What a difference a week makes.
Last Tuesday the West Virginia Miners were 0-4, coming off a 10-1 loss to Chillicothe.
Since then they’re 4-1, averaging 11.6 runs per game.
It’s an improvement considering the way the team started the year, but not something Miners manager Tim Epling expects to see every day.
“We can’t do that every game,” Epling said. “That’s crazy. There’s a high expectation and you think every game’s going to be like that but that’s not going to happen. I’m not going to complain about it though. We’ve got to look at each game as one game. Whether you win 19-2 or 1-0, the result is still the same. We’ve still got over 50 games left and we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
While scoring in double digits is unsustainable it’s a welcome change for the Miners after they consistently stranded at least ten runners in each of their first four games. The change thus far has come from a mindset Epling has passed to his players. He wanted them to take a step back and focus on what is in front of them. It’s worked.
“I think you have to have confidence in everything that you do,” Epling said. “A lot of times when you go on losing streaks like we did at the start, it’s very easy for young players to start questioning and start pressing. The message from me to them was whether your up or down by 12, take every at-bat like its 0-0. You’re there to improve yourself as an individual.
“You’ve got to take one pitch at a time and one play at a time. These are professionals. When you watch a batter in the pros take an at-bat, his approach doesn’t change. He understands what his job is – to compete against that pitcher. And the pitcher’s job is to compete against that hitter one-on-one and that’s pretty much the attitude I’ve been trying to give them.”
The Miners will need to sustain that approach as they get ready for a week that features seven of what will be nine straight games against Chillicothe – a team that beat them 10-1 in Beckley last Tuesday. The teams will play each other in Beckley on Tuesday and Wednesday, move to Chillicothe for a doubleheader on Thursday and a night game on Friday. The teams will cap the week with another two-game series in Beckley before ending their nine game stretch in Chillicothe next week.
“It’s just the way the schedule is,” Epling said. “COVID put a lot of strain on ownership within the league, so from a financial standpoint, we divided things up into divisions. We want to make sure we take care of ownership and that helps, so that’s how we came about with this.
“It’ll be a first for me. I’ve never played a team nine times in a row. Holy cow! And then if you get rain you get doubleheaders. When we go to their place we play one doubleheader. It’s crazy, but I hope we play well!”
With both teams sitting at 4-5 entering the stretch, the outcome could impact the playoff race. Epling isn’t thinking much about that though.
“I’m not really thinking much about that,” Epling said. “You still play one game at a time. It gives us a chance to look at them, but we get to look at us too. The beauty of our league is we have to halves. What you have the first half may not be what you have the second half. You really have three seasons – the first half, second half and playoffs. With that, it gives you a little bit of flexibility. I don’t really have to press.
“We have won every way you can. We’ve won the first half, we’ve won the second half, we’ve won both halves. We’ve done it every way imaginable, so I’m not concerned with that. I’m concerned with us playing the way we’re capable of playing and then you let the cards fall where they may.”
The West Virginia Miners will kickoff their stanza against the Paints on Tuesday at Linda K. Epling Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
