night, I told our guys that I just knew we were going to win tomorrow. For some reason, I just felt good about our club and I knew we were going to play well the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, our guys didn’t waste any time as we scored nine runs in the first two innings. We had 18 hits as we cruised to a much needed 16 – 8 victory. We had many solid performances led by Anthony Russell’s four RBI. ETSU has never won a series in Greensboro, so we were looking to make a little history in the rubber game of the series. Caleb Moore scored Chuck Hargis on a sacrifice fly in the first inning and that is all we would need as Jeremy Hall was outstanding. Coming into the dugout after the first inning, while Jeremy was taking the mound, I smiled at him and said, “Hey, if they don’t score we can’t lose.” I guess Jeremy took it to heart as he flat out dominated, going 8 and two thirds with eleven strikeouts and only surrendering 3 hits. We brought in Caleb Moore in the ninth to finish it off for “Booner” as I knew he was tiring. I really wanted him to get that complete game, but I knew I couldn’t live with myself if somehow UNCG would have come back to win and Caleb was never used.

So just like that our players are once again feeling good about themselves. They have that hop in their step again. It is amazing what a few wins or good performances can do for the psyche. Did we play great at UNCG? Definitely not, but we did just enough to win the series. Offensively we hit .433 (14 for 33) with runners in scoring position and that was the difference. We also ran the bases very aggressively and really hustled. We also played solid defense only making two errors in three games and our pitchers for the most part threw strikes. Like I’ve said before, when you can do those things well, you have a great chance for success.

So as we head into April, we start with Elon College here at home this weekend. Elon is a very good team who is very well coached and presents a very difficult challenge for our team. They have a 7-5 record in the conference and have some great wins, including Auburn on the road. Last year they beat us two out of three at their place with all of the games being decided by one run. It will be a hard fought series and I know we will have to play at a very high level if we want to come out on top.

As I head into spring and right into the heart of our season, sometimes life seems to be going at 100mph, with no evidence of slowing down. I hate to feel like I’m always in a hurry or feel like I have so much to do and so little time to do it. Yesterday in a mad dash to get caught up on some of the things which have been weighing me down, this message came across my desk. I thought it was very appropriate and I wanted to share it with you.

A Wake Up Call

During the month of September, a dear friend of mine lost her husband suddenly in an accident. The tragedy was a shock to everyone.

This accident was sudden and certainly unexpected. It drove home the realization that you just don’t know when a loved one is no longer going to be with you. We sometimes take our loved ones for granted and we expect them to be with us forever. However, as we all know, life does not work that way and sometimes we get a wake up call that shocks us and makes us stand back and realize how short life is.

In consoling her I tried to imagine if I was in her shoes how I would feel. It was impossible to imagine what she was going through. What words do I say to help her?

Sometimes words can not express our feelings. Sometimes our actions are much more powerful than our words. A hug can sometimes express more than our words will ever express. Sometimes just being there to listen is more meaningful and helpful to people.

A Second Wake Up Call

As I was leaving the funeral parlor, I ran into Marilyn. (Marylyn has been a true friend to me over the years. She is one of those friends who are with you in the good times and always by your side in the bad times. She has a sense of humor that makes everyone laugh and she makes everyone feel at ease.) We talked for a moment and then she asked me how my job was going. So I started talking and talking and talking. I was having a stressful week with my job and I was telling her all the issues and how I was feeling.

She listened to me as I was raving about my frustrations, then without saying a word she took her hands and placed them on my face, and said to me, “But at least you had a day.” The touch of her hands to my cheeks, the calmness in her voice, and the words she spoke, “BUT AT LEAST YOU HAD A DAY”, hit me like a ton of bricks. All the frustrations, all the stress that was building up inside me – came to a complete stop.

Since that day, when I have started feeling stressed, I remind myself of Marylyn’s words – but at least I had a day! Things could be a lot worse, the stress of the situation always could be worse, but I am alive and I have a lot to be thankful for – so I shall not waste my days with stress and frustrations. Life is too short.

Until Next Time...

COACH SKOLE