The UNCW Diamond Hawk’s head coach Mark Scalf is the winningest baseball coach in school history with over 575 wins. The team has not had a losing season since 1998, yet with all that success, the 2010 Diamond Hawks are striving for something that has never been accomplished in school history. That goal can be described in one word — Omaha.
A little over a month before the season started, Robbie Monday and the rest of the seniors met to talk about their goal of reaching the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. One of the biggest flaws of the 2009 team was their lack of vocal and on-field leadership, but the 2010 seniors have taken a “will-not-fail” attitude and are determined to lead their team to Omaha when June rolls around. “We all have one common goal – Omaha, and if we are going to reach that plateau, we are going to have to step up more so than ever this year,” said Monday.
The team has been met with some high expectations, but Coach Scalf is making sure that these expectations will not lead to complacency. During spring training, Coach Scalf constantly reminded his players of their expectations, but more importantly, he wanted them to “take pride in being a member of this team and unit.” Coach Scalf focused on emphasizing the importance of each day and mentally preparing his team for the tough road ahead.
The Diamond Hawks were picked to finish second behind James Madison in the CAA, but people internally and outside of the program believe that this could be one of the strongest teams that UNCW has ever fielded. Not only does the team have the senior leadership, but they also boast a pitching staff with great depth. The team returns nine pitchers who made a start last year, but they are also expecting contributions from freshman Tyler DeLoach, Blaze Tart and Tom Timoney. Coach Scalf feels that pitching is one of the team’s biggest strengths as it gives him “a number of matchup options in the bullpen and in the rotation.” He also expects returning players Jesse Haney and Stephen Harrold to take on a bigger role in the bullpen this year.
The Diamond Hawks also have a couple of Preseason All-CAA picks in catcher Cody Stanley and DH Robbie Monday. Stanley is recovering from shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm, but with questions of depth behind him, it will be interesting to see how he returns from this injury. Another player that has already impressed Coach Scalf and DH Robbie Monday is freshman Michael Bass. “I dare somebody to tell this kid he can’t do something,” said Monday. “He is a smaller guy, but he plays like he is the biggest guy on the team. I just can’t say enough about this kid.” Bass showed why he deserved such praise as he opened up his collegiate career with three hits and an RBI in the team’s second game of the season against Jacksonville.
The Diamond Hawks took two out of three against a very formidable Jacksonville team on the road where they struggled last year. Despite the fact that the team was only able to have seven on-field practices during spring training, Coach Scalf was impressed by the team’s performance during the first two games. “You win by pitching and defense,” said Coach Scalf, but those two areas faltered late in the game and resulted in a loss in the series finale.
“We played really solid and should have won every game,” said Monday, but I feel like we have a lot more talent to show and it will progress the more time we get on the field.” The season is barely underway, but if this is any indication of things to come, than the series win against defending A-Sun Champions Jacksonville may just be the beginning of this team’s long road to Omaha.
By: T.J. Mulligan
