Calm ‘grinders’ led State College Spikes to another league title

As the State College Spikes celebrated on the field Monday night, posing for pictures and hoisting their New York-Penn League Championship trophy, manager Johnny Rodriguez was discussing what made that team so special.

It was an answer he probably gave 20 or 30 times over the course of the summer, as the momentum built with win after win.

“They have slow heart beats,” he said so many times, the last of which he muttered Monday night following a 2-1 win over Hudson Valley at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to complete a two-game sweep of the title series.

“It didn’t matter what the situation was, they just have slow heart beats,” Rodriguez said. “They slow everything down and go about their business 9 to 5, like somebody going to an office and punching a clock.”

It was one of many reasons the Spikes captured their second league crown in three years, and played in their third title series in four seasons.

Another factor, brought up frequently by Rodriguez, was his roster was filled with “grinders.” There wasn’t a plethora of outstanding talent, of shooting stars destined to make the Majors in a year or two, but men who saw the value of hard work.

“It’s what the Cardinals are made of,” Rodriguez said. “We grind. … We might not have the best team, but we’ve got the toughest make up. Sometimes it takes that much of a make up and grind, put down the expectations and go out there and grind — unbelievable.”

Fans of other Major League teams, especially of rivals in the National League Central, hate hearing the phrase “The Cardinal Way.” Some view it as a form of arrogance. But it’s a value instilled throughout the farm system, combining talent with work ethic and a style that produces results. Only the New York Yankees have won more World Series titles, and so much of what the Cardinals put on the field each season is home grown.

It’s hard to dispute with results.

That made the two-year extension of the franchise agreement between the Spikes and Cardinals, settled in the final week of the regular season, a welcome sign. After six years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and not having a lot of wins on the field, it’s hard to dispute what the Cardinals do for the Spikes.

Rodriguez certainly didn’t think he had that kind of a winner — setting the team record with 50 wins in the regular season before taking four more in the postseason — when they first stepped into the stadium together back in mid-June.

“When we started the season, I couldn’t say we could do that,” Rodriguez said. “54 wins? No. Not even Las Vegas (would give) the odds on that with that club.”

And the Spikes players made it work with what they had. There was a stretch during the season in which there were hardly any bench players available, leaving practically the same starting lineup day after day, yet they kept winning.

And it’s that Cardinal foundation that fed their confidence to keep believing they could do it, despite the injuries and players getting promoted up the franchise ladder.

“You can always tell when you’ve got a good club,” said third baseman Danny Hudzina, whose two-run home run provided all the team’s scoring in Monday’s season finale. “We really didn’t lose a lot of games, obviously, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes. When we made mistakes, the other guys would pick each other up. As the season went on and progressed, we really started to take notice how good this team was.”

The numbers showed they were good all around. They finished fourth as a team in batting average, second in total hits, second in doubles, tied for third in home runs and first in total runs. Ryan McCarvel was second in home runs with 10, while he and Vince Jackson tied for second in RBIs with 45.

“It’s amazing,” said catcher Jeremy Martinez, who may have been the top prospect on the roster and finished second in the league in batting at .325. “It’s good to bring the title back to State College and just proud of this team. This whole season’s been fun.”

There was much for which to be thankful.

When the final out came Monday night, the rest of the team rushed onto the infield to celebrate in a pile of bodies. Rodriguez was slow to join them, hesitating a few seconds to pull out his phone and send a quick prayer of thanks to his family from the dugout.

After also leading teams to league titles in Johnson City and Quad Cities in the last six years, the Spikes’ second-year leader knows how to turn “The Cardinal Way” into success.

“I feel like I’m in heaven,” Rodriguez said. “This is my third one, and it just gets more exciting each one. That gives more peace to me. It’s unbelievable. The Lord has blessed me.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Calm ‘grinders’ led State College Spikes to another league title."