Swing’s the Thing for Richards
May 29, 2006

You’d never know it by looking at him, but Ashland University third baseman-designated hitter Justin Richards is a real swinger.

The 5-10, 210-pound Richards doesn’t dress flashy and it might be easier to strike up a conversation with a mannequin than it is with the junior from Bergholz, OH, by way of West Virginia University. But in this case, swinging has nothing to do with the night life and everything to do with an attitude at the plate.

Richards entered the NCAA Division II Championships in Montgomery, AL, with a .327 batting average and three homers and 42 RBI. What runs No. 3 hitter Justin Randall (64 RBI) and cleanup hitter Casey Jirsa (52 RBI) don’t get home usually are brought around by Richards. Many times, baserunners don’t have long to wait to get moving. Richards goes to the plate looking to get his cuts.

“I’m aggressive,” admits Richard, who was 2-for-4 with a two-run double in Sunday’s 14-4 win over Franklin Pierce at the NCAA Championships. “Coach doesn’t always like it, but I like to swing. I sometimes get myself out, I swing at some bad pitches.”

That hasn’t happened much lately. Richards was named to the all-tournament team at the North Central Region. His double Sunday was part of a three-run third inning when the Eagles went ahead for good.

“He’s a good hitter when he gets his pitch,” said Ashland head coach John Schaly, who admits that there are times he’d like Richards to be more selective.

Richards doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s going to the plate looking for action. In fact, his theory is that persona can give a pitcher second thoughts.

“If you go up there without my approach, I feel the pitcher has you and you don’t have the pitcher,” explained Richards. “It you’re aggressive, it takes away his aggressiveness. I’ve done it all my life, it’s hard to change.”

Richards will modify his approach when there are runners to be brought home. He’s hitting.435 with runners in scoring position, .705 (12-for-16) with a runner on third base.

“When I’m up there with runners on, most of all I want to hit the ball on the ground,” Richards said. “Then, if I can’t do that, I try to hit a fly ball to the outfield. The last thing I want is a fly ball in the infield. With runners on base I limit myself more, I try to get deeper in the count.”

Richards felt maybe he would be down for the count when he left West Virginia. He lettered twice there and was the team’s rookie of the year, but he was looking for more than what the baseball program at WVU had to offer.

“This is better,” said Richards, speaking of being at Ashland and now playing in the NCAA Division II Championships. “At West Virginia we had two mediocre years. Coming out of high school I wasn’t used to losing. When I decided to leave West Virginia I wanted to go to a winning team.

“The difference from Division I is pitching and fans,” continued the lefthanded hitting Richards. “We didn’t draw a lot at WVU. This is the most fun I’ve had playing baseball in two or three years. I have a chance to win a national championship, I couldn’t do that at West Virginia.”

Even though Richards and Schaly sometimes disagree on his approach at the plate, Richards is the first to admit that he’s playing for a coach who’s open-minded enough to realize that every player needs some leeway.

“At West Virginia, you really aren’t coached,” explained Richards. “There, everybody does everything the same way. You can’t make a play barehanded, you can’t do it. Here, you have freedom.”

Richards’ body hasn’t always allowed him to be free this season. He’s played through a hamstring injury, a sprained ankle and a wrist injury he suffered in the regional tournament when he knocked down a screaming shot at third base. Despite all those mishaps, he’s played in 51 games.

“Even with the injuries he’s played third base, second base and pitched,” said Schaly. “He’s played through the injuries and given us everything we’ve asked of him.”

“The hamstring and hand are 100 percent,” Richards reported. “The ankle is 70 to 75 percent. It’s still sore. But I’ve played with this since the second game of the season. I know how to play with it. In these big games it feels like nothing is hurting. You don’t feel the pain when you’re in games like these.”