Player Diary 4.25.18
Welcome to the 2018 Potomac State Baseball player diary homepage. This season, Sophomore's Mitchell Henshaw (Brockport High School / Brockport, NY), and Jeff Wong (George Washington High School / Charleston, WV) will take the lead on the Potomac State Baseball Player Diary. Note: Wong's entry will be in bold font.
Welcome back Catamount fans to this week's edition of the Potomac State Baseball Player Diary! For those of you who have not heard the news yet, Coach Doug Little won his 700th game as Head Coach for Potomac State! This is an incredible accomplishment, and the players on this year’s team could not be more excited for him. He would get his 700th win in a great Region XX conference game against Harford Community College. We jumped out to an early lead as we scored two runs in the bottom half of the first. It would remain 2-0 until the top of the fifth where Harford would take a 3-2 lead. Starting pitcher Tanner Skidmore kept us in the game as he pitched 5.1 innings while striking out 11 batters. Our bats went quiet for a few innings, and it was great to know that Skiddy would go out on the mound and keep us in the game like he did. In the top of the sixth, Harford added two more runs to make it 5-2. Our bats would wake up after that. We scored five runs in the bottom half of the sixth, to take a 7-5 lead. At this point you could see the momentum switch to our side. Our hitters did a phenomenal job battling at the plate, and not giving up even though Harford had just stretched the lead late in the game. Sophomore pitcher Josh Zeboskey would seal the deal for Coach Little in the top of the seventh, striking out the final batter to get the win. It was a great game for Coach to get this big win!
I reached out to some former Catamount baseball players regarding Coach Little's 700th win, and this is what they had to say.
Drew Jackson (2002): "Congratulations on #700 Coach Little! Thank you for the many years of tireless dedication and your unwavering commitment to excellence in building a program that we can all be proud of. You represent the very best of the great game of baseball, and you will never fully understand the impact that you have made on so many in route to 700!!"
J.T. Osburn (2003-2005): "The true measure of Coach Littles' greatness isn't in the amount of games, titles, or championships he has won but, in his ability to take young men and put them on a path to being better people. His lessons about discipline and respect, taught through baseball, have helped turn countless boys into men. His impact on my life in particular has been profound and I carry his teachings with me to this day. His legacy in guiding Potomac State Baseball to 700 wins will be forever remembered. Way to go Coach!"
Tim Latham (2003-2005): "It is safe to say that no person (aside from my parents) has had a more significant impact on my life than Coach Little. The lessons of discipline, hard work, grace under pressure and humility that we learned and lived at Potomac State have been the foundation for my academic and professional success. I am eternally grateful to have had Coach Little as a mentor and wish him continued on-field and off the field success in the future."
Andy Altemus 2006-2008): "Congratulations Coach Little on 700 wins. That impressive number of wins is not nearly as important as the impact you have had on all of your current and former player's lives. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have played for you and learned more than just the game of baseball. Making the decision to come to Potomac State has molded me into the man I am today and I am very proud to have participated in a few of those 700 wins. Than you Coach."
Andrew Kowalo (2013-2015): "Congratulations to my favorite coach in all of baseball on win number 700. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of some of those wins along the way. I remember being there for number 600, and I wish I could have been there for this one."
Dalton Westfall (2013-2015): "Congratulations to Coach Little on his 700th career win. My two years at Potomac State playing under Coach Little were two of my favorite years of college baseball, and Coach was a huge reason for that. He is a great Coach who goes above and beyond for all of his players to give them every possibility to succeed and compete at a high level. I am thankful to have played under such a great Coach and great man. Congratulations Coach on number 700, and best of luck to you and the Catamounts throughout the rest of the season on your journey to Grand Junction."
That will be it for this week's edition. Make sure to check in each week to catch up on all our games, and to see what the team is doing. Feel free to follow the team on Twitter @PotomacStateBB and Instagram @potomacstatebaseball. You can also follow me on Twitter @mhenshaw4 for some exclusive coverage of the team. If you have any questions or comments about the player diaries you can email me at mjh0025@mix.wvu.edu. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it.
Catamount fans! Welcome back for another installment of the Potomac State Player Diary. This week was a very special one for Potomac State Athletics. The annual Potomac State Hall of Fame Banquet Dinner took place on Saturday the 21st. This night is very important for the Athletic Department as new Potomac State Athletic Hall of Fame members are inducted. For those being inducted, the night marks a great accomplishment and honor to be in the history books here at PSC. Their name will forever be hanging in the rafters of Lough Gymnasium.
This year, 3 former athletes were inducted into the Hall of Fame, including one baseball player: Joe Agreste from the class of 2007. Raymond Marshall, class of 1973, was a linebacker for the Catamounts Football Team, back when the school still had a football team. Him, along with Career 1000 point-scorer Charlisa Cummins (Womens’ Basketball Class of 2005) accepted the honor alongside Joe Agreste.
Raymond Marshall played middle linebacker for the Catamounts, and was selected All-American Honorable Mention while leading the team in tackles. One must be fast, smart, physically strong and must play with a fire underneath them at all times in order to play the position. ‘Ray’ Marshall went on to play linebacker at West Virginia University under Head Coach Bobby Bowden. Marshall had an illustrious two years in Morgantown, racking up a team-leading 246 tackles and taking home the Defensive MVP award in the 1975 Peach Bowl against North Carolina State.
Charlisa Cummins played point guard for Potomac State from 2003 to 2005. Cummins set the single season scoring record at the school her freshman year, posting an impressive 522 points. She then returned for her sophomore season and scored 564 points, breaking her own record. After taking home All-WPCC (Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference) Team honors both years at Potomac State, Charlisa moved on to Point Park University where she was
named the Conference’s Newcomer of the Year and was Second Team all Conference.
Joe Agreste played under Coach Doug Little, playing an intricate role on a team that took the PSC logo for another appearance in the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. Agreste hit .348 his freshman year and was named to the NJCAA College World Series All-Tournament Team. There is a long list of accolades belonging to Joe from his two years here, including: 1st Team All-District, 1st Team All-Region and NJCAA All-American 2nd Team. Joe Agreste was drafted twice by the Seattle Mariners and eventually signed a contract with the San Diego Padres after being the #7 prospect in all of Independent League Baseball.
Being a baseball player, I was able to closely relate to what Agreste had to say. He instructed the athletes in attendance of the PSC Hall of Fame Banquet that the most important thing in moving on to the next step is to be ready to go to work.
“The life lessons I learned here (PSC) are what prepared me for my career today.”
-Joe Agreste
The blue-collar approach and atmosphere created by Coach Little and Coach Schafer is deeply instilled into all Catamounts, both former and present. We take pride in outworking the opponent before the first pitch is thrown. This ethic has stayed with all former athletes of Potomac State as they took the next steps in their lives.
This week we honored 3 outstanding human beings that all represented the Potomac State name with pride and hard work. Nearing the end of my own tenure at Potomac State College, seeing former athletes talk about their days here, makes me realize that most good-things have to come to an end. My time at wearing a Catamount uniform will forever be ‘the glory days’.
Thank you to all who have come before me and paved the road for my teammates and I. We are and will continue the Catamount Tradition.