The Winning is Beginning
March 14, 2006 12:05 AM | General
March 14, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Doug Nelms admits there were times the last two years when going to the ballpark was an exercise in futility. After playing on a 36-19 team his freshman season, Nelms’ sophomore and junior campaigns were spent on clubs that won a combined 48 of 107 games.
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| Senior Doug Nelms has helped West Virginia to a strong 11-3 start heading into Tuesday's non-conference game against Norfolk State.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
That’s why this year’s 11-3 start has been a welcomed relief to the Bristol, Va., resident.
“The past couple of years when you’ve got a losing record you’ve got guys that are like, ‘Man, I don’t want to go to the ballpark today because we’re 10-22,’” said Nelms.
Because only four teams used to qualify for the Big East tournament, a bad start in conference play meant a team could be eliminated from post-season contention by the middle of April. This year eight of the 12 teams will make the conference tournament to be played in Clearwater, Fla.
“In year’s past we’d come out 1-5 or 0-6 and at that point you’re buried and you have no chance to get there,” said Nelms. “We’ve got to win 10 in a row just to get to the tournament. It was a situation where we were pressing every day.”
Although it’s still very early, and it must be pointed out that West Virginia’s 11 victories have come against just one team with a .500 record (7-6 Virginia Tech), there is optimism in the Mountaineer dugout that the winning is going to continue.
For the first time since Nelms’ freshman season in 2003, West Virginia has the pitching depth to compete against top-line weekend conference starters, while also having enough pitching left to win midweek games.
“We had good pitching in 2003 but this year we’ve got 10 guys that are capable of winning Big East games,” said Nelms, who singled out junior college transfers Dan Leatherman, Joe Stupka and Eric Saffell. The three have combined for seven of West Virginia’s 11 victories.
“It was unexpected almost -- Saffell especially,” Nelms admitted. “He came here pretty much as a hitter and then during the fall when he was throwing from first base in infield, I’m thinking to myself that this kid should be pitching. When he did get on the mound he just baffled us all.
“And you can’t say enough about the two righties (Leatherman and Stupka),” Nelms said. “All Leatherman does is mix speeds, throws strikes and competes out there. Stupka pitched in the junior college world series and you can tell both of them are so calm and composed out there and they take care of business and throw strikes.”
In addition to quality pitching, West Virginia has a veteran lineup that features a nice blend of power and speed, according to Nelms.
“Stan Posluszny as been a four-year starter, Justin Jenkins was all-Big East last year, David Carpenter was all-Big East and Kyle Matuszek is playing his fifth year of college baseball,” said Nelms. “We’re fast, we’ve got power hitters and we’ve got contact hitters.”
And while Posluszny and Jenkins are expected to drive in most of the runs hitting in the middle of the lineup, a pair of underclassmen have really set the table for the offense. Sophomore second baseman Tyler Kuhn is a big-time talent with a .377 batting average and 16 RBI in 17 games. Redshirt freshman centerfielder Adam White has made a major impact hitting .419 and scoring a team-best 17 runs. He also leads the team with eight stolen bases. As good as Lee Fritz was last year playing centerfield, White gives the Mountaineers an extra dimension with his major league speed.
“The biggest surprise on the team,” says Nelms of White. “Even though this is his first year he’s leading us in most categories. He changes the way we play with his speed.”
White’s great speed presents two-fold benefits for West Virginia. Nelms explains.
“There was a ball a guy hit the other day that I thought was no doubt a double but he just ran it down to the fence and caught it routinely,” Nelms said. “That makes a big difference.
“Then the other night he gets on in the bottom of the eighth inning and all we’re thinking is, ‘All right Coach, steal him here.’ We SAC bunt him to second and he steals third easy. Then I hit a routine pop up to right field and we get a run out of it because of his speed. All we did was get a walk, SAC him over and get a pop fly and we wind up with a run,” Nelms said.
West Virginia’s ability to steal bases and drive the ball into the gaps has given veteran coach Greg Van Zant more options from the third base coaching box. He is inclined to give his base stealers the green light to run more this year (29 of 30 in stolen bases) instead of giving up outs with sacrifice bunts.
“If you’ve got a guy that can handle the bat well and you’ve got older guys then you’re going to put a lot more trust into them,” Nelms explained. “Maybe in years past we’ve had younger hitters and Coach Van Zant is thinking a kid might strike out or pop up in a key situation.
“Guys know how to play the game and he can trust us to make good decisions instead of him having to make all of the decisions out there for us,” Nelms said.
Nelms, too, has been an important ingredient in West Virginia’s early success. Although he is not yet up to his .349 batting average of a year ago, last year’s all-Big East shortstop leads the team with seven extra base hits and 18 RBI. It is only a matter of time before he gets his .286 batting average back over .300. More importantly, he has been flawless in the field handling all 73 of his chances at shortstop without committing an error.
“Knock on wood right there,” he says. “I take pride in my defense. I don’t want to make an error and when I make that first error I’m going to be upset.”
Nelms has become so sure-handed that pitchers are getting into the habit of walking toward the dugout when a ground ball is hit to short with two outs. It’s a sign of supreme confidence that they know he is going to make the play.
“That’s a good feeling to have,” Nelms admits. “That’s a good feeling for pitchers too because they know they can make a mistake and maybe a Jenkins, a Nelms or a Kuhn is going to pick them up in the field.”
Nelms is hopeful the strong early start will help pick up some more fans at Hawley Field when conference play starts against Pitt in two weeks.
“I’m excited to see the weather get warm, get some fans out here and get into our Big East schedule to see just how good we really are this year and see what we can do,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll make a name for ourselves and make the NCAA tournament.”
