Right Results
for Lefty Coach
Former Silkworm standout replicating success at West
Chester
By Don
Leypoldt
Every once in a great while, baseball scouting is easy.
Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez were the
very first players taken in their respective amateur drafts.
Predicting future success for these three perennial
all-stars was not going out on a limb.
On a slightly smaller scale, it was not difficult for
Manchester Silkworm fans to predict future success for
southpaw Mitch Heckert.
In his two summers in Manchester- 2004 and 2005- the
gregarious Heckert had a 9-2 record and four saves in 29
appearances. His Silkworm career ERA was a sparkling 2.06.
He appeared in two NECBL All-Star games, culminated by
starting the 2005 showcase for the Southern Division.
For all of his success, Heckert tended to retire batters as
much with his chutzpah and brains then on his pure stuff. A
natural leader, he spent the games he wasn’t starting
perched on an upside down sunflower seed bucket -
precariously close to the batter’s box- charting pitches,
studying the opposition and observing as much as he could.
It’s rare that a pitcher is the team leader; usually the “C”
on a uniform goes to a position player. But Heckert became
the first person in a quarter of a century to captain the
University of Delaware in two consecutive seasons.
“I believe you have to use the type of leadership that is
pertinent and I think I have a pretty good feel for that
type of thing- when I should just keep my mouth shut, do the
right thing and have people follow along, or when someone
needs encouragement or needs some one to get on them a
little bit vocally,” observes Heckert.
“My leadership style is somewhat characterized by (Delaware)
coach Jim Sherman. He is very approachable and is vocal to a
point, but he is calm about it. The same thing with (West
Chester Head Coach and former Delaware assistant) Greg
Mamula.”
Sherman was the last two time Delaware captain before
Heckert earned the honor. Unfortunately, Heckert would spend
far too much of his Blue Hen captaincy on the disabled list.
The Harrisburg, PA product cemented his status as a Division
I pitcher by not allowing a single earned run during the
regular season of his high school junior year. Besides
Delaware, George Washington was one of several schools that
showed serious interest in him. In a sadly ironic twist,
Heckert’s official recruiting visit to GW was scheduled for
September 11, 2001. Needless to say, the nation’s capital
had other concerns that day.
It would be easy to say that serendipitous incidents like
those meant that Heckert was meant to be a Blue Hen. But it
didn’t end up that way…on the surface.
Like many promising prep pitchers, Heckert’s college
pitching career didn’t materialize as hoped. He would suffer
major injuries in each of his last three college seasons-
the worst being the torn elbow ligament he incurred on
Delaware’s 2006 opener against Richmond. The subsequent
Tommy John surgery closed the door on his playing career.
And opened up a new career.
“I want to get into coaching because you affect people and
you can use your people skills to be successful,” explains
Heckert. “There are a lot of successful baseball coaches who
aren’t necessary the best baseball guys, but who know how to
get the best out of people.”
When Mamula accepted the head coaching job at Division II
power West Chester (PA), he knew he could find a good
pitching coach by looking no further than his old Blue Hen
captain. Meanwhile, Heckert had started applying to graduate
schools for Education Administration and Coaching, in part
to stay involved with the game he loves. Yenta couldn’t have
matched them better. Heckert landed a graduate assistantship
at West Chester, and joined their coaching staff in
September 2007.
“I don’t think I’ve studied enough mechanics to say ‘This is
how all of my guys should pitch. When kids come into college
they’ve obviously been successful at some sort of level. I
don’t believe in messing with mechanics a lot unless there
is some glaring issue,” Heckert says.
“Mentally, you’ve got to be able to compete on the mound to
win. No doubt about it. The key to winning is not velocity
but location and being able to change speeds.”
To say that Heckert’s first coaching stint has been
successful is akin to saying that the 1927 Yankees had a
nice offense. Through March 27th, West Chester is 22-2 with
a team ERA of 2.49. The Golden Rams have surrendered three
or fewer runs in 19 of those games. Senior Chris Powl is a
possible major league sign…and his 2.67 ERA is fourth among
West Chester’s five starters.
“I definitely can’t take credit for our 22-2 start,” admits
Heckert. “It’s the kids who are out there winning games, not
us. They’ve worked hard. They’ve done things that we as a
coaching staff have asked them to do with drill work and
they’ve been pretty consistent with that.”
He continues, “There is no substitute for having 10 to 12
pitchers who want to have success. If you want to have
success and you are willing to put the work in, you are
going to get results like we are seeing right now.”
The Silkworms are immensely proud of their three alumni who
have reached the major leagues. But it is critical to
remember that the vast majority of college baseball players
will never even get drafted, let alone reach the pinnacle of
the game. It is just as encouraging to see players like
Heckert use the lessons they learn from baseball- teamwork,
leadership and hard work- and apply them to other areas of
their life.
Heckert recalls the many things that he learned in his time
in Manchester, “I learned to compete at that level. The
NECBL is a great, collegiate baseball league with really
talented kids. I learned a lot about how to pitch, how to
pitch in counts. Aside from baseball, I met some great
people in Manchester- I made some relationships that have
matured into life long things. I learned what it is like to
be a good person in Manchester, and really developed as a
person in those two summers.”
Heckert is not the first Silkworm to obtain success as a
pitching coach- Ryan Darcy of the 2000-01 serves Manhattan
in that capacity- but like the dozen Silkworm alums
currently playing minor league ball, he will give Manchester
fans another alumnus to support and follow. For now, this
southpaw has his career going the right way.
For more information on Heckert or any of the other Silkworm
alumni, please contact Don Leypoldt in sports information or
G.M. Ed Slegeski (SilkwormsGM@aol.com). The Manchester
Silkworms are a proud member of the New England Collegiate
Baseball League. Over thirty Silkworm alumni have been
selected in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.
