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 SCOTT
NORWOOD - arkansas little rock trojans
PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT COACH
Just off I-70, between Columbia, Missouri
and St. Louis, there is blink-and-you-miss-it little town
by the name of Montgomery City. It’s just like any other
small town for the most part, with the Dairy Queen serving
as the social hub for the teenagers and the “Hair I
Am” salon being the place to be to catch up on the latest
town hubabaloo. The town is also the home to a pair of twin
brothers who can fix about any car.
 You
can bring about anything on wheels to the Tate’s shop
and they’ll get the motor purring in no time. Any lemon
will be transformed into lemonade. Yet despite being surgeons
with a wrench, the Tates won’t charge you like a specialist;
they’re not in it for the money. They’re simply
happy they’ve found something that they like to do and
are good at it. The Tates fix cars.
Something similar can be said for another
guy I know a little further down the map. About 300 miles
straight south as the crow flies lays the birthplace of the
greatest third baseman of all time, Brooks Robinson (as well
as my childhood icon, Gil Gerard from Buck Rodgers in the
25th Century!), Little Rock, Arkansas. There in the baseball
offices of the University of Arkansas Little Rock you’ll
find another master of the fixer-upper, new Trojan head coach
Scott Norwood.
Last year Norwood guided the Ouachita Baptist
to its first NCAA Division II College World Series, where
the Tigers finished second, losing 6-2 to Mount Olive College
in the National Championship game. The Tigers’ finish
was remarkable considering OBU were habitual Gulf South Conference
doormats less than a decade ago, averaging less than 10 wins
a season and finishing with a dreadful 7-40 record in 2003.
In the five years prior to Norwood’s arrival, the team
won a combined 45 games. That half decade total was eclipsed
in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons alone when the Tigers went
50-10 and 51-16 respectively as OBU solidified itself as a
baseball stalwart.
Arkadelphia isn’t the first place where
Norwood has restored a broken baseball program. In Norwood’s
first stint as a coach he helped revitalize the Greyhounds
baseball program at the University of Indianapolis. Serving
as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator Norwood helped
the ‘Hounds go from a 19-35 record in 1995 to a 39-14
record, number four ranking and Regional berth in just four
years. His success parlayed into his first head coaching gig
at Mercyhurst College where he reversed the Lakers’
fortunes and led them to a 26-19 record after finishing with
just 19 wins the year before. Norwood stepped back from coaching
for two years and returned to Indianapolis to work at the
bustling RCA Dome as an event coordinator. Yet the call to
coaching was too strong to deny and Norwood returned to the
dugout. This time he took over the reigns of the small Kansas
Presbyterian school, Sterling College. Norwood led the Warriors
to three consecutive school-record setting seasons in wins
and the team advanced to NAIA regional play for only the second
and third times in school history. The Warriors’ 105-45
record during his tenure even included a win over Kansas State
during his first year at the helm.
Norwood will have his hands full as he heads
up I-30 to rejuvenate the Trojans in 2009. Last season UALR
finished 16-32, second to last in the Sun Belt conference,
just barley escaping the basement after passing Arkansas State
on the final weekend of the year. Furthermore, nearly two
dozen new faces will take to the field next season; however
the cupboard is far from bare when it comes to talent. Six
seasoned offensive starters return which includes two of the
top three hitters from last year, senior outfielders Matt
Apfel and Eric Hanlon. Both excelled in their first seasons
at UALR after transferring from junior college. Apfel was
a Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season
after batting a team leading .387, good for fifth in the conference.
Hanlon hit .324 in his first year with the Trojans and led
the team in stolen bases with 16. Pitching wise, nearly the
entire pitching staff from last season is gone, which may
actually be beneficial to Norwood’s hopes for a Trojan
baseball renaissance. Last season UALR hurlers had an era
which eclipsed 7.00 mark and allowed opposition to hit .317
for the season.
PREVIOUS COACH SPOTLIGHTS
2008
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