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Beechcroft Stuns Mifflin 20-0 in Season Opening Victory

A Look at the Obstacles of Building a New Baseball Culture

By Winners OnlyPublished 5 years ago 7 min read
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Beechcroft's Alhaji Sidibe Pitching His First Shutout and Earning His First Win

As the sun set just behind the baseball diamond at Mifflin High School, in Columbus, Ohio, coach Brian Knisley, first year coach at Beechcroft High School, circled his players up and said these words.

"I told you this wasn't a one win team or a two win team. I told you this could be a very, very good team this year, didn't I?"

The team responded, "Yes sir."

Knisley went on to say, "This right here is a good start for us, 20-0, right out of the box. We know we got Whetstone tomorrow. It's gonna be a tough one and Northland on Thursday, but we can play with these guys. We're not a two-win team. Without a doubt, we're not a two-win team."

For the first time since 2016, Beechcroft defeated Columbus City League rival Mifflin, 20-0, when the game was called after three innings on Tuesday, April 2. Beechcroft High School has had its share of success in the recent past in basketball and football but baseball has endured its share of struggles for years.

Knisley is the fourth coach in four years. The culture of taking baseball seriously is a struggle at most inner city schools around the state of Ohio. Knisley was a six-year assistant at Centennial High, which is one of the more successful City League programs going 73-61, from 2012-18, according to MaxPreps.com. At Beechcroft, Knisley is in the midst of an uphill battle as the team is coming off of a one win season and took the field with only nine players.

When asked about the difference between coaching at a school with a more established baseball program, he said, "The biggest difference, I would say, is the numbers and the experience that the kids have had so far. Other places I've been, they've been playing since they were little."

Kenichi Taylor

An example of the inexperience that coach Knisley speaks of is Kenichi Taylor, who played in the first baseball game of his life in the 20-0 win. He talked about playing softball with his mom, uncle and grandma in the backyard as his only experience.

Sean Speakman played when he was younger, but this is his first year competing in high school. He had a successful day knocking in a run, but he's more experienced riding his bikes. Talking to him about baseball was a limited conversation, being that he is so new to the sport, but when we discussed BMX bike riding his eyes lit up and he was very articulate.

Sean Speakman

Just before the game, the coach reflected on how he often has practices with just four or five players, being that many of his student athletes are working jobs which have been prioritized over baseball. In most cases inner city kids who are successful in football and basketball are more committed to their sport than part-time jobs. They fear the consequences of missing practice.

Knisley is working on changing the complacent attitude towards the sport at Beechcroft. "You gotta get with the parents to realize that commitment to a team has gotta be more than just a couple days a week. It needs to be all the time. [Students have to consider] working a little less, being at practice a little more, eventually it will just turn around to, 'Yeah, we're having fun and winning and I wanna be at practice,' versus, 'Well I'm not sure, we haven't had a lot of success. I'll just come when I come and see how it goes from there.'"

Micah Newell led Beechcroft with two hits and three runs scored.

The coach's more serious and organized approach was represented through his players as the kids took the field. Offensively they were led by Micah Newell who had a game high two hits, three runs scored, and a stolen base. Beechcroft ran the bases aggressively, rarely swung at bad pitches, and took advantage of every mistake that the lesser disciplined Mifflin squad committed.

While struggling with bad pitching, which is excusable, Mifflin's focus seemed to be all over the place as outfielders could be seen staring into space and their clubhouse was a bit sophomoric as some players seemed more focused on heckling each other than rallying from a deficit.

Defensively the team was led by pitcher Alhaji Sidibe who allowed one hit in his three-inning shutout performance.

"Oh, it feels great," Sidibe said. "It's the first time in three years that we've won [against Mifflin]. It's my third coach in three years and it's a little different, but you can tell the improvement that we have with this team. Most of these guys have never played baseball so it's a good feeling to have the first win, right off the bat.

"Yeah, Alhaji's been to practice every single day and you can tell," Knisley said. "When he got out there on the mound, he was throwing strikes. He looked like he knew what he was doing. That's a testament to Alhaji being here every single day and it goes to show you what you can do, if you go out there every day and you practice. You can go out there and be able to perform.

Sidibe racked up seven strikeouts in the three-inning win as only one ball was hit into play. Newell, who played catcher, also threw out two runners attempting to steal third base during the game.

"Our catcher Micah, he is a very versatile athlete," Knisley said. "He plays some center field, I've had him pitch some and now he catches also, so he can do a lot of different things. He had a really good night tonight."

Tyler Hasty

Tyler Hasty also had a two-RBI single, contributing to the offense as well.

Beechcroft scored more runs in one game than it did in all of the games that were reported on MaxPreps.com in 2018. Unlike football and basketball it's tricky finding past baseball stats and results for teams that aren't usually successful, as all the games are not reported. Yet another sign of how seriously the sport isn't taken.

It's unfortunate, but the spectator experience at Mifflin is tough. Unlike football and basketball, there are no seats available for parents and others who come out to support both teams. Also, where there is supposed to be a scoreboard, is something that has seen better days and is doing nothing but taking up space, so the only way to know the score if you're an observer is to try to keep it yourself on your mobile device.

Remnants of Mifflin's scoreboard.

This commentary on the situation is not to knock Mifflin, but to paint a picture for those who may not understand the neglect that the sport of high school baseball is going through compared to basketball and football.

The successful Beechcroft Cougars look to build on Tuesday's success with a competitive showing against City League power Whetstone, whose baseball culture is an entirely different experience compared to the one at Mifflin. Whetstone has started its season at 5-0, outscoring its opponents 44-5.

Such an easy win despite not having players at every practice could be a slippery slope for Beechcroft. You've had players who haven't always showed up and all of a sudden they experience a win. They may think that they don't have to work hard to be successful and that winning comes easy.

"Well we play a couple teams that are real tough," Knisley said. "[They] are going to show us if this 20-0 win was just a fluke or are we going to be able to play with these teams. You just have to keep their heads calm, let them have fun but realize, this is just one game. There's 19 more games to go and they're not going to all be this easy. Let's celebrate tonight but just know that tomorrow is a different day."

Ethan Swartz

The beauty of Beechcroft's opening win was that it served as a new type of baseball experience. One where a group of student athletes who aren't expected to win can prove doubters wrong and more importantly those who believe in them correct. It was uplifting to see this collection of players leave the field feeling accomplished and sure of themselves. Knisley said that is the biggest hill to climb this season.

"I think the hardest job is getting them to believe they can win," he said. "That's one of the hardest things is when you get with kids that haven't had a lot of success. Get them over the hump. Get them to that next step of, 'Yeah we can play, we do believe. We know we belong.' That's gonna be the next step to beating a Centennial, beating a Northland, beating a Whetstone."

Beechcroft travels to take on Whetstone today at 5:30 PM.

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