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Dale Francis (Photo courtesy of Gardner-Webb Athletics)
Throughout his near-two-decade college coaching career, Jim Chester has always tried to put himself in the opposing coach’s shoes when analyzing the various decisions throughout a game.
The Gardner-Webb head coach doesn’t necessarily make moves based on how others handled them, but past experiences are certainly a part of his managerial calculus. Chester says the tactic is helpful in his preparation for situations he might one day encounter himself.
Saturday night against Appalachian State is technically no different. There were a host of pivotal decisions throughout the 16-14 contest, many of which Chester believed could eventually provide valuable precedent for how he might handle a game.
However, unlike most outings, Chester also believes the most critical moments of the evening might never again be replicated in his career.
“In my 19 years of coaching,” Chester told Baseball America on Saturday evening, “I’ve never seen that before and I’ll probably never see it again.”
He’s referring to his first baseman, Dale Francis, who on Saturday submitted a strong contender for single-game performance of the year with four home runs and 12 RBIs, including one on a Barry Bonds-style intentional walk with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
A One-Man Offense
Francis left the yard in the first, fifth, sixth and seventh innings against App State and accounted for three-quarters of his team’s offensive production.
The 23-year-old senior infielder became just the 15th Division I player to hit four home runs in a game since NCAA.org started keeping track of single-contest stats in 2012, which coincidentally aligns almost perfectly with the start of the BBCOR bat era (2011). Only Florida State’s Marshall McDougal (six on May 9, 1999) and Campbell’s Henry Rochelle (five on March 30, 1985) are known to have hit more than four home runs in a college game ever.
“We would have suffered a run-rule loss tonight without Dale,” Chester said. “Think about that. Look at the score. If not for Dale, we lose by 10 runs in seven innings.”
Francis expected the intentional walks to come sooner.
“I thought it was going to be a little earlier,” Francis said, drawing a laugh from his head coach. “It was respect for sure.”
Added Chester: “If they didn’t walk him in the ninth, I bet he had a good chance to hit another…