But then again, Sinclair had an impressive motivator already in house.
Consider how Dintaman lit a fire under right-handed closer Travis Rowland this season.
Last year, his first at Sinclair after a prep career at Fairfield High School, Rowland had a mostly uneventful campaign and registered two saves.
This past fall, in the final game of the Tartan Pride’s split season, Rowland had a disastrous outing against Northern Kentucky, the NCAA Division I school that had shown some interest in him in high school.
“Travis gave up a big home run against them and I remember him in the dugout afterward,” Dintaman said. “He was like, ‘Now I know why I’m not a Division I player any more!’
“That was his mindset: ‘I know why I can’t do something.’ ”
The reason, Dintaman said, wasn’t talent, it was attitude and work ethic, both of which were lacking:
“We saw a guy who had potential but wasn’t working hard and giving all his effort. And we were done coaching him. We sat him down and basically just told him he should quit. That he should leave.
“I told him I was tired of his attitude and effort, that I’d rather have his dad on our team than him.”
Bryan Rowland, Travis’s dad, is, in Dintaman’s words, “the most passionate guy I’ve ever seen. He cares about baseball. He comes and supports us all the time.
“I told Travis, ‘You and your dad should trade places. You go out into the workforce and I’d take your dad every day of the week. You have no passion, no energy … nothing.’”
At the time Rowland said, “I didn’t know whether I was even going to play next year. I really doubted myself and didn’t realize how far I could go if I put in extra work. I didn’t realize how good I really could be.”
He admits he was jarred by Dintaman’s unvarnished assessment and after some re-evaluation decided to push himself and see what would happen.
“It was like the light finally went on,” Dintaman said. “He had his best semester in the classroom and made the Dean’s List. He worked harder than anyone else on the team in the offseason and lost a bunch of weight, too. He just improved all around.”
Rowland said he dropped 45 pounds, going from 227 to 182: “I quit drinking pop and eating bread.”
The velocity of his pitches improved and in the process he said he became more aggressive and confident on the mound.
When spring drills began, Dintaman said Rowland was “just pounding the stroke zone … and when we opened down in Georgia, he got a pair of saves against a really good team (Georgia Highlands).
“He had 11 saves already in the first month, but then in April, we were either far enough ahead or losing so there was only one opportunity for him and he stayed stuck on 11.
“Then came the regional last week and he saved three in a row in pressurized games and now we’re headed to the World Series. It’s just an incredible story for him.”
The guy Dintaman told to quit now leads the nation (NJCAA Division II) in saves with 14 and already has set the Sinclair record for most in a career. He was voted the MVP of the Region XII tournament.
Now the Pride, 50-10 and No. 5 in the nation, advance to the 10-team World Series and Sunday’s noon opener against Monroe Community College of Rochester, N.Y.
“From this point on we’re making history for Sinclair,” Rowland said. “Our team has never been this far before.”
In the process, he is rewriting some personal history.
Northern Kentucky has now offered him a scholarship for next year.
And with a 1.78 earned-run average this season and 51 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings, Rowland now realizes he can pitch at the Division I level.
“I just have a lot more confidence and I’m more aggressive,” he said. “I used to work around hitters, but now I’m not afraid to just go right after them.”
That was especially the case in the regional semifinal in Battle Creek, Mich., against host Kellogg CC.
Rowland was brought in at the end of the eighth inning to pitch out of a jam and preserve the Pride’s 3-2 lead, and he did. Then in the bottom of the ninth he hit the first batter with a slider and then gave up a pair of hits — one on a bunt, the other a bloop single to left — to load the bases.
“It was definitely pretty intense at that moment, but there really wasn’t anything going through my head except a few positive affirmations,” he said. “I try not to think about what could happen and instead focus on what I can do on the next pitch.”
The next batter slapped a high hopper back to the mound that knocked off his glove. Unruffled, he scooped up the ball and threw the runner out at the plate. The following batter then grounded to third baseman Nick Massey, who threw another runner out at the plate, and the final out came on a high pop to Massey.
“Through all that, you think, ‘Who would you rather have out there on the mound?’ And for us, it’s nobody. We trust Travis.”
So that begs the question.
Who would Dintaman opt for now?
Bryan Rowland or his son?
“I’d take ‘em both,” Dintaman said cagily. “His dad is still as passionate as they come.
“But Travis? He’s the man now.”
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