Baseball Factory is privileged to work with programs from every level of college baseball. We strive to educate and guide our players when it comes to choosing the right school. In our latest interview, Woody Wingfield spoke with Head Coach Jayson King from Franklin Pierce University. Franklin Pierce is a Division II program out of the Northeast-10 Conference. King has led the Ravens to four NCAA Regional titles in the last six  years.
 

1.    How long have you been coaching? How long at Franklin Pierce University?
19 years total. 14 at Pierce.

2.    Who are some of your mentors or coaches that you look up to?
Tom Healy at Canton High School in Massachusetts, Charles Roys at Springfield College and Kevin O'Sullivan at the University of Florida.

3.    What is the first thing about Franklin Pierce and its baseball program that you want recruits to know about?
We have great facilities and coaches that are committed to getting the most out of each player that plays in our program.

4.    What do you look for in a prospective recruit on the field? Off the field?
On the field we are looking for good athletes that we can make into very good baseball players.  We like guys that have the ability to have all the tools as position players and pitchers to excel.  We are also looking for guys that are interested in playing for championships and have the dream of playing professional baseball.  Off the field we look for good people that will represent our baseball program and institution well.

5.    You’ve been lauded by Baseball America for scouting and developing talent (4 players drafted in 2011). How has video helped you in the recruiting process?
We do look at videos when evaluating recruits but we try to get each recruit in front of the coaches so we can evaluate and compare in person.  In Division II we are lucky to be able to work guys out on campus during their senior year and that allows us to see a lot of players that we may have not seen in the summer.

6.    Obviously, Franklin Pierce had a ton of success last year, winning at least 40 games five out of the last six years. How do you keep your team competitive from year-to-year?
We keep the team competitive by bringing in talented student-athletes that are committed to getting better and winning championships.  We try to have our older guys pass the tradition that we have built over the years down from grade to grade.  Mostly, the coaches and players are working towards our ultimate goal of winning a National Championship each day, which motivates us all.

7.    Can you break down your fall practice schedule? What are you all trying to accomplish?
Fall practices are 4 hours and consist of many repetitions for both position players and pitchers.  This is also a time that we begin to make changes to guys to help in their development.  Fundamentals of the game are stressed at this time in hopes that players will develop a sense of how we want them to approach the game.  We are also trying to identify the guys that will help us win as many games as possible in the spring which sometimes takes a lot of time and evaluation.  

8.    Do you have a strength and conditioning coach?
We do not have strength and conditioning coach right now, but will have one next fall.  This will allow us to spend more time with our student-athletes on conditioning and other things as a result.  Right now our coaching staff is in charge of our strength and conditioning program.

9.    What can you tell us about your facilities?
We have an artificial grass outdoor field that has lights, great sound system and heated dugouts.  It has all the amenities that you would want including a beautiful press box, dugouts and bullpens.  This facility allows us to host NCAA Tournaments which we have done for several years.  It also allows us to be on the field longer in the fall and get all of our games in during the spring season as a result of having turf.   We have a dome for our indoor facility which consists of 50 yards of turf, 2 batting cages, 3 mounds and a weight room.  This serves as our indoor practice facility.  Between these facilities, I feel like we might have some of the best baseball facilities anywhere in the Northeast.
    
10.    What part of the 2012 schedule are you looking forward to the most?
I am looking forward to all aspects of the 2012 schedule.  I love the early schedule because there are trips to South Carolina, Florida and New York that allows our team to come together nicely on the road.  The middle of the schedule is our conference time which usually means many home games.  The end of the season is what we play for all year in hopes to win the Northeast 10 Conference, NCAA Regional and, sometime soon, our first National Championship.

11.    Is there anything you would like to add about your assistant coaches, recruits, parents, or program that we have not asked you about?
I have been blesses to have great assistant coaches, student-athletes and parents throughout my time at Pierce in particular.  Stan Jurkoic was my assistant for 13 seasons when we went from a marginal team to making five World Series appearances and 3 semi-finalist finishes, so I am very grateful for what he did for me and our program.  Bruce Kirsh, our Director of Athletics, has been a great role model and has given me and our program the support that we need to develop into one of the best programs in the Northeast.  Our parents have done a great job supporting their sons and our program throughout the years, with many of them still supporting us in many different ways.  Lastly, our players who believed in our program from day one and have had great experiences at Pierce and many have developed into great friends.
 

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