It’s one of the oldest stories in the book: rivals coming together for a common cause.
That's exactly what happened in Mansfield over the course of the last 4 weeks. Crosstown baseball rivals, Mansfield Christian and Mansfield Senior High, saw their head coaches partner up to lead a USA Baseball Academy backed youth skills camp. Tygers Coach JR Davis and Flames Coach Cory Branham led 6-hour camp sessions on February 19th, 26th, March 5th and 12th.
Behind the scenes, the plans began to take shape in September of 2021. In addition to the local head coaches, Better Baseball Legends Founder and Head Coach, Nathan Strome, assisted in hitting lessons. While local umpire, Tony Luchine, offered up valuable insight and expertise as did Mansfield Senior hitting Coach, Clay Nicks.l.
They welcomed more than thirty youth baseball players from as close as Lexington and as far as Coshocton. They trained roughly 10 players at a time in time slots of 10:00 - 11:30 am, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, and 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. One Coshocton area parent said “I don’t see how it could have been better!” and there is already demand for the two coaches to partner up again next year. Players practiced close to 120 drills and techniques.
Coach Davis said “I’m rooting for MCS unless we’re playing them” and Coach Branham echoed that sentiment. The two clubs play three times in the 2022 season; twice at Arlin Field and once at Graham Field, respectively. The two programs have been in rebuild mode coming out of the canceled 2020 season but both look to take a giant leap forward in the 2022 season.These two young coaches look to be around for a long time.
Please go support these 2 teams this season!