Jeff Edge Column
By Jeff Edge
Eagle Sports Writer
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Bobby Pierce will never be one of those coaches who approaches his job as "the glass is half empty."
His love for the game of baseball and the players who play for him just will not allow it.
Young, vibrant and enthusiastic, Pierce also happens to be a winner, and he has transferred that mentality to the Troy University baseball team and its followers.
Pierce brought a winning percentage of .719 to Troy when he accepted the job two years ago after leaving Alabama-Huntsville. He's 63-49 in two years at Troy, but rest assured of one thing -- the program is in the right hands and going in the right direction.
Youngsters who participate in his baseball camp today at Westgate Park will get a first-hand look at just how much energy Pierce approaches his job and future tasks at Troy with.
Troy surpassed all expectations this past season, amassing a 36-22 overall record, a 15-15 Atlantic Sun Conference mark, including a runner-up finish in the conference tournament.
"I can count the number of times on one hand throughout my career that I can look back on a season and actually be pleased with the way things turned out," Pierce said Wednesday night.
Pierce somehow found a way to blend 21 new faces with what he had returning from a .500 club the year before.
Pierce and his staff know building a program starts with finding the right players, and he and his staff of Mark Smartt and Todd Lamberth have worked the recruiting trail to death.
But like any coach whose university is surrounded by good junior college and prep baseball, Pierce has also signed his share of local talent.
The Trojan roster for next year includes area returnees such as Clint Wade, Jason Hightower and Clint Robinson of Northview, Landon Brazell and Jarett Maddox of Dothan, Lee Hyde of Skipperville, Adam Godwin of Enterprise and Clint Pugh of Troy.
Pierce has also dug into Wallace College's ranks, inking Tony Falls and Blake Green. Falls is being groomed to fill the closer role left by the departure of Nate Moore.
Moore is the kind of player Pierce hopes will draw even better talent to Troy. All the reliever from Laurel Hill, Fla., did this past season was be named an NCAA first team All-American and lead the country in earned run average. He left a year early, signing a six-figure deal with the Kansas City Royals.
"Those are the kind of players you want in your program," Pierce said. "When we recruit kids they know about him (Moore). But we need more like that to get word of our program out."
Pierce is also just as concerned about the student in the term student-athlete. He beams with pride when he talks about an entire baseball team that had an aggregate grade point average of 3.25, ranking second in the A-Sun.
But Pierce is just as determined to succeed on the field. To do that he knows he has to recruit harder than the next guy.
To that end, Pierce knows he's losing top-caliber players because of facilities, although plans are on to improve things dramatically at Riddle-Pace Field.
Pierce continues to work on other things he does have control over like the schedule.
The annual home game with Auburn, once played at Paterson Field in Montgomery, is no more. The Tigers will come to Troy this season. The ScreenTech Wiregrass Classic has reeled in Ohio State, Iowa and Middle Tennessee.
There's also one more year in the A-Sun, then a shift to what should be a much tougher Sun Belt Conference.
Building a program is a lot like running a marathon. It's going to be grueling, and there will be some potholes along the way.
But it's also a safe bet Pierce will have enough for the kick to the finish line.
Jeff Edge covers Troy State sports for The Dothan Eagle. He can be reached at 712-7920 or by e-mail at jedge@dothaneagle.com.
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Nice article about Troy baseball in the
