But Then What Happened?

A funny thing happened on the way to fall ball 2015. My intent was to put together a team, but the calendar pages kept turning and I wasn’t getting enough names for the roster. What made it difficult was an Ohio High School Baseball rule that says, once you hit August 1 st , no team can have more than four players who play for the same high school program. That meant I had to find about a half dozen or more kids who didn’t play at Northwest. Eventually, I had to abandon my effort and then, quickly, find a team for Bryce. On the Stark/Summit County Baseball League (SSBL) website, they have a section entitled, “Teams Looking for Players.” I recognized the name of a coach and team that we had competed against for several years. Tim Johnstone coached the Ohio Xstreme (Later changed to the “Storm”) out of North Canton and he was holding tryouts for his fall team as well as his “showcase” team for the following summer. I gave him a call and we had a nice chat. He said that he w...

Coach Mark gave me Shawn Nottingham’s phone number. Shawn gave pitching lessons to some of the pitchers in the area. So, I did a little investigation. Shawn Nottingham  was a local product out of Jackson High School in Massillon, Ohio and was quite the star. He was a left-handed pitcher, drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 13 th round of the 2003 Amateur Baseball Draft. He bounced around the minors for four or five years, pitching in the minor league affiliates of the Mariners, the Cleveland Indians and finally, the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Eventually, a torn labrum stole 10 miles per hour off his fastball and never quite gave it back and Shawn was out of the game. Shawn started giving Bryce pitching lessons  in the summer of 2014 and was his pitching coach through his senior season of high school in 2018. Bryce built quite a bond with Shawn during those four years and the two shared a genuine friendship that actually made the lessons fun for them both. ...

I had mentioned that the 11U Northwest Select Team was pretty good. Well, they were good enough to win the Ohio Hot Stove State Championship! That was pretty cool! Clay Crawford was named the team MVP. His dad, Chad, was one of the coaches and was absolutely passionate about the game of baseball. Having had his right leg amputated just below the knee because of cancer, Chad hobbled around the field every game without the slightest complaint.   Chad was so proud of his boy as he posed for pictures with Clay holding his trophy. Chad succumbed to the disease and passed away the next year. He was only 49. I believe it was the winter of 2012/2013 when Bryce started taking hitting lessons from a local guy named Shannon Swaino. Shannon was a catcher at Kent State University before being drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 24 th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball amateur draft. This would mark the second crucial decision in Bryce’s development as a ...