The art of winning

The St. Clair Saints men’s baseball team have enjoyed immediate success ever since head coach Dave Cooper took over in 2012.

After recording the first perfect season in program history this year (20-0) many are starting to recognize the talents of Dave Cooper. Entering his fourth season with the Saints, Cooper has already won a Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association National Championship (2012) and back-to-back OCAA and OUA/OCAA championships (2013-2014) as coach of the Saints. He was also honoured as the OCAA Men’s Baseball Coach of the Year in 2014-2015.

Cooper said a major part of his success with the Saints has been the recruitment of players from the summer baseball team he has coached for over six years now. The Tecumseh Thunder has proved to be a perennial powerhouse over the years winning three National Championships under Cooper.

Eric Cunningham is one of five players to play for Cooper with both the Saints and Thunder. Cunningham was the recipient of the Male Athlete of the Year award last year at St. Clair while posting a .548 batting average this season for the Saints. With all his achievements in his baseball career, he credits his coach for much of his success.

“He is the coach that is going to be there from beginning to end anytime you need him,” said Cunningham. “He pushes effort more than any other coach I’ve ever had and gets the best out of his players.”

The effort Cooper asks for proved to work as the team posted a combined .330 batting average and a team Earned Run Average of .161.

While the Saints have been experiencing excellence over the years, Cooper said there are always challenges the team must overcome.

“Our pitching is so dominant,” said Cooper. “Our top three have been unhittable. The problem is our players know if we get one or two runs we’re probably going to win. The tendency is for a lot of the athletes to let the next guy do it. When that starts happening you get yourself in trouble.”

With all the success the Saints have had over the years, they have experienced little feeling of what it’s like to lose. Cunningham said it is something the team will need to figure out before the championships.

“It’s tough not losing,” said Cunningham. “Some guys start coasting and take it easy because we’re expected to win. Winning all the time is a blessing but it has a curse behind it.”

Cooper is also widely regarded as one of the most accomplished local players that Windsor/Essex has ever seen. As a player he won seven Senior Men’s National Championships with the Windsor Chiefs and another with the Tecumseh Green Giants.

As the Saints head to London, Ont. for the OCAA championships, they’ll be without their head coach for their night game. Cooper will be recognized for his talents and inducted into the Windsor Essex Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 23.

“If we win they’ll say we should have won,” said Cooper. “If we don’t, that’s going to be news. We don’t want to make too much news.”