Impressive arms…Russia 9-year-old Josiah Doseck flashed pitching form beyond his years in opening action of Thursday’s Craig Stammen Classic. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Opening day of the Craig Stammen Classic weekend for community baseball attracted good crowds, 9-year-0lds with talent beyond their years, and a major league manager who happily occupied his day off with more baseball.
Versailles, OH – The San Diego Padres enjoyed an off day in Dallas-Fort Worth Thursday, biding their time before opening a three-game series Friday night in Arlington with the Texas Rangers.
Big league clubs covet an off day in June, the season now 73 games deep and the Padres three games over .500 (38-35). And Wednesday’s win over St. Louis, in manager Craig Stammen’s words, “made the off day a little sweeter.”
Prenger Financial Services proudly supports the Stammen Classic and youth baseball in the Versailles community.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
But not as good as being at home, in Versailles, for opening day of the annual Stammen Classic weekend for youth baseball, attracting 50 teams from ages 7 through 14, baseball benevolents from nearly every neighboring community in a five-county radius, and Craig Stammen, himself, who spent his off day flying in from St. Louis to watch 9-year-old son Chase play against a team of 9-year-olds from Minster.
“There’s no place that I’d rather be,” Stammen said with a smile. “Unless I could actually play in the tournament. Getting to watch it is something I’ve been looking forward to since the beginning of the season. I’ve had this day marked on the calendar. The only ones happier today are those kids on the field.”
“Dads are important, and my dad was an awesome baseball dad. But the thing I remember most is him being the ultimate encourager. He always pumped me up and made me feel good about what I did on the field.”
One of only thirty major league managers in the world of sports, Stammen’s very presence Thursday was a metaphor for why baseball in Versailles, in the MAC Conference, and in neighboring communities has enjoyed a consistent success in the OHSAA state tournament for the past fifty years.
Coldwater has won seven state titles. Minster has won 4. St. Henry has won 3. Delphos St. John has won once. Fort Loramie has won three times. Anna has won twice. Twenty titles that account for only the MAC and the neighboring Shelby County League.
Communities in west-central Ohio care about community baseball, take pride in it, promote it (along with softball for girls), and don’t treat it as a stepchild sport because it doesn’t make money.
Baseball in the area borrows heavily from a tradition of local hall of fame coaches – Jim Hardman, Rick Gold, John Dorner, Frosty Brown, Bill Sturwold, Lou Brunswick, Mark Brunswick, Dave King, Mike Wiss, Trent Dues, and current Versailles coach, Bill Sturwold.
Knapke Kitchens and Baths, in Versailles, proudly sponsors the best area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Baseball in Darke, Shelby, Auglaize, Mercer, Miami, and Allen counties is heavy on the ‘Dad’ factor, where baseball legacy and mentoring is passed down from father to son.
“I had the best baseball dad possible,” smiled Stammen Thursday, talking about his own adolescent experience growing up in tiny North Star, west of Versailles. “My dad was an awesome baseball dad, he loved the sport and still does to this day. But the thing I remember most is him being the ultimate encourager. He always pumped me up and made me feel good about what I did on the field. When it was time for correction he would do it in private, one-on-one time. Nothing was ever better than playing catch with my dad.
Essence of the game….”The things we’re trying to teach a 7-year-old are the same tried-and-true things we teach in the big leagues.” – Craig Stammen
“And dads are very important because they’re the ones that usually introduce you to the sport, or your grandpa or another father figure in your life. And another thing, I think that family and faith are a big part of baseball in this community, and good families do things together. So when a young man or woman are excited about a sport, and their parents are involved with that sport with them it brings the family together, brings the community together, and there’s nothing better than that.”
Dave Knapp Ford, in Greenville, proudly sponsors community baseball at the Craig Stammen Classic.
It can also create curiosity for those on the outside. Doug Aselage, from Fort Worth, Texas, with Fort Loramie roots, flew all the way back to Darke County to observe this weekend.
“I’ve been reading about the Stammen Classic on the Press Pros site this week, and I was impressed with what I read. The son of a friend is playing in it this weekend and I decided to come back and see it for myself.”
The Worch Company is proud to sponsor the Craig Stammen Classic on Press Pros Magazine.com.
At least three Division I college coaches were kind to share their own thoughts about community baseball, Versailles style, and how the future and the allure of the sport is enhanced by the simple act of playing at home with your friends.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that community baseball is beneficial to kids learning the game and for improving their skills,” says Nebraska coach Will Bolt. “My issue with travel baseball is too many games and not enough practice time together. That’s the value of community baseball.”
“The things we’re trying to teach a 7-year-old here are the same tried-and-true things that we’re teaching in the big leagues,” laughs Stammen. “Like, we have to throw it over the plate. If you walk guys you’re going to give up runs. That’s the beauty of baseball. It’s the same when your seven years old as when you’re thirty seven.
“I think a lot of the guys on our roster in San Diego have had some kind of community baseball experience, and I would argue that guys from the Dominican, from Puerto Rico, and Venezuela…they were playing in the back yard with their people that lived close to them. They weren’t traveling across the island to go play ball. They found the nearest field, the nearest ball, and the nearest bat, got together and just played ball. The culture of their country is about baseball. It’s like the little communities here. You get the little towns together, find a pickup game, throw the balls out there and just go play.”
Chase Stammen, son of Craig, legs out a base hit during 9-year-old action in Thursday’s Stammen Classic.
In capsule, that’s what you saw Thursday night at Versailles’ beautiful Heritage Park diamonds…and what you’ll see throughout the weekend at the five other venues in Versailles and in North Star. On Thursday Russia, St. Henry, Coldwater, Minster, and St. Henry were there with their eight and nine-year-olds. And even at such a young age, the talent stood out, some more progressed than others. The ‘Dad’ factor was very evident, no more so than with Russia 9-year-old Josiah Doseck who’s the youngest of eight children, and the other seven all sisters.
But again, the beauty of baseball, as legendary writer Grantland Rice once penned: “Boys and baseball inspires a good feeling, not unlike the nurturing of the sun. The boy you see now will not be the boy of next year. Like the seasons, they change with the nurturing.”
No two boys learn alike. No two boys learn at the same pace.
As for those curious to hear about Craig Stammen’s unique day job, he describes it the same way he equates teaching strikes to a 7-year-old.
Russia showed a tandem of good 9-year-old pitching arms, including Kip Cordonnier (above).
“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. That’s what it is,” he says with the ever-present smile. “Anyone that loves baseball would dream of being a major league manager. I have to pinch myself everyday when they play the national anthem. I get to be that guy at the front of the line. I get to manage against Terry Francona, a hall of famer.
“There’s a lot to it, now. It’s a full gig. You just don’t roll the balls out there and play. But I think I knew it would be an unbelievable challenge and I wanted to take on the challenge.”
That challenge will not change Craig Stammen. Having known Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon and a handful of others who held that same job, sitting and talking baseball with Stammen is as comfortable as buying a hay baler from North Star Hardware. It feels like a good idea with both parties.
“I’m not anyone different,” he assures. “I try to be the person I was raised to be. I’m no different than the guy who played high school baseball with the guys at Versailles, or college baseball with the guys at Dayton. I want to be the same guy. I’m just a regular Joe that got the opportunity of a lifetime.”
In the meantime, baseball in Versailles rolls on this weekend in its best and purest form. Kids will have fun playing the game.
Families and communities will come together. There’s nothing better than that.
Good enough, in fact, to travel from Fort Worth.
Think of it as Billy Bob’s…with baseball.
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