Catcher Michael Robbins doesn't need people to remind him that he's the oldest player on the Winston-Salem State baseball team. His body does that for him.
"It can get rough out there on this old dude from time to time," said Robbins, 25, "but I'm handling things pretty well."
WSSU revived the program this spring after a 37-year absence, and Robbins, a 2002 Glenn High graduate and former assistant coach there, decided he wasn't done playing.
"I just kind of kept an eye on the situation because I heard they might bring baseball back," Robbins said. "Once they brought it back, I felt like it was an opportunity, and I took advantage."
Robbins has been a key player for the Rams, who were 16-10 overall and in second place in the CIAA at 12-2 before Wednesday's doubleheader against Augusta State, and coach Kevin Ritsche has been able to lean on his experience.
Robbins played two seasons at Lenoir Community College in Kinston and as a freshman in 2004 helped LCC to fifth place at the JuCo World Series. However, he was injured four games into the 2005 season on a head-first slide as he tried to steal home. He was sidelined a month and a half, then came back too soon and ended up without a solid Division I scholarship offer. At that point, he figured his college career was over.
Robbins finished work on a two-year degree at LCC, returned home to Kernersville and worked for his father's sand-blasting company. He also stayed involved with baseball, spending the past four seasons as an assistant at Glenn under coach John Fowler.
"They all kind of knew that if Winston got baseball again, I was going to enroll in school and try to play," Robbins said of leaving Glenn. "So they were all for it."
Robbins has been behind the plate for all but about 10 innings, starting 25 of 26 games, and is doing all he can to direct a pitching staff of six freshmen, three sophomores and a junior. WSSU leads the CIAA with a 3.56 earned-run average and has allowed a league-low 66 earned runs.
"I think in the game he didn't start," Ritsche said, "he was out there by the fourth inning."
Ritsche said that most college coaches call pitches from the dugout, but that he lets Robbins make most of the calls. "I bet I've called maybe 10 pitches all season," he said.
Robbins gives credit to Keith Walker, the pitching coach at Glenn now and when Walker played there.
"I'm trying to do my best with calling the pitches and all of that, but the thing about it is you have to throw strikes," Robbins said.
The Rams have three doubleheaders scheduled this week, and Robbins will be ready. He follows a regimen of ice baths and electro stimulation and spends almost as much time with trainer Rob Woodall as he does with the team.
"He's a regular down there in the training room, but I don't think Rob minds because Rob loves to talk baseball," Ritsche said.
Although hitting just .154, Robbins leads the Rams with 13 RBIs and is second in walks. Ritsche said Robbins has hit plenty of line drives that have been caught and is very good at going deep into the count.
"We have a stat we keep on quality at-bats, and he's right at .500," Ritsche said. "He's just been unlucky with all those line drives."
Robbins said he doesn't worry much about being the Rams' oldest player, but he does have to remember his audience when talking to teammates.
"I'll mention something, and one of them will say, 'When that happened I was in middle school,' " Robbins said. "And they call me Gramps, so I do get a lot of grief, but that's OK."
Robbins, who's majoring in physical education, said that getting a chance to continue his baseball career has been a blessing.
"Coach Ritsche has talked from Day 1 that he didn't want to be a second or third-place team in the league," Robbins said. "We want to contend, so we are playing good baseball right now, and it's been fun to be back behind the plate again."
(336) 727-4081
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement