Spring Sports Preview: George C. Marshall Baseball

Old School to New School. Having already earned a sterling reputation during his tenure at Thomas Jefferson, Jim Jullien hopes that he can cultivate a field of dreams at Marshall.

By Mike Hume

Jim Jullien never wanted to walk away from the game of baseball at Thomas Jefferson High School. But, as sometimes happens in life, things didn’t go according to plan. Now after a brief three-year stint as head coach of Flint Hill High School, Jullien has returned to the Falls Church baseball scene, now as the skipper of the George C. Marshall Statesmen.

His final year as head coach was a landmark one for Jullien. It saw Jefferson capture the Concorde District Championship with a record of 18-5 and Jullien named Coach of the Year for both the district and the Northern Region.
But due to Fairfax County policy, Jullien never had the chance to defend that title. The policy states that a full-time teacher must retire and leave the county for at least one year. After a part-time position with the school fell through, Jullien moved on to Flint Hill and now on to Marshall.

What Marshall is getting in Jullien is one of the most respected baseball coaches in Northern Virginia, a coach, one reference told Marshall Athletic Director William Curran, who was good for five wins, regardless of the team’s talent.
“Jim understands the kids and can get the most out of them,” Curran says. “Jim’s not a screamer; he just brings the good stuff. He knows how to get the parents and the community involved.”

Anyone who needs assurances about Jullien’s commitment to his teams, or the legacy he has left in his wake, simply needs to swing by Thomas Jefferson High School, where the baseball field bears his name.

“A guy with a field named after him … that’s pretty impressive,” Curran says.
Jullien was honored by the dedication of the field at his retirement 20 years after first coming to Jefferson. The first 14 of those years he spent as an assistant under then-Head Coach John Hulen. Jullien assumed the head coach mantle in 1986 and held it until he left the school in 2001.

Now at Marshall, where he teaches physical and driver’s education and health, Jullien has returned to his roots in Falls Church and his enthusiasm for the game has not waned a bit.

In December he began the task of preparing the field for the spring season, laying sod and grooming the mound and infield. He’s already made several changes, replacing the dirt around the pitchers mound with clay to fight erosion, and placing sod along both the first and third baselines to cut down on maintenance and help absorb water. But that’s just the beginning.

“We’ve got some problems with erosion behind the outfield fence. I want to level the infield and try to stop this dugout flooding,” Jullien says, rattling off items like a host on a home improvement show. “I’ve already lined up a guy going for Eagle Scout to help extend the dugout roofs over the entire dugout as part of his community service project.”
Jullien credits his field caretaking skills to his time spent under Hulen at Jefferson.

“Jim is like Kevin Costner with all the work he puts into that field,” Curran says.
But grounds keeping wasn’t the reason Jullien was hired, and now he’ll have to take program that has struggled in recent years and attempt to reverse its fortunes.
“They’ve had a hard time the past few years,” Jullien says. “I’m going to try to teach them some things about baseball and try to arm them to be competitive this season.”
In a tough Liberty District, even being competitive could be a solid accomplishment. As he rattles off the teams comprising the district, Jullien concludes his thoughts on each with “they should be tough” or “they’re pretty loaded” or some other such variation.
Some of the teams, like McLean, Jullien doesn’t know much about. Of course that could also be said for his own squad.

Inclement weather has greatly limited outdoor practice time and prevented Jullien from getting a good handle on the personnel on his roster. Nevertheless, he has been able to reach some conclusions on several players that should figure prominently into the 2005 campaign.

Leading the top of the pitching rotation for the Statesmen will be junior Blair DeLean, who picked up the win for Marshall in Tuesday’s game against West Potomac.
“Blair’s gotta be the man for us this season,” Jullien says, noting that the team will also rely on senior pitcher/third-baseman Neil Gentile to be the team’s No. 2-starter on the mound. “Neil’s not an overpowering pitcher, but he keeps the ball down and makes hitters put the ball in play.”

Jullien will also rely on juniors catcher Alan Stoupa and first baseman Jordan Culbreath to provide some leadership as well as some offense.

“I’ll be looking to [seniors] shortstop Ben Fletcher and centerfielder Ed Solomon for leadership as well,” he says. “They’ve been through the war and know what it’s about.”
Jullien’s Statesmen have gotten off to a good start behind some hot hitting. They have posted a 3-1 record to this point, including a 12-8 win over Falls Church and Tuesday’s 9-6 victory over West Potomac.

Marshall will need that production to continue into the district schedule if it hopes to compete against Woodson (one of the “loaded” teams as described by Jullien) and Lee (a team that advanced to the state semi-finals last season).

“It’s nice to know that in this district all the coaches work really hard,” Jullien says. “It’s going to be a battle every time we take the field.”

Next season, the district will get even tougher, with the addition of Jullien’s old squad, Jefferson.

Of course next year’s merger raises an interesting question. If Marshall is playing Jefferson on Jim Jullien Field, who has home field advantage?