The climb to the peak

Now that we have the first two MIAA series under our belts, we have opportunities to continue to evaluate how we are pitching and try to tweak some things so that we can gradually make improvements during the season.  One goal that we occasionally talk about is that the season isn’t a sprint, and that we want to get better every day and thus be playing our best baseball in May when we get nearer to the post-season.

This year will be a first for us in the MIAA, as there will be a four team, double elimination tournament after the regular season ends.  For us at Adrian, having won the regular season championship the last few years and thus qualifying for the NCAA DIII Regionals, we now have to prove our mettle in the MIAA Tournament if we want to assure ourselves a spot in the Regionals.  I like the idea of a conference tournament, as there will now be very meaningful games (with post-season implications) played for everyone throughout the entire conference schedule.

With the idea that we will likely play again against our conference opponents in the MIAA Tournament, becoming familiar with their strengths and weaknesses is a given, but even more important than understanding the tendencies of our opponents is to get better at the things we do.

Some of the things we have discussed as a pitching staff in the last couple of weeks are things we have made improvements in.  As a staff in general, we are doing a better job of throwing to the bottom of the strike zone.  It is still important to make progress in that area, especially when there are runners on base. A location mistake up in the strike zone can lead to a run or two allowed, and in a conference that so far in 2012 has been littered with low scoring games, the fewer times we make mistakes up in the strike zone the better chance we have of putting zeros on the scoreboard for our opponents.

One of the points of emphasis for the next couple of weeks now are to continue to be aggressive in the strike zone early in the count.  We have only walked nine batters in our first eight league games, and one reason for that is that we have done a pretty good job of getting ahead of hitters early in the count.  When we get ahead in the count, it becomes easier to force the hitters to expand the hitting zone and make them hit pitchers’ pitches, thus hopefully hitting more balls away from the barrel of the bat.

In addition, we are trying to do a better job of attacking the opponent’s running game, not only by utilizing our pickoffs, but also by working on having quicker feet, more accurate throws, and disrupting the timing of the good, aggressive base runners.

After 18 games, we are nearly half way through our regular season schedule and over a quarter of the way through our conference schedule.  That means that we are really not even half way through with our climb to becoming as good as we can become in 2012.  Every season has high points and low points, and as we develop as a team we can improve the definition of what playing our best really means.  We haven’t yet come close to reaching our peak, but we are on our way there.

A game of inches

For many years we have heard that baseball (as well as other sports) is a game of inches.  So many parts of the game make that saying as true as true can be.  In just one game or series of games you will see many instances where in inch one way or another could have changed the outcome of a batter's turn at bat, or caused either an extension or end of an inning, and of course an inch or two can mean the difference in scoring one or even several runs.

A full count pitch with the bases loaded could appear to be an inch outside to an umpire and cause a walk and thus a run being scored, or it might be called a strike and end an at-bat or a possible big inning.  A fly ball to the fence could be just out of the reach of a defensive player and result in a big homerun, or a slightly higher fence may keep the ball in the park and thus prevent more runs from being scored.

A pitcher might miss his targeted spot by an inch or two and the result could be an rbi hit rather than a relatively easy out.  A softly hit ball may fall barely out of the reach of a fielder and allow a batter to reach base safely, and in the next at-bat the batter might hit a ball squarely with great velocity only to have it go directly to a player's glove for an out.

An inch here or there can make a batted ball be fair or foul, a pitched ball be a strike or ball, a long fly ball either a homerun or an out.

Regardless of the enormous importance of a pitcher's pinpoint control or the batter's ability to place a bunt in a specific location, perhaps the most important inches involved in a baseball game are the few inches between a player's ears.  A player can have all the ability in the world, but if he doesn't use his brain to make wise decisions and to respond to adverse circumstances in a positive, controlled manner he is going to have some difficulty getting consistently good results.

More than just the ability to make good decisions and respond to adversity positively, a baseball player must be able to approach each pitch, each play, each inning and each game with the confidence and belief that he is prepared to succeed.  Belief in one's self, which is based on positive thinking, is a pre-requisite to achieving success.  

There are many ways to develop a strong belief that one is going to help his team achieve goals.  Some people do a better job at practicing having positive self-talk than others do, some are better at visualizing successful execution, some are better than others at forgetting a previous play that had a negative result.  No matter how a player decides to create positive thoughts for himself, the more often he practices doing that the easier it will be to have great results in competitive situations, which can be stressful for athletes.

Ultimately, an athlete on a baseball field can develop the ability to improve the thoughts and thinking patterns and habits that he has during a game.  The more he chooses to check his thoughts, practice making positive statements and thoughts about himself, and visualize success, then the more he is going to help his team win games and be successful.  

Choosing to make the few inches between the ears the most important inches in a baseball game can often make the physical game of inches on the field seem like extra teammate.

Southern trip recap, moving forward

We've been back from our southern trip to Georgia and Florida for almost a week, and we've had a pretty good week of practice in preparation for next weekend's trip to northern Kentucky for a couple more games before we commence with the rest of our season here in Michigan.  Today we began our northern JV schedule with two games and we have two more JV doubleheaders the next two days.  Coach Nate Sarkissian's squad played well and won a couple games today against Muskegon Community College by scores of 3-2 and 10-0.

I have been wanting to update the blog all week to quickly recap our trip, but it seemed that every night I sat down and it wasn't long before I was looking at the backs of my eyelids.  Regardless, after a day outside in the cold wind, being in the dugout for fourteen innings has renewed the hunger for competing against other teams again.

There were a few interesting things that happened in Georgia and Florida.  We defeated the nation's #4 team (Christopher Newport University) as well as the #15 team (Piedmont College) on back to back days.  They are now ranked #3 and #10, respectively.  In Florida, we played a couple crazy games against Capital University in Port Charlotte.  On Thursday we won in eleven innings by scoring ten runs in the 11th.  Then on Friday Capital turned the tables on us and had a ten run inning of their own in coming from behind and beating us 13-10 for our only loss of the trip.

In last Saturday's game, Jason Fryman started the game by throwing nine pitches in the first inning, all strikes, and struck out all three batters.  Not a fair ball was hit in the inning.  I can't say that I recall that happening before in any of the 1200 or so college games that I have coached.

On Friday in Port Charlotte, we were able to see Michigan and Ohio State play each other and also see a few innings of the Northwestern vs. Western Michigan game.  The Buckeyes won the game 8-4.  In talking to our pitching staff, I was glad that they noticed a couple things about the DI games.  One of the things that we talk about multiple times on a daily basis is for our pitchers to try to throw their pitches on a downhill plane.  Some of them do a pretty good job of it, but some don't get on top of the ball as consistently as we would like them to.  For them to be able to visually notice the DI pitchers throwing downhill consistently was a good thing, and that served as one of our main pitching themes this week during practices.

Our players have done a pretty nice job so far, but we really do have considerable room for improvement.  We improved in the national rankings, but that doesn't mean a whole lot to me at this point in the season.  It will mean something around Memorial Day weekend if we can continue to become a better team each day and week in the next couple of months.  So far, we are doing a fair job in trying to achieve some of our pitching staff statistical goals, but we still need to get better at throwing first pitch strikes and getting leadoff batters out.  And perhaps most importantly, we must improve on taking care of damage control.

As for the trip, I'm glad I won't have to spend twenty straight hours on a bus again for a while.  I must be getting old!

Efficiency at its best

After game two of the 2012 season, we have won both of our games and are feeling pretty good this morning as we wake up and prepare for game number three.  After coming from behind to win our opener against Blackburn College in a game that we didn't play very well in, yesterday's victory against the #4 ranked team in DIII gave us an opportunity to see and feel what it is like to successfully compete against top teams.
On Sunday we had some struggles with all aspects of the game--- potching, hitting, defense and baserunning.  We fell behind 4-0 in the second inning.  To the credit of our players, nobody pressed any panic buttons and we came back to win the game 8-7.

As far as piching is concerned, we learned first hand that it isn't easy to execute pitches to close out a long inning. We threw over twenty pitches in each of our first two innings, and the difficulty of pitching well and maintaining a proper and positive demeanor when some bad luck occurs was apparent to me, especially in the second inning.

After two quick outs, Blackburn hit a bloop single, then a base hit that traveled fifty feet and then a bunt single.  A bases loaded walk resulted in a run, and some negative thinking ultimately led to two more walks before we went to the bullpen to get out of the inning.

Two senior pitchers finished the game and our offense scored plenty of runs to start the season on the right track.

Yesterday against #4 Christopher Newport University, senior Jason Fryman found himself in a pitcher's duel.  Though he hit CNU's leadoff batter, he cruised through the first three innings without allowing another baserunner.  We gave up a run after they hit two doubles in the fourth, both of which I still feel were the result of poor pitch selection by the pitching coach, whoever that clown is!!
Ultimately, Jason was so efficient and allowed only one infield hit the rest of the game and had no walks, throwing only 98 pitches in nine innings.
Last night Jason told me that on the night before, he kept visualizing the execution of all four of his pitches.  The result was really a sight to see, as almost every pitch he threw hit the spots that he was trying to hit.  He got ahead of hitters, got leadoff batters out, and competed like it was business as usual as our defense made every play and our offense scored three big runs in the 8th to secure a 3-1 victory.
This was an almost perfectly pitched game, but as good as it was, today is a new day and when we get to the park we're going to have to compete with another nationally ranked team on their home field.
We haven't made an infield error yet. With that kind of defense and a team of battlers, we're anticipating another successfully competed game today!

First pitch in one week!

We are now exactly one week from our opening game of the season.  In Demorest, Georgia next week, we (Adrian College) will play against Blackburn College on Sunday, Christopher Newport University on Monday, and Piedmont College on Tuesday.  Two of those teams are ranked in the DIII pre-season polls, so we have an opportunity to test ourselves right away.

As has been the case for a few decades for me, this is an exciting time of the year.  We have had the unusual  situation of being able to have several practices outside in February this year, so the anticipation of being able to compete against other teams in warmer weather is exciting.  In addition to our first games approaching, our good friends Luke Harrigan and Xander Younce at Alderson-Broadus College in West Virginia have played games for two weekends now and we have cheered them on from Adrian as they earned their first victory yesterday.  Next weekend they will host Hillsdale College and my son Eric Theisen and of course for me that will be a win-win situation.  I try to give each of them scouting reports on the other......right Luke????

This week in our final preparations we will continue to have our pitchers throw live to our hitters in the batting cages.  Some of the pitchers will have their mound days adjusted according to the projected pitching schedule during our first week of games, which includes seven straight days of varsity games in Georgia and Florida and an additional five days of junior varsity games.  Some of the pitchers will throw up to 90 pitches in their sessions this week, others will throw 60-80, and a few may throw multiple times this week at 20-30 pitches per session.  They know that what I am hoping for is that they will all be as close to 100% when we step on the field next weekend.

During this last week of preparation I also try to pull back the reigns a bit on their conditioning, although we still have to maintain our strength and endurance, and hopefully the pitchers will continue to get their own work done in the weight room outside of practice time.

This is also a week to remind them of some of our team pitching goals and how we can achieve those goals during each game, inning, and at-bat.  The goals are meant to help us focus on what is important for pitching success and for giving the team the best chance possible to win each game, one at a time.

A big part of achieving these goals has to do with the mental approach as individuals and as a team.  We can't underestimate the importance of confidence, body language, positive self-talk, visualizing success, and selflessness when it comes to being team players.  Trusting ourselves and our teammates and believing in each other is perhaps the most important function of winning teams, so this week there will be many reminders of the mental aspects of team play as well as being physically competent and ready to play next weekend.

Good luck to Luke, Xander, and Eric as friends battle from opposite dugouts next weekend!!!

Live pitching and living in college

We are now almost two weeks into our pre-season practices and just over two weeks from opening our season in Georgia.  I have to admit that I am pretty excited about the depth and talent that we have on our pitching staff again this year.  Even though we lost our two senior aces from a year ago, it seems like we have more depth than ever and we're going to need it to achieve our team goals.  One thing that is so true in college sports is that every team has seniors who graduate, move on, and need to be replaced.  As much as I love the guys we had last year and in so many previous years, it is important in every season to focus on the players we have now rather than the ones whose positions we are trying to fill.

In saying that, something that can be easy to forget when we get out on the field for practices and games is that the game we play is only a part of the lives of our players.  Sure, for most of them it is a big part of their lives, but as college students they often find themselves in stressful situations academically,  financially, with roommates and significant others, and with their family members.  They may have loved ones with illnesses or other hardships, sometimes have to deal with family deaths or tragedies, and of course they are still expected not only to come to practice with a focus on improving and being team players, but they re also trying to progress toward their educational goals/degrees and maintain high standards of conduct.

For many years I have tied to make the point that since our student-athletes love the sports they play, they can use their practices and games as a time to be free from the stresses of the rest of their lives.  They can spend a couple hours each day working toward team goals without worrying about the other things that may keep them pre-occupied or up at night.

As coaches, we hope that our athletes are able to use their sporting activities as a type of temporary escape from other potentially stressful situations.  At the same time, we often don't even know what those circumstances are for many of our athletes.  Additionally, we hope that the way they choose to spend their free time doesn't increase the stress in their lives, but instead that their chosen activities help to free them from an unnecessary burdens they think they must carry.

We never know for sure the burdens that may interfere with our players, or even with other people we spend time with at work and home.  All we can do is try to care and in our own ways try to show that we care.

Tomorrow we will have eight pitchers throwing 60 pitches apiece to live hitters in the batting cages.  I know they will all do pretty well, and that some of them may have some anxiety about doing it or the first time this winter.  It's just possible that any nervousness they have tomorrow will seem like nothing compared to some of the other things they deal with in their daily lives.  All I hope for is that they have fun, improve, and understand that their teammates have their backs!

"It's Time"

Tomorrow is the first day of practice for the 2012 College Baseball Season!  This is always one of the best days out of all 365 days on the calendar.  Everybody that begins a season has high hopes of team and individual success, but where there is team success, there is a tremendous amount of individual success.

Success in college athletics comes in many different ways.  In addition to the challenges of winning games and championships, relationships that develop among team members are nothing short of spectacular!  That happens as a result of team members respecting each other, caring about each other, and putting the team ahead of themselves.

When each team member can take an unselfish attitude into each day's practice and each game, and tries to be the greatest teammate he can possibly be, a team has a much better chance of achieving goals and enjoying every step in the season's journey.  Most of us coaches have certain words and phrases or ideas that we talk to our teams about regularly.  One thing I like to remind our pitchers every season is to try to give everything of themselves, and expect nothing in return. Daily attitudes similar to this among a group can lead to exciting experiences.

I can't wait to get out there for tomorrow's first practice.  As my friend, Coach Tim  Bauer would say, "It's time!!"