Robby Newman - an extremely versatile athlete
Pete Zell, coach of the Salem Sun Devils baseball team, recognizes that his team has a lot of room to grow. “This year we’ll have a couple seniors, a few juniors, but the majority of the team will be sophomores,” he says.
“We played a lot of freshmen last year who were on a varsity squad for the first time.” The youth of the Sun Devils could be an advantage, though. The younger players this season will have as much or more varsity play than other teams in the Beach District in the seasons to come.
Despite their relative youth, Zell has high hopes for the Sun Devils this year. “I want us to be in a position to make a run at regional competition,” he says. Although Salem was unable to accomplish that feat last season, they did clinch the district title two years ago. If these young men hope to duplicate that achievement, they will need their performance to peak in the latter part of the season, explains Zell. “At the beginning of the year, most teams play like young teams, but towards the end, the team that can play like it has experience will come out ahead.”
If the Sun Devils are able to make headway in the district and region it will likely come as a result of their strong work ethic. This is a hard-working group. Many of them condition themselves with weight training outside of the baseball season. When they are on the diamond together, there is a chemistry that few other teams in the district are able to match. Although their opponents may have more standouts and more depth, the Sun Devils are still able to compete – and win – because of these assets. This becomes apparent, for instance, in the short game, which Salem does well enough to remain competitive.
Salem has proven that it produces some of the finest baseball players to come out of the Beach District; several of its graduates now play – and excel – in college, such as Randy Buffington, a pitcher at Virginia Tech. Zell strives to give each player that opportunity, provided that they are willing to do their part. “I hope I can influence these young men positively,” he says. “My goal is to give every dedicated player a shot at playing in college.”
One Sun Devil who may very well have that opportunity is sixteen-year-old sophomore Robby Newman. “I would definitely like to play baseball in college,” he explains. “I’m working hard to make sure that I have the grades to get into a good school. Then I’ll see where things go from there.”
Newman’s assets on the diamond make him a good contender for a college program. He is an extremely versatile athlete; he competently covers the positions of third base, catcher and pitcher. Newman has an excellent arm, giving him the ability to throw hard, particularly across the infield. The key to perfecting infield play, he notes, is repetition. Newman repeatedly takes ground balls in practice and gets them to go where he wants. He is adroit as well in offense, another skill that takes constant refinement. His work behind the plate was enough to earn him an honorable mention as “Catcher of the Year” for the Beach District – a distinction that is all the more impressive considering he earned it as a freshman.
Newman recognizes his exertions as part of the larger team effort. “If we can make the little plays, the bigger things will come,” he claims. “Take errors, for instance. Instead of having one error turn into another and another and so on, if we can somehow take advantage of that error and learn from it, then we will be able to turn a negative play into an advantage.”
Newman sees several areas in which his team can grow, but he is very pleased with the squad’s cohesiveness. “Our pitching team is young overall this year,” he says. Most of these young men were “spit into the fire” as Newman says and had to perform at varsity level immediately upon entering the high school. They have done well, though, and look to each other for guidance and support. As the Sun Devils look ahead to this season and beyond, that unity will help them age wisely.
