Lofty Goals For Seahawk Spring Sports

    How do you build a sports dynasty? How do you leave a sports legacy? The Yankees had the Core Four and the 49’ers had Joe Montana to build their dynasties. Cecil College softball coach Ed Durham and baseball assistant coach Rod Williams don’t have the luxury of star players returning year after year. For them, the legacy is in the teaching.

     “The sheer joy of coaching for me is to see how they progress throughout the year,” said Durham, adding, “I tell them this is their team, I am just here to facilitate for them.”

     The reputation Cecil College has, not only for teaching, but for level of competition, isn’t lost of student-athletes who choose to come the junior college in North East, Maryland.

     According to returning sophomore Josh Hampton, a shortstop and third basemen for the Seahawks baseball team, “The coaches are great teachers, they move kids on to bigger colleges every year.”

     The dedication to teaching echoes like at cadence from Coach Williams during batting practice, “Stand short, stand tall, hit the wall,” he repeats as he helps his hitters work on their mechanics.

     For Hampton, a standout performer his freshman year, the personal goal of becoming a major league player is a step-by-step process. When he finishes this year as a Seahawk he will move on to Wilmington University. 

     Having “the next step” taken care of is a great relief for Hampton. “Now I don’t have to worry, some kids will start pressing when they don’t know where they are going next and they know scouts are watching.”

     Hampton can credit the weight being lifted from him to his 2011 season. In 52 games, he tallied thirteen home runs and 53 RBI, while sporting a .411 batting average. “I hoping for average,” said Hampton, “I didn’t expect to play that well. But, as the year went on, I kept learning more and doing better.”

     Hampton’s goal for the year is the same as Coach Durham’s in softball and the rest his coaches in baseball – to make it to the Nationals, to make it to the World Series. But for junior college squads, having players like Hampton is a luxury. The turnover for the squads is significant.

     The baseball team has four position players and five pitchers returning out of 26 current roster spots. The softball team is in a similar position, usually having five or six returning players on a total roster of twelve or thirteen girls. According to Durham, “Sometimes we don’t know exactly who we will have until January, we always have kids moving on to bigger schools, sometimes after one year.”

     According to Assistant Baseball Coach Rod Williams there is only one way to combat the turnover. “If you recruit right, it doesn’t matter,” he said, “You just go where the talent is and hope for the best.”

     The baseball and softball teams have different recruiting missions. The current baseball team has only four local high school graduates. That varies according to Williams, “The 06-07 team, we had seven or eight local kids, but right now we have kids from as far away as Virginia and New York.”

     The softball team doesn’t have to wander as far for talent. “ In the five years I have been coaching softball, we have had two girls from Pennsylvania, two from Delaware and one from Harford County,” said Durham, “The rest are home grown in Cecil County.” 

     The pipeline of local talent has served Cecil College well, allowing the Seahawks to make back-to-back appearances in the National tournament. “I have always said the strength of Cecil County is in its softball and baseball,” added Durham.

     One of those local products is returning sophomore Hannah Musick. Initially Musick, a graduate of Perryville High School, attended college and played softball at Bowie State, but felt the fit wasn’t right. “I came here and I love it so much better,” said Musick, “I feel like I have learned a lot more here and I love the way coach coaches.”

     The move served the Port Deposit native well as a freshman in 2011. Musick posted a 10-2 record and 1.51 ERA for 74 innings of work at the pitching mound, adding in 69 strikeouts.

     Musick was eight years old when she became a part of the Cecil County softball pipeline. She played recreation league, travel league and high school softball. Before moving on to either Washington College or Stevenson University, Musick hopes to help the Lady Seahawks make it three National Tournament appearances in a row.

     Whether it is with a softball or baseball everyone at Cecil College echoes the same thoughts about making it the National Tournament. Says Coach Rod Williams, “We have lofty goals.”

02-24-12 Cecil College Spring Baseball Softball - Images by Eclipse Sportswire