Young players grow up in first season with Capahas

Longtime Plaza Tire Capahas manager Jess Bolen couldn't help but laugh as he recalled his team's first game of the season against the Charleston Riverdogs on June 1.

"We made one error in seven games out in Wichita [last year at the National Baseball Congress World Series] and we made, I think, three in the first inning down there," Bolen said following his team's regular-season finale on Sunday at Capaha Field. "And we're standing there and I said, 'Tom, what do we see here now? What do we got?' He said, 'We've got a bunch of guys that we need to change position with or something.' But that's fun, too. That's part of it. I like a lot of young guys because they're still learning."

Bolen, who is assisted by his son Tom Bolen, is pleased with how his young players, including several newcomers this season, were able to refine their games over the last month and a half, which prepared them for the NBC World Series that begins Friday.

"It's a great experience for these kids, and here's the thing why I like taking young kids out there [to the World Series] -- they're throwing their hat out there for all of these scouts to see them, all these colleges," Bolen said. "It's not only pro ball, we've had a lot of kids that have transferred into Division I colleges because they were seen out there in Wichita."

Laban Petzoldt, Hunter Flippo, Lance Young, Ramsey Scott, Alex Heuring, Cody Heisserer, Chase Simmons, Drew Morecraft and Riley Calvird are some that are playing for the Capahas for the first time.

For Simmons, a 2013 graduate of Notre Dame Regional High School, and 2013 Oran graduate Heuring, the choice to play for the Capahas was not a difficult one.

"Actually it was kind of like a last-minute decision," Heuring said. "I was going to play Senior Babe since I'm young enough, but I'd say a couple days before the first game this summer Skip [Bolen] gave me a call and said he needed a catcher, and this is usually a pretty good league. They usually play some pretty good competition, so I mean, it was an easy decision for me to make."

First-year Capahas team members include, from left, kneeling: Laban Petzoldt, Hunter Flippo, Lance Young; standing: Ramsey Scott, Alex Heuring, Cody Heisserer, Chase Simmons, Drew Morecraft. (Fred Lynch)

Simmons remembered coming to watch Capahas games growing up and was excited to be part of one of the oldest amateur baseball teams in the country.

He feels he's learned a lot since joining the team on June 14 after spending two weeks playing for the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League.

"It's fun. You've got guys that are not my age -- I'm 20 and then you've got guys that are 25, 26," Simmons said. "I mean, getting to know older guys and hearing them and seeing how mature they are just makes you learn how to grow up, and I think that's the big key that I take out of it -- learning how to grow up every day on the field and off of it. They're good mentors. I really take growing up out of [playing for the Capahas]."

Bolen echoed a similar idea of what he hopes the young players take away from being on the team. He wants them to become better players but also have a respect for how the game is played.

"To understand the game and know what you need to do to get to the next level," Bolen said. "That's what me and Tom want to try to help them with because basically by the time you get to us you're out of Legion baseball and everything, you're a freshman and sophomore in college, you should know a little bit about how to play. But to know how to handle yourself, and to look more like a professional, that kind of thing. You know, I don't want somebody to strike out and throw their bat up against the backstop, all that kind of stuff. Grow up."

The veterans on the team, some of who joked Sunday that it was the newcomers who were responsible for Plaza Tire's home winning streak ending at 48 games, have embraced the influx of first-time Capahas.

Simmons said that Adam Connor, who has played for the Caps before, became a mentor from him early on once Simmons joined the team.

"He just loves the game so much and he sees, I guess, potential in me," Simmons said. "We've just talked. The first game I got here we just started talking baseball and talking the game, and he's just taken me under his wing and been a really good mentor for me this season."

Heuring's gotten advice from some of the veterans as well, but one that stands out for him isn't about any technique or baseball strategy, but how to handle himself during a game.

"Well, I mean, some of these guys aren't just out here for the fun and love of the game, but they just tell you just relax," Heuring said. "Don't beat yourself up over the little things. I mean, they help you keep calm."

Bolen also wants his young players to learn how to keep their emotions in check and to remain even keel regardless of what happens during a game, and a prime example came from Sunday's 5-2 win over the Riverdogs when Heuring struck out in his first two at-bats before hitting a two-run home run.

"What I'm saying is you can't get too emotionally up or too down," Bolen said. "That's what I'm trying to teach these guys is that, 'Hey, just because you struck out with the bases loaded, you might come up [big later].' Look at Heuring. He struck out, next time he hits a two-run homer, and then the next time he strikes out. So you can't go up and down and up and down [emotionally], you've just got to flow with it. That's a point we try to get through to them. Never give up on a game, but flow with the game and flow with learning how to be the same guy over time."