The Observer, March 30, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 22
Senior Adams goes from five at-bats to .500 to earn All-UAA
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David Adams called his performance "the weakest .500 in history." The baseball team's centerfielder is too modest to admit that he played better than his teammates at the UAA conference tournament.
"I got a lot of lucky base hits down in Florida," said Adams. "The one athletic trait I have is a little speed. I just beat out a lot of balls from the shortstop, but they look like line drives in the box score."
Like his character, Adam's childhood was modest. He grew up in the little farm town of Middlefield, Ohio. His parents own a small laundromat in town that he's worked at since the age of eight. His high school, Cardinal High, had an enrollment of 350 students.
"It was a regular old country school," said Adams. "Most of the kids in my class didn't go to college." Even the beginning of his baseball career was "nothing to write home about," according to Adams.
At the age of five he began playing T-ball. While many kids start playing for travel and AAU teams in grade school, Adams stuck with the traditional recreational summer leagues. It wasn't until his freshman year of high school that he began to play for travel teams based in Akron. For his first two years, he played for the Boys of Summer. Then he played for the Akron Warriors to finish his high school career.
His high school team followed the same pattern. "We had winning records," said Adams. "That's about all I can say. Our coaches were just regular guys who didn't expect too much."
He also was quick to state that he wasn't the team's star player, and didn't make captain his senior year. He played two seasons on the JV team before lettering as a junior.
This is when he began playing in the outfield. Up until this point he mostly played at first base and pitched a couple "garbage innings here and there." Unbeknownst to him, pitching would be his primary task for the next three seasons.
When Adams came to Case, he had to seek out the coach to talk to him about playing baseball. The previous coach did not recruit much during his tenure at Case. Adams even recalls one of the baseball alums saying he overheard the coach telling a student, "We don't take baseball real serious here."
When Adams came in, he was told immediately that he would be a pitcher, based solely on the fact that he was left-handed. This was frustrating for Adams, who knew he could help the team more with his fielding ability, hitting ability, and speed. During his first three seasons at Case, he only posted five at-bats. In addition, the pitching began to wear on his shoulder. After his first season, Adams had to undergo regular physical therapy on his left shoulder and was diagnosed with tendonitis.
Last July, this all changed with the hiring of new head coach Matt Englander. After meeting with the coach, he was moved to where his talent would help the team, center field. Life is much different now with Englander.
"He grows on you," said Adams. "He demands perfection, but when you're out there winning ball games, it feels good." Instead of a few practices before the season, the baseball team was dusting snow off the football field in February to practice fly balls and other fundamentals. The practices are much harder and more intense as well.
This work paid dividends when the team traveled to Otterbein and came away with a victory against the number one ranked team in the nation. "That was definitely the biggest win I've ever been a part of," Adams said. "After that, we knew we could play with anybody. We definitely turned some heads."
Adams continued to turn heads with his play during the UAA tournament during spring break. He filled the role of team leader just as Englander was hoping his seniors would. "There are so few guys on the team, you don't have to yell to be heard," Adams said. "You just lead through your actions." That is exactly what happened as the soft-spoken Adams was named first team all-UAA this week. "That is the first athletic award I've ever won in my life," he said.
The Spartans are now 7-5 with a win over Myers University on Tuesday and hope to keep the momentum going as they approach the heart of their schedule. As for Adams, the team hopes he continues to build on his .500 batting average, and his trophy case.
