| Cortland State's Joe Brown
will be looking for a National championship in his eighth trip to
Appleton. Cortland State athletics photo |
It is no surprise that confidence was abundant at Fox Cities Stadium on Thursday, nobody will be eliminated on Friday and every team already has a trophy sitting back home. The reality of the task of advancing in the D-III World Series was evident as well as each head coach knows how important piling up early wins is in earning a second trophy in as many weeks.
Starting Thurday morning, every team got an hour to run through their drills and get a feel for the field. At the end of their fielding practice, Emory's Wes Peacock kept throwing a ball off the outfield fence to see how the ball bounces.
Getting the bounces right are what the Eagles want starting Friday as Emory head coach Mike Twardoski does not want to repeat their trip through the South regional. "We don't want to take that trip again," said Twardoski about getting to the D-III Series through the elimination bracket. "If we have to, we will keep on fighting but it is tough as they do it to burden the teams that lose early."
Linfield coach Scott Brosius was also aware
how slim the margin is between winning and losing."The foundation
of these tournament games is that everyone is going to pitch well
and these games are typically low scoring and can hinge on one
player," said Brosius. "So playing a good defensive game and
pitching it well are the two foundations in having success out
here.
| Salisbury head coach Doug
Fleetwood is making his last trip to the D-III World Series as the
Sea Gulls head coach. Salisbury athletics photo |
Cortland State Head coach Joe Brown agreed. "We've got very good arms, but the one thing we are most proud of is our defense. We are one, two in the country with Linfield. We will field the ball and throw the ball. I am anxious for our seniors who were here in '12 and are now having this opportunity."
Baldwin Wallace head coach Brian Harrison may have the biggest task of any head coach at the D-III World Series. "It does not happen very often that you get here," said Harrison. "Think how many teams that worked hard to be here. My team understands that and are grateful and excited to to be here."
Despite this being their first trip to the championship round, Harrison points to the Mid-Atlantic Regional where the Yellow Jackets earned some experience. "It is an advantage that we played at a minor league park at the regional and this is a minor league park. The nerves of playing on a big stage were gone last week and we can hopefully relax and play."
Twardoski sums up the
what all coaches want their teams to understand. "It is just a
baseball game. That is all I am going to bring to the table, not to
get in awe of the situation but to get between the lines and play
baseball."