By Victoria Mickens -- STAFF WRITER Victoria Mickens: Can you share your thoughts on the season so far?
John Russo: We’ve had a lot of tough losses. We’ve gotten to do a lot of travel. It became a little bit tiring. I think we hit the grind of the season a little sooner than what we would have thought. I wish we would have won some of the closer games. We have about 12 losses by two runs or less and I think if we had won even a couple of those, it changes how maybe we would have started conference with our confidence a little higher. But I am happy we have gotten to play and get the players a lot of experience so far.
VM: How do you and the team keep your composure with repeated losses?
JR: The losses add up. The thing I try to talk to the team about is not continually making the same mistakes and getting better and learning from experience. And I think part of [the issue is] us playing young position players for sure; eight out of our nine guys on our line up return next year and we’re starting a freshman and a sophomore in the conference rotation, so they’re getting a lot of experience. So not making the same mistakes, and as a coach I think you have to look at the long term value that you’ll get from them in the season. So hopefully all the experience that they’re gaining now maybe won’t help up as much this year but it will definitely help up in the future.
VM: How do the players help each other work towards this same goal?
JR: I think by being on the road all the time, they get a lot of time together; I think our team camaraderie is really high and I think this team really gets along. I don’t think morale has ever been down all year and we don’t act like a team [with few wins] because we know the competition we have faced. And when you’re going to Texas A&M, who was number one in the country last week; or you’re playing Missouri, who’s in the SEC and you’re playing Ohio State, who’s on of the top teams in the Big Ten and Longwood, who’s leading their conference, we know exactly what we have done. And maybe on the outside people don’t know, but we have played as tough a schedule as probably any team in the Northeast. The kids have enjoyed that part of it, we would just liked to have won more.
VM: Thoughts on your first home victory on Wednesday, April 13?
JR: I thought it was something that needed to happen. I was really bothered by us being 0-5 at home to start the season, and I felt like we played like a road team instead of a home team [in terms of] having the confidence that we should. We had a meeting yesterday afternoon before the game to talk about those things. Never have I been so confident in a game this year as I was before the start of yesterday’s game [because] I just thought we prepared correctly. I thought we had whatever that “it” factor was. We were walking around a little differently. [We were] super happy with the win and you can tell the guys felt better.
VM: In addition to the camaraderie that you mentioned, do some of your top players help out the freshmen or those who may not be as experienced?
JR: We have really good seniors. We have Bowie Matteson, Alec Eisenberg, Chris Bonk, Dave Jesch and Ryan Karl. They’re all great kids. Chris Hardardt’s another one. They have done such a great job of integrating the younger guys. The younger kids usually, when they’re getting corrected, can do one of two things: They can get upset because they’re not used to it or they really embrace it, and I think they have really been embracing them. And I think that’s what has made camaraderie so good. I think it’s also a respect factor. And they treat each other respectfully. They’re all good kids and in turn they help foster the camaraderie.
VM: You mentioned that you know that you’re the team that can beat your opponents but it does not necessarily show. How do you plan to make it show throughout the remainder of the season?
JR: I talk to this team a lot and I think in my five years here this is as talented a team as we’ve had. They’re also really young though; that’s the other side of it. We’re having trouble winning these close games right now. Maybe a year from now we’ll have the experience we need to win those games. The one thing I just don’t want them to do is lose belief in their ability to be able to hit and throw a ball as well as anyone else. I think one of my favorite things about college athletics is that it’s true human emotion, it’s passion, and I want those kids to keep that. When they get down they feel the grind of it, so I was hoping they broke through this past week.
VM: Do you see that passion and love for the game in practice?
JR: We do! Like home runs or big outs and that’s what the beauty of college athletics is. Everyone is excited, everybody gets when things like that are happening. This past weekend against Delaware, we had a lot of negative emotion. We seem to get frustrated on the mound; we had a couple of big at bats not go our way. And to be truthful, I feel that Delaware was fuel by those emotions and they carried on our negative emotions and it lead to their sweep of the weekend.
VM: Do other sports influence your players? Other Hofstra sports in particular and their performance in their seasons?
JR: One of my favorite nights of the year we were in Florida and we were at dinner on Thursday night I believe. The restaurant was full and we were sitting at a long table, and throughout the table everyone had their phones out and we were watching the CAA tournament and Hofstra playing, and they won on a last second shot that beat somebody. The whole table had a huge uproar in a big packed restaurant. And it was funny because some phones were ahead of other phones. Then the next weekend, we were at Coppin State in Maryland when the basketball team was in the tournament in Baltimore and we won the games. We had to wait in between doubleheaders, and we were watching the games. I know the guys have a lot of friends on softball that they’re all following their scores. So I definitely think there is camaraderie between the teams. And I know for sure we are following other sports and know how they’re doing.
VM: Does that motivate the players to want to represent their school’s name just as well?
JR: Hofstra’s baseball program has a different base than everyone else. Their conference for baseball is one of the top ten in the country. Elon, Charleston, Wilmington, they’re always going to be good year in and year out with baseball. So it’s always an uphill battle for baseball and I think the kids are very aware of that, but they like the challenge of playing southern teams. The south just has better baseball than the north and it’s because of weather and ability to be outside. When we’re on the road for seven weeks, they’re at home for five of those seven. That’s a big advantage – being able to stay home and not having to travel. So that’s one of the things we’re up against here with weather and everything. But the kids do a good job of embracing the Hofstra name and tradition. They pick this school over a lot of big schools. I think they’re very willing and prepared for the challenge.
VM: What do we have to look forward to for Hofstra baseball?
JR: I think ... some things that are neat are our young talent. Steven Foster and Matt Annunziata are both sophomores, so they’re coming back. You got to see Brad Witkowski, a junior, coming back. Nick Bottari has had a really good year so far hitting. I think on the mound you get to see the excitement of John Rooney, who has been pitching a lot in conference as a freshman; Chris Weiss as a sophomore; Adam Heidenfelder, a sophomore. I think the young talent, Teddy Cillis has been really good, he is leading the conference in home runs and he is only a sophomore. If nothing else, the fans and the supporters of Hofstra can recognize the young talent we have. They’re gaining a lot of experience right now. Obviously our record is not what we had hoped for but I am not at all disappointed in our effort, it has just been a tough year.