March 23, 2007

Back in Silver and Black

After a forgettable – and winless – season in 2006, the Silver Creek
baseball team looks to build on early success this year

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

If starting something from scratch came with an instruction manual, one might ask Silver Creek head baseball coach George Verdugo to write it.

Not only did Verdugo inherit a team with a plethora of young players barely old enough to know what shaving is, but the Raiders also went on to register a league-worst 0-21 record in the Santa Teresa Division in 2006.

And so, with a back-to-basics approach to the game and the team itself, Verdugo set out to make things better in 2007. For starters, the Raiders dropped out of the Santa Teresa Division and into the lower West Valley Division this season, giving his players a new league and more comparable competition to play against.

So far, so good. The Raiders, heading into play on March 21, have compiled a 3-2-1 record in league play, good for third
place behind 6-1-1 Lincoln and 7-1 James Lick. The difference, Verdugo said, is that the players are beginning to believe in themselves.

“It’s been real good to win,” said Verdugo, who is still fielding a young team that features a total of 10 sophomores and freshmen, out of a roster of 15. “It’s given these guys confidence. With every success, we build a little more confidence. It’s all about building confidence. I know last year we didn’t win a game, but it was a rebuilding year.”

And while some coaches may view moving from a higher league to a lower league as a drop in a program’s prestige, Verdugo prefers to look at the situation in a different light.

Silver Creek starting pitcher Taylor Crawford, a sophomore who started as a freshman on last season’s winless Raiders team, throws a pitch during a 7-4 win over Yerba Buena on March 19. Crawford picked up the win, allowing two earned runs and four hits while striking out six in the complete game effort. Photos by Diego Abeloos

“I think it’s good for these guys,” Verdugo said of Silver Creek’s move down to the West Valley Division this season. “This is where we should be because of the freshmen and sophomores that we have. Because we’re young at this level, we’re going to build success.”

Verdugo said he set out to hammer the basic fundamental aspects of the game into his players’ heads. To that end, Verdugo said he wants his players to make running through routine plays on the field second nature, whether it’s throwing strikes, fielding routine fly balls, or how to handle various situations as base runners.

“We were going to build on the basics I instilled last year with the program,” Verdugo said of his approach coming into the 2007 season. “The kids come into the program and I tell them all, ‘you come over here, you’re going to do it the way I want you to do it.’ We’re still rebuilding. It’s always back to the basics. We’re always teaching fundamentals, because the fundamentals never change in baseball. We’re always going to do that.”

One other important quality to be able to endure a winless season, according to Silver Creek assistant coach Mike Crawford, is patience, at least on the part of Verdugo. Crawford said that while he spent last year “living and dying with every pitch,” Verdugo remained calm throughout the entire year, realizing better days were ahead.

“Throughout that whole year, he didn’t raise his voice to those kids once. Not once,” Crawford said.

But Verdugo said it’s not simply patience – it’s attitude. Despite allowing an average of 12.7 runs per game, while only scoring an average of 2.2 runs per game last season, Verdugo demanded one thing from all of his players – never quit.

“Even though we were rebuilding and we had a tough year, we never gave up,” said Verdugo. “That’s the kind of attitude that I want them to have when they come out here. Never give up, no matter what the score is. Whether we’re up by 10 or down by 10, we’ve still got to keep that attitude that we’re never going to give up. That has carried over (to this season).”

With a young team comes the added responsibility of teaching the game to his players, something Verdugo said he takes great joy in. Case in point: following a 7-4 win over Yerba Buena on March 19, Verdugo spoke to his players about being patient at the plate when hitting a slow curveball. To further illustrate his point, Verdugo whipped out a baseball and slowly spun the ball in his hands to show his players the flight and tumbling action of a curveball.

Silver Creek outfielder Andrew Belknap takes a healthy swing at a pitch during a 7-4 win over Yerba Buena on March 19. So far, the Raiders have compiled a 3-2-1 record in West Valley Division play.

“That’s the thing that I enjoy, it’s a way to put my mark on the game,” Verdugo said of teaching the game to his players. “It’s fun teaching kids and watching them grow as baseball players. Even if they come in with different skills and abilities – some of them haven’t played since they were 11 – they’re here on varsity. We have a big variation, as far as skill, so I like to watch the kids that haven’t played since they were 11, and they improve. They want to keep up with the (advanced) guys that have played travel ball. And those guys that play travel ball, I like to see them get better and build on the skills they brought here too.”

Still, Verdugo said another big difference this year is that his players are once again having fun playing the game.
“When you win, almost everything seems to go right,” Verdugo said. “The mistakes seem a little bit less when you win, and everybody’s much happier. Any win is pretty much a good win. …When you win, everybody’s happy.”

At the same time, no one on the team, Verdugo said, is ready to forget about last year.

“I think it sticks in the back of their heads,” Verdugo said of the 2006 season. “They come out a little harder (now). Hey, we’re not going to do the same thing. We’ve got one year under our belts, and we’re going to come out playing hard.”

And while Verdugo said he’s nowhere close to finishing the job he set out to do when he took over the reigns of the program just prior to the start of the 2006 season, it certainly seems he’s looking forward to what the future has in store for his Raiders.

“It’s going to be fun in the next two or three years to watch these guys grow,” Verdugo said. “…These kids, I always want to make them believe that they can do it. They might be playing over their heads in some instances, but I want to make it seem that they’re supposed to be there, that they have that confidence. I have to. I have to make them believe that.”