Play Like a Badass Today

Mike Collins, head coach of the Bloomsburg University baseball team, is entering his 13th season at the helm. “I’m excited because last year we played a lot of freshman and they had solid seasons. I’m very interested in seeing those guys make another step forward in their development.” He has produced a total of thirty-six All-PSAC East selections and five All-Region selections. Collins declares, “Raw power, foot speed, arm strength, agility cannot be taught, they can be enhanced. Beyond that, athletes need to meet the academic profile of a Bloomsburg University Student, everyone on our team is here to graduate. A player’s best ability is his availability and if a player cannot perform in the classroom, he cannot help us on the diamond.” Collins was a college athlete himself as he played baseball for St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia where he was a two-time team captain and four-year letterwinner. Coach Collins has always dreamt of continuing his career in baseball. Keystone College was lucky enough to have him as a head coach as he compiled a 90-75 record before joining the coaching staff at Binghamton University. He recruited tremendous players leading the team to a playoff berth in his fourth and last season before coming to Bloomsburg. Collins is joined by two assistant coaches, Ryan Kirman and Rob Hardy. Kirman started helping with the team’s hitting and fielding last year. He played two seasons for the Huskies before starting his coaching career. Hardy, the team’s new pitching coach, played two years at Binghamton University. For info about last year's team regarding roster and schedule, click on the link: http://buhuskies.com/index.aspx?path=baseball


As a pitcher on the team, my teammates and I train rigorously four-five days per week which accumulates to about 18-20 hours. Danny Litwhiler Field is our home for practices and games. It was established as Bloomsburg’s baseball field in 1974, recently showcasing bleachers behind home plate, towering netting to protect apartments from foul balls, state of the art dugouts, and red brick behind home plate.  The field is nicely kept during both fall and spring seasons with sharp green grass and cleanly dragged dirt on the infield, pitcher’s mound, and home plate from the previous practice/game. Maroon and gold line the outfield fence with pine trees shading the area. Gravel bounds every inch of the field with pitching mounds on both the left and right field foul territory areas. The players cover both the pitcher’s mound and home plate with tarps each time after using the field. Buckets filled with cement shield the dirt from rain. Here's a video of Coach Collins discussing the amenities for the team:

As a player for Coach Collins, we display heart and hustle in everything we do. In the video above, a sign reading,"Play Like a Badass Today" hangs in our locker room giving us that message every day. Upon arriving to practice, we sprint from where we park our cars (behind the right field fence) all the way to our dugout on the third base side. The dress code for practice is a maroon shirt with the Huskies logo on the front and black shorts with the same logo on the left leg. Changing into baseball pants is required once practice gets underway. From white, to gray, to completely dirty from the last practice, it doesn’t matter how good the team looks if we give 100% every day. “If you’re on time, you’re late”, is a common phrase echoed by Coach Collins. Practice starts at 1:30 during the week with players arriving around 1-1:15. Country music blasts out of the speakers from the moment we get there. Collins relaxes on the dugout bench in his "all black" attire with the Huskies logo printed on his chest before starting. “Buddy”, as the team enjoys calling him, has a friendly personality showcasing a wide grin and squinted eyes when some of his favorite players to joke around with arrive for practice. Coach says, “The relationships are fun but it is also satisfying to see them grow athletically and personally.” Collins’ boastful voice echoes throughout the dugout with a slight commotion from the players. Among the topics of conversation is the result of the Eagles game on Sunday and Coach teasing a select few players about each one’s diverse quirks. As most of the team arrives early, we pass the time by having a competition of who can hit the ball closest to the chosen target. The slinging of a football among players is also popular as the pitchers can get some sprints in as running recovers the body from pitching.

Collins addresses the whole team as to what the schedule for the day is. Pitchers and position players split into two groups with Coach Hardy working with the pitchers and Coach Kirman assisting the position players. The pitchers partake in a specialized stretching program that involves almost every body part. “This will be a big year for the pitching staff, I feel that a few guys under performed last year. I think our pitching this spring will be the difference”, Collins states. Hardy has acquired this new program from the trainer of The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, TJ Harrington. Harrington’s nephew and Coach Hardy were very good friends at Herkimer County Community College which led to the swapping of contact information between Hardy and Harrington. The program consists of intense stretching for legs and arms, stability for the shoulder, and scapula work. Both pitchers and position players use bands attached to the fence to loosen up their arms before throwing. Throwing is rather quiet as players focus to throw each ball with intent and accuracy. Collins spends most of his time with the hitters, but occasionally switches to the pitchers with a slight limp in his walk to watch us throw. Depending on the day, pitchers will just stretch, toss, and help the team or also pitch to a catcher with Coach Hardy wanting us to focus on a specific aspect of pitching when throwing.

Collins has the team do something different every practice. Batting practice divides into multiple groups with some shagging fly balls and others getting ready to hit on the field in the hitting cages behind the left field foul pole. Coach has his outfielders giving as much effort as they would during a game as players dive and get dirty followed by a manly yell with a couple of expletives thrown in to draw attention to the play they made. There’s a constant sting of the bat hitting the ball every couple of seconds as Coach Kirman enjoys adding tempo to the practice. Kirman repeats, “Here we go!”, to let the position players and pitchers lining the outfield fence know that the next pitch is coming. A few pitchers stay occupied by hitting ground balls to the infielders who enjoy clowning around occasionally with the way they field and throw the ball to first base.

During every activity, Collins evaluates. “I’m always researching player development strategies and trying to find new and better ways to help our players reach their potential. I love visiting other Universities and watching them work with their players and then meeting with their coaches to discuss what I see”, exclaims Collins. Coach has visited Vanderbilt, TCU, and University of Virginia just to name a few. “I have coached with some great coaches over the years and I have learned a lot from them.” He coaches as if he’s a player; taking a lead at third base to give the players a better understanding of when to run home when any ground ball is hit. Hardy works with the fielding position of a pitcher; rolling ground balls in between the pitcher and first base to make sure communication exists as to who will cover the base. Coach Hardy is twenty-three years old and able to relate to the players very well. The pitching staff regularly salivates over the amenities that other baseball programs enjoy, as does Hardy. He always talks to the staff on how well he felt we did during the practice. Hardy stresses that we hold each other accountable day in and day out. Curse words consume most talks that he gives us which lighten the mood and make it seem like he’s one of us. Collins also reiterates about holding each other accountable with our work ethic and the way we present the program to outsiders. We are required to keep our field as neat as possible; picking up our gear, sweeping the infield, and not ruining the outer grass areas with our metal cleats. The Bloomsburg University baseball team has a great impression because of the way we exhibit ourselves outside of the field, in the classroom, and in the community. Collins states, “Witnessing their development into independent young men is awesome.”