Buckeye State Baseball

In making efforts to not only cover collegiate baseball on every level, but to do so with knowledge and respect, BSB will conduct program spotlights of the non-DI schools. As is the case with the DI fall season series, our hope is to take you inside the program with words and thoughts of not only us, but from the leaders of the programs the head coach themself.

In the first of the series Buckeye State Baseball was able to catch up with Shawnee State Head Coach Ted Tom.

As we provide insight on the program’s history, Coach Tom will touch on aspects as to what players he recruits, how Shawnee State is handling the shuffling of the American Mideast Conference, and what changes are coming to the Shawnee State program.

Shawnee State University Bears

Location: Portsmouth, OH

Enrollment: 4,300

Affiliation: NAIA

Conference: American Mideast

Home Field: Branch Rickey Park

First Year of Baseball: 1992

2009 record: 25-30 overall, 18-14 AMC

Many may not know, but the NAIA school on the banks of the Ohio River has a history of winning. Entering it’s 19th season, the SSU baseball program in 670 games have won 378, lost 289, with three ties, for a .564 winning percentage. 

However, even with that success Shawnee State has yet to capture an AMC championship. The program does boast two AMC Tournament Championships, coming in 1999 and 2000.  The Bears’ lone NAIA postseason appearance came in 200o when Shawnee State were Section 5 and Reigon IX champions, finising 5th in the NAIA World Series.

Though times have not been too bleak since the turn of the millenium, just four losing seasons and an overall record of 192-193, the Bears have not had back-to-back winning seasons since 2002-2003.

If Shawnee State is to return to the level of excellence established earlier in the decade, who better to lead the way than a former player of those teams. A 2004 graduate of Shawnee State, Ted Tom returned to his alma mater following the 2007 seasons after a two-year a stint with Indiana University as a volunteer assistant under Tracy Smith.

 Tom feels Shawnee State is in an opportune position and has layed the foundation to building what he hopes will be a successful program. If the progress from year one to year two where the Tom led Bears went from 16-29 to 25-30 stays true to form, SSU could have a bright future.

As we sit down with Coach Tom and discuss building the program, recruiting, and conference changes, you sense the Bears could be a sleeping giant.

BSB: As you are now entering your third year and you have an understanding of needs and desires for the program what type of player do you try to recruit to fit the program you have?

TT: At Shawnee State, we need guys who want to be a part of building something special.  We are in our 3rd year of laying the ground work for our program.  We do not have the scholarship money that many other programs have so it is imperative we get guys who want to be a part of our program, have similar philosophies on how they want to go about their college experience, and are ready to work towards winning a championship.

BSB: On the NAIA level, in terms of scholarship money available is it universal or does the monies avaliable differ from school to school?

TT: The NAIA limit for scholarships is 12, just a hair more than NCAA DI.  However, most schools do not offer that amount.  I cannot say for sure how many scholarships schools have to offer but, yes it does differ from school to school.

BSB: What do you place emphasis on in establishing interest in a recruit and potential student-athlete? What do you feel Shawnee State and your program can hang their hat on in the process?

TT: When recruiting, we are very straight forward with prospects.  I think we do a great job in offering “opportunities” to our players.  I cannot guarantee playing time, only the opportunity to show what you can do.  We all want to win so we try to put our best guys on the field at all times. 

We have an outstanding campus that is continuing to grow.  We are in the process of upgrading our facilities with the possibility of a separate indoor hitting facility and beginning to make renovations to our field, Branch Rickey Park. 

Our weather is the best in Ohio and, in 2011, we will be the northern most school in our conference (Mid-South) along with Rio Grande.  Shawnee State is an up and coming university and that growth mirrors what we are trying to accomplish on the baseball field. 

BSB: In mentioning the change to the Mid-South Conference in 2011, how will that effect your program?

TT: I think this will give us a huge advantage over other Ohio schools. As mentioned, we have some of the best weather in Ohio being located on the river. When we change conferences, many of our games will now be played south of Ohio.

I think it is all of our dreams to get an opportunity to play in the south. We will be able to keep Ohio kids close to home and give them an opportunity to play in more southern climates.

BSB: The early signing period for Division I schools expired last Wednesday. For a NAIA affiliated program how does your signing period and calendar work?

TT:  We have an evolving national letter of intent program, for us at Shawnee State we have only a handful of players during the early signing period. Our recruiting calendar is much later, I would say than DI’s.

Now that we have gotten the early sign out of the way, we will work much more aggressively on our recruiting efforts. I think we have a good idea where we stand in the whole scheme of things in regards to Ohio baseball. Every kid in Ohio wants to play on the Division I level and I think we have outstanding baseball programs in our state.

Once the dust settles and we find who is signed and who is still looking for a quality place, then we work our way into the picture. Best case scenario, we are recruiting against walk-on or small scholarship DI type guys. “Do you want to go to a big school and have to work your way into a contributing type role or you can come to Shawnee State and immediately assist us in achieving our goals?”

BSB: In terms of actually locating talent, do you and your staff have a vigorous travel schedule throughout the year, is there a certain period where you place most energy and effort into?

TT: We have no limitations on recruiting per NAIA rules.  Our only limitation is a budgetary issue which I would say may be the case across the board.  We try to attend as many showcases as possible. 

We have begun to schedule a couple of our camps and have had great success with them.  Again, we know where stand, have patience with letting the chips fall as far as the early sign goes, and then aggressively go after who we desire. 

We spend a good deal of the summer traveling from tournament to tournament mirroring that of the larger schools, evaluate as many players as possible, and then go to work. 

During the spring once the high school season begins, we try to watch as many games as our schedule allows.  If we are not playing that day, we practice early enough so we can go see games.  You are only as good as your players allow you to be.  Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program.

BSB: Once players are in the program, what chores and occurences rise that might present difficulties in maintaining a roster, and projecting for future needs, unlike in DI where you never know how the draft and transfer to lower levels will affect the program?

TT: In the NAIA, there are no transfer limitations.  Our biggest concern from year to year is making sure that our guys do return to school. 

We want our guys to go play summer ball and continue to develop their skills while playing against a high level of competition.  However, you run the risk of them leaving for more money elsewhere or being recruited by another school.

Buckeye State Baseball thanks Coach Tom for taking the time to discuss his philosophies and providing insight to the program he is building in Portsmouth.

You can read more on the program, and take a look at the 21 newcomers to the Shawnee State program by going here to their SSU athletics baseball page.