'At the end of the day, we all love baseball'

FINDLAY -- For a first-year sports organization, having the right people in charge goes a long way. For Findlay's own Flag City Sluggers, it's making a world of difference. The Sluggers, a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League baseball team started by team president Joe Fenimore, began their inaugural season 0-6. Since then, however, things have changed and the Sluggers have gone 12-4. Flag City's coaching staff has worked diligently to help the players get comfortable, and not worry about their slow start. "Even after going 0-6, a lot of teams, that could not ruin a season, but things could cave after something like that," pitching coach Geoff Freeborn said. "I think we did a good job of just staying positive, and seeing that that was a hard first two teams to play. We were playing Muskegon and a few of those teams and kind of built off that.""Right off the rip, we had to figure out what we had," assistant coach Cael Magill said. "We showed up 24 hours before our first game with mostly guys we hadn't seen play in person. Understanding what we had from a coaching perspective and the guys understanding what they had as a team was a big thing for us to figure out. Now, we know what guys can do a little bit, and it's been fun.""I've coached with a lot of coaches, and that can go south pretty quick," Freeborn continued. "We did a good job of keeping them positive and realizing that there is lots more baseball left and it's still pretty early. We got together the first night and didn't practice. We didn't really know these guys, so we did a good job turning that around."Freeborn and Magill are excellent coaches, but a good team is only as good as its head coach. Enter Tyler Smith. Smith is a native of Paragould, Arkansas, and graduated from Arkansas State University in 2011, before a five-year playing career in the minor leagues. Smith has coached 10 years at Three Rivers College, and sent 20 players up to the Division I level. "On the coaching end of it, this is new (for me)," Smith said. "I played in every summer league, I had a chance to play in this league when I was a junior, so I knew what summer ball was about. From a professional baseball background, I wanted to get back involved. It's something that felt like professional baseball, but it's just a little different. Just being able to work with the players, being able to focus a little more on the development side of it, rather than the wins and losses. So far, focusing on the development has helped the wins and losses."With Smith being all the way from Arkansas, one might assume that he brought some assistants he was familiar with along for the ride. Freeborn and Magill's hometowns are nowhere near Arkansas, however. Freeborn is originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, though he attended college at Northern Kentucky University, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Freeborn has played baseball on every continent, including stops with the Canadian and Great Britain national teams. Freeborn has been a scout for the Cincinnati Reds, a recruiter for the Pakistan 2022 World Baseball Classic team, and is the president of Side Arm Nation, a coaching and recruiting agency to help with side arm pitching techniques. Freeborn has also coached for Team Canada and Team Alberta, and was head coach for the University of Calgary. Magill is from Atco, New Jersey, and recently attended Marietta College. In two seasons, Magill scored 47 runs, hit 46 RBIs, and three home runs, registering a batting average of .337. So, how did the Sluggers come across such a diverse coaching staff?"They called a pro scout that I know with the Atlanta Braves," Smith said. "He called me and asked if I'd be interested. I said 'Heck yeah, I definitely wanna go be a Slugger'. That was the first decision. Then we lucked out, one of my good friends in coaching, I texted him looking for an assistant, and found Cael. He recommended Cael, and that was a real good recommendation. We lucked out again with Geoff; he actually emailed us. Talked to him, found his background, and it was a no-brainer. It's been a really fun summer with this group.""We have some diverse backgrounds, but at the end of the day we all love baseball," Magill added. "That's what brought us together. On our Muskegon trip, when we were 0-6, we decided we were gonna switch up the rooms, and separate all the guys that knew each other. All the guys that were pitchers, all the guys that were position players, really kind of went full mix-up. Now, all these guys I would say are pretty good friends. We do lots of team bonding outside of baseball, it's been great."With the Sluggers' slow start, being patient was key for Smith and company. Every loss has taught them valuable lessons, and made every win that much sweeter. As the team has continued to churn out victories, they've learned to take it in stride and embrace the fun of being a team in its first season."There's growing pains everywhere you go," Smith said. "The great thing about first-year organizations is it's new. The expectations are whatever you want them to be. You don't have to walk into someplace that's won for 30 years, you don't have to walk into a place that's lost for 30 years. This is a brand-new deal. That was the biggest thing for me, being able to start something. In 50 years I'll look back when the Sluggers are still rolling, be able to look back and say, 'Hey, I was the first one.' In today's world, and it's been around a long time, there's not that many firsts that get to happen.""In all honesty, that is one of the reasons I did reach out was because it was an expansion team," Freeborn said. "I enjoy coaching at this level, it's kinda the right timeframe. I went to school at NKU (Northern Kentucky University), just across from Cincinnati, so it's fun to come back to the area. It's worked out and exceeded my expectations for sure.""We just talk about how everything's a process and everything's an opportunity," Magill said. "I think those guys really bought into it right from the jump. We talked about it in our first team meeting, and obviously going 0-6, like Geoff said, it'd be really easy to cave in. We trusted the process, trusted what we've been working on, and it's all coming together now.""Ending the first half above .500 was a big one, especially after, I know these guys touched on it, but starting 0-6," Smith added. "First half has basically ended, we're above .500, that's a win. Now we have the second half to build on, a lot of these guys are hopefully gonna be all-stars. Our ultimate goal is to make the playoffs. When we recruited all these guys, the big thing for me was guys who wanted to win and loved baseball. It's a really fun team to coach, they've done a great job of buying into some things that aren't popular in summer ball. I'm really looking forward to what they can accomplish as we move forward."The Sluggers have successfully turned their season around, with the help of a hungry and determined staff. From their board of directors and president, to their unique band of coaches, to their band of collegiate players from across the country, the Sluggers have bought into making Flag City a home for baseball lovers.