Surprise factor is gone for York baseball

York senior Will Prince wears the No. 22 jersey because of Eddie Tisdale. Prince’s estimation of Tisdale might have grown even more last week.

Tisdale played college baseball at Winthrop from 2006 to 2009 – wearing the No. 22 – and is in his first year coaching the York Cougars. He guided a program that has struggled in recent years to wins over No. 9 Rock Hill and No. 5 Northwestern in last week’s first action of the Region 3-4A season. Tisdale was hoping for a good start in one of the best 4A regions in the state.

“We were absolutely thrilled, beside ourselves we were so happy,” Tisdale said Monday before practice. “Surprised? Not really.”

Tisdale coached Prince when the Cougar senior was eight years old. Tisdale made an impact on Prince then, influencing his jersey number ever since, and is doing the same about 10 years later.

“I knew he’d be tough on us, but we’d win games,” said Prince, who will play college ball at Erskine this fall. “And that’s translated. He’s pushed us really hard and we’ve responded pretty well.”

Tisdale commended the players for buying into his ideas and energy when he first arrived last June to take over for Scot Kiggans.

“Our guys have been committed to the program, they bought in and we’ve had an amazing turnout at the summer workouts, we had amazing turnout in the fall and the winter in the weight room,” he said.

York’s wins over Rock Hill and Northwestern were blueprints for how the Cougars (4-1, 2-0 Region 3-4A) will win games this season. Erskine signee Ryan Gilbert pitched 6 2/3 innings against the Bearcats, and junior catcher Harrison Childers came through with a bases loaded shot off the wall in the third inning to provide the Cougars’ scoring in a 3-1 win. York only mustered two hits, but Gilbert got ahead in the count on numerous occasions. Tisdale said almost every team in the region has a college baseball-quality hitter and that it was crucial for all of his pitcher to jump on batters; Gilbert did that, opening his entire arsenal of pitches and keeping the Bearcat hitters off balance.

Against Northwestern, York took an early lead before Northwestern stormed back for a 3-1 advantage. The Trojans had won 39 straight region games, many in very similar fashion, but Tisdale was proud of his team’s response. Childers again came through at the plate, bashing a pitch off the wall late in the game to tie the score 3-3, reverse the momentum, and propel the Cougars to the win in extra innings. John Moorefield pitched five-plus innings as the starter – and drove in the winning run in the eighth – and Hunter Horne threw 2 2/3 innings in relief to get the win in a 4-3 decision.

“They made their move and we were fortunate enough to answer,” said Tisdale.

Wins in the first two region games against state-ranked opponents certainly confirmed that the new coach’s plan was working. It also confirmed that the attention to detail and the increased seriousness and focus in practice is already paying dividends.

“It’s just a total change in atmosphere, the vibe is different,” Gilbert said. “Last year we were 0-2 and now we’re 2-0. Obviously a lot has changed and hopefully we’ll keep it going.”

Tisdale, originally from Lugoff, played independent league pro baseball for two years before taking a coaching job in Florida. He’s also been a graduate assistant at Nova Southeastern University and ran an athletic facility in Ohio before returning to York County this past summer. He was watching Winthrop in the Big South Conference tournament last spring when he decided to reach out to York athletic director Steve Boyd about the school’s baseball coaching vacancy. Tisdale felt that the school had everything in place to do well in baseball, especially support from behind the backstop.

“York is a community that is a baseball community,” said Tisdale, sitting in the home dugout at the school’s stadium. “We have great attendance. The fans really rally behind the program. They love their student athletes across the board really. It’s nice to have that support.”

If York planned on shocking opponents this season, well, it’s gotten that out of the way quickly. The Cougars play at Gaffney on Tuesday, host state-ranked Chester in non-region play Wednesday, then end the week Friday at Nation Ford, another team ranked in the preseason.

“It’s definitely easier to come back to work on a Monday knowing you went 2-0 last week in the region,” said Gilbert. “But it’s not gonna get any easier from here on out.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Surprise factor is gone for York baseball."