Classes had been completed and a reading day was in progress as students played tennis and golf with a tennis ball at the school in preparation for final exams and summer vacation.
Decker tried to tidy his office quickly from scouting reports lying on his office floor with plaques hanging overhead signifying the numerous past triumphs in his 16 year career at the school when he has recorded a 347-178 (.661) record including two trips to the Division III World Series.
Decker, a Simsbury resident since 1992, also has coached Little League in Simsbury, and is now coaching a 13-15 year old Babe Ruth team that his son Kyle, 13, plays on. The Decker's also have two other children, Sarah, 10, and Kasey, 6.
"It's a very good environment for young kids, in terms of young adults," Decker said about Trinity. "We're able to go out and attract good kids."
The Trinity roster this season included junior infielder Tim Bourdon, a Simsbury resident, as well as players from as far away as Texas, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
A player on Trinity's roster last season, second baseman Jeff Natale of Hamden, Conn. and an alumnus of Westminster School, was a draft pick of the Boston Red Sox a year ago and remains a top prospect at the 'A' level of the professional minor leagues.
"We're young," Decker said about Trinity's 2006 baseball squad before two one run losses at Wesleyan ending the regular season two weekends ago which ended the Bantams' season with a 17-18 record. "You have to be patient. You have to slow the game down for kids who are going to have a chance to play for the first year," Decker said about his roster, which out of 26 players included 16 freshmen and sophomores.
Decker marked the intangibles as missing from this year's team, but added that today's student-athletes had pressures and responsibilities placed upon them which required more vision for what they wanted out of their lives than ever before. "I think kids need to have a little bit of vision where they are today and where they want to be five or six years from now," he said about the student-athlete often being recruited for college athletics during his junior year in high school.
He said Trinity offers study halls to its athletes, and has team meetings, and even clinics in the community as an outreach. "All these things are good for people, we get caught up with what we're doing instead of what we're doing for others," he said.
"Just trying to do the right thing," he said. "I think sometimes you lose a sense of that because society is at a quick pace these days."
"Sometimes I don't know if this electronic society helps us or hurts us," he added.
It's apparent that Decker doesn't only coach balls and strikes or three outs in an inning. He also stresses accountability, being prompt, being respectful, eye contact, opening doors, and saying "thank you," and "please."
"You can't flip the switch, you have to be consistent, sometimes you have to learn from the good things that don't happen or do happen," he said.
Decker grew up in Greenfield, Mass., about 30 miles from Hartford north on I-91.
He spoke briefly and cautiously about the "media world" which surrounds people.
"I think we need to work hard so we don't get caught up in that," he said. He said he didn't follow the current steroids scandal in Major League Baseball closely. "Certainly the use of steroids or drugs is not acceptable. I think Major League Baseball is trying to get a hold of it the best they can," Decker said.
Pointing to the many opportunities in the Farmington Valley for young people to be active, he said, "I think those things are healthy because it gives kids the opportunity to be active."
Decker starts his scouting and recruiting season when the Trinity baseball season ends. He may see up to a dozen games during a typical two-week span. "You need to pay attention to family and other things but you have to get (out), the day of people showing up at your door are few and far between these days," he said, adding about changes in recruiting (Trinity, as a Division III college, doesn't offer scholarships), "then it was coaches seeking players, now it's parents pushing, pushing, pushing... which is fine, but let us do our job," he said.
Decker said he is looking for quality student-athletes with good character that are "low maintenance behind the scenes," adding that parental involvement is not necessary at the collegiate level
Decker said he would like to see more multi-sport athletes and believes that trend is returning.
"Kids grow, kids change, in a positive way, physically, they change in a positive way," he said about a student-athlete's college years.
"Everything you do in life counts in some way," Decker said. "Did you take the easy road? Did you take the tough road? A couple of bumps in the road is going to serve you down the line."
"We all need bumps and bruises, but you can't spoon feed all the time," Decker said.
"Sure it's about wins and losses, but it's about the relationships that you have," he added. "This classroom is different from the classroom up there," he said, pointing up the hill towards Trinity's academic buildings.
For his players, Decker believes the four years of undergraduate studies, "goes by too quickly, it just goes by too quickly," he said.
On the field, Decker said about Trinity and its young team, "it did get better. I'll tell you right now, it might not show it, but we did get better," during this current season..
"It (the season) goes by too quickly when the field is ready and the season's over," he said smiling as his players warmed up for practice.