Crowder Takes the Long Road Home
3/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The old saying goes that "You can never go home again."
Fortunately for Kent State University senior outfielder Adam Crowder, aformer standout at Crestwood High School in Mantua, that just isn't thecase.
A year-and-a-half ago, Crowder was a player without a team. He leftEastern Kentucky University after playing two seasons there and decided toreturn to Portage County to attend classes at Kent State with no plans toplay baseball. By the time the 2003 season ended, Crowder had helped leadthe Golden Flashes to the Mid-American Conference regular-season title andearned third-team All-America honors as a designated hitter.
Crowder's story begins four years ago when he hit an amazing .623 as asenior at Crestwood en route to receiving prep All-America honorablemention. But Kent State head coach Rick Rembielak did not recruit himbecause he felt Crowder was a "man without a position" and lacked thenecessary defensive skills both as an infielder and outfielder.
So Crowder went to Eastern Kentucky, where he led the Colonels inslugging percentage as a freshman and batted .364 in limited action as asophomore. A coaching change at EKU and a touch of homesickness, however,prompted him to transfer and ultimately decide to return to northeast Ohio. A chance meeting with then-senior outfielder Eric O'Brien prompted Crowderto try and walk-on at Kent State.
"I'd heard rumblings that he wanted to leave Eastern," Rembielak said."But I didn't know until a few days before school was starting that he wason campus, enrolled in school and wanted to go through walk-on tryouts. Itwas a surprise to me that he was here."
Needless to say, Crowder was the best player there. Still, Rembielakcouldn't guarantee him a spot on the team due to an athleticdepartment-imposed roster cap. By the end of the fall semester, however, aspot opened up and Crowder joined the team.
He started the 2003 season slowly before becoming a one-man wreckingcrew in early April. He went 4-for-6 with a home run, five RBI and fourruns scored at Duquesne University April 2. Two weeks later he batted3-for-6 with two home runs, three runs scored and a career-high eight RBIversus the University of Toledo April 13 and followed with a 4-for-4,five-RBI performance at Marshall April 18. Against Miami University May11, he was 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBI.
"He's a streak hitter," Rembielak said. "The ball looked like it was abeach ball to him during that stretch. He was a guy you couldn't get out."
Crowder, who also earned first-team All-MAC and All-Mideast Regionhonors, concluded the season ranked 10th in the MAC with a .368 battingaverage and was second on the team with 13 home runs and 44 runs-batted-in.
"He is so strong in his forearms," said Rembielak. "The ball jumps offhis bat like a superball."
Still, neither Rembielak nor Crowder would have predicted the slugger'ssuccess last season.
"The potential was there, but I hadn't seen him for two years," saidRembielak. "It was certainly a pleasant surprise."
"(Earning All-America honors) surprised me," Crowder said. "My workpaid off. I was just happy to be playing, and that was an added bonus."
Crowder has struggled to live up to the newfound expectations so farthis spring. Through the first five weeks of the season, Crowder ishitting just .184 (9-for-49) with 14 strikeouts, no home runs and only sixRBI.
"Last year's team was really good," said Crowder, who has moved toright field this season for the 5-9 Flashes. "When I stepped in, there wasno pressure to produce, anything I did was extra. This year I'm gettingpitched a little tougher and I'm struggling."
"It's going to be tougher for him this year because he's a marked man,"added Rembielak. "His name is in all the publications for preseasonAll-America so he's not going to be able to sneak up on anybody. It willbe more demanding on him as a hitter from the mental side of things."
Crowder concurs.
"Hitting's all mental," he said. "You can get on that mental streakwhen you feel no one can get you out, but sometimes you go the otherroute."
Playing a mere 20 minutes from his parents' home in Mantua, however, hasmade it easier for Crowder to deal with his struggles.
"At Eastern, I would just go back to my room and dwell on it," he said. "Now, I can go home to my family and forget about it."
Crowder is not too concerned with his early-season struggles though,citing team goals of winning another MAC championship and advancing to theNCAA regionals as his primary focus.
And with another April just around the corner, he just may heat up likethe weather again and do just that.
Homegrown talent important to Kent State's success
In addition to Adam Crowder, 13 other Portage County natives dot therosters of Kent State University's 18 varsity sports teams for the 2003-04academic year.
Four are from Kent's own Roosevelt High School, with two others hailingfrom Southeast High in Palmyra. Perhaps the most notable current PortageCounty product besides Crowder, is Travis Mayle, another Crestwood Highgraduate, who kicked two last-second game-winning field goals for theGolden Flashes football team last fall.
