Entry #72 - 4/14/08

We have another tough week ahead as once again we play five games in six days. Last weekend was difficult as we were only able to win one of three from Gardner Webb. That did equate for a weekly record of 3 and 2; our first winning week of the season. The conditions for the series versus Gardner Webb were very difficult as it was cold and extremely windy.

On Friday night, I anticipated our club to come out fired up and ready to play. I was hoping that we could keep the momentum from our win versus the University of Tennessee. We struggled from the start as Gardner Webb scored three runs in the first. We fought back and scored two ourselves in our half of the first inning, but we simply had no answer for the best offensive team in our league. After six innings they had a 13-6 lead and just kept putting pressure on us with their outstanding team speed. They ended up scoring 8 runs in the top of the ninth to make the score and game look worse than it was, but overall it wasn’t the performance we were looking for. We committed five errors and our pitchers could not command the strike zone. Offensively we were lead by freshmen Derek Trent, Bart Roark and Paul Hoilman, who had two hits apiece.

We needed to bury Friday night’s game and look ahead to an important double header on Saturday. Oh, that dreaded doubleheader. The Atlantic Sun is an outstanding baseball conference, but for some reason our conference doesn’t mandate that we play a three day series every weekend. All the other top conferences in the country play a three day series, but for some reason our conference sets up our weekends as a single game and then a doubleheader. If you want to change the format, you are allowed as long as both coaches agree to it. For some reason all of our coaches won’t agree to play a three day series and eliminate the doubleheader. Playing two, nine inning games in one day makes no sense. It is no fun for the players, umpires or any one involved. And to try to get your crowd to sit through 18 innings (usually 7 hours) of baseball is nearly impossible. Hopefully in the near future this policy will be changed. It has been especially difficult this year when you have to also play every Tuesday and Wednesday during the midweek.

In game one we jumped out to a 7 -2 lead only to see Gardner Webb battle back to take a 10-9 lead. Our bullpen once again struggled allowing them to score eight runs in the seventh to take an 18-9 lead. But our offense responded by immediately scoring seven runs to cut the lead to 18-16. We had the tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth but could scratch across any runs to suffer another tough defeat.

Once again we were on life support and game three now became the most important game of the year. A loss would really put us behind the eight ball as far as the post season goes. I could see the disappointment in our kids faces as we met before game three. This was not going to be an easy game to win but we somehow would have to reach down deep and find a way to get it done. Our club has struggled all year long when we have had to respond after losing a tough game. And this was the same scenario. It seems like all year we have struggled to control momentum. We may have a comfortable lead and then we may give up a lead off walk, and then we let things escalate. When you have a lead, the odds are in your favor and most of the time the only way a team can come back on you is if you give them freebies; walks, errors, wild pitches or bonehead mistakes.

In college baseball the teams that have the most success are the ones who limit their bad innings. For a good part of the season we have had one or two bad innings during a game and it usually has come back to haunt us. Trying to get our players to understand this has been difficult. Here is an example. If a team hits a leadoff double or triple to start an inning, we stress to our pitchers not to worry about that guy because the law of average dictates he will probably score. Of course we are not going to just concede that run, but what we tell our pitchers and defense is, “Don’t worry about that runner. Let’s just get the batter.” If we get out of that inning with just giving up one or even two runs, we will still be in the game. This year we have let big innings hurt us in a big way.

The game started out well as we jumped out to a 1-0 lead but we then saw Gardner Webb answer back to grab the momentum and take a 5-1 lead. We were having some poor at bats and then with two outs in the bottom of the 5th, Danny Petro hit a ball down the right field line that went out of the park. The umpire standing directly on the line signaled homerun. In my mind I was thinking, finally a spark and maybe some life and enthusiasm would be injected into our club. This was a must win game and things didn’t seem to be going our way until that point.

Next thing you know the Gardner Webb coach comes out to argue the homerun. He asks the umpire who made the call to ask for help. Why he would need help when he had the best view of the play befuddled me? Anyway, logic and baseball sense would think that he would go to the home plate umpire for help, but he didn’t. He went to the third base umpire for his opinion. They actually huddled behind the mound. I was coaching 3rd base at the time and the 3rd base umpire was right behind me. From my angle I couldn’t even tell if the ball was fair or foul, so I have no idea how he could see the play. Next thing you know, they make a decision to take away the homerun and take the run off the board. The last comment I heard the opposing coach say was, “It takes a brave man to overturn that call.” I’ll say.

I have been involved and seen many baseball games in my career and this was a first. Never had I seen the umpire on the opposite line determine if a ball is foul or fair. For those who have ever coached or played for me, they know that I don’t get too worked up about umpires. But if there is a situation that I believe warrants a discussion I will come onto the field. I think it is important at certain times that a coach must fight for his players. This was definitely one of those times; especially because of the importance of the game and since a run was taken away. So I wasn’t going to leave the field until I was ejected, which I was shortly after trying to get my point of view across. If I was the umpire I would have thrown me out of the game as well. My whole argument was that I did not believe this play/discussion/decision was handled the right way. I was told, “Tony, don’t you want us (umpires) to get it right?” Well of course I do. But let’s get it right with the guys who have the best view of the play. Not the ones who have the worst view of the play.

Anyway Coach Greene, Coach Casey and Coach Howe did a great job of keeping our guys together and we came back and won an important game. Drew Story, Ben Andrews, Anthony Russell, Chris Rankhorn, Danny Petro and Ben Allen all made clutch plays down the stretch to get us the victory. When I got home that night, my oldest two boys, Tilo (9) and Jack (5) were up waiting for me. They were confused and didn’t like me arguing like that. I tried to explain to them that it was part of the game, but I also wanted them to understand that arguing or blaming the umpires, is not the right thing to do. I explained to them that if they continue to play sports, there are going to be many times when a call doesn’t go your way or you may think the umpire/referee made a mistake. When this happens you have to control your response and find away to overcome it. Transferring blame to the umpires is never a good thing. I wanted them to understand that umpires don’t decide who wins and loses; the players decide who wins and loses. Hopefully they will understand this more clearly as they get older. Because of my ejection, I now have to sit out our next conference game versus Belmont. This is not an easy thing to do, but I’m very confident that my staff and players can take care of business this Friday night.

This weekend our athletic department was dealt some bad news; Wayne Miller one of our Associate Athletic Directors had passed away after a brief battle with cancer. I don’t have enough space to describe what a wonderful person Wayne was. In the time I had known him since he joined our department, I never once saw him without a smile on his face. He loved ETSU and blue and gold truly ran through his veins. Wayne was an outstanding athlete while a student at ETSU and his competitive spirit never left him. I will always cherish the moments when he shared stories about his playing days and our discussions about athletics, faith and life in general. After every brief visit I had with Wayne, he always made me feel like a better person after the visit. Wayne touched and made a difference in many people’s lives. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers will remain with his wife and two daughters.

Until Next Time…

Coach Skole