Baseball: Doyle builds from the ground up
Utah State’s 2012 club baseball team wasn’t built like a championship team. They held open tryouts in the fall, recruiting 15 players to their roster by spring – barely enough to qualify as a full squad. They had no scholarships to offer players and no paycheck to offer first-year head coach Norm Doyle. Instead, the players were asked to fund road-trips themselves and Doyle offered nearly 30 hours of volunteer time every week to keep the team afloat.
“We got zero respect,” Doyle said. “We were the underdogs, and that was just fine with us.”
Even after finishing the regular season with one loss and winning the regional championship, Doyle said nobody took the Aggies seriously.
“Nobody knew anything about us,” Doyle said. “Everybody discounted us because we only had 15 guys on the team. Every other team at the national tournament was extremely good.”
The Aggies were predicted to be the first team out of the National Club Baseball Association World Series.
“We set some pretty lofty goals for ourselves,” Doyle said. “But we were dedicated and we played with confidence. Nobody saw us coming.”
The Aggies defeated Colorado State University 14-3 in the National Championship game and returned home with a NCBA World Series trophy.
Doyle, who acted as assistant coach to Bret Alimari for five years before taking over in 2012, began his involvement in USU athletics as a volunteer.
“The way I got involved was I had a son playing on a team, and I was going to all the games anyway,” Doyle said. “Coach Alimari needed some help and he asked if I’d be willing to assist.”
Doyle said the groundwork laid by coach Alimari laid the groundwork for the team’s current success.
“We had good ball players back then, but we just didn’t have very many,” Doyle said. “There would be seasons with 12-13 guys on the team, but he kept the program moving in the right direction, kept improving. That’s been my focus as well.”
USU finished the 2013 season ranked second in the Northern Pacific South Conference, in what coach Doyle calls an “abrupt” end to an otherwise successful season. Doyle said he Aggies are back in championship form, ranked No. 18 in the nation and on a 13-game winning streak capped by three decisive victories over Weber State last weekend.
“Winning the conference means we’re heading to regionals,” said sophomore second-baseman David Clayton. “We have the same goals this year that the team did in 2012.”
Doyle confirmed the team is set on making it to the World Series this year.
“We want to play with confidence, but not overconfidence,” Doyle said. “We have the killer instinct we need to go far.”
Jeff Schiffman, one of six remaining players from the 2012 championship team, said the Aggies are ready to be back in the national spotlight.
“We should be going to Tampa this year,” Schiffman said. “We’ve got enough talent to win it all.”
Under Doyle’s direction, USU baseball has blossomed into a perennial contender in the NCBA.
“We just try and work hard and put the guys on a regular program,” Doyle said. “We have specific things we work on. We try to make it fun for the guys, but also help them improve their skills. Success breeds more success.”
– logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @logantj