The Emporia State baseball team stood at 23-17, had lost three of four against Northwest Missouri State and had a long trip back to Emporia when coach Bob Fornelli said the entire season changed.
It wasn’t a pep talk — not a players’ only meeting or even a chewing out that helped his team.
As crazy as it sounds, Fornelli said it all changed when one of his players popped Season One of the television series “Entourage” into the DVD player on the bus trip.
“It’s been our lucky charm,” Fornelli said, “It stuck, and I believe it’s made us even closer.”
So what exactly does an HBO comedy about a film star and his buddies have to do with baseball?
Turns out not much. But the show still has unified the players and given them all something they can relate to.
“Every good team has some quirk,” Fornelli said. “A few years ago it was a skull on the road the guys had found that they brought with them.
“Something clicked with the show, and it’s something we’ve hung on to. Players and coaches have both gotten into it.”
So much so that, on the road trips alone, the team has made it through all three seasons of “Entourage” — which in total comes to around 40 episodes.
The team gathers on road trips in the hotel to watch Season Four, and Fornelli has ordered HBO at his house for that one show alone.
“Now, guys almost fight to get back on the bus,” Fornelli said, “just to see what happens next.”
One can’t argue with the results since the show was introduced to the team. ESU has gone 16-5 since then, had a seven-game winning streak and also won the MIAA Tournament championship.
“It was one of those things where we watched it one game and won, so we thought, ‘Heck, why not watch it the next game?’” ESU senior Tim Barger said. “Everyone really likes it.”
ESU also has adopted some of the catch-phrases from the show in its daily routines.
One of the most famous lines comes from the character Johnny Drama, who often yells out, “Victory!”
The Hornets now use the slogan in their break. Instead of saying “Hornets” or “Defense” or any of the other clichéd cheers in their huddle, they now yell out “Victory!”
It doesn’t always fit, either. After last week’s 16-6 loss to Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo., Fornelli said the habits stayed the same.
“We were run-ruled and had to win the next game,” Fornelli said. “I was walking off the field, and after the team finished talking to each other, I hear them yell, “Victory!” behind me.”
It worked. ESU won the next three games to take the tournament title.
“I’m sure people are thinking, ‘What the heck are they doing?’” Fornelli said, “but it’s something that’s not going to change.”
Hornets prepare for
Wayne State
ESU will face a familiar opponent in the first round of Regionals Thursday, playing Wayne State for the second consecutive year.
The Hornets defeated WSC, 8-1, in last year’s Regional.
“Wayne’s a program,” Fornelli said, “that’s been good for a long time.”
The Wildcats are the 13th-winningest Division-II team of this decade, posting a 246-113-1 record.
Though Wayne boasts three solid starters, Fornelli expected the Hornets to go up against left-hander Travis Mortimore.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior comes in with a 3-5 record and 4.89 earned-run average.
With a fastball in the upper-80s, Mortimore held Division-I Nebraska to no earned runs in four innings of work on March 13.
Meanwhile, ESU will counter with its own lanky lefty: 6-foot-4 Trent Lare.
The senior has an 8-3 record and 3.13 ERA.
ESU comes in playing its best baseball of the year, winning 10 of its last 11 games.
Two of those victories also came against No. 7 Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament Championship at the Mules’ home field in Warrensburg, Mo.
“We’re all excited with the way we’ve played the last couple weeks,” Barger said. “We’ve beat a team everybody knows is capable of making the World Series, and we beat them twice in the same day.
“We’re excited to know and believe that we can make the World Series.”
Only one of the six North Central Regional teams will advance to the Division-II World Series in Montgomery, Ala. on May 26.