'It's been a great experience'

At 6-7, the Flag City Sluggers find themselves in the middle of the pack in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League standings. That number doesn't tell the whole story.The Sluggers, in their inaugural season, started the year a disappointing 0-6, before going 6-1 in their next seven games and clinching their first series sweep against the Muskegon Clippers. In the midst of their 6-1 run, one player was in the spotlight, earning GLSCL Player of the Week. That player was Harrison Engskov.Engskov was named GLSCL Player of the week on June 16, going 10-for-21 at the plate, scoring eight runs and batting in eight more. Engskov is second in the league in batting average as well. Engskov's recent play is not only telling of the Sluggers' perseverance, but his own personal resurgence as well. During high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, Engskov dealt with a handful of health problems, most notably getting diagnosed with Graves' Disease as a senior. As a result, he missed out on his senior season as well as his freshman season at Arkansas State, where his brother Patrick also plays baseball for the Red Wolves. Harrison focused on rehab and recovery, biding his time to return to the sport he had worked so hard for. And then, Flag Citycoach Tyler Smith called. "I met coach Smith while I was still in high school," Engskov said. "I went to a camp while I was still sick with my grave's disease, so he got to see me at my lowest. But we kept in touch. I stayed home for a semester and took care of my health, and then he invited me to come up here and play with him this summer."Smith's invitation presented an opportunity for Harrison -- whom college coaches had yet to get a look at -- to finally get back out there and play ball. Engskov is in the transfer portal, unsure if he will return to Arkansas State and hoping his play with the Sluggers shows prospective coaches what he's really about. "Having to sit out kind of brought back a lot of opportunities and chances from schools," Engskov said. "I don't have any gameplay or stats or anything to backup how I play, so it makes it a little bit harder. Being able to come and play for the Sluggers this summer has kind of opened opportunities for me and made it easier to be seen by college coaches."As Engskov has gotten more comfortable in the Sluggers' system, the rest of his team has as well. Now, Flag City is stacking up wins. "It felt great, we definitely needed a win," Engskov said. "We knew we could do it. We also knew we shouldn't have lost those first six games, we're a better team than that. Just being able to play together, having guys from all over, it's gonna be hard starting out. We couldn't really connect that well in the first couple of games, but once we get rolling and everybody figured out what position they were gonna play in the lineup, we knew we were gonna start winning games.""It's been a great experience," Engskov continued. "Obviously, we started out a little slow, but we've picked it up for sure. All the guys are great, we're from all over the place, but we all connect together really well. Our coaches have been great. Having coaches like Geoff (Freeborn), who's from Canada and has big-league experience, and coach Smith, who played five years professionally. We just have a lot of good people around us. The community has been great as well. There's been lots of support, even though we lost our first six games, we had great support at all of them. It's been a great experience all around for sure."Engskov's decision to commit to a brand-new organization in the Sluggers is already paying off, as every game presents another opportunity to improve and get his legs back under him. Engskov and the Sluggers are settling in at the same time. "It was definitely a little hard to be 11 hours away," Harrison said. "But I knew that I'd be able to come up here and play. I knew a couple of the guys already, and I knew coach Smith. I knew I'd still have support around me, even if my family wasn't here. The good thing is, my family's coming up in two weeks, so I'll get to see them. It was definitely hard to commit right away to come up here, but I knew I'd have the support. Joe (Joe Fenimore, president of the Sluggers) was great on the phone, talking to me and telling me how good the community was and how the support was from them. It was almost a no-brainer to commit."With committing, came being placed with a host family. Families in the Findlay area were presented with the opportunity to host a Slugger for the summer as they played GLSCL baseball. "I'm staying with Lynn and Tom Fees," Engskov said. "Me and another of my teammates, Caleb Smith, we're both staying with them. We have family dinner on Monday nights, they come to all the home games and support us. Whenever we get home, Tom talks to us about the games and tells us good job. It's been great to have them be able to support us and be there for us.""This is my first rodeo being with a host family," Harrison continued. "I've played travel ball since I was little, so I know what that environment's like. One of my summers, I went up to New York and lived there for two months. Played during the summer, but I had my dad with me the whole time. So, this is a new experience for me. Lynn and Tom have been great to me, and very supportive."Overall, Engskov's experience in Findlay has been extremely positive, and he's benefited in a multitude of ways. His forged relationships with coaches, players, his host family and the community, have made an impact on his outlook. It's also given him time to reflect. "I just think the community has been great," Engskov said. "I've been able to go into gas stations and Dick's Sporting Goods, and all these different places, and have people ask me how the Sluggers are doing. Just giving us support all around. They've been great to me and all my other teammates. That's probably been the best thing. I think it's just amazing how a summer team can randomly come in one summer and everybody shows so much support for us, even though we started pretty slow.""It's been awesome," Harrison added. "Being held back for that year and four months and not being able to play was really tough on me. Just being able to get back out there and get my feet wet feels great. I owe it all to God, he's given me all the abilities and I can't take credit for any of it. Having good teammates around me, being in a good environment, and keeping God first has just led me to be able to do what I've done so far."