Sports

Moving forward

• After a torrid start to the season in which it scored 50 runs in four games, Sherwood Christian regains focus after its first loss.

Derek Berichello

ALBANY — First-year Sherwood Christian Academy coach Jay Flynt barely had time to deal with an ant infestation in the corner of the third base dugout on Wednesday afternoon.

His players were sitting on the bench mostly quiet and ready to practice 20 minutes before the 3:40 start time.

Flynt took notice of the group of eyes focused on him and soon forgot about the spreading ants.

That’s because, like everyone with an interest in the Eagles baseball program, he was anxious to see how his young team would respond after its first loss on Tuesday, which came in their GISA Region-3A South opener, nonetheless.

The early arrivals showed him immediately that his Eagles were ready to put the 9-3 loss to Westfield, in which he said the team was not prepared mentally, behind them, and look forward to the same kind of performances they tallied when they scored 50 runs on their way to a 4-0 start to the season.

“They were dressed and ready to go,” Flynt said after the practice. “They were energetic. I saw the fire in their eyes. I’m excited about the effort I saw and I’m looking forward to how they respond against Crisp Academy (today).”

The biggest obstacle facing an Eagles team that wants to prove it is more than last year’s standout pitcher and three-hitter Jason Townsend — who went 16-7 in two seasons and was lost to graduation — is whether or not they can regain the confidence they showed in their first four wins after a tough defeat.

“I don’t think we have as much confidence as we had before we lost,” said John Schramm, who leads the Eagles in hitting with a .318 average and five runs batted in, as well as pitching with 21 strikeouts in nine innings. “I think we’ll work a little bit harder now and stay more focused because when we were undefeated, we’d just use that confidence to play everybody.”

Although it will go down officially as only one loss in the standings, it was still eating at them almost 24 hours after the final out.

“I can’t wait to get the taste out of my mouth,” said Sherwood catcher Caleb Farmer, who is hitting .300 with four RBI. “I kept to myself all day because I was mad, but I have Spanish class with a few of the guys on the team and they were all talking about (the loss). I wish we played (Wednesday), I’d love to play those guys again right now.”

Flynt believes keeping his young team’s confidence, which starts only two seniors and three juniors, is important right now.

Before his Eagles finally took the field under the hot sun to practice, Flynt gave them a pep talk to set the tone for Wednesday’s practice.

While speaking, he demanded full attention as he challenged those who were complacent to give a full effort or be replaced.  He reminded his team of their goals to stay humble and stay hungry. Twice he called out players to pay attention and again to get a player to move his equipment bag away from the ants.

“The thing I wanted to preach is that we need to get back to the basics,” Flynt said, taking his hat off in the shade to wipe off the sweat from practice. “We have to go back to where we began. Baseball is interesting because it is 98 percent mental and two percent physical. I don’t think our unity will be diminished, but I think our confidence was. I know we are going to lose, but I won’t consider it losing if we get better with each loss.”

Flynt hopes his coaching approach will go a long way in helping his team prepare for game time situations.

In Wednesday’s practice, every drill was turned into a competition with players going against each other or against themselves. During batting practice, while the Eagles worked on taking the ball to the opposite field, the team kept score of how many times a player hit it to the right side of a screen placed near the second base bag. For each hit to the right, the team ran one less foul pole, a hit to the left meant they had to run one more, while a direct hit to the screen deducted four poles.

“I want the guys to have fun,” Flynt said. “There’s an old saying, ‘practice makes perfect,’ I believe ‘practice makes permanent.’ In baseball, there are decisions that have to be made and I want these guys prepared for anything. I want them to know that if they are not getting better, they are getting worse.”

After practice, Flynt gave another pep speech which touched on preparation. He quoted Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan as saying there are two types of teams, those that want to win and those that are prepared to win. He challenged his team to be the latter.

From the early arrivals and the focus of eyes on their coach during his pep speeches, it can be deduced that the Eagles want to win but with players forgetting their cup, misplacing their glove and trying to find their confidence after a slow start against Westfield (they fell behind 7-0 in the first two innings), their preparation is still in question.

“I think we came unprepared,” said Sherwood pitcher Andrew Lanier, who is 3-1 with a 4.30 earned run average, of Tuesday's loss. “They came ready to play and we didn’t. We had a long layover with spring break. I know everyone is going to say we haven’t played any good teams yet on our schedule, but I feel like we could have beat (Westfield) if we played them again.”

Whether or not the Eagles will be able to find confidence and play prepared is up in the air but one thing Flynt can count on is the team’s unity.

With the absence of a star player like Townsend, he said what makes the team unique is how they have come together.

The Eagles have five different leaders. Flynt said Schramm, Farmer, Lanier, senior captains Gerry Smith, who has one of the Eagles’ two home runs, and Conley Short, who has 4 RBI, have all come through in big situations. He called his underclassmen fearless, noting how Adam Snyder, Robert Wilson and Cass Stutz had big hits in a come-from-behind victory against Riverside.

The team broke practice in routine fashion. With most of them clad in t-shirts with the team’s motto “one heartbeat,” they huddled, shared prayer and gave thanks.

“They have come together quicker than any team I’ve been around,” Flynt said, reminiscent of the two previous Sherwood teams he helped coach and teams he coached in Mississippi and Texas. “We have lots of team unity.

There is no singular player we rely on now to get a big hit or big strikeout on the mound. Their attitude is good. Each player plays for each other.”

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