Paulino’s Passion Pays Off For Saints Team

coach praises player’s work ethic

By Chip Souza

Posted: September 1, 2011 at 6 a.m.

Staff Photo: Chip Souza
Shiloh Christian’s Joseph Paulino returns at center for the Saints.

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SPRINGDALE —  Baseball season was supposed to be the time for Joseph Paulino to shine. Instead he sat on the bench with a painful hip injury.

Shiloh Christian was trying to win its second straight state championship, but Prairie Grove senior left-hander Jalen Beeks was holding the Saints in check as the 4A-1 Conference rivals were tied in the bottom of the seventh inning of the championship game in May.

Baseball is a passion for Paulino, whose family hails from the Dominican Republic. So sitting idly as his team played without him was as painful as the hip flexor that sidelined him.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, teammate David Petrino doubled, giving the Saints the break they were looking for. After being handcuffed most of the day by Beeks’ dazzling curve ball, Saints coach Jimmy Harris was looking for a spark. Paulino was the guy to provide it.

Coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter, Paulino flicked a 2-2 pitch into left field, driving in the winning run as the Saints dugout erupted.

“That dude had a really good curve, and I was sitting on that the whole time,” Paulino said three months later as the Saints football team prepares to defend its three-straight state championships. “I just stuck it out there in left field. I couldn’t believe it. It was crazy.”

Paulino loves the Friday night lights of high school football, but baseball is his heart and soul, a deep part of his Dominican heritage, he said.

The 6-foot, 205-pound senior center is one of three offensive starters returning for the Saints. With a ton of newcomers to the team, Paulino has gone from role player last season to “a coach on the field,” said offensive line coach Hayden Gilder.

The center position for Shiloh is integral because the Saints play in the Spread offense. Most of the snaps are in shotgun formation, so a poor snap can kill a play before it ever gets started. Rarely does Paulino have a bad snap, said Saints football coach Josh Floyd.

“Everything starts with the center,” Floyd said. “Joe is not the biggest player out there, but he’s smart and he works extremely hard. It’s not always about who is the biggest guy.”

That was never more evident than Labor Day last year when the Saints took on Texas Class 5A powerhouse Euless Trinity in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It was just Paulino’s second career start, and across the line of scrimmage was Trinity’s massive 300-pound nose guard Suleiman Masumbuko. Paulino gave up more than 100 pounds in that matchup but held his own most of the day, Floyd said.

Paulino’s family moved to the United State just before he was born. His older siblings were born in the Dominican, and his grandparents live in Santo Domingo and Santiago.

The Shiloh coaches agreed that Paulino’s tireless work ethic comes from strong family values. Harris said when Paulino was injured last season, he often got to school before the coaches in the morning to rehab and continued the treatment throughout the day.

“When the other kids were going to lunch, Joe was here at the school rehabbing,” Harris said. “He worked his tail off to get ready to put himself in position to get that hit.”

That work ethic carries over to the football field, where Paulino and fellow senior Jed Beach are trying to lead the newcomers as the Saints try and rebuild their offensive line.

Part of that leadership is group outings with offensive linemen to eat chicken wings at a local restaurant. Paulino estimates that Beach (6-2, 271) can consume about 60 wings.

The line spent much of the offseason working with Shiloh offensive coordinator and speed coach Rod Washington trying to improve their speed.

“We did sled work and ladders and jump squats, things like that,” Paulino said. “Really just a lot of work to improve our legs and footwork.”

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