This morning I sat down in the hotel lobby with our senior left handed pitcher Ryan Domschot as he was eating some of the hotel's continental breakfast. Today he was again getting the nod as our opening day pitcher. I wanted to let him know that being his pitching coach for the past four seasons has been a privilege. He is the kind of player who has always tried to improve as a pitcher and teammate. He has gotten stronger, more consistent, and has become a more complete pitcher in each year of college.
I also wanted to tell him that I have appreciated his attitude and work ethic during his college years. Earlier this week I had mentioned to Jason Fryman, one of our junior right handers, that nobody has worked as hard as Dommer has in the last four years. I told him that no matter what the pitchers are doing at practice, Ryan always gives a 100% effort. The next night, Fryman and Domschot just happened to be partners as the pitchers were running their sprints, and I noticed that Fryman had to bust his butt just to keep up with Domschot on every sprint. After the sprints were finished, Jason acknowledged that he had to run his hardest on every sprint just so Dommer didn't make him look bad!
One of the reasons Ryan has become such a good pitcher is because of that outstanding work ethic he has. Two years ago, Coach Luke Harrigan told me that Domschot was the hardest working player on our team. Luke would see him making a great individual effort in the weight room on a consistent basis. That was before his sophomore season, a season that Ryan was named an All-American. He again had a great season last year as a junior and will for the third year in a row be the most dominant pitcher in our conference. That outstanding work ethic and dedication, along with some God-given athletic ability and a great belief in himself, makes him a candidate for All-American every season.
The only hiccup for Ryan in today's opener was that the leadoff hitter for Millsaps College hit a home run in the first inning. Coincidentally, Ryan also gave up a homer to the first batter we faced last season. The good thing, though, is that today that leadoff batter struck out in his next two at bats as Ryan got him to swing and miss at six pitches!!
We didn't win today's game. The final score was 5-3. We didn't execute as well as we could have today and it cost us. Millsaps now has an 8-2 record and ours stands at 0-1, but tomorrow we play Millsaps again before finishing the day with a game against Piedmont College.
Ryan Domschot showed us today how his hard work pays dividends. He pitched the first six innings and struck out twelve batters without allowing a single walk. He did not get the loss, as we were tied when he left the game. He is the kind of team leader who does his leading by example, both in practice and during games. If his teammates can continue to learn from his example, our goal of winning some championships this season will become a reality!!
No comments:
Post a Comment