Lehigh University Athletics
O'Connor turns slump into spoils
4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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By Joe Petrucci
Of the Pocono Record
To understand how Liam O'Connor is the top hitter on the
Then a sophomore, O'Connor was hitting around .160 near the mid-point of the year. The shortstop was pressing at every turn, and his team had just come off three losses in a four-game series with
"We weren't playing good baseball," O'Connor said.
It got to the point that O'Connor thought he might be benched, even though his defensive prowess was enough to keep him in the lineup.
O'Connor was trying desperately to keep his head. His coaches intervened, tweaking O'Connor's swing and his psyche: "Relax," they told him. "Focus," they implored.
The simple remedies worked. O'Connor went on a tear, hitting .350 the rest of the season and earning second-team all-Patriot League honors. The Mountain Hawks wound up winning their first Patriot League title and advancing to regionals.
"To me, that was a learning experience, to be able to turn things around halfway through the season," O'Connor said. "I used that going into this year as motivation. The mistake I made last year was I wasn't ready and focused."
O'Connor was hitting at a .348 clip heading into Tuesday's single game at the
"I have a better approach at the plate. I'm being looser, a lot more relaxed," O'Connor said.
O'Connor has learned approaching things any other way leads to problems. He was under intense pressure as a freshman, when he stepped right into the starting lineup for the Mountain Hawks. Then the pressure came from within, and O'Connor's sophomore slump commenced.
But while O'Connor says he didn't develop a relaxation ritual or a specific way of focusing, it turns out all he needed was a little conversation. He would talk to his parents, Maureen and Terrence; Tim Bremen, a junior at Lock Haven and former teammate at Pleasant Valley; and younger brother Brendan, a freshman catcher at the University of North Dakota.
Even Lehigh baseball coach Sean Leary told him: "I still believe in you. You need to do your thing."
It was music to O'Connor's ears.
"I just went out there. I wasn't afraid to fail anymore," he said.
Lehigh has struggled this season, going 11-22-1 overall and 1-11 in league play. That's due, in large part, to a young squad — there are only three seniors on a 35-man roster that includes 17 freshmen. Also, injuries have claimed two of the Mountain Hawks' top five hitters. The team is on the verge of elimination from contention for the Patriot League playoffs.
"It's going to be difficult to go from winning the league to not going to playoffs," O'Connor said. "It's definitely going to be a challenge."
That means O'Connor's newfound belief in himself has had an added bonus. He now serves as a leader on a team desperate for guidance, especially heading into a make-or-break four-game series against rival and Patriot League leader Lafayette this weekend.
"There's two weeks left," O'Connor said. "At this point we just have to bare down and try to play our best baseball."
This story originally appeared in the Wednesay, April 18, 2007 edition of the Pocono Record. Used with permission.
