"Trust The Process" Leads Blue Hens Through Adversity

The phrase "Trust the Process" is commonly heard around this region.

It's been the mantra of the Philadelphia 76ers for many dormant years, which led into the past two playoff-bound seasons for the local NBA team.

While it may occasionally be thrown around without much meaning behind it, it's a statement that has rung true for the 2019 University of Delaware baseball team.

To say the start of the season was tough for the Blue Hens is like saying a root canal is only slightly painful.

Delaware lost its first 13 games of the season.

After nearly every game, head coach Jim Sherman talked about the process of getting the inexperienced guys at-bats, getting them game situations under their belt and trusting in the work put in.

The first win came on March 10.

Since that date, the Blue Hens have won 11 of their 17 games, and are currently winners of four straight and five of their past six. This past weekend, Delaware swept William & Mary to move to 5-4 in the CAA, just two games behind the league's leaders.

"We all talked about it from the beginning, we knew there was a trust the process mentality," senior Kevin Mohollen said. "When you spend so much time working and getting better next to each other and really pushing each other, you know it will come, you just have to trust the work that we've put in since the fall."

Entering the 2019 season, Mohollen was just one of two Blue Hens with 200-plus at-bats at the Division I level. The other was Kyle Baker, who in the first game of the year suffered a season-ending torn labrum. Delaware's top offensive threat was sidelined just like that.

Three weeks later, the Blue Hens lost their top starter, Billy Sullivan IV to Tommy John surgery.

"I know the type of kids in that locker room. We have high character guys who are going to fight and battle," Sherman said. "Adversity is either going to break you or make you stronger. I think we're seeing now that our guys are taking the latter approach to that saying."

"Baseball is one of those games that you know you're not going to hit .500 and win every game, that's not how this game works. We had to keep working and keep focusing on taking a better approach every time we took the field and it would work out if we kept trusting that," sophomore Jordan Hutchins added.

Through the first 13 games, the Blue Hens were hitting .203 with an ERA of over 9.00. Since then, Delaware's ERA is 4.87 with a team average of .256.

"We have a trust in each other and we know that we have each other's back. There's been nights when our offense hasn't clicked, but our pitching has picked it up. There's been nights where we haven't pitched well, but our bats came through. It's all about doing whatever we can to help the team get the job done," senior Brandon Walter said.

After every game this year, the Blue Hens break their postgame huddle with one word, "brothers." The power behind that statement has brought them through early season adversity and now one of the hottest teams in the CAA.

"We're all brothers in that locker room and when you have that bond, you're willing to do whatever it takes to win for the guy next to you," Mohollen added. "We're certainly not close to where we want to be, but we have to just keep focusing on getting better and pushing each other, we have to trust the process."

University of Delaware Athletics

"Trust The Process" Leads Blue Hens Through Adversity

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Baker

Jordan Hutchins

Kevin Mohollen

Billy Sullivan IV

Brandon Walter

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