GAMES-Middle’s Chuck Dougherty Reflects on 200 Wins

For Frank Dougherty it’s all about Panther pride.
The long-time Middle Township baseball coach recently picked up the 200th win of his career with the Panther boys. He also garnered 100 victories in a seven-year run with Middle’s softball squad in the ‘90s.
The 2010 season was filled with youth and inexperience and the wins came less frequently than Dougherty has become accustomed to achieving. He’s OK with it because like each season, he cherishes the improvement he sees over the course of the year, particularly in his very young players.
“I love freshmen,” said Dougherty, a collegiate player in the glory days at Glassboro State College. “We have nice kids and nice players.”
Dougherty hesitated when asked about his dugout milestone. He doesn’t focus on anything except preparing the team to compete and to help them learn the game.
“I really haven’t thought about that 200th win,” he said. “We struggled this year but we did well with such a young team. At times we had one senior on the field.”
Dougherty is quick with fond recollections of the achievements of his players. Things such as their 100th career hits or double figure strike out games from his hurlers. Those statistics, team and player numbers, excite him.
Fondness for his teams and players makes his sadness all the deeper as Dougherty contemplates that passing of three players from his squads of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.Teammates Art Cannon, George Tanner and Neil Chase passed away early in their adult lives and Dougherty struggles to comprehend their loss.
“They were all good kids,” he said. “You never get over that.”
Having been around the game for so long, Dougherty is qualified to reflect and comment on the changes he has seen in players and parents. He said the girls on his softball teams get past the games quicker than the boys on the baseball squads.
“The girls were more mechanical,” said Dougherty. “The girls go play and when it’s over it rolls off of their backs quicker. But those girls never backed down either.”
Parent relationships are a topic for every coach and Dougherty is no exception.
“It can be tougher to deal with parents today,” he said. “Sometimes they expect their kids to be perhaps better than they really are. The parents should let their children play and not expect them to exceed their capabilities.”
Dougherty noted a time when players fought hard to earn a starting spot.
“Today some kids just expect to be in the starting line up,” he said. “Perhaps, along the way, some people told them they were better than they really are.”
Dougherty noted a couple of recent, truly standout players such Lower Cape May’s Matt Szczur and Millville’ Mike Trout. Experts expect Villanova’s Szczur to be selected near the top of Major League Baseball’s June draft while Trout is already putting up impressive professional baseball statistics.
“To get a true gauge, parents should compare their sons to those guys,” said Dougherty. “That’s the way to know where you truly stand against the top competition.”
Dougherty doesn’t expect the bulk of his players to be competing at the collegiate level, let alone professional baseball.
“You’ll only get a few of those guys in your coaching career,” he said. “But we’re in this to see kids get better from freshman through senior year.”
At Glassboro State, Dougherty played for venerable Mickey Briglia. The late head coach told his former player to change or get out of the game.
“We were old time baseball guys,” said Dougherty. “Coach Briglia knew that the modern athlete was different and methods of coaching had to adjust. He knew we couldn’t handle players the way we were instructed.”
Frank Dougherty has been by his brother’s side from almost every victory. As another baseball lifer, he’s offered his perspectives at every turn.
“What struck me about Chuck’s accomplishment is that a lot of coaches accumulate a lot of wins over long careers,” said Frank. “Unlike other programs which seem to attract consistently high levels of talent, Chuck has worked hard to instill the pride and dedication it takes to be a winning program regardless of talent level.”
Frank Dougherty said his brother “works harder” when he has a young team looking to overachieve.
“Some guys in this business need to be recognized not for winning 20 games a season but for consistently putting a good product on the field and getting the most of out of their players,” said Frank. “That’s what Chuck does.”
Reach Rossi at joerossi61@comcast.net
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