When
he is not serving as the President and General Manager of the Glens
Falls Golden Eagles, Darin Williams works as a prison guard at the
maximum-security Great Meadows Correctional Facility.
Through
interacting with these troubled lives on a daily basis, Williams has
built a vision to impact the community using the student-athletes on
his baseball team.
“I
want to reach kids before they make mistakes and become a menace to
society,” Williams said. “The way that professional athletes
act makes kids believe that if they can do whatever they want if they
are good at sports.”
Noticing
this problem, the Golden Eagles teamed up with a number of schools in
the Glens Falls community. A reading program has been created that
rewards students by the number of books they read. The more they
read, the more chances there are to win prizes like tickets to the
games or memorabilia. One of the team’s sponsors, TD Bank, has
pledged that if a student reads 10 books over the summer, they will
open a $10 savings account in their name.
Along
with the reading program, players are sent into the schools to talk
about the importance of academics and staying active. They read to
the kids, and often tell stories of great baseball players they knew
who are no longer playing the game because of mistakes they made off
the field.
“Bringing
the players into schools gives the kids good role models,” Williams
continued. “They are able to see that in order to become good in
athletics, you need to do things the right way.”
“We
try to make at least two school trips a week,” Ross Kivett, the
Golden Eagles’ second baseman said. “I’m a big proponent of
reading. It helps give the kids an imagination and with that you can
go anywhere. I try to tell the kids that you need to work your mind
as well as your body to stay healthy.”
Along
with helping out in the schools, the Golden Eagles look to continue
their success on the field in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball
League. Since the team’s creation in 2004, Glens Falls has won
four regular season titles and made the playoffs six times. Their
31-17 record in 2011 was the best in the league, helping them win the
East Division crown in the inaugural season of the PGCBL.
Leading
the Golden Eagles in 2012 will be Chase Griffin, a catcher from
Georgia Southern University. Griffin was named the Southern
Conference Freshman of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Freshman
All-American after a tremendous rookie season in which he hit .320
with 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.
“Chase
is a very intense kid,” Head Coach John Mayotte said. “He had an
outstanding freshman year, and being named the Freshman of the Year
in a major conference is quite the honor. There are parts of his
game that need to improve, but there are also parts that are already
pretty darn good.”
Along
with Griffin, the Golden Eagles offense will have a number of other
talented players. Ross Kivett, who has started at Kansas State in
both of his first two seasons, has gotten off to a hot start and is
currently hitting .404 with two triples and seven stolen bases.
However, Coach Mayotte might be the most impressed with Canadian
product Emmanuel Forcier.
Hailing
from St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Forcier has
spent the past year at New Mexico Junior College, working on his
baseball skills and adapting to the United States. In his first
eight games with the Golden Eagles, he has shined, hitting .462 with
a homerun and five RBI.
“He
speaks limited English (96.57% of people in St. Hyacinthe speak
French only), but he is an outstanding all around player,” Mayotte
added. “He is one of those young guys who doesn’t realize how
good he could be.”
On
the mound, the Golden Eagles will lean heavily on Northwestern
right-hander Brandon Magallones. As a freshman this spring, he led
the Wildcats with seven victories and 67 strikeouts. He has
continued his success in Glens Falls, as he has a 1.00 ERA and has
only allowed four hits in his first two starts.
“Brandon
is a quality Summer League pitcher,” Mayotte said of Magallones'
success on the mound this summer. “He has good velocity and a nice
arsenal of pitches. Being from Northwestern, he is a well-rounded
kid and he has a good pedigree.
Other
standouts on the mound include Georgia Southern’s Jarod Cheek, who
is 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in his first six appearances. Kansas State’s
Jake Doller has not allowed an earned run in 12.1 innings of work,
and Louisburg College’s Tony Urban is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA after
throwing 10.2 innings.
Even
if this success on the field does not continue, Coach Mayotte will be
happy with what his team has been able to achieve in the community.
“The
kids have done a great job. Baseball is a special sport in which the
players are truly student-athletes. They are excited about getting
in the classrooms and they are really good citizens. I can tell it’s
legitimate.”