What a Summer

It seems like just yesterday that I was in Warrensburg, Missouri, at the NCAA South Central Regional semifinal game vs. Emporia State in the ninth inning. We were trailing by two runs, but had the bases loaded with one out and the heart of our lineup coming to bat. In a split second our season ended as Tony Kostelnik hit a line drive that appeared would tie the game, turned into a double play as the Emporia State shortstop made a great play to snag the ball and force our runner at third base to end the game and our season.

As a coach you have very little time to dwell on the past and must continually look to the future and how your team can get better. As soon as we got back home our coaches met and began trying to come up with ways we could improve this year. We also met with our players and challenged everyone to come back better than they were when they left. As usual many of our players scattered across the country to participate in some of the nation's top Summer Collegiate Baseball Leagues.

Keith Towne and Travis Lites headed north to Laramie, Wyoming, to play for the Laramie Colts in the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League. Both had great summers as they were both named to the MCBL All-Star Team and helped lead the Colts to the league title. The only negative with regards to their summer experience is that Lites was forced into action as a pitcher during the All-Star game and got the win for his team. Unfortunately, Lites now thinks he is a pitcher and I have to hear about his exploits on the mound daily. The weather was also a little bit of a culture shock as neither of these Texas boys were used to getting snow in June. Overall, they had a great experience and loved the people of Laramie and had a great time.

We also sent a couple of players to Hays, Kansas, to play for the Hays Larks in the Jayhawk League. Jason Morriss, Issac Garcia, and newcomer Chase Barrera all played for the Larks. All three put up great numbers and helped lead Hays to a 3rd place finish nationally in the NBC World Series.

Hays is a very special place to me because that is where I began my coaching career, while still in college at Baylor. Frank Leo, who is still the manager of the Larks was nice enough to give me the opportunity to get into coaching. I spent two summers in Hays and was lucky enough to meet a lot of great people and coach some great teams and players. The 1995 team which included current Houston Astro, Lance Berkman, lost in the finals of the NBC to the 1996 USA Olympic Team and finished second. Many of the things I do today I learned from being around Frank Leo and I am forever grateful for that opportunity. Due to my time with Hays I do have a rooting interest with the Larks and try to help any way I can. All three of our players did a great job for the Larks and Jason Morriss was named to the NBC All-American Team.

We also had two players head to the Carolinas to participate in the Coastal Plains League. Pitcher, Jerris Springfield played for the Wilson Tobs and Austin Lasprilla played for the Fayetteville Swampdogs. Both helped lead their teams to the playoffs and improved greatly as the summer went along.

As our players summer schedules were winding down and we were preparing to get ready for this season we got some news that was unexpected. Marty Smith, our assistant coach since we began the program had been offered a job and was leaving our program. Marty was more than just an assistant coach to me, he was a former player of mine and a great friend as well. Not only that, he is a great coach. Marty had done just about everything at one time or another in our program and always excelled at whatever he was asked to do. Our players and coaches will miss he and his family and wish nothing but the best in his new position.

This now put us in the position of having to hire a new coach. After an exhaustive and extensive search we found another great coach to take Marty's place. We hired Jerod Goodale from Wichita State University. Jerod has been an assistant at one of the most storied baseball programs in the country for the past 3 years and knows how to win. He brings a ton of enthusiasm and energy to our program and has done an outstanding job in developing pitchers and catchers in his past coaching stops. He also is an outstanding evaluator of talent and a talented recruiter. We are so excited to have him on board and are excited to begin Fall practice in a couple of weeks and begin work on achieving our goals for 2010.