Things discussed:
Organizing practice which translates to real games. Discussed: How to organize a plan for the year. Length of practice and why. Objectives. Type of players. Equipment you have or do not have for practice. Assistant coaches. What areas of the game do you need to improve. Individual work on dealing with pressure and failure in practice. Teamwork and how to make adjustments when players fail. Other teammates pick you up when you fail. Slow-Smooth-Fast. Slide to stop. Compete in practice, make it fun, game like with consequences. So much to unpack in this episode. Coach Anthony Pla Email: coachpla20@gmail.com
Anthony Plá enters his 12th season as Head Baseball Coach at Lincoln University. In May of 2015, Coach Plá was promoted to the role of the Assistant Athletic Director of Facilities. The 2016-2017 year saw Coach Plá move into the Interim Director of Athletics role until a replacement was found for that position. He currently is back in his Facility role while moving the Lions to new heights as a program.
In his first season back in 2009, Plá led the Lions to a three-win season, increasing the win total from one the previous year. Included in those wins was a home sweep of Saint Paul’s College, his first wins of his career followed by a win against St. Joseph’s College of New York. The 2011 season started off with a first in Melvin Robinson, a senior outfielder from Bear, Del., earning preseason honors as an Honorable Mention on the NCBWA All-Atlantic Region Team. Shortly thereafter, the Lions earned its first road sweep against Saint Paul’s College followed by the team’s first victory against Shaw University. Next the Lions defeated 2010 CIAA Runner-up Virginia State with back-to-back walk-off wins and swept Saint Paul’s in the second series of play which improved the teams overall wins from the previous season. The seven-win season, most since 2006, was capped off by Robinson completing his stellar four-year career receiving post-season honors being named to the NCBWA Third-Team All-Atlantic Region team. The first time a Lincoln Lion baseball player was honored since Matt Sample earned the Division III Independents Player of the Week Award on April 7, 2006. Robinson also earned All-CIAA Second Team honors. He also garnered the CIAA Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week in the final week of the season. In the same week as that honor, Robinson claimed Lincoln’s first ever ECAC Player of the Week. Another notable first is that Coach Plá was selected CIAA Coach of the Week the first Lincoln University Coach to receive the honor since becoming an active NCAA Division II Member. After the CIAA dropped Baseball as a sport back in May of 2017, Coach Plá searched for a conference that would best suit where the Lions Program is going. They found the East Coast Conference was a great option and became an Associate Member of the ECC back on January 25th 2018 along with the Women’s Soccer Program. The ECC is where Coach Plá previously coached in, so this will be familiar territory moving forward. Coach Plá also works within the local Oxford, Pa., community with youth baseball. He has helped the Oxford Senior Legion team for the last nine seasons become a competitive team and has worked summer camps for Oxford Area High School alongside the coaching staff. These camps help the young children of the community learn the fundamentals of the game they love, and have fun doing it. Coach Plá brings a wealth of knowledge of the college game as he has been a part of if for the last 20 years. His first four years were as a player at the University of Bridgeport and his last 16 as a coach. In his years as a player, he was a second baseman and a catcher. His career batting average was .300 and was part of the team that held the most wins in Bridgeport history at 21 in 2001. He also played four years of college soccer as well, winning the conference championship in his senior year while the team finished ranked 23rd in the country in the NSCAA polls. Prior to Lincoln, Coach Plá spent the previous six years at the University of Bridgeport in a number of roles. While at Bridgeport, he worked for two years as the Assistant Sports Information Director, eight months in the admissions office as a junior counselor and three years as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance. Throughout all six years at Bridgeport, Plá was the Assistant Baseball Coach under Head Coach John Anquillare, working mainly with the defense, more specifically the infielders and catchers. He also created the strength and conditioning program for pre- and post-season workouts. After his second year as an assistant coach, he was given the opportunity to coach the inaugural season of the Junior Varsity program and compiled an 11-5 record with four of those wins coming against Division I opponents. Along with coaching at Bridgeport, Plá also coached with an AAU program, the Connecticut Blue Jays, for the last 16 years. He has coached at every age level from 12-18 year olds and combined for numerous top-10 finishes and national tournament appearances as well as coached some of the finest talent in the northeast region and down the east coast. He has coached Major League Baseball amateur draft picks and has been a part of four national championship seasons. Most notably in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft George Springer (#11 overall pick by the Houston Astros) and Matt Barnes (#19 overall pick by the Boston Red Sox). Springer was most recently named the 2017 Most Valuable Player of the World Series when the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the memorable seven-game series. Plá is looking to further the progression of the already-growing baseball program as they look to improve on each year’s success’. The transition from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II has been tough, but the challenge is what has pushed him to work hard to build a stellar program. This is Plá’s first Head Coach position at the collegiate level but with his knowledge, energy and synergy he brings in his work ethics the Lions will reach new heights. Plá also has experience in athletic administration. While at Bridgeport, he was the assistant athletic director for compliance, assistant sports information director, home event manager, equipment manager, and facilities manager. At Lincoln, Plá has served as the interim men’s soccer coach, assistant to the sports information director and compliance officer. He is a supporter of his colleagues and their program which his players exemplify. Coach Plá is the son of Maria and Nil J. Plá Jr.
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