When Bryan Adamski was tasked with telling his Trinity College baseball team that their 2020 season had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, his own reaction was telling.
Finding himself in unchartered territory, the Whately native was stoic — perhaps unintentionally so.
“When I spoke to the team, I was so shocked myself that I didn’t even get emotional, to be honest,” he recalled. “I have to deliver the message, explain to our guys why this is happening and I don’t even know what I’m saying. I remember being surprised I wasn’t more emotional because it was such a roller coaster. I guess I was shocking myself with the things I was even having to say.”
The 2002 Frontier Regional School alum and former UMass baseball star has been the head coach at Trinity since 2013. He’s compiled a 120-96 mark during that tenure, and the club was off to a 3-0 start this spring before the NESCAC announced it was canceling the 2020 campaign.
“That meeting was terrible,” recalled Adamski. “My focus immediately turned to my seniors, saying goodbye to those guys but we were also forced to quickly turn the page and talk about options for them.”
Big things were expected from the Bantams, which reached the NCAA Division III Tournament last year for the first time since 2012.
Adamski said this year’s senior class, which has been given an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA, was primed for a strong year, led by Matt Koperniak, a former Hoosac Valley star. Koperniak has decided to use his final year of eligibility at Division I Kansas State, and Adamski said several other seniors are looking at Division I options.
“I don’t say this lightly, because I feel I’m able to evaluate and judge what we have without bias, but I think we were stacked,” Adamski said. “We had a very strong senior class. I think Koperniak was going to be the Player of the Year in our conference. We were 16th in one national poll, 19th in the other. I think there was enough buzz around our group and belief in our guys to make a really good run at it.”
Adamski pointed to last year’s NCAA Regional loss to Babson as a motivating factor for the 2020 club. Trinity went 30-9 a year ago.
“We had a ton of depth on the mound, good blend of old and young,” he said. “The thing you can’t measure is how much your group likes being together and playing together. That first weekend of games answered a lot of those questions. I think that ultimately makes this whole thing sting a bit more.”
In his first college head coaching job, Adamski has turned Trinity into a nice home. After coming on board after five years as an assistant coach at Amherst College, he was hungry to prove himself as a brand new skipper. The fire that comes from a former player was burning brightly in those early days, but after seven seasons in Hartford, he said he’s learned a lot — not only about the job, but also himself.
“When I first started here I dove in, ate and slept Trinity College baseball,” he recalled. “Because of my investment, you expect the return on that investment. So the first two years it was really difficult pouring your heart and soul into it and not seeing the results on the field. It makes you bitter. If you’re competitive and things are not going your way, the natural reaction for a young coach is to push even more.
“I was very difficult to play for, very demanding those early years,” he continued. “But once you get your guys into the program, when you have players who know what you expect of them, you back off a bit. I trust this kid is going to do something and he goes out and does it. Now that the standards our program has are in place, it makes things run a lot easier. I think we’re at the point where we think we’re a perennial top 25 team.”
Having children has also softened Adamski. His son Kace will turn 2 this summer, and 3-month-old Kaelyn recently joined the roster for Adamski and wife Stephanie.
“I can lose a game 20-7 now, come home and see my kids and you just flush it,” he admitted. “I think I’ve matured a lot, calmed down a lot. I’m more at peace with winning and losing, and trusting that’s going to sort itself out.”
Adamski said he’s spent a fair amount of time working from home during the pandemic, and he’s itching to get out on the road and recruit this summer. The NCAA dead period during which in-person contact with recruits and off-campus recruiting is prohibited — was extended until June 30.
“From a dad standpoint it’s been nice to be around and help out,” he began. “That’s the bright side of it, but it’s hard, as we’re kind of going through the spring here. It’s tough when you have a Friday afternoon and you look at see that you were supposed to be playing a game at Tufts and it’s a beautiful day outside. That definitely makes me miss it that much more. Those things always flash in your head.
“I’m wanting to get out on the road and see kids play. I’m hopeful that July 1 brings the return of showcase baseball and some of the travel ball stuff starts up again.”