Mike Metcalf has been around baseball his entire life, so he knows all too well that positive momentum in the first half of a season does not necessarily equate to postseason success.

But the Florida State assistant coach sure liked what he was seeing two months ago. And he would have loved to have seen what might be happening right about now, had the 2020 season not been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

"You felt the momentum rolling," Metcalf said.

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After a challenging first three weeks, which saw the Seminoles drop five of their first 14 games under first-year head coach Mike Martin Jr., things started to click during an early March series at No. 12 Duke.

The 'Noles dropped a pair of one-run games to start that weekend, but they erupted for a 10-2 victory on Sunday. Then two days later, they went to Gainesville and took on the rival Florida Gators.

UF was ranked No. 1 in the country, had won its first 16 games -- the Gators were the only undefeated team remaining in the country -- and had won 11 consecutive games against Florida State.

But both of those streaks came to a halt with a 2-0 victory by the Seminoles.

"From first pitch to last, it was an intense baseball game," Metcalf said. "For a midweek game, it was I've got to imagine, as close to playoff baseball as you're gonna get. ...

"I felt like the Sunday win at Duke allowed us to start rolling. The guys realized: 'You know what? We can do this.' You could see it in their eyes as the game continued on."

FSU followed that up with another win just 24 hours later against visiting Illinois State, and the 'Noles were gearing up for a huge home series that weekend against Georgia Tech. But not long after that game ended, just as their team started hitting its stride, FSU's coaches found out the season would be put on hiatus.

At first, it was temporary. Then, it was final.

Martin, Metcalf and pitching coach Jimmy Belanger had to tell their team that the 2020 season was over just when it was getting started.

"You knew how much they wanted to keep playing," Metcalf said of the Seminoles' players. "Not only for themselves, but more importantly for the team and the program. It was a big letdown. It was very emotional."

On a personal level, this has been a wild first year in Tallahassee for Metcalf.

After working as a college coach early in his career, the Sarasota, Fla., native spent the past 11 years in scouting for the San Francisco Giants.

For six years, he was an "area scout," evaluating prospects throughout the state of Florida. Metcalf then was promoted to "cross-checker," where he handled greater responsibilities for the organization and also oversaw Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and later South Carolina.

But shortly after Martin Jr. was hired to replace his legendary father last June, the new head coach reached out to Metcalf to see if he'd be interested in returning to the college game.

It wasn't a simple decision. Metcalf loved his time with the Giants, and he was enjoying a successful career in pro baseball. At the same time, he loved the idea of returning to a team environment.

As the son of legendary Sarasota High head baseball coach Clyde Metcalf, Mike spent virtually all of his formative years at the ballpark. The older Metcalf has been in that position for nearly 40 years, has won more than 900 career games and was recently inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

"I spent every free moment I had at the baseball field with the Sarasota High program as a bat boy," Metcalf said. "It was a blessing, because I grew up around a lot of great coaches and a lot of great players."

And when his father had some free time in the fall, the Metcalfs would often make trips to Tallahassee to watch Florida State's football team in action. Clyde Metcalf is a Florida State graduate, which meant Mike was wearing garnet and gold for as long as he can remember.

So once Martin Jr. called with an offer to be an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Metcalf didn't take long to accept.

While the first-year staff was disappointed to see their first season end prematurely, Metcalf is obviously excited about the future. The Seminoles have plenty of young talent already in the program, and they are enjoying a great deal of success on the recruiting trail -- even though college coaches aren't allowed to meet face-to-face with prospects during the shutdown.

"We're still working, we're still getting after it, we're still grinding," Metcalf said. "It's just a different type of grind. It's a lot of phone work. Talking to players, talking to coaches -- both high school and travel ball -- and then talking as a staff."

While FSU's 2020 recruiting class was hurt by uncertainty surrounding the program during Mike Martin Sr.'s final season -- Martin Jr. didn't get the job until after that campaign was finished -- the future classes appear to be excellent.

According to Perfect Game Baseball, FSU currently is ranked No. 5 nationally for the Class of 2021, and the 'Noles are ranked No. 8 for the Class of 2022. They already have early commitments in place for the classes of 2023 and '24 as well.

While not being able to get out on the road is a challenge, Metcalf said the Seminoles have tried to use this time wisely. One positive to the situation, he said, is the coaches are getting extra time to talk with parents and players because they're not in the rush that comes with playing games.

"You've got to make a positive out of a negative," Metcalf said. "So we've taken our time on this, to slow down and really get to know these kids. Because again, we feel that makeup is a very important part of our process."

By "makeup," Metcalf means the intangibles that can make a talented high school prospect a consistent player on the college or professional levels.

"You can talk about bat speed, you can talk about power, you can talk about arm strength," Metcalf said. "Defensive skills, how they run ... but then you can dive a little bit deeper than that."

The Seminoles not only want to see how prospects handle success but also failure. They want to see what a big-time player does after he strikes out in a crucial situation.

"How he reacts and what adjustments he makes," Metcalf said.

It's a philosophy Metcalf came to embrace when he worked for the Giants' John Barr, who oversees scouting and other aspects of the major-league organization, which won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

And once Metcalf spoke at length with Martin Jr. during the hiring process and learned that the two shared the same beliefs, he knew it wouldn't be long before the Seminoles returned to prominence.

The 2020 college baseball season ended far too early. The future can't come soon enough.

"Ultimately, our goal is to win a national championship," Metcalf said. "And it takes a special team to win a national championship. Not just special players."

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