Courier Online - March 2019, SPORTS.
A massively exciting change recently took place this past off season for the baseball team.
A new head coach is now in charge. Coach Marker has taken over from Coach Phil Callaghan. This change has generated excitement from players, especially from junior Ryan Welch.
“I loved Coach Callaghan but I think Coach Marker is definitely the right fit to fill his shoes. I like him a lot.” Welch said.
The baseball team has already seen some changes under Coach Marker’s tenure, such as morning lifting before school in the off season, according to Welch.
“There’s been some small changes already, but it is the same team so it doesn't feel too different.” Welch said.
The team has had a good past few years under Callaghan. Two years ago, the team made an appearance in the State Final Four.
Despite the major change, Marker still plans to continue and improve the success of the team, both short term and long term.
This is very good news to players and parents, as Marker must be on top of his game to continue to perform at an elite level, and stay on pace with the success of other elite teams such as Liberty, who won the state title in 2018, and other OCC schools.
“Our goal for this upcoming season is to become battle tested with our schedule and put ourselves in a position to get a manageable tournament draw. If we take care of our business and compete day in and day out, we should give ourselves a chance to compete for a district championship.” Marker said.
Marker is certainly committed to the constant improvement of the team, as he has already implemented off-season changes, and comes from an extensive background with coaching baseball.
“I played at Capital University after graduating from Steubenville Big Red. Coaching-wise, I was the head coach at Upper Arlington for four years and the head coach at Bexley High School for five years prior to that. At Bexley, I was the Division II Coach of the Year in 2013.” Marker said.
Marker also currently works at Vanderbilt University each summer for two different camps, along with working at Ohio State for their youth camp.
Something very important to Marker is forming relationships with the players. “Using baseball as a platform to teach life lessons is something I pride myself on,” Marker said. “Hopefully, as we learn more about each other, the program develops a trusting identity when more and more students want to be a part of what we're doing.”
Players also have expressed their excitement about the new change. “I think Coach Marker has a lot of knowledge of baseball and good things to share that will make us better. He’s already pushed us hard in the offseason,” Welch said.
Be sure to check out the team in action this spring! It’s first game is Monday, March 18th.
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