June 2, 2010

ENDING ON TOP OF THE HILL
By: Scott Day

The view from a top any roller coaster is usually picturesque, the view from the bottom of that same coaster is usually filled with kids screaming and utter chaos amongst the amusement park.

In the last four years, the VCU baseball team has been on that roller coaster ride. 2007 brought the Rams to the top of the coaster with their fourth CAA title and ninth NCAA Tournament, just another banner year for the Black & Gold. Then 2008 and 2009 (35-56 over two years) happened and VCU found itself being picked seventh in the CAA preseason poll prior to the 2010 campaign.

“We know how many people doubted us, but we just didn’t care,” Senior M.L. Morgan (top) said. “We knew we had to find a way to get it done and that’s what we did. It wasn’t always pretty, but we got the job done.”

The job that Morgan is referring is the fact the Rams capped a quick turnaround by hoisting yet another CAA trophy and will embark on a 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament this weekend.

Morgan is one of four seniors (Matt Leskiw, Robbie Andrews (left) and Richard Gonzalez(bottom right)) that have been through the roller coaster ride that has been the last four years. The last two years are what have made this title so sweet for this quartet of Rams.

“It’s hard to put into words how much this title means to the four of us,” Morgan said. “I don’t think it will hit us until sometime in the future. The last two years were rough, and entering our senior year we knew we had to get the program back where it was when we got here.”

May 16, 2009: The Rams had just lost a 13-4 decision to Delaware to end a dismal season and Coach Keyes gave a speech to the team discussing changes that needed to be made to get the program back to the elite status it had been at years before.

On the bus ride home from Newark, the four seniors talked about how much fun they had their freshman year and knew right then and there that something had to be done. Whatever it took, the foursome was willing to do it in order to get the title back to its rightful owners in Richmond.

The fall came and the senior leadership started to emerge. Out of a roster of 32, only four knew what it felt like to dogpile in the middle of Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C. and hoist that trophy. Those four knew it was time to step up their game and share that experience with the young talent on the 2010 roster.

Chemistry can play a huge factor and the seniors knew that and stressed the importance of that when the squad was going through their “insanity” workouts three times a week in the fall.

“This team may not be the most talented team, but no one was going to outwork us,” Morgan said. “We became really close as a team and I really think that played a major factor in the success we had this spring.”

The success this spring didn’t come easy though with the Rams starting 9-10 overall then stumbling down the stretch and entering the CAA Tournament with just a 2-6-1 record against the other three tournament teams.

“Resilient is the best way to describe this team,” Morgan said. “No matter what the odds against us were, we were ready to put up a fight.”

Push back they did, reeling off a dramatic 7-5, 12-inning win over UNC Wilmington last Saturday to bring this group of seniors back to the top of the roller coaster, giving them one last chance to enjoy the picturesque view.