It has been said that for one to stand on the mountaintop, he must have endured a hard climb to the peak. Harris-Stowe State baseball coach CJ Bilbrey can certainly attest to that.
In his fifth year as the head coach at the St. Louis, Missouri school, he has had to grind everyday and sacrifice for the good of his team and the Hornets’ baseball program, a team with one of the lowest budgets in college baseball.
Flashback to 2004. Bilbrey, then a high school senior, was looking forward to playing junior college baseball in a couple of weeks.
Only then, out of the blue, it all fell apart.
Much to his frustration and disappointment, the junior college coach gave his scholarship to another player just weeks prior to his expected arrival on campus, leaving Bilbrey without another option. After all the swings, ground balls taken, and pitches thrown to reach that point, it seemed his chances of playing at the next level had vanished within hours. Despite this tremendous hurdle, he did not lose hope. One by one, he read through names of area colleges in the phonebook, calling each one and asking two questions. The first was “Do you have a baseball team?”, and the second was “How much is the tuition?”. At the time, he said he did not know about student loans and thought he had to have all the money upfront. His lack of knowledge on the subject was Harris-Stowe State’s gain. It was the only one he could afford and he had a friend who played for the Hornets that helped get him on the team. The NAIA school was not very good, record-wise, but was a blessing to Bilbrey, giving him the opportunity to achieve his goals.
“Looking back, I’m very happy I came to HSSU,” Bilbrey told 360 Sports,”because it allowed me to get an education, stay out of debt, and continue my love for baseball.”
He made the most of his opportunity with the Hornets too. In his final season as a reliever, he went 1-2 in 13 outings, totaling 19 innings pitched. That 2007 season saw the Hornets finish with a 22-22 record.
After hanging up his cleats, he did not waste time in getting back in the dugout to begin his coaching career. Starting at the bottom as an assistant North Central Missouri College in 2008, he bounced around for a couple of years spending time at Maryville University (2009-2012) and SIU Edwardsville (2013), while gaining quality experience before returning to serve as an assistant at his alma mater in 2014. The previous season had seen an ultimate low in the program’s history as the team went 5-43. However, things got even worse once it was discovered a player had dropped out of school but continued playing for the team in each of those five victories. As a result of the player infraction, HSSU’s wins were taken away, resulting in a 0-43 record.
Two seasons after he had taken the assistant coaching job, head coach David Estes handed the reigns over to Bilbrey in 2016. The young coach had big ideas on how to make the Hornets competitive again, despite a tight budget, and limited resources.
It could be said that the odds are stacked against Bilbrey and his program. The fact that he is given 2.5 scholarships to distribute amongst a roster of 50, or that the annual budget is 20,000 dollars. Do not forget the fact that their home stadium, Stars Park, does not have a working scoreboard or that the players themselves serve as groundskeepers, often arriving five hours prior to practice or a game just to get the field in shape. In addition, he told Collegiate Baseball that it is not unusual to have 90% of his team on Pell Grants ("awarded to undergraduate students who have exceptional financial need"). When it comes to traveling to away games, the team typically piles into two vans. This, along with the so-called "Stowe Steaks" (typically peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) that coaches and players eat on road trips, save the program money. Every penny counts at HSSU. Oh, and Bilbrey and his wife make the practice jerseys in their kitchen. Despite all of this, Bilbrey would not trade the opportunity to be “A Stowe guy” for the world.
“I am very proud of our young men that play in this program,” said Bilbrey. “Each player on this time I would do anything for, and I love every one of them.”
One positive and payoff for the team is that during the cold winter months, the Hornets have access to the All-Star Performance Facility in St. Louis, which is equipped with 12 batting cages, eight piching mounds, and an indoor turf infield.
His blue-collar level work ethic was brought up from an early age. His mother and father valued a strong work ethic, and according to Bilbrey, were “very blue collar workers” . In fact, they were a bit disappointed when he decided to go to college and play baseball instead of working full-time in construction with his father. The important thing to note is how Bilbrey managed to balance various jobs in college while still being a student-athlete and keeping up with his studies. Not only did he become a better player and student at HSSU, but paid his way through school, paving driveways and mowing lawns in the spring, summer and fall. In the winter, he took on two jobs; one at a Mexican food restaurant making churros and another on Sundays at a bar. Following a morning of cleaning bathrooms, the kitchen and bar, he would then work eight hours straight making pizzas and washing dishes. He was no stranger to the idea that if you want something, you are going to have to earn it.
That did not just go for his college years, either. At the age of 16, he noticed that there were no high school fall ball teams in the area. So, he started a team of his own. He was able to recruit 12 guys, and ran the team as a player-coach, even carrying out tasks such as finding a league to play in and getting together the money to purchase uniforms. During games, when he was not up to bat, he was in the third base coaching box, shouting instructions to his players/teammates at the plate and on base. His passion for coaching was evident from a young age, and so was his undying drive to succeed, even though hurdles might cross into his path.
When it comes to advice for the next generation, he has one recurring message. Go all out. There is no excuse for not putting in 110%, and as the saying goes, “hard work will beat talent when talent fails to work hard.” Bilbrey is a true example of that. He was a kid who worked year round to pay his way through school, a player who wouldn’t quit when one coach took away his opportunity to play at the next level, and a man who took over a program and turned it into a American Midwest Conference contender.
“Whatever you decide to do with your life, just remember to go all out,” said Bilbrey in a letter last year. “I could always accept I wasn’t good enough at something. Everything you do in school or in practice is the minimum. It’s the work you put in without watching [that] will be what sets you apart from others you are competing with.”
In my opinion, the country as a whole could learn a thing or two from Bilbrey and those like him. As former US President Teddy Roosevelt said, “Nothing worth having in the world comes easy”. That drive and work ethic that Bilbrey has shown for so many seasons is evident in his team. Harris Stowe State has the right man leading the baseball program.
For an excellent article on Bilbrey and his team, please check out this feature story from Lou Pavlovich Jr. at Collegiate Baseball: http://baseballnews.com/resurrecting-program-from-the-scrap-heap/.
Check out more from 360 Sports: https://360sports.wixsite.com/riley/post/lesson-from-the-uniform-of-leadership-part-2
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