NI Lakers 16U will be back for vengeance

The NI Lakers 16U legion baseball team came short of winning a state championship following its loss to Wilder.

The emotion in the dugout following the loss was high, but according to head coach Ken Oler, it was nice to see that emotion from such a young group of players.

“Initially they were very emotional,” Oler said. “They saw how close they were; they shed some tears and we hugged it out for a very long time. I viewed those tears as another special quality of the players. They truly, genuinely care about the game.”

This was a theme for the Lakers this season. They were a very attentive group that knew when it was time to be serious and when it was okay to have fun.

Oler had so much fun this season, he even labeled this year’s Lakers as one of the best teams he’s ever coached.

“There was never a dull moment,” Oler said. “There’s game time and there’s practice time and the kids always knew when to flip that switch. Their energy and enthusiasm was always high where it needed it to be.”

Despite the championship loss, Oler was still very happy with the outcome of the season. The Lakers seemed to execute at a high-level every week, whether it was running the base pads or hitting the ball. The biggest surprise of the season was that they didn’t win the state championship game.

“They achieved some incredible things,” Oler said. “They've had some unbelievable results this season. They came together and went through the process of getting better. A large percentage of the guys came in every day and wanted to get better.”

The players on the field would play for each other as well, according to Oler, which is something that is hard to get at a legion level sometimes.

“When everyone picks each other up instead of putting each other down, the team is pretty unstoppable,” Oler said. “They demonstrated that all season long and I had a lot of fun with them.”

After the emotional loss, Oler expects the young players to sit on it for the coming months and come back with a chip on their shoulder in 2023.

“I think ultimately it will boost their confidence,” Oler said. “They played well against the competition throughout the tournament and my hope and belief is that this loss will only make us better.”

A lot of the NI Lakers 16U team will be back in 2023, which will contribute to the hunger of redeeming their state championship loss.

“I think only about three or four guys will go up to the 19U level,” Oler said. “Then you have people coming up from sasquatch and little league, so we’ll have even more talented players.”

As for the season as a whole, Oler was quick to give credit to the players, sponsors, and the coaching staff.

“The credit first and foremost goes to the players,” Oler said. “They’re the ones who are out there getting scrappy and never giving up. Other credit has to go to my two other coaches Bill and Tyler Conley. Also, the Sasquatch and little league programs deserve a lot of credit for preparing these players and getting them ready to play at the next level.”