Entry #50 - 05/24/05

May 24, 2005

It is always tough when your open weekend on your schedule is on the last weekend of the season. Luckily we were able to schedule High Point, as this was the same scenario for them as well. We scheduled our last four games (one versus UNC Asheville and three versus High Point) on consecutive days in order to simulate our conference tournament format. In the tournament if you win four games in a row you win the championship.

So on Wednesday night we rolled out Jeremy Hall versus UNC Asheville. Jeremy was sharp, just as he has been all year, going eight strong innings and allowing only one run to go with nine strikeouts. When you hold teams to only one run, you usually win and we did on this night 5-1. Shane Byrne hit a two run homer in the first to get us off to a good start. Chuck Hargis and Caleb Moore each had two hits to pace us offensively.

On Thursday night in game one of the series versus High Point, Brian Lovett gave us his third solid outing in a row. He pitched five solid innings and left the game with a 6-4 lead. But over the last four innings our bullpen would allow eight runs and we lost the first game of the series 12-6. A win tonight would have been huge for our program because no team in ETSU history has ever won 30 games versus division one opponents in a single year. Hopefully tomorrow night the results would be different.

We finally got win #30 on Friday night as our offense erupted for 21 runs on 22 hits. Many guys had big nights. Chuck had three hits and four rbi, Caleb went five for five and had five rbi. On this night Caleb punctuated a great career setting the record for career hits and most rbi in a single season. Shane Byrne in just his junior year would also collect his 200th career hit on this night. John Weddle also had the best night of his career going three for three with a long homerun and five ribs. Steven Calicutt picked up his 5th win of the year.

This morning I arrived at the office early. Today would be the last home game for our seven seniors and it is a very emotional day for me. This group of seniors has been a fun group to coach. It hasn’t always been easy, but to see each of them grow in their own way has been very gratifying. I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished and what they represent. The future is very bright for all of them.

I wanted the day to be special but also wanted to send them out with a victory. While making out the lineup this morning, I wanted to make sure that all of them would be in the lineup together one last time. Last night before I went to bed I had an idea for one of our senior captains, Justin Clear. What if I could work it out where Justin could play a different position every inning? Nine positions in nine innings. It would take some maneuvering around but maybe we could pull it off. Justin is one of the few guys on our club who could handle this. He has always been a very versatile player. I had not spoken about this to anyone, so right before I spoke to the team before they went out for batting practice; I ran the idea by Justin. He was excited and up for the challenge. I explained to the team that in order to accomplish this it would take some sacrifices from everyone and I wanted to make sure that in doing this our focus was still on winning the game.

So we started Justin at third base and worked him around the infield. He highlighted his day by throwing a base runner out at second attempting a steal. He played flawlessly in the outfield and in the ninth he was able to get two outs before Caleb came on to shut the door. The ovation Justin received by his teammates and our fans as he walked off the field was something I’ll never forget. We held on to win 6-5 and it was a great day. Nick Crowe hit two homeruns, along with Chuck and Shane each hitting one as well.

It is never easy to see college careers come to an end. In my office hangs a picture of me with my senior teammates which was taken after our last game. That photo is very special to me as are each of those guys in the picture. That evening while I was in the office trying to get things ready for our departure for the SoCon Tournament, I received a call from a local alumnus congratulating the team on our successful season. I was very appreciative for the call but I told him that I can’t really call this season a success quite yet. I told him to call me back in a couple of years from now when Richie, Justin, Caleb, Michael, Ryan, Nick and Trevor are all out there in the real world. Busting their rear ends making something of themselves and making the lives better of the people they come in contact with on a daily basis. Only then will I know this year was a success. These guys are prepared for the challenges of the future. All of them will be difference- makers. I am thankful the opportunity to have had them in my life. I’m going to miss them.

Until Next Time….

COACH SKOLE