Sun Devils refuse to let teammates get down

OMAHA, Neb. - Petey Paramore remembers the first time he struck out with the bases loaded at Arizona State, but not because of disappointment at failing to come through in a key situation.

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Rather, the sophomore catcher recalled the moment because of something he did while walking back to the dugout: Touching fists with the on-deck hitter and encouraging him to get the big hit that he could not.

And that, coach Pat Murphy believes, is the point of ASU’s policy of always picking each other up, regardless of the situation.

“You see a lot of teams where a guy strikes out, and it goes down through the lineup because that negative energy goes down through the team,” Paramore said. “If that guy gets over it quicker, it’s infectious. If that guy is not upset over it, how can the rest of the team be?

“It enables us to get back on focus and use those 27 outs a lot better.”

If a Sun Devil strikes out, leaves the tying run on base, commits a huge error or gives up five runs in an inning, he can count on one thing: Having a teammate being by his side for a show of encouragement and solidarity.

It is an ideal that ASU believes plays a big role in the success of the team, which faces UC Irvine in a College World Series first-round contest on Saturday at Rosenblatt Stadium.

“You don’t see too many players, after they strike out, come back to the dugout and not only think positively, but pass it on to the next guy,” junior outfielder and team captain Rocky Laguna said.

“A guy who just failed is saying, 'Hey, I know you can pick me up. I have faith in you.’ That gives a player confidence.”

The ideal had its genesis two years ago, when the Sun Devils’ road to the CWS hit a pothole.

In 2005, ASU slumped midway through the season, and many of its key veteran players were lifeless. Coach Pat Murphy concluded that his team’s problem was that it was holding on to its failures for too long.

As a result, a new team rule was adopted: Fail, forget about it and focus on the player following you.

“When a guy gets out, he’s disappointed, but his first responsibility is to come back to the next guy and connect,” Murphy said. “Look him in the eye and touch him. You say, 'Hey, go get him and pick me up.’ Leave your emotion right there. And you don’t go down in the runway, throw your helmet down and not pay attention to the next at-bat.

“Be there to support your teammate. I hate seeing that, guys walk down the runway, throw their helmet down, go in the tunnel, eat a sandwich, do whatever, then come back into the dugout and say, 'OK, my at-bat is over, so what are we going to do?’ I think that’s b.s.”

Murphy laid down the law in ’05, and the players have enforced it themselves since. A close-knit roster has helped, second baseman Eric Sogard said.

“Coach sets that, but we take it upon ourselves to keep doing it,” Sogard said. “We believe in each other. If we don’t get the job done, we truly believe someone else will. That’s taken this team really far.”

Though the pick-me-ups this year have not been sincere enough for Murphy’s liking — “We kind of go through the motions with it,” he said — ASU’s opponents have taken notice.

“I had the pleasure of seeing ASU in the College World Series in 2005 and saw the level of enthusiasm they play with and how they pick each other up,” Monmouth coach Dean Ehehalt said during the Tempe Regional two weeks ago. “As a team, we talk about (playing like) that.”

What are the tangible results of the Sun Devils’ emotional rescues? After the policy was put in place in 2005, they embarked on a wild ride to Omaha. And Paramore cited Game 1 of the super regional against Mississippi, in which ASU scored three ninth-inning runs to win.

“Look at other teams, like Ole Miss,” Paramore said. “After that ninth inning, the next day, they had no shot. I would like to think that if our team was in the same situation, our thinking would have been, 'Let’s get over it, let’s go do it and pick ourselves up.’

“It’s a mind-set that we’ve picked up from Coach Murphy, and it’s a totally different attitude — a winning attitude.”