Dillenger Not A Stranger To Spartanburg Area, Brings Collegiate Experience To Staff
Web Posted June 22, 2010
Cameron Aiken

SPARTANBURG, S.C. —Assistant Coach Anthony Dillenger reigns over all the Blue Eagles offensive responsibilities, from making out the lineup card before the game, to signaling a double steal or hit and run that could end the game. On June 18 after the Ashville Redbirds came to town, Dillenger took some time and answered a variety of questions that pertained to his baseball background, his thoughts on the Blue Eagles offensive production, and the offensive tactics that he believes best suit the Blue Eagles lineup. The following is an edited transcript of the Dillenger meeting.

C.A: Describe how you started playing baseball?
A.D: “I just started playing coaching pitch. My dad was a big influence getting me signed up and I’ve just continued playing since. I played at Gaffney high and then I played four years at Newberry College.”

C.A: When did you know you wanted to become a coach?
A.D: “Well, I actually did not plan on going into coaching, but as soon as I finished at Newberry, I was offered the volunteer job at Wofford and that’s how I got started in coaching. I was at Wofford for 2 and ½ years, and moved up after my first year. I got offered a job with Spartanburg Methodist this past spring and now I’m there.”

C.A: Who were you connected to at Wofford for a job to be offered to you right after college?
A.D: “I played for coach (Todd) Interdonato in the New York Collegiate Baseball League one summer, and when I got done with college he had just received the Wofford head coaching job. I texted him saying congratulations on getting the job and he just asked me if I wanted to help him out.”

C.A: You are at SMC (Spartanburg Methodists College) now, talk about coaching under Coach Tim Wallace who has had a lot of success as a baseball coach.
A.D: “I have learned a lot when it comes to game management. He’s (Wallace) is more of a big inning guy. He lets his guys hit and pretty much waits for the long ball. He’ll bunt every now and then, but mainly he lets his guys swing because we had a lot of good hitters this past spring. I mean, I’ve watched when he uses a “hit and run” and when he wants to just steal and stuff like that. I guess I have really watched what he likes to do in certain situations and it has helped me as far as managing a game.”

C.A: You’re with the Blue Eagles for the summer, how did you get involved with this organization?
A.D: “Originally I was supposed to coach travel ball this summer, but I was able to get out of that because none of my guys from SMC were playing on the team. I coached in Morganton (SCBL) the last two summers and that’s how I knew Ryan. (Thomas) He called me and asked me if I’d be interested in assisting him and it worked out to be a good setup because I live here in Spartanburg.”

C.A: Coach Thomas has said time and time again you are in charge of the offense. What are your responsibilities as far as making out the lineup?
A.D: “I’ll make out two lineups everyday and we’ll kind of talk about it. For the most part it is up to me right now. He will let me know who is going to play and then I decide where they bat. We are going to stick with that until the halfway point of the season. After the halfway point, we are going to start placing guys in the lineup based on their performance. If someone deserves to be playing more, they will. Yes though, right now I pretty much handle all the offensive responsibilities.”

C.A: Any particular way you like to play, an overall philosophy at the plate or on the base paths?
A.D: “Well, it depends on the guys we have. I feel like we only have a handful of guys that can actually steal bases. I would prefer to steal and “hit and run” rather than trying to sac bunt someone over all the time. My big thing is play hard, take advantage of the defense if they are relaxing on balls that are being hit.”

C.A: What are your thoughts on how the Blue Eagles have hit the baseball up to this point? Impressed or disappointed?
A.D: “I thought we would start off slow considering we didn’t have a catcher when we first reported. We didn’t get to inter-squad or face any live pitching until our first game and it takes some time to get adjusted to the wooden bat. Since the first five games we have actually squared some balls up and really put the barrel of the bat on the ball. The other night against Statesville we had ten hits and only four runs, but it’s apparent we are hitting better. It also looks to me like we are getting a lot more timely hitting and driving in more runs as of late. Even in BP (batting practice) everyone looks more comfortable and just having better at bats.”

C.A: You mentioned getting comfortable using a wooden bat as opposed to an aluminum one. You have used an aluminum and wooden bat when you played college baseball; can you differentiate between the two and explain why some guys can make the transition to wood and some cannot.
A.D: “Well the weight ratio is different. Sometimes guys will try to do too much with the aluminum bat as far as hitting homeruns. It might be typical of a guy like (Alex) Dozier when using an aluminum bat to hit a few homeruns, but with a wood bat he is going to have to play to his talents more or he won’t succeed. It makes you really focus on what you are capable of doing and play to your strengths. Dozier has made that transition because he’s been able to hit line drives and hit the ball on the ground which enables him to use his speed.”

C.A: Does the lack of homeruns (2) that have been hit by this team worry you in any way?
A.D: “We have a bunch of young guys on our team with a lot of freshman and sophomores, so they are going to have to make that adjustment to wood and just swinging the bat consistently. I do look for us to run some more balls out of the yard as the season progresses. I also feel like some other those numbers are skewed with the other teams in the league because we play in a larger park than most everyone else. I know a lot of teams play in high school ball parks which obviously have smaller dimensions than what we see here at Wofford.”

C.A: Can you name one or two players who have really impressed you at the plate up to this point?
A.D: I’ve really enjoyed watching Dozier wreak havoc at the top of the order. Like I said earlier, he has really used his speed to help us out. Josh Pless is another one who is really helped us out. Pless came to us late from the Citadel and he has really hit the ball good for us. He’s hit in the three hole for us and I’ve been impressed. Gaither (Bumgardner) also has done what I have asked of him. His average might not be the best, but he has gotten players over and had some key base hits when we have needed them.