Deltona Trinity Christian Academy's boys baseball team gets inspiration from afar

DELTONA - Just as Deltona Trinity Christian Academy's 8-7 region championship baseball victory against Central Florida Christian Academy ended, Brian Soukup's cell phone rang.

It was Trinity's big-league connection -- timed perfectly.

Andrew Brown, a fourth-year major-league reliever for the Oakland Athletics, had to know how his alma mater did before he left his hotel room for a game against the Texas Rangers. He got the good news from Soukup, Trinity's athletic director, then asked him to hand the phone to sophomore Ryan Hadden, who Brown congratulated before the Eagles posed for postgame picture-taking.

The pride of Trinity Christian -- the small school's first and only pro in any sport -- is proud of the Eagles.

"I've definitely been pulling for those guys and keeping up with them," Brown said in a phone interview. "I knew all along it was a team with a lot of potential."

Brown's involvement is not just from afar. For the past two seasons, he donated substantial time running drills at Trinity's preseason workouts before he left for spring training.

"He helped out considerably," said Mike Maples, the second-year Trinity head coach who had a young Andrew Brown as a star in the making on his West Volusia Pony League youth teams. "We pretty much turned it over to Andrew some days. The kids were awed at a major-leaguer being here. Most of these guys knew of Andrew, but they didn't know him until he started coming out last year."

Now Trinity's players know Brown well enough that the awe has turned into inspiration.

Brown gave the Eagles pointers on making the right pitch at the right time, pop-up priority and first-and-third situations. He showed new pitching grips. The 6-foot-6 right-hander even took a little heat off and threw batting practice.

Maybe best of all, Brown showed genuine interest. He asked players to practice seriously, but he also shared his sense of humor.

"He's always happy, and he told me that's a big deal, to make sure it's fun," said Hadden, a 6-3, 200-pound sophomore who has shown flashes of pro potential.

Brown, 27, came up with his own nicknames for players, such as "McFadden" rather than Hadden and "Josey" for sophomore Jose Garcia.

Brown saw right away in the 2007 preseason that Trinity had talent, including quality ninth-graders who are now sophomore standouts. He told them about his TCA days and the 1998 team he led to the final four as a junior. The Eagles lost 4-1 to 1A state champ Bradenton Christian.

"From the very first practice I was preaching to them to do everything with the mind-set that you're going to be playing in the final four," he said. "Believe in yourself; believe more in your teammates."

Brown insisted that every drill be done correctly -- or be done again.

"We were doing the same things we work on every day in spring training at a big-league level," Brown said. "The idea is to practice it perfect every time."

Brown left Deltona in February to report back to the majors, but the connection stayed intact.

Several Trinity baseball families have made weekend trips to see Brown's team play Tampa Bay.

Sophomore center fielder Hunter Weaver saw all three games of an A's series against the Rays in 2007, and he has text-messaged Brown this season.

"I just catch him up on our scores and how we're doing," Weaver said.

Garcia also sends updates.

"He made us better," Garcia said during a practice last week. "He sacrificed his time to help us."

Brown is in Oakland for a game against Tampa Bay tonight, but you know he'll call Soukup before the A's take the field.

"What Trinity is doing is not about me," Brown said. "Those kids put in the work and it's paying off for them, but I definitely feel like I'm a part of it. It's exciting to see."

Related topic galleries: Physical Fitness, Teaching and Learning, Spring Training, Fort Meade, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Major League Baseball

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