Published: July 21, 2008 11:10 pm            

NYCBL BASEBALL: Niagara's Kirby comes into his own

A little less than a month ago, there wasn’t a day that went by where Sam Kirby didn’t shake his head and see his blood pressure rise a little. After all, the second-year Niagara Power manager was watching “some of the worst baseball” he’d ever seen.

Now, with a post-all-star break winning streak that has Niagara in contention for a playoff spot, you can’t find Kirby without a smile on his face.

And the source for the 180-degree turnaround — the skipper himself. At least that’s what most of the players are saying.

“Coach turned the team over to the players,” Niagara outfielder Geoff Ball explained. “We had a team meeting during the break and he let us know that we’re all men, we’re all equal and that we could get through things. It was a fresh start for us.”

Kirby downplayed both the meeting and his role in the turnaround, but was glad to hear many of his players were beginning to believe in him.

“We don’t do that much as coaches,” he said. “We just want to facilitate opportunities for them to succeed.”

Nonetheless, many Power players were impressed with the way Kirby has been able to integrate more and more individual instruction into their workouts. For the manager, that is one of the most important differences from last summer.

“We had to spend so much time on team defense and situations last year that I didn’t get a chance to work with everyone,” Kirby lamented. “But this year it’s been great being able to work with all the guys on different aspects of the game. The more 1-on-1 work I can do is going to help everyone.”

Last season also proved difficult for Kirby as he was fulfilling his first obligation as a head coach. Add in a lack of team chemistry and character and it was easy to see why Niagara faded down the stretch.

“Guys were more concerned about getting home,” the Western Oregon assistant coach said of the inaugural Power roster.

That’s certainly not the case this year, as Niagara is one of the hottest teams in the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The Power sat 3 1/2 games out of the fourth and final playoff spot heading into Monday, but will have plenty of opportunities to close the gap as there are 11 games remaining in the season’s final 10 days.

“I feel like this year’s club is still on the rise,” Kirby said. “As much adversity as we’ve gone through, I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and that’s going to make us stronger these last few weeks.”

Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.