THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190674
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Freshman walk-on has made centerfield his own with a lot of determination.
No scholarship offer, no problem.
David Winter's goal was to play centerfield for Old Dominion. Not much else mattered.
``I just want to play baseball,'' the freshman said. ``At a point, it didn't seem as if I would.''
At this point, the First Colonial alumnus is doing more than just playing for the Monarchs. He's turned centerfield into his personal domain.
Winter is hitting .319 - .368 in Colonial Athletic Association play - and has committed only three errors in 39 games for first-place ODU (29-10).
``I don't think anyone that has ever played with him is surprised,'' First Colonial coach Norbie Wilson said.
Given Winter's ability to turn his dreams into reality, nobody should be surprised at anything the psychology major accomplishes.
Winter moved to Rochester, N.Y., with his mom in September 1992. Sue Winter, who divorced David's father when David was in the fourth grade, was transferred by her employer, Xerox. That, however, did not work for the high school freshman.
When the family arrived in upstate New York in mid-September, batting cages were closed. That left Winter in a desperate situation.
As a substitute, Winter would swing his bat in the living room. But playing imaginary baseball was not good enough.
``He asked me if he could go to Virginia and I said, `Fine,' '' Sue Winter said. ``I didn't believe him until I woke up in the morning and saw that his baseball bag was gone.''
Back down to Virginia Beach he had gone, via Greyhound.
Meanwhile, Brad Tetlow, Winter's close friend and now a baseball captain at First Colonial, alerted his parents of his buddy's arrival. The family agreed to let Winter stay at their house, but the move was short-lived - Sue Winter came down and took him back to Rochester.
His return trip to New York lasted just one week. The cold weather and inferior baseball would not suffice. This time, his mom gave in.
``I didn't have the heart to tell him he had to stay,'' said Sue Winter, who has since moved back to Hampton Roads.
So Winter left again, this time to live with his father, Dave, in Frederick, Md. But that was not the solution, either.
``It was hard for me to leave my friends (in Virginia Beach) after being with them for so long,'' said Winter, who now lives in the campus dormitories. ``I just couldn't adjust to my new surroundings.''
The answer was returning to Virginia Beach, the Tetlows and, most importantly, a chance to play at First Colonial.
Once Winter moved back in with the Tetlows, an understanding was reached. He had stopped going to school twice before, and Lewis Tetlow was not about to support a dropout.
``I said, `If you come here, I am going to treat you just like you're my son,' '' said Tetlow, who obtained legal custody of Winter in June 1993. ``It can't be any different than that.''
Winter understood.
``They really didn't encourage me; it was an ultimatum,'' Winter said with a smile. ``If I wanted to be there, I had to go to school.''
No problem. In the classroom, Winter buckled down and brought up his grades. On the baseball field, Winter played out one of his dreams.
``When David Winter graduated from high school, we embraced him and he said, `Thanks for everything you did for me,' '' Wilson said. ``And I'm sure David went around and said that to a lot of people.
``I told David at that time, `The biggest person you have to thank is David Winter.' ''
On the field, he hit .425 and was All-Tidewater as a senior. More importantly, he got the attention of ODU coach Tony Guzzo.
``When we went to watch him, we fell in love with everything he represented,'' Guzzo said. ``He was an outstanding high school hitter, but I really wasn't sure of what kind of success David would have as a college hitter.
``That was the only question we had, but we loved his attitude.''
But Guzzo needed gloves in the outfield.
``We lost two of the best outfielders that had ever played here in Kevin Gibbs and Maika Symmonds,'' Guzzo said. ``We weren't really sure what we were going to do, but we needed help.''
The search for help stretched from Norfolk to New Jersey, where Guzzo thought a prayer had been answered. Gary Gordon of Willingboro, N.J., a track speedster, committed to ODU. But he was drafted in the 10th round by the Colorado Rockies and opted for the minor leagues.
In came Winter, who is paying for college through grants.
Once Winter stepped onto the field for fall workouts, more than his offense was questionable. He struggled at the plate and on defense.
``He was like all freshmen coming in, he was just overwhelmed by the whole situation,'' said senior outfielder Brian Fiumara. ``We're a pretty good baseball program . . . plus college itself is an overwhelming experience.''
Offensively, Winter could not handle the variety of pitches he was seeing. Defensively, he was asked to play all three outfield positions. After fall practice, he was the No. 4 outfielder.
But when opening day came, he was in the starting lineup. Leftfielder Quentin Lindsey had an eye injury and Winter moved in center. He has been a starter since.
``David's the type of person when you tell him something one time, he's already starting to work on it,'' Guzzo said. ``He has shown a very good aptitude for learning new things.''
Of the four freshmen who start for ODU, Winter is the only one batting over
Other than calming down and understanding his role better, the soft-spoken athlete does not have an explanation of his improvement. All he knows is he is the Monarchs' starting centerfielder.
That was the plan all along. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA
The Virginian-Pilot
[Color Photo]
First Colonial grad David Winter is batting .319 for the Monarchs.
``David's the type of person when you tell him something one time,
he's already starting to work on it,'' coach Tony Guzzo says.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB