It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how smart or how rich. We all have something in common. Every night when we go to sleep, we will inevitably dream. Some of our dreams are good and some are bad. Some only happen once, while others come back time after time. What person alive that ever when to college hasn’t had the dream that suddenly in the middle of the semester you realize that you signed up for a course but forgot to attend? Or how about the one where you realize that you are the only one naked in a room filled with clothed onlookers?

I’m sure every coach has dreams and nightmares that the rest of us just can’t understand. Tony Vittorio had a reoccurring nightmare last year that just wouldn’t go away. Tony’s nightmare was a team that didn’t have enough pitching or hitting. It didn’t matter which string he would pull, it wasn’t the right one. Loss after loss was all that he could remember. What really made this nightmare worse than most was the fact that it never occurred when Tony was sleeping.

Tony Vittorio experienced something last year that no coach ever wants to experience. His team was too young and just didn’t have the horses necessary to even think about landing on the right side of .500. This was a coach that had set the school record for wins for three different programs. This was a coach that had gotten the Flyers into the A-10 playoffs two consecutive years. This was a coach that only knew how to win. This was a coach in the trawls of a 16-36 season.

It was difficult for Vittorio to sit in the dugout game after game knowing that his horse had to carry more weight than the thoroughbred racing next to him. Yet his behavior both in and out of the dugout did not change. He continued to work with his players and the players responded in the only way they could, by giving their best effort.

Vittorio related, “I didn’t handle last year very well. It was rock bottom for me. All you ask for from your players and staff is hard work and loyalty. I really felt that I got that from everyone. Our team really stated together from a camaraderie standpoint. I’ve never seen a bunch of guys that went through want we went through and stayed together as a team.”

The Flyers had been led by two strong senior classes the previous seasons and played with generally a set line-up. That wasn’t the case in 2003. There wasn’t a gaggle of Junior College transfers coming in to take the team where it needed to go. Vittorio’s most recent recruiting class was tilted heavily toward high school seniors.

“When you have an experienced team you have a set lineup when it comes to playing conference weekend games,” Vittorio said. “You know who your three starters are, who your middle relievers are. And you know who your one through nine players are. When we got to our first weekend of conference play, I wasn’t sure who those players were. That is inexperience. By the end of the this fall’s practice we will know those positions going into next spring.”

There is little doubt in Vittorio’s mind that things will be better in 2004. “We had two types of problems last year with our team. We never seemed to get that one hit that would put us over the top. When we did get the hit, it seemed like we just couldn’t close the door, which is not unusual with a young staff. Offensively, we will be much better with the three JC additions and getting Chad Liter back.” [Liter only played in three games last year and will be back this year after getting a fifth year from the NCAA.]

Although hitting should not be a problem, the still young pitching staff has to be a concern. Vittorio rolled the dice and used the majority of his scholarship money on bats with the hope that the young pitchers would mature into something other that Iron Mike batting practice machines.

“Pitching is my only real concern. It could have been two things last year. It could have been inexperience or it could have been that we just weren’t tough enough. It would concern me if we weren’t tough enough. I don’t know how to measure that, but I can tell you that whoever is left after this fall will be tough enough.”

With the type of season that the Flyers experienced last year Vittorio knew that he had to make some major changes. What worked in the past should work in the future.

“Our success in the past has come from experience and the majority of that experience came from the junior college ranks. Because we are not fully funded as many of our opponents are, we have to find a niche that works. This seems to be ours. We have decided to go back to what got us to the A-10 tournament. With the year that we had it has really been amazing how well recruiting has gone. We are very exciting about our recruiting class,” Vittorio said.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program. It doesn’t matter if it is football, baseball or basketball, a coach can only pull so many miracles out of his/her hat. Teaching and motivation can make a team better, but it always comes down to talent. Tony has brought in a number of talented players highlighted by the following. In his words:

Nick Bohnenstiehl — “He is a junior college center fielder/pitcher from Southwestern Illinois Junior College in Belleville IL. Nick was named a first team junior college All-American. We feel very fortunate to get Nick. We knew that we got a steal last fall when we signed him. He was coming off knee surgery and a lot of schools backed off on him. He’ll move right into center field and we will not lose a beat. He hit just under .400 with 10 home runs this last year.”

Brad Beatty — “Beatty was a teammate of Bohnenstiehl at Southwestern. Brad is a corner infielder that batted cleanup for a team that was on game short of making it to the Junior College World Series. Beatty batted .351 for SIC this season with 66 RBI, 17 doubles and 14 home runs. He throws 88-91 mph so he will give us another dual player who will probably work as a closer.”

Matt Sibigtroth — “Sibigtroth comes to the Flyers from Kishwaukee College in Illinois. Matt has been drafted twice, once coming out of high school and then after his freshman year at Kishwaukee. He is a second/third baseman. Although he doesn’t hit with enough power to be a high draft pick, he will be an excellent college baseball player.”

Kevin Miller — “Miller hails from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. Miller, 5-8 and 155 pounds, is the younger brother of former Dayton pitcher, Tim Miller, and one of six Flyers to come out of Cathedral HS in the past three years. Kevin is a true lead-off guy. He not ready yet, but given some time he will be a real contributor. He will give us some speed at the top of the order with the ability to steal a base or two.”

Mike DeLuca — “Deluca comes from Cathedral High School in Lexington, KY. A second baseman, Mike came to our camp over Christmas and he really caught our eye. We got a chance to see him play this spring and he was matching up to fastballs. The kid’s a real ball player.”

Bret O’Donnell — “Bret was also at our winter camp and came all the way from Texas. He is a catcher that has shown some real potential. We have both of our catchers back from last year, so he is really going to have to show us something this fall.”

Mike Sirochman — “Matt has great potential from the pitching standpoint. He is a tall lanky kid that is going to have to get stronger like most kids coming out of high school. He has a long loose arm.”

Phil Bieberich — “Phil is much like Sirochman. He’s tall and lanky and he needs to mature physically.”

Brandon Godzik — “He has put up unbelievable numbers at the Division III level while playing third base at Wittenberg. He came to us wanting to play at the top level and see just how good he was. We are really excited about him, hoping to see that he can produce at the Division I level. Although he is a transfer student, he will not have to sit out a year.”

Vittorio concluded, “I’m excited about all of our recruits, but the first three bring some experience that can only make us better.”

Leadership was an issue last year. It is not unusual for a team to quickly lose confidence when the losses start to mount. There was never anyone that would take the team by the bootstraps and give them a collective kick in the rear. Team captains were voted by the players last year and that will never happen again if Tony has a say in matters. He will name captains this year that will not be afraid to get on a player when he needs to. The best of all teams are the one that police and motivate themselves. The head coach should do nothing more than instruct and fill out the lineup card. Vittorio looks for certain players to grab those leadership roles this year, even if they are not named captain.

“I really look for Tommy Beechem to step up and lead this team next year,” he said. “He is a 3.99 student that is the first to get to practice and the last to leave. He is a real over achiever and a real player. He doesn’t have much to prove. Maybe the biggest problem we had last year came from losing Chad Liter. He is without a doubt the best leader that I have ever coached. I just don’t think that these two guys will not allow to happen this year what happened last year.

“From a pitching standpoint you have to look at Drew Chesebro. He threw some great games last year. We just didn’t play very well behind him. He had enough respect from his peers that they named him pitcher of the year despite a 3-7 record. He has two years under his belt and he should be ready to take over in a leadership role.”

Tony Vittorio is a results oriented coach. The only thing that kept him from knocking down the dugouts at Stuart Field last year was the fact that he knew the players were giving it their best. Yet, that didn’t allow him to sleep well at night. He is a winner and that is the only language he understands. He is not just throwing out words when he relates what will happen in 2004.

“We are not going to talk about the A-10 title of regionals or Omaha, Nebraska. We are just going to talk about getting back to the A-10 tournament. You can’t get to those other places without first making it to the tournament. Everything we do will be geared toward that. We are going to fight for perfection. We will notice every single detail. We will find excellence along the way. I might have to eat my words, but we will be back [to the A-10 Tournament] this year.”