Taking baseball indoors

A push from local baseball coach Neil McComber has been successful so far in getting youth from the community to get some extra innings under their belt during the winter months.

It started last year when his son Tahaniente first participated in the Prospects Baseball Winter League. McComber found the league online while looking for a place for his son to play U13 ball, and they were both happy with the experience.

“He enjoyed playing, but this year he was wishing more kids would sign up and play with him,” said McComber.

As such, he asked some parents of U11 and U13 players in town as well as parents of kids who have not played baseball in a few years to form a team, and it’s been a pretty big hit so far.

A dozen players have participated in at least one of the games so far over three weeks of play, including some who have been away from the game for a few years. It’s been not just fun but also a great opportunity for athletes who might have only played together a few times to build chemistry and make new friends.

That being said, they’ve only had six players per game so far, as not everyone has been able to make it. While that would usually be a big problem, here it is not one at all: the indoor field is smaller, so much so that only infielders are really necessary, according to McComber.

“The thing with the outfield is, when there is a home run, there’s not much you can do about it,” he said, because of the field size.

The longball was the story of their latest win last Sunday, with the fifth dinger of the day being the decider, a walk-off from Masen Brown in a 7-6 win.

The team has yet to lose so far, boasting a record of 3-0, but they have all been close games decided by exactly one run each, McComber said.

The victories have been fun, but it’s not the only goal, he said.

“It’s more about the development of players to get them ready for this year,” said McComber.

Development is the name of the game for the Prospects Baseball Winter League.

The coaches are from the program itself, and they help the players on their fundamentals. Also, the smaller number of players is good for development as they get more opportunities to make plays.

“They’re fielding more plays. They’re batting more. When you’re on a team with 12 players or more, you’re sitting out a couple innings. You’re waiting for your turn to get up at bat,” said McComber.

“In a summer league, they might only get up to bat twice in a game and field the ball once. But in this kind of league, you’re fielding a lot more. You’re batting twice as much.”

The games are faster in general, with batters starting in a one-ball, one-strike count to encourage them to be aggressive and swing.

“You can’t wait for pitches,” said McComber.

It is not too late to register players to participate, although only a limited number can play in one game, said McComber. Those interested can contact McComber directly.

The winter league has been helpful so far for players, and he is hoping it will be helpful to minor baseball as a whole, too, as the number of players has remained just enough to field a U13 team last year, but not the U15 team.

That’s why he’s been trying to get some players who stopped playing back on the diamond.

“They get older, less and less of them play, and it’s hard for new kids to start that kind of sport later in their lives. So you’re kind of relying on the kids to keep playing,” said McComber.

“This gives them an opportunity to get back into it, if they wanted to get a sense for baseball again, and then maybe they’ll want to play this summer.”

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