It’s been a busy and exciting week at Chatt Valley. We had no less than two recruits on campus each day with whom the coaching staff and I visited. Six of our sophomore players signed scholarships with four-year schools to continue both their, educational and baseball, careers on Wednesday. We have begun our off-season CrossFit workouts, as well as our speed and throwing programs. We have had about 80% of our end-of-the-fall player meetings, while setting our final spring roster. And to my utter delight, The Lake has shown its first sign of germination of the rye seed that Matt and I put out about 10 days ago.
I have a love/hate relationship with recruiting. I hate it because it is nerve-racking and you cannot miss on a guy, or your next team will suffer. I love it because it is nerve-racking and you cannot miss on a guy, or your next team will suffer. Yep, you read that correctly. I love and hate it for the exact same reasons. The chase, pursuit, and securing of a high school player to become a future Pirate is akin to courting that beautiful girl back in elementary school that you think might be out of your league. And with Owen being eleven years old, in the sixth grade and girl crazy, I have a pretty good reminder of what it was like back then. I’m a pretty fortunate dad in that my son doesn’t mind talking to me about things like that. And whether or not he actually takes my advice, he at least listens respectfully and pretends to be taking it in. I can remember my own “girl chasing” experiences as plain as day from my days back at Smiths Station Elementary School. It was Angie Evans. She was the prettiest, smartest, and funniest, and she became my grade school girlfriend. She was the “It Girl”. I’m sure most people my age know exactly how this worked. First, you have to get your buddies to tell her that you like her. Then it’s, “do you like him back?” Then the notes go back and forth – I love you, do you love me? Check one: yes, no, or maybe. And we all know, if you get a yes or a maybe, you are golden. And then, when it’s all said and done, you become an item, the talk of the school and a pair of names that become synonymous with one another. Grade School love is so funny, but yet what a good metaphor it is for life, and in this case, recruiting. It’s the chase, man. Everyone loves the chase. It’s exciting, because you hope you’re gonna get the best thing since sliced bread. As in grade school, you ask your coaching colleagues if a player may be interested, then the letters and phone calls follow, the yeses, nos, and maybes come next, and then, after a period of pursuing, you land that recruit that you hope will be a match made in heaven for the both of you. By the way, Angie and I never made it past sixth grade, but she remained one of my best friends through our high school days.
This week was huge for us in the recruiting battle. As you all know, we are losing the majority of our pitching staff and some pretty key position players, as well. We have had one monstrous committment thus far, in landing pitcher Coltan (It will be shortened to Colt once he gets to CVCC) Ramsey, a 6’3 right hander from Peachtree Ridge High School. This kid’s gonna be good and we are very excited about getting him. I’ll give you some more details about him in one of my postscripts. We have had several more visit with us, and I feel like we are pretty close to landing those guys, as well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. As is the case in most years, I’m sure we will lose some to other schools, but like a wise coach told me in my early years as a young coach, “AT, don’t worry about the ones you don’t get, just make sure you don’t miss on the ones you do get.” I’ve lived by that advice in recruiting my entire coaching career. As is the nature of the recruiting, we somethimes lose recruits to other schools, just like other schools lose recruits to us, but one thing is for sure, I will never settle. We have a standard at CVCC, and that standard includes competing for championships, maintaining high academic standards, and being quality people by representing ourselves, our families, and CVCC the right way on and off the field. With that being said, losing a particular recruit does not mean we will compromise with second rate talent. We will find another guy that meets and exemplifies the CVCC Baseball standard.
Wednesday was a special day for Chatt Valley Baseball. We had six of our guys sign their national letters of intent to play basebal at the next level. In case you didn’t read my last post, I’ll give you those guys again: Martin Castro – Columbus State University, Josh Gobble – Auburn University, Zach Helewski - Columbus State University, Trace McDaniel – University of North Georgia, Mike O’Neal - Auburn University, and Clint Spratlin - University of North Georgia. I am so proud of these guys. There is no secret that this group is special to me. I love the sophomore heavy teams. We always go through a lot together. Much of that has been documented in this blog. And it’s not that this team is any more special than the 2010 class or the 2008 class or any other sophomore class for that matter, because I love them all and they all mean a lot to me in different ways. They all created their own identity and personality unique to them, which makes me smile, remember, and love them all for many different reasons. It’s like trying to decide which of your children you love the most. You love them all the same, just in different ways for different reasons. This group is special because they had so much to overcome to be successful. The biggest of that “so much to overcome” was their overbearing coach (yeah, me) and my very high expectations of them. I’m sure most of those freshmen were not used to being pounded and pounded with drill after drill, practice after practice, day after day so that we could obtain all of the lofty aspirations that I knew they could achieve. I saw it from the get-go that they were good enough to be champions. And I almost lost them to get it. It’s like I’ve said so many times – There is no substitute for hard work. Well, they did work hard, and lo and behold, look what has happened: a Southern Division Championship, scholarship opportunities, and a mutual respect and bond between coach and player that will now last a lifetime. It’s such a testament to this group, and I’m not just talking about the six that signed, because all 18 will sign scholarships before the season is over and all 18 had everything to do with what they have done so far and what we have yet to achieve, as to what happens when you coach, play, and work with love, trust, committment, and discipline. And I mean that in numerous facets: with yourself, with your teammates, with your coaches, with your players, and for the greater good of our program. I love my boys and I could not be more proud.
Signing Day 2011 L-R: Lu, Marty, Mickey O, Gobbs, T-Mac, Sprat
I remember my own signing day when the University of Montevallo decided that they wanted a scrappy catcher from Chattahoochee Valley to come play for them back in May of 1996. We had just finished winning the conference championship in Demopolis, Alabama by beating Wallace-Selma. I had a less than stellar sophomore season offensively, and to be honest, I didn’t know if my career would continue. To my credit, though, I was still the best defender in the conference at the catching position. I can also tell you this, though, I am, and have always been one of those guys that always rose to the occasion in the bigger moments. I always played well when it mattered, particularly in the post-season. For all practical purposes, I caught every single game CVCC played during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, and it sure as hell wasn’t because Coach Johnson needed my bat in the lineup. Of course, I had a day off here and there, but for the most part, I played every single day. Like I’ve said before, I am about a career .240 hitter, but my strength was not with a bat in my hands, it was my ability to run the show behind the plate, block everything in the dirt within a 1/2 mile radius, and being able throw out nearly everyone south of the Mason Dixon line. I wasn’t completely useless offensively, though. After 14 years as a college coach, and five as a college player, I have come to realize that compared to all of the college hitters I have seen in my lifetime, I was probably a better “offensive player” without a bat, than a lot of those were with one. What I mean is that I could get hit by a pitch at will. Seriously, if we needed a base runner, there was a 1000% chance I could make that happen. I was pretty dang good at that. I honestly believe that I could have been hit by a pitch in every single at bat of my college career if I wanted. I played pretty hard nosed and I just had a knack for it. And as Coach Johnson told my folks after a 3 HBP game, “AT is one tough sonofabitch”. I may have hit .240, but my on base percentage was about .540. I’m pretty sure that the ACCC adopted “the come back to the batters box after an obvious attempt to get hit by a pitch” rule because of me. Anyway, for what I lacked as a “hitter” in the regular season, I sure as hell made up for it in the post-season. It was like my inner Joe DiMaggio came out and I was having an outer body experience at the plate, because I was close to a .500 hitter come tournament time. It probably had more to do with the fact that the opposing pitchers threw everything out away from me so they wouldn’t hit me, coupled with the fact that I finally started swinging aggressively, versus anything to do with me being an actual good hitter. But nonetheless, when the post-season lights came on, so did my ability to actually hit. Well, that 1996 post-season was enough for Coach Phil Philips and Coach Bob Riesner to offer me a scholarship to catch at UM. Man, were my parents and I excited. Montevallo was always a school that I wanted to attend if I couldn’t go to Bama. God really took care of me, and I recognized that then, as I still do now.
As chronicled before, I loved my days at Montevallo. I’m telling you, it was what you hope your college experiences will be for your own children, in terms of education, athletics, and good old fashioned, good, clean fun. I met life long friends and made memories that are significant enough to become part of the “Scrapbook Conversations” every time I get together with my friends. Did I mention I loved Montevallo? So, in the fall of 2004, when I was invited back to my alma mater for the first annual UM JUCO Fall Baseball Tournament, I was completely stoked. That was Dash’s first year with me and we had a team similar to this one, in terms of a lot of sophomores and experience. We went over there and absolutely dominated. If there were a BCS poll for JUCO Fall Baseball, we would have been an overwhelming number 1 after our performance that day. We won both games by double-digit runs and absolutely put on a show on how baseball should be played. Well, that was about the last time we have had any positive performance at my old stomping grounds.
You know how it is, when some place used to be your home and you have a chance to go back, you want everything to be great, you want to be welcomed with open arms, and you want to impress everyone with what you have done with yourself and career since you’ve been gone. You want it to be storybook and movie like. Well, after 2004, my annual return to UM has been movie-like alright, in the fact that it’s a combination of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Groundhog’s Day – We get slaughtered every time we go back there and I swear, we play the same way, every year. I literally have no explanation for it. Why Montevallo week? Why not the weekend before or the weekend after? Man, it’s like there is a scratch and a skip in the DVD and I have to keep watching the same thing over and over again, every year. It’s kind of freaky, actually. On a scratch of the surface analysis, I can only surmise that it is typically the third week of playing outside competition and usually six weeks into fall practice. The newness is gone and we are just tired - physically, mentally, and emotionally. After all, I put them through a lot in the fall in order to prepare the boys for a championship caliber spring. However, I’ll always trade one bad day at my old stomping grounds for an entire good spring across the southeastern part of the country. Whatever the case, and pardon my crudeness, but we suck when we go to UM.
The most eerie part of it is that both games are always played in similar fashion. Game 1 is usually an emotionless, mistake filled, “what in the heck are we doing out there” type of game. We usually either win or lose it by one run in a sloppy, low scoring affair. Last year, we beat LBW 4-3 in one of the ugliest baseball games you’ll ever watch. This year, we lost 4-3 to Lawson State in one of the ugliest baseball games you’ll ever watch. Now, game 2 is usually a hangover of the first, but worse. We just simply get beaten handily by a team we have no issues with in the regular season. It’s an aberration. And I don’t mean any disrespect to our opponents, because they are good opponents, but we lose in a way that is just not going to happen when it matters in the spring. It goes back to the “You’re not as good as you think you are, but…” post. Last year, Shoals popped us, this year, it was CACC.
Game 1 versus Lawson showed me what I already knew – that no matter how good or bad anything else was that day, we have a chance because we can pitch. Trace was real good. He threw 3 innings of shutout baseball in dominant fashion. Despite us being pretty inept offensively, we were in complete control of the game. We knew it, Lawson knew it, everyone in the grandstands knew it. The only real offense to speak of was an absolute bomb by Patty O in the second inning to put us up 3-0. Dunagan came in and was his typical self – shutdown. I’m at least thinking at this point that we will get out of this one with a well pitched win and we will try to make some offensive adjustments before game 2. Unfortunately, Lawson had a little something to say about us getting out of there with a win. Marty had his first outing of the fall and was just not Marty, yet. No big deal, he only surrendered 1 run. Szath threw a solid inning and gave up an unearned run. Again, no biggie, we are still up 3-2. We also gave Timmy his first outing in an actual closing situation, and things just didn’t go right for him. He ended up giving up 2 unearned runs, which by the way, were simply not his fault, but at the same time, I probably put him in a situation he wasn’t quite ready for at that point of the fall. Once the smoked cleared, we gave up the lead and the game and only had about 30 minutes to regroup before we faced divisional foe, Central Alabama.
Well, the regrouping never occurred, as we made several errors in the first and Lu was just not his typical self. CACC played well and we didn’t. The only bright spot was that after giving up 7 runs in the first 2 innings we shut them out the rest of the way. Unfortunately, the offense must have slept through its alarm and forgot to get on the bus that morning, because we were shutout for the first time in about 8 years in either a fall or spring game. I told Chandler Rose, the now head coach at Montevallo, that I’m never coming back. I said that in jest, of course, as I love my annual return to my alma mater. Honestly, I can handle the embarrassment on my end of things, because I knew we were going to be fine. The ones I hated it for were my kids. I brag on them all the time and I sell them to scouts and coaches constantly. I know what they are capable of and I know at exactly what level they can play. I just hate it when I sell a kid at a tourney full of scouts and coaches and they have bad days. It doesn’t necessarily cost them a scholarship, because those people trust me, know me, and realize that if I’m selling a guy, then they should buy. It’s the postponing of the potential offer and the negative emotional and psychological effect it has on my boys that hurts me. Although it’s not the case, they feel like they may have blown their chance. Man, I get that. I felt the same way back in 1996, when I took 0-fer after 0-fer after 0-fer.
But despite our misdoings and misgivings in Mo-town, there is always a silver lining. One, it brought us back down to earth and helped us realize we still had not “arrived” yet and we had a little work to do in order to become the team that want to be. Two, it gave us coaches a reason to pick up the pace and intensity at practice the next week. On that note, we really responded the following week at Troy University.
And Three, it gave my dad and I a good laugh about how bad we always stink at Montevallo.
Post Script…..
I gave you my take on five of the six signees in my last post. Since then, Zach Helewski has also committed and signed, so I want to give him his due credit, as well.
Zach Helewski RHP, Columbus State University – I love Lu. This kid has a special place in my heart. I have witnessed this kid grow up and mature like no other in my career. Not only that, this kid can absolutely pitch. He throws the baseball in the low 90′s and has run it up there as high as 96 mph to go along with a dirty hammer. But more importantly, he wins, he competes, and he goes about his business on the field like a professional. I’ve stayed on Lu about as much as anyone in my career. I’ve watched a talent turn into a pitcher and into a responsible young man. He’s the only player that I’ve had a cursing/shouting match with in the dugout and hugged afterward. Not only that, I didn’t start him the next day because I thought I had a better matchup with another pitcher on our staff (Which, by the way, I was wrong, and my initial gut feeling the night before was to start Lu all along. I knew I should’ve started Lu, but I overanalyzed it). But this tells you what kind of kid he is – he didn’t say a word and just waited for his turn. Well, like I said, I went against my gut and didn’t start Lu, but had to go to him in the 3rd inning of that game, which was an ACCC Tourney elimination game, and all he did was completely dominate, annihilate, and shutdown Jeff State for the next 7 innings while our offense bailed me out for not starting him. He is a team guy and one helluva a pitcher and competitor. You will hear his name called in June in the MLB draft. I guarantee it.
Post Post Script…
As we begin receiving commitments for our 2011-12 recruiting class, I will begin giving you the same type of info on them, as well.
Colt Ramsey RHP – Colt is cut out of the same cloth as guys like Derek Varnadore and Jeff Shields. He’s already good, but there is so much more in there. He throws in the mid to upper 80′s now, with good command and good secondary pitches. He’s a guy that when we put weight, strength, and size on him and he gets into our throwing program, is going to blossom into a big time prospect. Remember this name and remember I said it. He’s gonna be a good one.
