The season has reached its end and we finished with a record of 14-4. Our last game was in tournaments to a team that the starting pitcher was going to be a pitcher for a solid D1 school.  On the bright side, who expected a team that had its share of problems and were led by a college kid to make it all the way to the state qualifier? That is the farthest any team in our program has made it and that is something that I feel like we all can tip our caps to.

    During my first week as coaching the Acme team, I told the players if we were to advance to a certain point in tournaments we would go to a Cincinnati Reds game. Sure enough, they played their hearts out and we made it to our goal and beyond. I had been talking with ticket reps about getting a group rate and we ended up bringing 50+ people down to Great American Ball Park. It was truly a great experience and we even had our names on the scoreboard during the game!  I was caught off guard after the game as all of the parents and players came up to me and thanked me and gave me a gift saying how much they appreciated everything that was done.
   
I certainly was not expecting that to happen and was moved by the thought. I have learned as much from the players if not more so than they have learned from me. I figured coming into the season that I would basically just give a few signs here and there and the rest would be up to the players. On the contrary! This internship has showed me that hard work does win out and to always try being the best role model as possible, as you never know who is watching.

    One of the things I was never told about being a coach was how  often players look to you for advice. One of the sour apples on the team had a lot of talent but showed no real drive on the field and caused trouble off of it. I was constantly on his butt throughout the season, and after one game that stuck with me very vividly was he wanted to talk.  At first, the conversation began about why I am so hard on him and why I benched him multiple times. I gave my explanation and shared with him experiences I have both been apart of and seen first hand.            
    Gradually, the conversation began to sway towards how he was tired of being the kid people always see as never living to his potential and how he honestly wanted to earn something in life.  About a half hour into the conversation he could no longer fight back the tears and everything began flowing out of him. I promised him if he meant what he said, that I would be there to help him and be at the other end of the phone if he needed anything.
 To this day, I feel like it was as much of an eye opener to me as it was for him. From that point forward, this player went from one of the sour grapes to the most energetic kid on the team. He looked like a weight had been lifted and he was happy, and it started reflecting on all the other players.

     *I recently got an update from him saying he had made the honor roll and is filling out college applications. He told me had it not been for me he would have continued down a path that would have ultimately led to him leading an unhappy and troublesome life. Talk about something that floors you. I am not even five years older than this kid and somehow I am his role model. This is by far my most fond memory of the summer being able to see the transformation in him and is something I will take with me in all my future aspirations.*

    This season has certainly given me much more experience than I thought it would. It has been one filled with much hardships and taught me that being a coach isn't always as merry as it seems. Late in the summer season, I got a call saying that one of the captains on the team had his mother pass away from a lengthy battle with cancer. I cannot imagine being without a parent, so I cannot act like I know what he must have been going through. I do know that our team had become a family and had each others back, and that is something that you cannot teach on paper.
   
    The entire team was there for the funeral and each person individually paid their respects and was there for their teammate, their brother. I had called the athletic director about possibly getting something made like a wristband but by the time they would have been able to cover the charges the season would be over. A couple parents got together with me, and we bought these wristbands that had her initials on them for the next game.

    Nobody would have faulted the player if he did not want to play the remainder of the season, but he was adamant about finishing what we had started. Not only did he play, but the player pitched a complete game shutout. After the game the pain in his eyes was evident, and his teammates had his back.  This season just continues to show me that coaching is not about the win/loss record but more about growing as a person and providing an outside resource kids can go to in times of need.

    Wow! The difference between Junior Acme and Acme talent level is night and day. Due to the mysterious events that led me to be their head coach, I only was able to have one practice before our first game. Luckily at least, the Junior Acme team started the season sooner so I was able to be their head coach from the third game on. I was pretty nervous for the first game since this is more or less the actual Varsity roster come spring time and here I am coaching it all by myself!   Thankfully, everyone was relaxed during practice and even cracked some jokes all while still knowing I was in charge. This continued on during our first game together and we actually won it by a score of 13-3. Now, before this game the umpires and the opposing coach both were talking to me and were surprised that I was in charge of a team that I played for just three seasons ago. 

   Flash forward a few weeks and we have a very solid record of 8-2. Multiple times after a practice or a game, I have had players ask me to stay after and work on hitting with them in hopes of learning something extra or to continue to get better. While this team had talent, some players did not always give the most effort and had a few sour apples. My goal is to help motivate these few players into wanting to turn it around and  dedicate themselves to become the best person they can be both on and off the field. 

    There are always players who dislike a coach and I never thought I would be on the opposite end of one of those kids. Around the mid season mark into my tenure as the Acme coach, one of the players whom I had known a little bit about previously was upset with me over his playing time and thought he was better than other kids on the field. I sat down with him and told him what I had been seeing in practice. The ability was there for him to be a starter sure. I told him the effort was lacking severely and the attitude was starting to reflect onto other players. For the best of the team I felt I had to bench him until he earned that spot as nobody is entitled to anything in life. Not only did other players see the bigger picture, a few of them went over to the player and told him to straighten up because they could really use him on the field.

    This could have posed a big problem, but it actually helped both myself and other players grow. In the end, the player did eventually start to improve his attitude and effort.Gradually, he gained more and more playing time by the end of the season.

    Just when I thought I was starting to get things figured out, I received a call from the head coach of the entire program.  The coach proceeded to tell me how the Acme coach had stepped down due to wanting to further pursue a traveling team. At the end of this conversation, I found myself as the lone coach of the Acme team and my assistant at the Junior Acme level would become the head coach of that team.
     Now, this is a great opportunity for myself and it does not come without risks. I had actually played with a few of these kids myself when I was a senior in High School. I had to be able to differentiate being one of the "guys" and being their coach when we were on the field.  I have to show that during practice and games I am the leader and one in charge. We may be friends off the field, but there will be no favorites on it as the best kids who work the hardest will play. This could be my toughest challenge yet, and if I could pull it off maybe I have a future in this after all.
  

    Five games have quickly come and gone and the Junior Acme team was sitting at a tough fought 1-4 record. I knew coming into the season that this level is more about development and getting the younger kids ready for the future. It did not seem fair when every team we had faced up to this point had brought down much older kids to face us. Having said that, I LOVE how much effort each of these kids have put into the game and are starting to take me seriously as a coach. Some of these players have shown potential to play on Varsity come the spring and I hope to be able to help take them there with a little guidance. There is a good culture here in the program and it definitely is one on the rise, I hope to see great things in the near future. 

    A few practices are in the book, and I have been the one orchestrating what to do during practice and creating a lineup for our very first game. Having said that, I was not expecting my very first game as a head coach to go the way that it did. The Junior Acme team consisted of twelve players and we did not exactly have a strong pitching staff needless to say. Having to play the hand I was dealt, we made it out of the first game losing 21-3 at home. Now, the team we played had many kids that were juniors and seniors whom were going to play Varsity in the spring season and our team was rather young. It was definitely a learning experience for me and the kids whom have never had their butts kicked like that before. The score aside, I thought we played hard and never gave in to the much older players we faced. The hardest part for me was having to give the post game speech to the kids who had a look between wondering if I was ready for this and disappointment in themselves. I look forward to the upcoming weeks and proving I can succeed.

    Here I am, a person who is only a few years older than many kids on this team.  I somehow expect them to not only listen, but to respect and actually implement my advice into the sport of baseball. Luckily for me, I had the help of the spring Varsity coach to help me through the first practice because I was kind of nervous and not sure what to expect!  I also had an assistant to help me with the Junior Acme team which took some of the pressures off as I had not done a practice on my own before.

    During the first day we went through the basic practice to allow both the players and myself to get acclimated towards one another. We started with the typical "warm-up" period and the throwing program. After about fifteen minutes, we began batting practice. When I was a player, I thought this was the best part of practice as I got to show off the long ball a little bit. Now being on the opposite side, after throwing well over two hundred pitches over the course of multiple rounds to every player it is safe to say my shoulder was tired! As the end drew near for the first practice we did a quick pregame "In & Out" to make sure we are ready for the first game upcoming! It went decent but definitely has room for improvement. This could be an interesting season!

   
   

    Following my career at Indian Lake High School, I knew the coaches very well and we kept in touch. This summer came along and I was asked if I would be able to oversee a team of freshman and sophomores during the upcoming season as the head "Junior Acme" coach. I instantly agreed because I wanted to do something similar to this in the future and what better opportunity than to learn first hand at the very school I graduated from? Having been around the game my whole life and playing a little varsity at the collegiate level earlier that year the Spring coach felt I had all the tools necessary to mold these kids into varsity material the next season.


    I quickly learned when I was sat down to learn all the responsibilities of the job that it was not simply going to be a few hours a day throwing the baseball around a little and giving a few signs during a game. All the little things the job entails quickly showed itself. One of the most time consuming aspects of the job was making sure the field was kept in top shape. This includes keeping the grass cut, the field dragged, and weeds pulled. The concession stand also had to be stocked and readily available to people during the games. This could be a long season full of valuable experience and I was ready to attack it head on!