GV Baseball Interview

15 Things About Coach Shiller and his Baseball Team

In the springtime, baseball is all the talk. The Garnet Valley boys varsity team is doing well and the Phillies are not. However, the more I thought about it, I realized I do not know much about the Garnet Valley men’s varsity baseball team and the coach Mr. Shiller. So, I decided to interview Coach Shiller and here is what I learned.

1. He’s been coaching for a long time.

Coach Shiller has coached for fifteen years overall at Garnet Valley. Thirteen years as head coach and two years as assistant coach.

2. He played baseball in high school.

He played for his local town, Clifton Heights, in the Delco league and played for Cardinal O’hara High School.

3. He was unsure of how much he would like being a coach.

Coach Shiller enjoys baseball and it is his favorite sport, however he was a little unsure how he would like coaching. Then he learned about the kids outside of baseball and once he saw the kids enjoyed baseball as much as he did, he really started to like coaching.

4. Making cuts and trying to form the team is the most stressful part.

Cutting kids is “the worst part about the job.” Other than that he enjoys the whole part of coaching.

5. Forming Junior Varsity and Varsity is a two week process.

The first week of practice are their tryouts. It lasts four to five days and then they make cuts. The week after cuts they separate the remaining players into Junior Varsity and Varsity.

6. They have won the Central League three times.

They have also won the Chester County championship one year. Their best season’s record was 15 wins and 4 losses. “We never went undefeated.”

7. They won the Central League last year.

Last year’s record was 14 wins and 6 losses.

8. Two of his players were drafted in the MLB.

Joe Decarlo was the second pick of the second round of the draft right after he finished high school. Andrew Bechtold was also drafted. Coach Shiller has also seen many of his players go on to play for division one colleges.

9. He hopes players concerned with their playing time would talk to him.

They can discuss why they are not getting the playing time they want and what they can do to try and increase their playing time. He wishes his players would contact him and go directly to him about it.

10. Discipline in school = Discipline on the field

Every situation is a little different, but they know if they get a detention in school and then go to practice, they will be running. Coach Shiller will talk to them, see what happened and if nothing changes in the future, it becomes a playing time issue. They will sit on the bench until they can straighten themselves out and become more responsible students.

11. He will talk to parents about their concerns, but not right after a game.

He asks parents not to talk to him right after a game, especially about something that was very emotional. Coach Shiller explains to the parents he understands they are concerned about their individual son, but he “must look at what is best for the team.” He tries to explain to them why he does certain things. He believes as long as he stays honest and upfront about everything usually these things can defuse themselves.

12. In the offseason, they have morning workouts from 6-7 A.M, three days a week.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas, they have morning workouts from 6-7 A.M, three days a week in the weight room. After Christmas they will start doing more. Pitchers will start throwing off the mound and they’ll start doing some hitting drills off tees. They do these workouts from Christmas until the season starts in March.

13. His after game speech focuses on “What happened and why it happened.”

They focus on how they can improve on the small things and how to improve as a team. They also reflect upon if individually they did everything they could to help the team. If they gave it their all, they can go home with their heads held high. “Did I do everything I could today to help the team win?”

14. His biggest strength is he is open minded.

Coach Shiller does not believe he knows everything and he listens to people and their advice. He will change things if they are not going well. He feels one of his weaknesses is he tends to take on too many responsibilities at once. He is learning to share those responsibilities more with his assistants.

15. His best memories are also his hardest.

His best memories are when he takes the seniors out after the last game and they discuss all the good memories of being a part of the Garnet Valley baseball team. Saying goodbye to the kids that have been part of the program for three to four years is the saddest part. It is a “bittersweet” time.