New Sandusky baseball team exceeds rookie expectations

Editor's note: Shayne Blevins is the coach of a new 14 and under Sandusky-based baseball team, which participated in the Firelands Inter-League. He recapped the season and talked about the importance of providing local children an opportunity to play in a new league. For more information, email him at baseballfinatic8@yahoo.com.At the beginning of the season, coach Ian Esposito and I came in with the intent to give these boys, who are between the ages of 12 and 15, all the knowledge we could about baseball. We weren't in it for the wins. We were in it to get these kids ready for playing at the high school level.As Sandusky alums, we wanted to give back to the kids and hopefully start to create new opportunities for young teenagers to play baseball in Sandusky.This past year, the high school had quite a few seniors graduate, and that's when the talks of a junior high team came into play.During the first day of practice, we knew we had a lot of work to do — but we also knew we had more potential than anyone could imagine.For the first time, Sandusky fielded a 14U baseball team that participated in the Firelands Inter-League in recent weeks. The team finished with an 8-2 regular season record and made an appearance in the semifinal game.We had people telling us not to waste our time with those kids because they were "troublemakers" or they were "not as good as the rest," but that fueled the fire burning inside of our boys to show prove wrong.We preached, day in and day out, that we were doubted by many, and our boys took that and ran with it. They practiced hard with blood, sweat and tears up to four times a week, continuing to grow each day.As the season began, we turned heads, outscoring opponents in the first four games by a combined score of 56-23. We played games at Sandusky High School's field in addition to the new complex at Sports Force Parks at Cedar Point Sports Center. We also traveled to Edison and Western Reserve to play.As the season continued to roll on, we were no longer the team that was an "easy win." We were the team with a big bullseye on our back.For the first time, Sandusky field a 14U team that participated in the Firelands Inter-League in recent weeks. The team finished with an 8-2 regular season record and made an appearance in the semifinal game. Among the players: • Back Row: Kameron Woods, Damon Green, Tasavion Jones, Jayson Mittower, Anthony Winter, Gavin Koch, Jaxson Cramer • Front Row: Xzavier Santana, Daquaris Brown, Will Blevins, Trey Burris, Jayvion Johnson, Trey LoftonGames got tougher, but we overcame adversity with two walk-off wins and ended our regular season with an 8-2 record.Going into the semifinal game, as always, we preached that people never even expected us to be there and that we were proud of them either way the game went.Unfortunately, we did not win our semifinal game, losing 8-7 to Ole Camp. Despite the loss, Coach Esposito, Coach Zack Moots, scorekeeper Hollis Burris, parents and myself were beyond proud of our boys. This season was special for us as coaches and for our boys.They learned how to play baseball the right way, and, most of all, they became young men. Not only did they learn, but we learned as coaches and were beyond thankful for them.We did this program to help those players, mold them and have them playing kids their age and with better competition.This is not the end. This is only the beginning of something big for our young baseball players. These boys have paved the way for something great, and they we will be back next year continuing to get better throughout the fall and winter months.Next year, we're going to try something a little different and get more into the travel ball. Ian and I have been discussing maybe doing a 15-U next year and maybe a 12-U or 13-U, but we will possibly be doing a camp next month to take a look at kids and also help kids out.