With Some Help From Peak Performance Coach Brian Cain, Oregon State Baseball Vaults To Top

Published: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 6:27 PM
By: Lindsay Schnell, The Oregonian
OSU Photo By: Ethan Erickson

CORVALLIS, OR -Brian Cain drew a line at the front of the dugout, and gave instructions to the Oregon State baseball team. The rules were easy, said Cain, a peak performance coach hired this season by the Beavers. If you’re up to bat, on deck, or in the three or four holes, you can cross the line. Otherwise, stay away.

The prime viewing area is reserved for those who need it most.

“That was something new,” said third baseman Carter Bell. “If you were going to bat soon, you got a chance to see the pitcher up close and visualize: you sit there and see yourself in the box, you see a fastball or a curveball and you visualize hitting it to left field or hitting it to right field.”

On his website, Cain describes himself as a sports psychologist and mental toughness coach who helps athletes “achieve your best when it means the most.” Based on Oregon State’s season so far, it looks like the money spent on Cain was well worth it: The Beavers are ranked No. 2 in the nation, and sitting in first place in the Pacific-10 with a 14-4 conference record. With three series left -starting this weekend at Washington – Oregon State is in position to earn a national seed in the postseason and will most likely host a regional.

Bell and other players say OSU’s success has to do with Cain and a handful of catch phrases – favorite includes “200 feet ahead” and “Water the bamboo” – that have helped the Beavers stay focused in a year most considered them an afterthought.

In January, assistant coach Marty Lees met Cain at the national coaching convention in Nashville, Tenn., and was intrigued by his work.

Cain has earned praise from Major Leaguers and UFC fighters, as well other college baseball coaches, for his ability to sharpen athletes’ mental game. Lees got the OK from head coach Pat Casey, and the team purchased a package from Cain with the bill paid by the Dugout Club booster group.

Starting in February, players and coaches gathered in the Omaha Room a few times each week to watch videos and listen to audio of Cain explaining how to block out distractions, and “focus on this pitch, this pitch, this pitch,” said outfielder Jared Norris.

Cain uses examples from songs, movies, etc., to help players achieve their peak performance. Last week’s lesson focused on the Blue Angel pilots, a group of officers from the Navy Flight Demonstration Squad.

“He talked about how they break down their preflight, how get so in depth with their calls to pilots, and how you need to be in constant communication – like we need to communicate with bunts or certain pitches,” Norris said. “Then he showed a clip of it. It’s pretty cool seeing those people fly about three inches away from each other at 400 miles an hour. It’s all because they prepared for it the right way.”

Norris, Bell and freshman Kavin Keyes all say they have never felt so prepared when stepping up to bat. The same goes for freshman pitcher Ben Wetzler, who said Cain has harped on visualizing the last five feet of a pitch, and getting the ball back from his catcher after a strike.

“Baseball is a head game,” Wetzler said. “It’s 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. Especially at this level, where everyone’s skill level is evened out, it’s just about who’s mentally tougher.”

Pitching coach Nate Yeskie says Cain’s approach isn’t full of breakthrough developments – but it’s a different voice telling players the same thing coaches have preached.

“He’s given us the opportunity to simplify things in our teaching and trim the fat a little bit,” Yeskie said. “He’s very precise, and it helps sometimes if you hear something a different way. I think for a lot of them, they’re hearing this guy who’s based back on the East Coast say the same thing we say; there’s a consistency factor there that opens their eyes.”

Players have hung signs in the dugout to remind them of Cain’s teachings: “200 feet ahead” is a reference to how far ahead headlights can see in the dark, reminding players to only focus on what’s right in front of them. “Water the bamboo,” a popular sports motivational phrase, is a nod to the fact that if you water bamboo every day it won’t grow much – until three or four years later, when it suddenly shoots up. The lesson: Play every day and you might not see immediate results, but come the end of the season, it will pay off.

“Brian’s worked with some big leaguers and UFC fighters, and that’s one of the toughest sports out there,” Norris said. “If those guys believe in him, why shouldn’t we?”

But perhaps the biggest benefit has been improved team camaraderie.

“It’s not just ‘We have to do this because Brian Cain says so,’” Wetzler said. “We’ve taken it as our own. With everyone buying in we kind of made it our thing. And it’s fun, because it results in wins.”

© 2011 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

 

*******************************************************************************************

OREGON STATE 4, CAL 2:
No. 3 Beavers Win 6th Consecutive Series

Published: Sunday, May 08, 2011, 6:08 PM
By: Lindsay Schnell, The Oregonian
OSU Photo By: Ethan Erickson

CORVALLIS, OR – Kavin Keyes spent the 17-minute rain delay Sunday at Goss Stadium sitting in the dugout, studying up California pitcher Kyle Porter. He took tips from his teammates, and visualized a hit. There’s a runner on base, coaches told him, and you better bring him home.

The freshman is a good listener.

Keyes singled to left field and knocked in Brian Stamps, giving the No. 3 Beavers’ their final run in what would become a 4-2 win over No. 21 Cal. It is the sixth consecutive series win for Oregon State, which sits alone atop the Pacific-10 with nine conference games to go.

Part of the success might be attributed to Brian Cain, a performance coach who has been hired by the Beavers (34-11, 14-4 Pac-10) this season. Keyes said Cain has taught him the power of visualization, and his mental tricks have helped the entire team.

“We’ll sit on the bench in the four hole and just go through each person’s at-bat,” said Keyes, who gave OSU the lead in the second inning with an RBI double. “I’ve never done something that’s had me so prepared. It’s a great idea, and I think it’s been very helpful.”

It helped starting pitcher Ben Wetzler, who said he spent Saturday working with Cain on his breathing, and sharpening his mental pitching routine. The result: seven strikeouts in seven innings, and Wetzler’s sixth win of the season.

“(Brian) really helped me,” Wetzler said. “I was really within myself for the first time today (Sunday).”

Tony Renda led off for Cal with a home run over the left field fence Sunday, but Wetzler calmed down and told himself, “solo home runs don’t beat you.”

The Beavers got seven hits off three Bears (28-16, 12-9) pitchers, and used the speed of Brian Stamps — three stolen bases, three runs scored — to secure the victory. Per usual, Stamps also provided a highlight-worthy catch in centerfield, when the junior raced back to the fence and snagged an almost home run from the bat of Chadd Krist.

“Stamps was big for us, obviously,” said OSU coach Pat Casey. “He changes the game with his speed offensively and defensively.”

OSU seems to be in the driver’s seat for the Pac-10 championship, but no one around Goss Stadium wants to talk about that just yet.

“I think all we’re trying to do right now is win games,” Keyes said. “Winning the Pac-10 is still a couple weeks away.”

None of the teams left on OSU’s schedule have a winning record as of now, but the Beavers learned last week after a 7-2 loss to unranked Oregon at home that no one can get overlooked.

“Every game is important to me, every single one of them,” Casey said. “That’s why sometimes when they’re not as important to some of the guys you lose games you shouldn’t … Fortunately for our coaching staff, we’ve been in this situation before. We realize what happens when you look behind you or ahead of you.”

But even Casey can admit that what’s happening in Corvallis right now, with a group of guys originally picked to finish eighth in conference, is special.

“What’s at stake is the fun of being in a pennant race,” he said. “That’s what’s fun — not the pressure, but that fact that we’re in it.”

© 2011 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

 

*******************************************************************************************

Oregon State Rundown:
No. 2 Beavers In Seattle For UW Series,
Brian Stamps Is Man of The Hour

Published: Friday, May 13, 2011, 7:52 AM
By: Lindsay Schnell, The Oregonian
OSU Photo By: Ethan Erickson

CORVALLIS, OR – Lots of great leftover material from my talks with players and coaches about Brian Cain, the peak performance coach/sports psychologist hired this season by OSU to, in Nate Yeskie’s words, “fix what’s going on between your ears.”

Probably the most important thing that I didn’t expand on too much in the story was that as much as Pat Casey credits Cain, he is quicker to credit his team. As Yeskie said, timing was everything with Cain: They brought him in at a time when players really seemed to buy into what he and the coaches were selling.

“I think this club is different,” Casey said. “I think after the last three years of really fighting clubs to try to get mentally prepared and buy into what we were doing, we have a club that’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it work …

“Whatever Brian Cain has done I think it HAS worked. I think he’s been a very positive influence on our club, but I think the core of that started when they all came in here and guys that returned (bought into it) … I think these guys have to give themselves a little more credit. They wanted to listen to someone like Brian Cain, they wanted to be involved in what we wanted as a team. I give the credit to those guys.”

Many players have talked about the chemistry that’s developed this season, and point to Cain as a reason for that. But the bottom line is this: These guys love being around each other and that’s going to help lead to wins. No one wants to leave the dugout, everyone wants to stay and hang out with each other. Tough to mimic that type of camaraderie.