A quick look at the numbers tells you all you need to know about the Coppin State baseball team.
The Eagles ? 0-40 entering Wednesday?s game at Georgetown ? have been shut out in 18 of 40 games, batting a cumulative .156 with a team ERA of 17.47. They?ve been out-hit (555-141), out-homered (33-3) and outscored (581-48). There are 11 players on the active roster, including only four who returned from last season.
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But the numbers don?t tell the whole story of a group of ballplayers sacrificing their own hopes and dreams for the team and one simple number: a win.
“There are a couple guys that can really play on any team on any Division I team, but they?re not having the type of year that they want to because they?re trying to overdo it,” Coppin State coach Harvey Lee said. “It?ll take away from your game if you?re not smart enough to relax ? instead of trying to make up for everybody.”
According to some associated with the program, though, fielding a team at all is a success in itself. One parent, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said the team was “dismantled” upon the exit of former coach Guy Robertson last summer.
“What we have here, quite frankly, are four baseball players and seven other boys not on scholarship just to fill out a team,” the parent said.
Some of those players haven?t played baseball, and Lee admits it?s difficult to reign them all in at times.
“As a coach, you don?t like it because you can?t discipline your players because there?s nobody behind them,” Lee said. “But the guys ? they like it because they can play.”
And many of them can play. Freshman first baseman Harry Williams ? who, like most of his teammates, often plays out of position ? is batting a team-best .330 with two home runs.
“The love of the game ? that?s basically it,” Williams said of what drives him to keep going despite the winless record. “I love playing the game of baseball, and that keeps everyone in high spirits.”
Former Coppin State player and coach Ruffin Bell said that being drafted to the pros shouldn?t be a concern for the Eagles at this point.
“Any time you?re on a losing team like that, people aren?t going to look at you seriously,” said Bell, who served as an assistant coach as late as last season. “That?s unfortunate, but Harry has some talent. He opted to attend Coppin even though Coach [Robertson] was leaving because he enjoyed his visit he had with us. He has to battle through it.”
If the Eagles are truly fighting for one another now, consider what things could have been like with those players who opted to transfer a year ago.
“I?m happy to see them continuing on with their baseball careers, whether they stayed or left,” Robertson said.
Those players that stayed have two more games ? Saturday and Sunday at North Carolina A&T ? to chase down that win.
AMONG THE TRANSFERS
The following players are some who transferred from Coppin State after last season:
» Corey Greene (Radford, Sr.): Outfielder is batting .333 with six homers and 19 RBI.
» Eric Miksitz (St. Peter?s College, Jr.): Left-hander is 3-3 with a 3.92 ERA in 11 games.
» Alex Hangland (St. Peter?s College, Sr.): Right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.05 ERA in 12 relief outings.
» Amiel Traynum (Cal State-Northridge, Sr.): Outfielder is batting .290 with two HR and nine steals after swiping 72 bags in three years at Coppin State.
