North Adams SteepleCats Name New Manager
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The SteepleCats have picked Amherst College's Pitching Coach Bryan Adamski to lead the team to a bounce back season.Adamski takes over for Clayton Kuklick as the team's skipper. Adamski used to play against the Cats when he spent two seasons with the Holyoke Giants. From there he went on to be an assistant coach with Amherst in 2008 and will take over the college's pitching staff. This summer he will be taking his knowledge of both offense and defense to hopefully put some numbers in North Adams' win column.
"Part of the reason why this job was so attractive to me is because you guys, as a group, do things right," Adamski said Thursday morning when the team announced the move. "The core values of this organization very much align with my beliefs, looking at it as an individual and the game of baseball. The strong community bonds that are in place here, the experience that the North Adams players have is tremendous and second to none."
Steeplecats General Manager Sean McGrath had been searching for a manager during the off season when Amherst Head Coach Brian Hamm recommended Adamski. McGrath said he later met Adamski at a conference and "had a feeling" that he was the right one for the job. For Adamski, just before the conference he found out that he would not be able to do an internship with Major League Baseball so meeting McGrath then was the perfect timing.
"I had a feeling right then and there," McGrath said of the initial meeting. "He came prepared, he knows his NECBL. He brings a lot to the table. He's going to bring the baseball acumen, the baseball intelligence. He was a versatile player."
Adamski has been both a hitting and pitching coach. He was a four-year starter at the University of Massachusetts as a shortstop but also came in to pitch. His coaching resume not only includes Amherst but he also led a high school all star team to Bay State Games gold and was an assistant coach for one year with Holyoke. The biggest challenge to coaching in the NECBL is not the baseball knowledge, Adamski said, but rather getting the players to work together.
The players come into the league with personal goals, not team goals, and the coach needs to find ways to get the players to work together for the few months they are here.
"If I put in the time as a coach and I am available to my players and their development, that is showing up early, leading by example, working hard for them, I am pretty confident that's going to create a culture of our team of guys working hard for one another," Adamski said. "To be successful in this league, you have to get off to a good start."
Often guys will get upset with their playing time or role because they joined the league to help them get drafted and cliques form, Adamski said. The coach needs to balance developing the individual players with winning games for the organization. Another challenge is that with the transition to wooden bats, many players begin to struggle for the first time in their life.
As for the style the team will play, Adamski said it will depend on the players. However, he did say he likes to run. And so far, the roster is looking conducive to that, McGrath said. The outfielders currently on the roster have a lot of speed. Additionally, McGrath feels there are a few power hitters and good gloves up the middle. But the team's performance will depend on how those players transition to the league.
Adamski will continue to coach at Amherst and has already made an agreement with Hamm that his focus will switch to the Cats when the season approaches. That agreement is something Adamski hopes will last because that will mean he remains in the Cats' dugout.
"Hopefully, we'll be in a position where we can win some ball games and I can stay on long term," Adamski said. "Looking down the road, not trying to get too far ahead of myself, I would love to be more involved in this community."
