2004’s leading hitter returns to anchor heart of order from hot corner

Nate Schill’s name sits atop nearly every list of the Diamond Duke’s 2004 stat sheet.

In 50 games last season, the junior third baseman hit .351 and drove in 49 runs, both good for second place on the team behind recently departed outfielder and current Cleveland Indians farmhand Mike Butia. To accompany those numbers, Schill maintained an on-base percentage of .421 and slugged at a .527 clip.

"The thing about Nate is that he is very consistent and he’s very clutch," JMU coach Spanky McFarland said. "It’s a lot easier to coach when you know what your guys are going to do day in and day out."

Sophomore catcher Dan Santobianco, who will help anchor the middle of the Diamond Dukes’ lineup, was equally as complimentary.

"The thing that makes Nate’s numbers so good is his ability to make adjustments, not only from at-bat to at-bat but from pitch to pitch," Santobianco said. "If you fool Nate once with a curveball, you’re not going to fool him again during that at-bat. He is, by far, the best player I’ve ever seen at making adjustments pitch by pitch."

Baseball America named Schill to its preseason All-CAA team. Schill, joins sophomore closer Travis Risser, and said he is honored to be selected but is remaining humble at the same time.

"It’s definitely an honor to know that," Schill said. "It’s also great to know that I have great teammates to back myself and Travis Risser up. At the same time, it won’t have any negative effects; I’m not going have a big head because of it."

For all of the success Schill had at the plate during his first two years as a Diamond Duke, he also has experienced trouble defensively. As a third baseman last year, he committed 21 errors, the highest total on the team and third highest in the conference.

In order to improve these errors, Schill is taking extra ground balls, and attempting to take a different mental approach.

"As well as getting my arm completely healthy, I’ve been trying to separate defense from offense," Schill said. "Sometimes, I brought a bad at-bat into the field with me, and we’re trying to get rid of things like that this year."

The change in mental philosophy is already starting to produce results.

"We worked on a lot of mental imagery, even some meditation practices," Schill said. "It sounds weird, but it’s really visualizing positive effects rather than negative. I have more confidence and am more relaxed because of it."

McFarland believes that his third baseman’s error total is misleading.

"Part of those errors, in his defense, is because he gets to a lot more balls than other players do." McFarland said. "He may have a lot of errors, but he also makes a lot of plays that other third basemen don’t make."

After coming off of a disappointing 28-26 (8-16 CAA) campaign in which the Diamond Dukes missed the postseason for the first time since the CAA expanded to nine teams in 2001, McFarland will look to his most consistent hitter to guide an inexperienced lineup.

"[Nate]’s one of those guys that when the game’s on the line, you want the bat in his hands because you know that he’s not going panic," McFarland said. "As a coach, that’s very refreshing."