The Essex Attitude: A Knights Tradition
By Rebecca Plantholt
Rosedale, Md.—Before the Knights baseball team headed into post-season, the team had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Hall of Fame Baseball Coach, George Henderson. Henderson was the CCBC Essex baseball coach for 23 years, including winning the NJCAA Division I Baseball National Championship in 1992. To this day, this is the only Division I baseball championship title brought home by any Maryland college at any level, and until last year, the only Maryland national title in any division (Salisbury won DIII in 2021). This meeting with George celebrated the 30th anniversary of this historic win.
Henderson has such a passion for baseball and CCBC Essex that he continues to work with the CCBC athletics department on special projects and treats each current athlete as if they were his own players. When listening to Henderson he stated, "read my tombstone... I'd rather be coaching Essex." This gives you a little insight into what we like to call the "Essex attitude." This "attitude" has been around for decades now at CCBC Essex, and our coaches, student-athletes, and staff all take pride in it. Henderson said, "you have to have each other's back or you're not going to win."
Over the years Henderson coached, he has had over 100 athletes make it to the majors, but Henderson said nothing could have made him more proud than winning the 1992 Championship. That year the team went into the tournament on a 34-game winning streak. Henderson had a plan that he was able to prepare his team to go all the way. They would practice 10pm in the gym from January 15th-March 1st because that was the only time they were able to practice. Once they went outside on March 1st, they never stepped foot back inside. At this time, they didn't even have a batting cage (they got one the year after the championship). "The last half hour of practice, we sit down and talk about how we are going to play the next day," said Henderson.
The Knights prided themselves in playing simple baseball, focusing on the basics. As a news reporter, Patti Arnold, said in an article she wrote covering the World Series in the Daily Sentinel after the Knights secured a spot in the semifinals, "The H&H [Henderson and assistant coach Pete Hamilton] boys stress fundamentals and they do things the old-fashioned way." Henderson told Arnold when discussing the defense, "It's what we've preached all year. All he's got to do is catch the ball and then throw the ball. No one, no one can throw the ball before he catches it. All we practice, all we preach, is catch the ball. Everything else takes care of itself."
He enforced that it is important to learn how to bunt the ball. Henderson told Arnold in the same interview, "We practice bunting. We practice third-strike bunting. We do everything we can to get a run in." The Knights led the NJCAA World Series Tournament in RBIs, runs scored, and homeruns, "and all of that was attributed to the bunt," said Henderson.
He went on to tell the team a story about how he told his catcher, Mike Peters, to bunt in their first World Series game. It was a cold morning with frost still on the ground. Peters was 3-3 with three solo homeruns. When he stepped into the box for his fourth at bat, the Knights were down by two runs with two men on base and Henderson gave Peters the bunt sign. Peters called time out to have a conference with Henderson and asked "coach, do you really want me to bunt?" Henderson replied "you better bunt or you're out of here" so Peters bunted, which was then followed by the next better hitting a triple and the next hitting a homerun. Henderson said "If we had not bunted in that situation, he might have hit into a double play and we were losing by two runs. That's how we won the game. He became the MVP and he's known more for the bunt than he is being the MVP."
In the 1992 World Series, the Knights defeated the Community College of Rhode Island 13-6 in their opening game before outscoring John A. Logan College 8-6. Pima Community College would defeat Essex 6-3, giving the Knights their first lost in the double-elimination tournament and snapping their 36-game consecutive win streak. Essex would then defeat Blinn College 13-9 and John A. Logan 7-6, knocking both out of the tournament and earning their spot in the championship game. Ken Batten, Knights outfield and pitcher, spoke with Bryan Gallegos from the Daily Sentinel. After clinching a berth to the championship game from his extra-innings, walk-off homerun, Batten said, "I never thought we would've made it this far. All we have is heart. Not a lot of skill, but a lot of heart." The Knights would then face off against Pima once again for the title, claiming the championship with a 14-1 victory.
As George Henderson wrapped up his chat with the team, he left them with plenty of advice. Henderson stressed that "there is no 'I' in team" and "you have to root and feel in your heart for the guys that are really doing the job. You might be second string, but you're a part of this team." Every player has made it on the team for a reason, and every player needs to be ready to play and focused on the game when the time comes. "No matter what position you play or if you are the 23rd guy on the team, you're so valuable."
The Knights team this year embodied everything that Henderson deems to be the "Essex attitude." The team might never be the best team out there, or look the most like a baseball team, but each player is fully committed to the team and each other. Often the spark of the Knights offense this season came from small ball, just like how Henderson used Peters to spur their offense to a game one win the World Series.
The "Essex attitude" is more than a uniform. It's the bond the team has, both competitively on the field, and as a group of brothers off the field. Returning Knight, first baseman Armando Prieto, said after the last regular season game, "Being a Knight is almost the biggest thing in my life at this point. It's my family. I lost my grandma yesterday so this team right here has literally been my family. And I'll say one thing, without them, things would be a lot tougher. This team is a great, great feeling."
Multiple players, even starters, proclaim being a Knight gave them something they didn't know they had and opened up opportunities for them moving forward. Second baseman Luis Marrero said, "My time here as a Knight has been incredible. I would like to thank Coach O'Connor and OB. They just saw something in me that I could play college. I'm just thankful for the opportunity to play alongside these gentlemen. These guys, they just go out and play every single day so hard. The staff, they make me feel like I'm home. They help me every single time I need help and I'm just thankful for everything that they've done for me. I enjoyed making memories alongside these guys that I love so much."
Reflecting on his time being a Knight, Todd Murphy, has similar sentiments. "This field has changed my life," said Murphy. "The coaches and this school. No one else ever really gave me an opportunity. I just gave everything I could every time. I'm so thankful for everyone. The opportunity, it really changed my life. Going to play at Frostburg, that's going to be cool. I'm sad it's over but I'm really thankful."
Each year, each decade, the family grows. Each generation is different, but the tradition and attitude is what makes you part of the family. Once a Knight, always a Knight.