20 for 20: Nose, Ear, Knee

The 2020-21 athletic year is the 20th year that I (Paul Welker) have served as Alfred State's Sports Information Director. During this school year I plan on writing a 20-part series on my time covering the Pioneers.

Touching my nose followed by my ear and then my right knee was communication I sent many times to a catcher over the first ten years of working at Alfred State (many times it involved many more touches including my chin or top of the hat). Depending on discussions with the catcher prior to the game or even before each inning that could mean a fast ball on the outside corner, or a curve ball on the outer half, and even sometimes it didn't mean anything at all because nothing I touched mattered because I was giving signs based on where my feet were placed in front of my chair. 

My background was mostly in baseball prior to coming to Alfred State. I pitched during my four years in college (two at Finger Lakes CC and two at Mercyhurst College) before starting a graduate assistant position as the pitching coach at Mercyhurst North East. During my time at MNE, I added more obligations including the sports information duties. What I learned doing those duties led me to applying for the job at ASC days after coaching against the Pioneers and coach Tom Kenney.

There were a few things that made a job at Alfred State exciting to me. It was closer to where I grew up (Webster, NY), it was my first full time professional position, and the baseball team was one of the top programs in New York. My job didn't necessarily have any coaching duties but I found my way up to practice to help with the Pioneer pitchers. Being new and having a learning curve for all my responsibilities as Sports Information Director, I was strategic on when I would sneak time to help with the program. 

Back in 2001, the baseball program had just completed their fifth straight school year with 40 or more victories. The team had won both the Region III and NYS Championship in 2000-01 and advanced to the NCAA DI District Championship. I had become familiar with the Pioneers and their success as I coached against them at least twice each fall and spring the previous two years. Calling pitches versus them was a chore as their lineup was fierce - I recall a wild 16-15 battle during the 00-01 season between our two schools in a wind storm in North East, PA.

I walked into a loaded team with the likes of future ASC Hall of Famers Kirt Zimniewicz, Joe Greany, and Eric Baker along with Aaron Williams who went on to play six years of professional baseball. The team went 14-4 that first fall en route to winning a WNYAC title in one of the coldest games I have ever been a part of, 7-6 over Erie CC. The 40 win plateau was hit with a 28-17 mark in the spring. 

The 2002-03 team were history makers and were put into the ASC Hall of Fame last summer. They became the first team in program history to win both the fall WNYAC Championship and the spring Region III Championship. The team was 14-5 and defeated Jamestown CC in the fall championship. The weather was rough that spring and limited the team to only 34 games in the spring season. The team won a dramatic 3-2 extra inning game over Monroe CC to claim the Region III Championship. The team won on a failed squeeze attempt that bounced out of the catcher's glove to allow Eric Baker score the winning run. One of the best memories of this Region III Championship is that the team won the game on a Monday afternoon and went directly to the college's spring athletic banquet still in uniform. 

The 2003 spring season came to an end at the NJCAA District Championships that were plagued by poor weather. The Pioneers, just four days after defeating MCC and missing two key starters, won their opening game of the tournament 13-12 over Massasoit (MA) CC in a back and forth slugfest in the rain but was unable to advance any further.  The team inished with a 40-13 overal mark for the school year.

The 2003-04 season featured a new school record with 53 win including 42 victories in the spring season. The team won the Region III Championship for the second straight year and set a new school record with 22 straight victories midway through the season. The team fell just two victories short of a trip to the World Series. 

The 2003-04 season was the last of eight straight 40-win school years but that didn't mean the program stopped winning. The 2004 fall team won the WNYAC Championship and finished with 38 victories on the year. The 05-06 team won 43 games and the 06-07 squad earned 49 victories. I stepped away from more day-to-day responsibilities with the team but would jump in to throw batting practice every once in awhile until Coach Kenney retired in 2011.

One of the crazier things about being the pitching coach and the sports information director was that there were times I would call pitches wearing khakis and a fleece because I would have to run down the hill to cover a lacrosse game or a softball doubleheader. There were times that I would call pitches for the first five innings of game, go cover the lacrosse game, and be back to the baseball diamond for the last few innings of the second game of a doubleheader. At times I would drive myself to road games because I had to be back in Alfred for another home event the next day while the baseball continued a road trip. 

Winning games and WNYAC and Region III Championships were great but those aren't the only memories that stand out. Here are some that make me smile or laugh.

• Practices with multiple things going on at the same time - Coach Kenney was amazing on using space and time effectively to get our players ready for competition.
• Running stairs and hallways during the winter.
• Hosting Kids Night Out to fundraise for Florida trips.
• Cocoa Expo trips - tons of batting practice, living in the barracks, the All-Star buffet, 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. games, and ping pong.
• Coach Kenney ejections - watching him find the longest and slowest way to leave the field.
• Having former players come back to help coach the team - Jeff Fetzner, Travis Winter, and Ryan Cavallaro to name a few.
• Playing in snow squalls in Elmira (won't ever forget Jose Sanchez fielding a ball, blowing on his hand, and then throwing to first base) and playing the Region III Championship in snow squalls (in May) at Bolivar.
• Van trips - which usually meant someone got lost.

One of my favorite memories is all the battles that the Pioneers had with Monroe CC. The games seemed to be always tight and super intense. There was respect for the tradition of each program but neither team wanted to lose a big game to the other. The competitive juices were always higher when the two teams faced off.

I don't touch my nose, ear, or knee and call pitches anymore for the baseball program. I enjoy my baseball chats with Mike Armstrong after games and I still coach a little from the press box.