June 3, 2010
VUcommodores’ NCAA Tournament Blog
As far as Vanderbilt hitting coach Josh Holliday is concerned, every at-bat’s a battle. Even if a Commodore doesn’t triumph then, it will still help win the war.
That approach has led Vanderbilt to its biggest fight of the season at the NCAA Regionals starting Friday afternoon.
“What term in baseball you use is grind out your at-bats, meaning make it tough on the other team,” Holliday said. “If he’s going to get you, make him work for it.”
Vanderbilt has shown much more discipline at the plate under Holliday’s tutelage in just his first season in Nashville, and the benefits have been clear.
Freshman second baseman Anthony Gomez has batted a team-high .388 and struck out just six times in 183 at-bats with that outlook. In fact, no team in the Southeastern Conference strikes out less than the Commodores.
“Just a matter of having a good approach going up to the plate, making sure you’re hitting pitches that you want, not pitcher’s pitches,” Gomez said. “If it’s close I like to put a swing on it. If you’re striking out, you’re not really helping the team in any way.”
Holliday’s focus on staying patient and making better swings has led to improvements across the board on offense, particularly in on-base percentage. As a team in 2009, Vanderbilt had an OBP of .392, seventh in the SEC. One year later, the Commodores are second in the SEC in getting on base at .415, and they are averaging half a run more per contest this season with 432 runs in 58 games.
“(Holliday) has a lot to do with our role as far as being patient at the plate,” said sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito. “He has a big influence on knowing the strike zone and getting quality swings.”
If good things come to those who wait, great things have come to Esposito under Holliday. His averages a year ago (.287 BA, .351 OBP) have exploded in 2010 to .348 and .442, and he leads the team in RBIs with 54 and the SEC in doubles with 22.
“He just taught us how certain pitches are supposed to be hit, certain situational counts,” Esposito said. “A lot of approach things, a lot of mental aspects that we just didn’t really know because it’s coming from a different perspective. He has a good background and he has a lot of knowledge too.”
Nothing like a man on board with plenty of World Series experience. What breeds success in June?
“When you get confident players this time of year you can be dangerous,” Holliday said.
He would know.
Holliday played in the College World Series in 1996 and 1999 at Oklahoma State. He began coaching after a brief stint in professional ball and has reached Omaha with Georgia Tech in 2006 and Arizona State in 2009, in large part due to offensive production he recruited and mentored.
The key to accomplishing that same goal with Vanderbilt starts with what got them there. Confidence and patience.
“All we’re looking for is a couple of weekends in a row here where everybody gets their confidence at the same time, and their discipline and ability to grind out their at-bats starts to pay off for us,” Holliday said. “That’s what we want to see; our guys come out here and play free and confident and with each other, and we’ll see what happens.”