Salamanca Lizards learning from inaugural year in preparation of second campaign

By SPENCER BATES

SALAMANCA — Heading into its second year as a franchise in the New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL), the Salamanca Lizards are taking what they learned from their first year of existence and using it to continue its exponential growth.

Lizards coach Jerico Weitzel is no stranger to the NYCBL, having had a coaching stint with Olean’s franchise, the Oilers, but starting and building a franchise from the ground up was a new challenge entirely, one that began as a passing suggestion while playing pick-up ball during an offseason. But now, after learning as he went throughout his team’s first year as a franchise, he and his staff are far more prepared, and while some obstacles will always arise, they are using their newly gained knowledge to continue the growth of the program.

“One thing that helps is just the experience of it,” Weitzel said. “You know what to look for, what the important things are, what you have to have done, what’s important, what’s not important, that side of the things has been much easier. There’s still some stuff that’s hard: host families, getting everything situated, getting people to commit and buy in. But it has been easier. As far as player recruitment, part of that is word of mouth, … and getting players has been a little easier this year. … You’re still trying to run things on a budget, you still have issues and stuff like that, but as far as knowing what to look for and knowing where I can find answers, that has been a little easier.”

Of course what doesn’t hurt while looking to further establish a solid foundation for the program to grow upon is consistency. And with nine of the Lizards’ 25 rostered players this year having been on the team in its inaugural season, consistency is exactly what they provide. It’s also a sign, according to Weitzel, that the franchise is on a good path.

“Hopefully it means we’re doing things right,” Weitzel said of what the number of returners means. “It’s a lot of the local kids that wanted to come back, and that’s why we started in the first place. You don’t always want to have (players) here every year, you hope sometimes that they move on to bigger or better things, but I think we got a good squad this year, and the kids that are coming back got a lot of good, valuable experience last year.”

Salamanca Lizards coach Jerico Weitzel (left) and some of his players watch on as Dylan Kinney delivers pitches during practice on June 4. (Spencer Bates)

But the type of experience that the Lizards have does not just lie in what the player’s bring back from their first year with the franchise. Salamanca’s roster has a significant number of juniors and seniors that bring with them years of experience at the collegiate level.

“Kids go through three, four years of college and they start to learn what stuff matters, what helps them win and what helps their team out,” Weitzel said. “And once they understand that, you’re just letting them do that, instead of trying to teach them that. … We were pretty young last year and for a lot of the guys, it was their first time playing competitive summer baseball. (This year) we’re ready to go, ready to hit the ground running and ready to compete right away.”

In terms of what Weitzel wants to see improve this season in comparison to last is mainly the “game day promotion,” and other small things for that matter. Tasks that, in the craziness of putting together a team to field and figuring out the big behind-the-scenes boxes that needed to be checked off, got lost along the way.

Salamanca Lizards outfielder Timothy Johnson takes an at-bat during practice. (Spencer Bates)

What he intends on keeping the same, however, is the attention he and his staff put forth into making sure that the players were improving. Because, at the end of the day, that is what this is all about, according to Weitzel.

“I thought our kids got better, I thought they got lots of opportunities,” Weitzel said of last year’s team. “I think most of our kids got at least 60 at-bats or more, the innings were spread out, it wasn’t something like someone was throwing 1,000 innings while others didn’t get to throw, it was spread out pretty even. … I just want to repeat that. If all of our kids leave here better, at the end of the year, that’s my goal (achieved). It’s always going to be my goal to make sure that the kids leave here and they’re healthy and they got better. That is a successful summer for us.”

And ultimately, when it comes to Weitzel’s aspirations for his Lizards this season, there is no win total he is seeking out, there is no numerical statistic that he is eyeing. In fact, he noted that “we can go 0-38 and as long as everyone’s healthy and we’re all better at the end of the year, to me, that’s a successful season.”

“I like this development stage,” Weitzel said. “I’ve coached travel ball, I’ve been around high school, (and I enjoy) that process of, ‘I’m here, I want to get better, I want to develop, I want to move on to something.’ … They’re coming from their school programs, I want to send them back better. … That was the goal when we started this, that’s what we’re trying to keep the goal.”

And that process of development begins now. With opening day right around the corner, Salamanca will look to lean heavily upon the experience of those on their roster in order to get the season off on the right foot.

Salamanca Lizards pitcher Dylan Kinney delivers a pitch during practice. (Spencer Bates)

A franchise with its sights at taking a big step in year two, the Lizards will get their season underway June 6 on the road against local rival Olean with first pitch slated for 7:30 p.m. See Salamanca’s full June schedule below:

Friday, June 6 — at Olean Oilers — 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 8 — vs. Olean Oilers — 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 10 — vs. Dansville Gliders — 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 11 — vs. Horseheads Hitmen — 6:30 p.m.

Friday, June 13 — vs. Dansville Gliders — 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 14 — at Horseheads Hitmen — 5 p.m.

Sunday June 15 — vs. Hornell Steamers — 4:44 p.m.

Monday, June 16 — at Horseheads Hitmen — 5 p.m.

Tuesday, June 17 — at Genesee Rapids — 7 p.m.

Wednesday, June 18 — vs. Watertown Rapids (DH) — 4 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

Friday, June 20 — vs. Genesee Rapids — 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 21 — vs. Olean Oilers — 6:30 p.m.