Promise still has Williams at Coppin State

By Dave Fawcett

Published: February 22, 2008

No games have been played yet, but life as a Coppin State baseball player is better for Harry Williams (Potomac '06) this season than it ever was last season. It's easy to see why. All the sophomore first baseman has to do is scan the field.

There are players catching fly balls in the outfield, third basemen taking grounders and pitchers working out on the mound. Last season, Williams did all those things, filling in at all but two positions for a Coppin State team that fielded 11 total players and finished the season 0-44.

Williams could have bolted the program after 2007, but second-year coach Harvey Lee made a promise to Williams. If Williams stayed, Lee said he would not only find more players to field a competitive team. That team would be built around Williams.

"Coach Lee guaranteed that we would have a team and it would be a lot better," said Williams, who hit a team-high .339 last season. "When he said that, I believed every word he said about it. He kept his word."

Williams thought he was walking into a stable situation when he signed with Coppin State in April of 2006. Although other colleges expressed an interest in him, Williams liked the Eagles, and in particular then-head coach Guy Robertson. Williams also liked a schedule that featured games against top-flight Division I competition and he liked playing close to home.

But in the summer of 2006, Williams, like all the Coppin State baseball players, received a letter in the mail from Robertson, indicating he was resigning. This was a month before the start of school. Williams had already turned down other programs, leaving him no choice but to stick with Coppin State.

Coppin State Administrator of Athletics Dr. Mary Wanza met with the baseball players and their families and promised them that the school would find a reputable coach and field a team, said Williams' father, Harry Sr. Out of other options, Williams decided to give it a year and see how it went.

In November, Lee was introduced as the coach. A former player in the New York Yankees' minor-league organization, Lee walked into a tough situation. A number of players had left when Robertson resigned, leaving Lee with barely enough players to fill a lineup card. With the season starting in the middle of February, Lee had to move fast. With only "three guys" with any real baseball experience, Lee walked around the Coppin State campus, recruiting kids until he finally got 11.

"We had four guys who had never played, but I told them if they would help me, I would teach them the game," Lee said. "No one gave up, even at the end of the season."

Experienced baseball players like Williams had to step in when needed, including pitching, something he had not done since the eighth grade.

On the bus to play Maryland March 28, Lee asked his players who wanted to pitch that day. One player, Williams said, said he would do it, but said it in such a joking way that Williams knew the player wasn't serious. So Williams said he would pitch.

It was a long day, but Williams stuck it out, going 7.2 innings and allowing 11 earned runs in a 12-0 loss. After being taken out of the game, Williams remembers the Maryland fans giving the Coppin State players a standing ovation.

Coppin State had some close losses, but for the most part, the games ended in blowouts. For the season, opponents outscored the Eagles 615-59.

When asked about last season and its impact, Williams sighs and then pauses before answering.

"Now, that we are in the position we are in, we can joke about it because we've heard it so many times," Williams said. "But we don't dwell on it. We're looking forward to this team."

In some of his quiet moments, Williams got frustrated. His dad could hear it when the two talked.

But Williams never seriously considered leaving Coppin State. In part, that's because of his upbringing and being raised by a father who has spent 26 years in the military service.

"You don't quit," said Harry Williams Sr., who is a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Lee is grateful Williams is back.

"He was the team last year and we've built the team around him this year," Lee said. "We never recruited a first baseman. He could have transferred, but he stuck it out."

Now that Williams has the opportunity just to focus on one position, Lee expects big things out of Williams. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Williams has the build to put up productive numbers.

"I want him to hit at least 10 homers this season," Lee said. "I am going to stay on him because I know he can do it. He's got to do it. He could be one of the best players to leave Coppin State."

The Eagles begin their season today against visiting Hofstra. They are expected to have 27 players on their roster and at least one guaranteed fan in the stands, Harry Williams Sr., who attended all but four games last season. Coppin State is predicted to finish last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, but Williams Sr. will have none of that. He's seen first hand the crop of players the Eagles have this season and expects the team to be a surprise this season. Lee shares that sentiment.

Williams is excited as well. As the days have gotten closer to the season opener, he's found it harder to concentrate on anything else. He's hungry to start again. Last season is last season. He won't forget it, but he's ready to put it behind him. At least on one level.

"I know what my primary position is this season, but I told Coach Lee in a joking way that I know how much they need pitching this season," Williams said.

Williams knows that Coppin State has enough pitchers, but he is also a team player first. So after making his joke, Williams got serious and reminded Lee that he is always on call for whatever is needed, even if it means taking the mound. Of course, the offer comes with a restriction.

"I said 'OK,  but just a couple of innings,' " Williams said.

Ryan Wood (Hylton '05) and Jordan Flasher (Osbourn Park '05) both received mention in Baseball America's College Baseball Preview Issue.

A junior second baseman at East Carolina, Wood was named to the publication's all-Conference USA preseason team and was listed as the conference's fourth-best draft prospect for 2008. Flasher, a junior relief pitcher for George Mason University, was named to the publication's all-Colonial Athletic Association preseason team and was listed as the conference's fifth best draft prospect for 2008.

Flasher has the most saves (14) of any returning Division I pitcher this season.

ICE HOCKEY

Mike Olszyk (Hylton '02) helped Old Dominion University advance to the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament March 12-16 in Rochester, MN. ODU reached the national tournament after beating No. 3 Christopher Newport and No. 5 Georgia this past weekend at the Atlantic Coast Hockey League Division III Regional Tournament in Atlanta.

A senior defenseman and team captain, Olszyk totaled six goals and 14 assists in 14 conference games this season.

David Fawcett's They're In College Now column appears Fridays in the Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger. Reach him at (703) 878-8052 or at