Sluggers bring in new coach for sophomore season

FINDLAY – Following a successful first season that saw the Flag City Sluggers narrowly miss the postseason in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, one might expect the Sluggers to return with the same coaches, players, and volunteers. That, however, is not the case. The Sluggers look completely different, with a clean slate of student volunteers, a fresh crop of players, and an all-new coaching staff. Despite this, new head coach Ben Babcock hopes to build on the triumphant debut for Flag City. "It's tough to have some expectations when we're one, now two, seasons in," Babcock said. "I think with anything you do, it's just building on what you did last year. The only people that we can compare ourselves to is who we were last year. If we can just build on that, I think it's gonna be a success."Just because Babcock is new to the Sluggers, doesn't mean he's making his GLSCL debut. Babcock served as the pitching coach for the Lima Locos during the 2022 season, which saw the Locos finish runners-up in the GLSCL. Babcock is no stranger to collegiate baseball either, having been a member of Defiance College's baseball program since 2021, including serving as interim head coach in 2023. Babcock is originally from Delphos, where he has been junior varsity head coach and a varsity assistant at Delphos St. John's. "The biggest thing in talking with Chad (Feasel, Sluggers Vice President) and Joe (Fenimore, President) early on was their vision of what they want and what their expectation is for the organization as a whole," Babcock said of his motivations to join the Sluggers."They're all in. That really bought me in, to come in here and try to exceed their expectations of what this could be. Obviously, they're Findlay guys. I'm a Northwest Ohio guy. The ability to give back to the area is important to me as well." While last year's Sluggers team featured a handful of local athletes, Babcock has focused on building the program's roster a little closer to home. "Getting guys from Northwest Ohio (was important). This is, I think, kind of a central hub for a lot of guys. There is some familiarity there, it's tough to build that with summer ball. A lot of these guys played against each other in the college season, or in travel ball in high school. And then, there's the fan experience. A lot of Northwest Ohio guys means a lot of Northwest Ohio fans. That means a better crowd, and a better experience.""There's some guys here that I recruited to Defiance," Babcock added. "There's a couple of guys on the team that I've coached in summer ball before, or that I've seen play. I think that's part of it, it's just a familiar face and a little bit of a trust factor there. Even though they might not have come to play for me for a college season, being able to build relationships is an important part of the game for me, so that trust factor is important."Babcock wasted no time working to build his relationships and strengthen the bond of the Sluggers. While there is quite a period of time between recruitment and when the players actually arrive for the GLSCL season, Babcock made sure the team got to work right away on camaraderie. "One of the first things we did as soon as we had guys come in and say, 'Yeah, I'm excited to be in Findlay,' is shoot them a link to the team GroupMe. There's been guys that have been in that since November. Simple things, like being able to follow each other on Twitter or Instagram, to connect, and follow along with each other's spring seasons, are big factors in being able to build some of that familiarity with each other.""Like I said, there is a lot of Northwest Ohio guys," Babcock continued. "But we have a couple of young men from Arizona, a guy from Texas, a guy from Arkansas, a guy from Alabama. That familiarity isn't there with them, so getting them in early and being able to communicate is a big part of it. I've already seen, in just the first week, there's been numerous wiffle ball games with the host families, and all that good stuff. Seeing the guys come together and gel is one of the best things about college athletics."