Entry #28 - 4/29/04

This is a great time of the year. The weather is great, exams are over and there are baseball games to be played. As a player, I remember this being one of the best times of the year. It is just like pro ball. You wake up, go to the yard, go to bed then go back to the yard. When I was in college, our entire team except for those who lived in Charleston and (some of those would even decide to stay), would move into Thompson Hall, which at the time had a room with about 20 bunk beds. Downstairs you had a community shower and restrooms. Of course there was no air conditioning, but it did not matter, we thought we were in the Hilton. You would throw a sheet on a bed and basically just live out of your suitcase. School was not in session so we did not have to be in uniform. So for us it was a taste of what college life was like without the military. During those times you really got to know your teammates, because you were just around each other all the time. We would test and stretch our new freedoms to the limit every chance we had.

Our players have finished a grueling week of exams and I know there is a sigh of relief for many of them. It takes discipline to stay on top of your academics during the season. From time to time, especially our younger players will try to use the excuse that they are struggling with their grades because baseball takes up too much time or we miss too much class when we are on the road. This is far from the case. As they mature and realize that they have to put some effort into earning a degree, they figure it out and end up doing well. We are very fortunate in that we only have a few who seem to be struggling this semester.

Last weekend did not go as well as I would have liked. I guess we are still “knockin at the door”. We did not play consistently well and Charleston took advantage of our lapses. They are a very good team and put a lot of pressure on you. They had a lot to do with us not playing well. Offensively they are one of the best teams in the country. They can extend innings as well as any team I've seen in a long time. For the weekend they had 22 two out rbi, while we only had three. They took control of every game because we could not close an inning. For the weekend they hit .500 with runners in scoring position and .474 with two outs. When your opponents can do that you’re not going to have much success.

So after a long road trip we returned to face a difficult week of finals. On Tuesday we played in The Kingsport Classic versus Virginia Tech. The city of Kingsport does a great job with this game and it is a fun event. I was worried because Virginia Tech is a talented club, very well coached and we had Monday off. Most of our guys were pulling “all-nighters” studying for exams. The odds were not in our favor. Jeremy Hall took the mound for us and was very sharp. He gave us one of his better outings of the year. Jeremy's grandmother had passed away a couple of days earlier and I know he had her in his heart on this night. Our condolences go out to his family and especially his father, The “Jolly Roger”. Roger is a wonderful supporter of his son, all the players and our entire program. Jeremy's teammates love to talk with his father and can do some great impressions of him. Roger and his family have been in our thoughts and prayers this week.

If you look at the last part of the season, one thing you can say is that we have become a good offensive ball club. Everyone in our lineup on that given day is capable of hitting the ball out of the park. Our bats exploded Tuesday night as we hit a lot of balls on the “screws”. We were led by Greg Roberts who had three hits, while Caleb Moore, Andy Howdeshell, Steven Calicutt and Tim Turner each had two hits. “C. Moore” and “Cutt” hit homers that were absolutely bombs. The final score ended up being 11-7 in our favor as we needed this win heading into this weekend.

We only have six conference games left and every game is important as we are now playing for our post season life. It sure won’t be easy this weekend as The Citadel comes into town. They are only a game out of first place in our league and they are very good. Obviously this is a huge series for our program, but it is also a fun series for me as I get to compete against my alma mater and my former coach Fred Jordan. I owe an awful lot to Coach Jordan and would not be here today if it was not for him. He is very special to me, as is The Citadel. I know I could call and ask him for the shirt off his back and he would give it to me. Five years ago, the first time we played them it was very emotional for me. I remember talking with Coach Jordan before the game and thanking him for everything he had done for me. After we were done speaking I had tears in my eyes and we gave each other a hug. He then proceeded to put a thumping on me I’ll never forget. He let me know right away that I better have my club ready because he wasn’t going to take it easy on me. I have not had a lot of success against him and I’m anxiously waiting for some of my old teammates to get head coaching jobs for he can start putting the hurt on some of them. Coach Jordan is a great competitor and I loved competing for him. I know he will have his guys fired up and ready to go. I recently read a book from Coach “K” at Duke. In it he talked about how difficult it was to coach against his former players. Tough as it may be, Coach "K" has yet to lose any of these games. Quin Snyder the head Coach at Missouri and a former player at Duke was asked about how he felt coaching against his former coach. He said something to the effect of how some rare animal species will eat their own young to survive. He said this is exactly how he felt for forty minutes when they played Duke. I know where you are coming from Quin.

This weekend I will also get to see Chris Lemonis, a former teammate of mine. Chris has been an assistant at The Citadel for the last ten years. "Lemo" was a great teammate and one of the best college hitters I have ever seen. We were in the same company at The Citadel and shared many laughs together. Chris and I talk quite often and get our families together every off-season. He is one of my closest friends and has done a tremendous job there. He can make me laugh at the drop of a hat. I always look forward to seeing him and his family.

Something has to give this weekend. The Citadel pitching staff will be a tough match up for our hitters. We will have to be disciplined and at our best if we want to have any success. It should be an intense weekend as I know both clubs will be ready to get after each other.

As I wrap things up I want to wish my brother Scott a happy 44th birthday. When Scott was in high school I was around 8 to 11 years of age. From the time he could drive, I guess his sophomore year in high school, I went everywhere with him. I mean everywhere. I would get out of school around 1:30pm and go straight to the high school. Sometimes I would go with him to the rest of his classes that day, or just hang out in the gym and wait for him to go to the field house to get ready for practice. I would watch practice whether it was football, baseball or basketball and then we would ride home together. I have some great memories and some wonderful experiences during this time in my life. Back then during football two-a-days and in the heat of an "Atlanta August", there were no athletic trainers. You had to bring your own drink during water breaks. Gatorade had just come out and it was special if you were able to have it. Scott would have it about once a week. When the coaches would finally blow the whistle signaling for a water break, Scott would always call me over and make sure I would get some. I thought that was the coolest thing, sitting there with all those football players drinking Gatorade out of the glass bottles. To this day Orange Gatorade is my favorite and every time I taste it, it immediately takes me back to those two-a-day practices on the upper field at the old Roswell High School.

I'll share one more thing which I thought was funny. My family called Scott on his birthday to give him our wishes. Before we got on the phone, Tilo asked how old Uncle Scott was. I said he was 44. Tilo looked at me and said, "Wow, Uncle Scott is Hank Aaron." He was referring to Hank Aaron's uniform number which was 44. I just started laughing because it brought back a funny memory. When I was around Tilo’s age I had to learn our phone number for school and I was struggling with it. That night we were in our room getting ready to go to sleep (we had bunk beds) and I explained my dilemma. I asked Scott how I should remember this tough combination of numbers, 993-1467. He told me, "Just think Ted Williams, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, Dr. J, Mickey Mantle." Of course he was referring to these famous athlete’s uniform numbers. To this day I still remember phone numbers the same way. I was blessed to have three wonderful older siblings who I have wonderful relationships with. Big brothers and big sisters are a great gift from God. Until Next Time...

Coach Skole