Tim Hill II - SCF Baseball Program

SCF Baseball Program Developing Players, Celebrating Alumni and Raising Funds for New Batting Cages

SCF Baseball Coach Tim Hill II believes being a coach is about teaching his players about life—setting goals, working hard, the life skills that will eventually make his players good husbands and fathers. And a big part of life comes down to winning. “We’re all about winning. The games should be fun, but it’s about winning in life,” he said. “If a doctor’s not a good doctor, he won’t be a doctor for long.” This year, like every other year, Hill’s goal for the team is to win a National Championship in baseball. His personal goal is to help his players get to where they want to go next, whether that’s Major League Baseball or to transfer to a university. “I love winning, but at the end of the day, the players want to know you care,” Hill said. “When you show that, everything else falls into place.” Hill is proud that his players take their class work as seriously as they do their work on the field. During the last season, the baseball team was named a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Honorable Mention Academic Team of the Year. The baseball team had a cumulative 3.18 GPA. “The faculty tell me they love having baseball players in their classes,” Hill said. “I tell players if you don’t care about classes or learning, this isn’t the place for you.” Alumni weekend is always the weekend “ before baseball season starts. It is special, because it allows alumni to see their former teammates and to meet their families. It’s good for the current players too. “They see the guys come back with their wives and three or four kids running on the fields,” Hill said. “It’s neat to see the former players on the field playing catch with their kids.” Hill said so many players return to SCF for alumni weekends because they remember they had a good experience at the College. Hill loves the reunions too, because it gives him an opportunity to see players his dad, SCF’s baseball coach for 31 seasons, had an impact on, and the ones he helped as well. INSPIRE 2018 23

“My dad taught me that my job is to have an impact,” Hill said. “Sometimes you don’t realize that you did until years later.” Alumnus Rich Hudson, who played for Manatee Junior College from 1970-72, has started to organize a 50-year reunion for the 1971-72 seasons. The players from 1999 also are planning for a 20-year reunion. Hill said quite a few alumni have contributed to much-needed new batting cages for the team. “It’s an expensive project, and we have a long way to go,” Hill said. “We’ve been working on it for a few years. Any place where the alumni have a good experience, they I love winning, want to give back and we have seen that. Any gifts, from the smallest to the largest, are but at the end appreciated.” of the day, the Hill has been working to get new batting cages, players want to because the Manatees are the only team in the conference without covered cages, meaningknow you care.” when it’s raining, the team is limited in its practices. And that, he said, makes it harder to compete with schools like Chipola College. “The new cages will help us keep pace with the other programs,” Hill said. “When kids are looking for a college and want to play baseball, they are looking for scholarships and at facilities. For us it’s a priority.”