Entry #60 - 4/18/06

I am trying to catch up on my typing. My journal is full of notes, thoughts and experiences and I am playing catch up to get them typed up and to John Roberts (our baseball media relations director). I am not the most efficient typist so it always takes me some time to do this.

Speaking of John, I would like to mention what a great addition he has been to our program. Johns had big shoes to replace when he took over for Matt Snellings, but he has done an outstanding job. John (even at his young age) has a ton of experience in the Sports Information field. His father just recently retired after a wonderful career serving as the Sports Information Director at Valdosta State University for over twenty five years. At the Division II level, Valdosta State has always been portrayed as a leader in athletics. John's father was the face of that athletic department for over a quarter of a century and he did an outstanding job representing Valdosta State athletics. John has athletics in his blood and his father should be very proud that JR is following in his footsteps. "Smoke" as our staff affectionately calls him has improved our baseball program in the very brief time he has been with us this season.

What a roller coaster this season has been since my last entry. It has been peaks and valleys. Just when we seem to get it going, we suddenly have a setback. Our struggle has been to play well over a long period of time. This is obvious as our longest winning streak this season has only been three games. The best example of this is we have won four of six conference series. And in those four series we have been able to win the first two games in each series, thus giving us the opportunity to sweep the series. With the sweep on the line, we have not yet been able to win that third game. This has been frustrating and definitely a case of missed opportunities. Of course we are glad to win the series, but when you give yourself the opportunity to sweep, you have to get it done. With eighteen games left, including four conference series, we need to put a string of wins together. If this club can get hot, then I really like our chances in the post season.

Since my last entry our record is 13 and 9. Winning at a 62% clip, is not bad, but for this team it is not what we are looking for. For our coaching staff it sure is easy (and extremely frustrating) to look back and say, "Gosh, if we just could have made a play here or there, or just executed a little better, we would be at least 18 and 4 over this span." We have definitely let some opportunities and games slip away from us. But what is important now, is too learn from those shortcomings and see what we can do to right this ship as we head into the last third of our season.

Like I've said before, I really like our club and our talent. If you look at our numbers, especially offensively, they are pretty darn good. And if you take away one or two games which got away from us, our pitching numbers would be about where we would like them. After the last game of this past weekend's series, our staff met for about three hours at my house to basically breakdown our season and to attempt to put a finger on what was holding us back. I hated to keep Coach Mac and Coach Greene away from their home on the night before Easter, but a few minutes after midnight, after evaluating all our players, looking at every statistical category possible, I felt like we had some solutions and at least a plan and some goals to get us moving towards the post season.

After our meeting we were able to come up with some definite areas which we needed improvement. I won't go into them all but I will share one of the most obvious. Baseball is a numbers game and numbers don't lie. We have many players having great seasons and really putting up some solid numbers. We have guys who have been getting it done all year. We have guys who have started slow, but come on as of late. And we have some guys who have not played to their potential. All teams have some sort of this same mix, but in order for a team to have a special year, you need the majority of your guys to be playing at a high level.

The one area where we have struggled both offensively and on the mound has been with runners on base and runners in scoring position. These are situations which I call "Clutch Time". It comes down to hitters getting big hits and pitcher making big pitches. Offensively we only have two hitters (Shane Byrne .357, and CJ Lee .367), hitting over three hundred with runners in scoring position. Our team batting average with runners in scoring position is a paltry .265, while our opponents are hitting .329. Ouch!

I will always remember my college coach, Chal Port saying to us, "Listen here boys. I have favorite players on this team. My favorite players are the SOB's driving in the runs." Until I became a coach I never really grasped the meaning of his statement and how true it is. Getting big and timely hits are what successful teams excel in doing. On the other side our pitchers have to keep the kerosene off the mound. We have to eliminate big innings and start stuffing teams with men on base. The one bright area has been our defense. We struggled early in this area but we have really turned it on lately.

We have the pieces of the puzzle; we just need to put them together. Obviously, if we don't start performing in "Clutch Time", then our season will continue down the same path. Last season was the most successful season in a quarter of a century of baseball at ETSU. We were hot early but struggled in the last third. This year so far has been the opposite, we have struggled early and now we hope to get hot down the stretch. In college baseball the last six weeks of your season are always the most important time for your club. From the middle of April to the end of May is when you want to be playing your best baseball. These last six weeks will determine and define our season. The history of sports has demonstrated that the most champions usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. If our club can grasp this concept then it should be an exciting finish. Until Next Time...

TS