The Journal

Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: Sports

Hunsucker

Webster University baseball coach Marty Hunsucker hopes his players know how far the baseball program has come since Hunsucker arrived at Webster 10 years ago.

Hunsucker came to the program in 1995, when the team had a cumulative record of 36-157 and was coming off an 0-27 season. He shared an office in the UC athletic center with five other coaches and his team played in a public park in Shrewsbury.

"I saw alumni at the game the other day," Hunsucker said in his office - now upstairs in the UC - April 4, coming off two wins against Westminster College this past weekend. "They would never be able to understand how a player in the program currently - with a facility like GMC Stadium - could take for granted what we have or not just be crazy excited every chance they had to be on the field."

Thirteen players were on the baseball team in 1996, Hunsucker's first season. Only five were returning players, and Hunsucker said he spent most of the year trying to find players to fill out the squad, taking athletes from other teams and searching for anyone with a baseball background at Webster to play.

"The biggest challenge in the early years was getting players not to quit because we lost all the time," Hunsucker said.

The roster this season is the largest ever with 35 players. With success (Hunsucker was 113-211 in his first nine seasons) came easier recruiting for Hunsucker. He said even though Webster, as a Division III school, doesn't offer scholarships, it can still attract players.

"Recruiting at this level is challenging," said Hunsucker. "If you have scholarships to give out, it's just a matter of going and evaluating talent and then offering them a scholarship."

The baseball team used to play in Shrewsbury at a public park, but has since moved to GMC Stadium in Sauget, Ill. The new playing facility also plays a big role in recruiting, Hunsucker said.

The progress the program has made during Hunsucker's tenure goes beyond getting more players on the roster and a new field to play on. Hunsucker's is 8-7 overall this season and undefeated at 5-0 in the SLIAC.

"It's taken time to rebuild from where the program was," Hunsucker said. "But the good part of that is that we're starting to reap the rewards."

The attendance at most baseball games usually tops out around 150, but Hunsucker said it's still an improvement from past years.

"I don't assume everybody here - students, administrators, anybody - are going to give up four or five hours on a Saturday to see us play," Hunsucker said. "I can tell you whoever does come see us play now will see a much better team than they would have seen five or six or seven years ago. It's come 180 degrees."

Hunsucker has a simple goal for the future: "get better."

"Trying to be better each year," Hunsucker said. "Each year that gets a little harder to do, but I try to keep bringing in players who want to do the same thing."

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