20 yards and a cloud of dust … Fort Recovery scores the 10th and clinching run in a shutout win over Russia on Saturday at The Minster Classic. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
Parents stepping up at practice and at home make all the difference in youth baseball and beyond. The Minster Classic demonstrates that it’s no coincidence that communities with involved parents win a lot of trophies.
Minster, OH – Since I began Press Pros coverage three years ago, friends and family from Dayton frequently ask me what makes west central Ohio so good at high school sports.
Dorsten Contracting proudly supports Shelby County League sports on Press Pros.
The Minster Classic tells most of the story. Success doesn’t begin with a winning tradition or highly compensated coaches. It starts way before that, with involved moms and dads who teach sons and daughters how to catch and throw a ball at home. They don’t wait for practice or structure; they start in the backyard with mom and dad. And by the time they enter organized sports, they’re already strides ahead of the field.
Alan Brads writes OHSAA sports and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
The parents who step into these roles, from tee-ball to varsity, are the most irreplaceable, invaluable resource in a winning athletic community.
Spend a day at Four Seasons Recreational Park, and you’ll see for yourself. Plus, you’ll probably see the most engaged crowds and best-priced concessions of any baseball tournament in Ohio. You can’t even get $1 candy at the gas station.
The 12U Anna Rockets enjoyed their day at the park, less because of $4 loaded nachos, and more because of a 16-6 win over St. Henry. Anna Rockets coach’s kid Brody Harr started at second base, recorded a hit, two walks, and two runs.
St. Henry’s Easton Wourms races to beat the tag from Anna’s Carter Benshoff, but the tag was in time to record the out after a wild pitch.
When asked about having his dad as his coach, Brody cracked a wide smile. “It’s good because he can get on me a lot and so I can get better. When I make a mistake, he tells me to do better next time and forget about it.”
Brody said the coaches had been emphasizing getting under the ball during the Minster Classic.
Starting pitcher Eli Sutter did just that in the second inning. He blasted a two-run homer over the left-center field fence, and maybe into the cornfield beyond the fence.
“I’ve hit maybe seven or eight [home runs],” Sutter said. “I knew after I hit it. You can just tell by the barrel. You can just feel it.”
Sutter eurostepped across home plate into the arms of his teammates.
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Elsewhere in 12U, Fort Recovery took down Russia 10-0 on Saturday. Chase Wendel started on the mound and led the shutout. First baseman Rigley Wendel contributed on offense by walking twice and scoring once. Two of the three coaches are also Wendels.
“He takes me to practice hitting at the batting cages,” first baseman Rigley Wendel said about his dad and coach.
Chase Wendel, above, and Grady Gaerke combined for two-hit shutout to lead Fort Recovery.
He also pitches like his brother, and gets some extra reps in at home with dad.
Rigley said all the extra practice gave him an advantage over any players whose parents couldn’t offer the same support outside of practice.
Head coach Matt Wendel is a second-generation baseball coach. Grandpa Wendel trained him in the way of the diamond just across the Indiana border, and now he’s passing it on to a new generation of Fort Recovery Indians.
“It’s a lot harder on the coaches’ kids because we know what they’re capable of,” Matt Wendel said. “I’d say my son feels it more than if I weren’t the coach.”
Rigley pondered what would be different about baseball if his dad wasn’t the coach. “Probably getting dropped off at every practice,” he said.
The never-ending state tournament appearances in the MAC and SCAL happen because parents care enough not just about their own child, but also about their child’s community, to volunteer to be coaches, role models, carpool drivers, and everything else that comes with the job. That’s the only explanation. Heaven knows they’re not in it for the money.
“You get to spend more time with your kid,” Matt Wendel said. “So that’s always a positive. And it gives you something to do rather than sitting at home watching TV or whatnot. You’re spending time at the batting cages, or spending time practicing with them.”
Fort Recovery shortstop Miles Overman absorbs a hit while trying to turn a double play. An interference call granted the Indians both outs.
The moms and dads who wear the whistle make up the backbone of a culture that rightfully prides itself on both competitiveness and sportsmanship. And it’s not just the rare parent here and there willing to do it. You won’t find a team at the Minster Classic with only one parent who volunteered to coach.
I spend weeks looking for one coach per team while working in youth sports east of Dayton. In three years at the Minster Classic, I haven’t seen a team with fewer than three. All those trophies these kids win in high school don’t happen by accident.
Anna shortstop Lavarise Masteller winds up to fire to first base for a double play attempt.
Experts are not required. Just some dedicated parents who care enough about their kids and their kids’ friends to raise their hands and get the job done.
After the United States’ exit from the World Cup, a popular soccer-based X account made a post blaming the loss on our youth development, saying 4- and 5-year-olds should be coached by “competent” outsiders instead of parents.
Tell that to Cam and Andrew Elwer as they hoisted a state championship trophy along with their dad, Aaron. Or Spencer and Braylon Cordonnier of Russia, or Diana Kramer, or Tim Goodwin, or … the list goes on. So go ahead. Try telling any of them that parent-coaches are the problem with developing athletes. I don’t think you’ll get very far.
After the game stop by for a winning ‘Big Buy’ at The Spot, in Sidney … Presenting sponsor of the Minster Classic!