SAN MARCOS – Hitting a baseball is considered by many as the most difficult thing to do in sports. So it's not surprising that hitting instructors and coaches all over the world have created hundreds of differing philosophies.

One such philosophy has turned a local college team into one of the most feared hitting teams in the NAIA.

“On the surface, our system is really basic,” said Rudy Rodriguez, hitting coach for the Cal State San Marcos baseball team, which is averaging 14 runs a game on its school-record seven-game winning streak. “So many people have been trying to complicate the swing.”

For the Cougars (17-14-1), Rodriguez's system has made the daunting task of hitting a sphere with a nine-inch circumference, traveling 85-plus mph, with a thin metal stick seem relatively easy.

The system consists of five steps: rhythm, balance, separation, squaring and weight transfer. And though learning the steps is easy, mastering them takes a lot of practice.

One Cougar who has bought into the system perhaps more than anybody else is outfielder and designated hitter Austin Way.

Way, a senior who has been working with Rodriguez for almost two years, is enjoying his most productive season thanks to the five-step system. After a decent start to the season, Way has been incredible for the last two months. The Fallbrook High graduate smacked an eye-popping 12 home runs in 11 calendar days in March, including two three-homer games and a two-game series with Bethany in which he cleared the fence five times.

Way isn't your prototypical power-hitter at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, but the slugger has more than doubled his homer output from last year with his team-leading 17.

“The hitting philosophy just clicked,” Way said. “Half of it is understanding why you're doing what you do when you swing.”

It seems like the entire team has gained an understanding.

In just their second year, the Cougars are near the top of the standings in almost every offensive category in NAIA Region II. CSUSM is first in home runs, second in slugging percentage, second in RBI and third in hits.

Along with Way, sluggers Tristan Gale and Terry Moritz have made the middle of the Cougars' lineup one of the best in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Gale and Moritz have nine long balls apiece, and Gale leads the team with a .396 batting average.

“The kids have really bought into it,” said CSUSM coach Dennis Pugh, whose team finished 18-23 last year and out of the playoffs. “It takes time; you don't get it overnight. It's a simple thing, but if you learn to do it properly it can be a big help.”

Rodriguez, who coached at La Costa Canyon High for eight years before moving to CSUSM, learned the five-step system from longtime Texas Rangers' hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.

Jaramillo has taught the swing to several top professional hitters, including Alfonso Soriano, Gary Matthews Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, who all continue to use it today.

Using the system as a model, Rodriguez and Jaramillo established the National Academy of Professional Hitting Coaches almost a year ago, and they are planning to release an instructional video series.

“It's well-known in the big leagues,” Rodriguez said of the system.

“The good thing about San Marcos is that the kids left their egos at the door. And now, look at the results.”

As difficult as it was to learn the swing, it will be almost as hard to maintain it during the Cougars' current 12-day layoff. Because CSUSM is an independent team with no league or conference affiliation, it frequently has long breaks between games, but this is by far the longest.

“It's going to be pretty tough,” Rodriguez said. “We're going to get plenty of reps in the cage, but our guys are so advanced, it's not really going to hurt us.

“We see two or three innings of live pitching, and we'll be right back where we were.”

If the Cougars can't continue with their March form, their independent status could keep them out of the playoffs, as coaches must vote in teams with no conference affiliation.

Pugh is certain that teams and coaches around the NAIA have begun to take notice of his second-year program.

“The most important thing is we're starting to get respect,” he said.

“Teams aren't as cooperative to schedule us as they have (been) in the past. They're starting to catch on.”

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