The Summit City Sluggers Baseball Team is a developmental tool for athletes in the surrounding Fort Wayne area. This team is for athletes who have the goals for improving their skills against the best competition available in the Tri-State region.
Summit City Sluggers Philosophy
To improve the quality of life through baseball, by providing a competitive atmosphere. Where players can test and improve their baseball skills and showcase their talents to professional scouts and college coaches.
Everything we do, we do for a reason. Our goal is to create an environment of constant learning.
We believe in over-learning, you will hear the same things over and over until you get it right. Sloppiness will not be tolerated.
We want everyone to understand the why of what we are doing. We will try to make that clear, because we do everything for a reason.
Players will be taught that time is a valuable resource; we will not waste time. Our practices will be organized, intense, and fun; everything we practice will be at game speed; the coaching staffs will pay attention to detail.
All players are expected to be on time; we operate on Lombardi time if you’re not early you're late.
No opponent will be better trained or conditioned than we are. Players must maintain themselves in top physical condition throughout the year. We will work hard to maintain that edge.
Players are ultimately responsible for their own individual skills and conditioning, but coaches will constantly be on the lookout for better ways to train young athletes and will provide fundamental instruction so that the player does it right. There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. We owe it to our players to teach them the right way. Expect coaches to be twice as animated in practice as we are in games. Our players must have their fundamentals down pat; expect us to work hard with anyone who doesn’t. Expect to learn fast.
We will play teams with greater sophistication and talent and we will compete with them because we are prepared. Proper preparation prevents poor play. Our goal is to make sure the teams are properly prepared.
Don’t expect every solution to come from the coaching staff; ultimately, it’s the players who must perform and find a way to win.
We encourage player to be leaders and display a positive attitude, be positive, stay positive and pass it on. Show us you are enthused to be here; be competitive and challenge your teammates to be competitive.
History
FOUNDING
The Summit City Sluggers baseball program was founded in Ossian, Indiana, during the summer of 1996 by Mark DeLaGarza.
Originally called the Ossian Wizards, as a 12U youth travel team the contingent traveled to Cooperstown, New York, during the summers of 1996 an 1997 to participate in the first two Dreams Park Tournaments, now considered to be one of the largest and most-desired events in the nation for 12U teams.
FROM WIZARDS TO SLUGGERS
Following an appearance in the 1999 AABC 14U World Series in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Ossian Wizards partnered with Brad Kimmel, founder of the Summit City Sluggers summer collegiate team. Once a member of the Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League, by 2000 the Sluggers’s collegiate team had become defunct, and Mr. Kimmel was anxious to find a program willing to continue the Sluggers’s banner. Therefore, after some dialogue, the Wizards were renamed the Summit City Sluggers and adopted the original program’s equipment and uniforms.
SETTING A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
Now known as the “Summit City Sluggers,” Coach Delagarza’s one-team operation continued to compete in national tournaments and gained invaluable exposure and experience for its participants until they graduated from high school in 2003. As an indication of the program’s rapid rise to prominence, 15 members of the Slugger’s class of 2003 went on to play college baseball (11 at NCAA Division I member schools) with 4 eventually reaching the professional ranks.
SETTING THE BAR EVEN HIGHER
Recognizing the positive impact that the original program had had on developing quality baseball players as well as young men, Coach Delagarza refused to rest on his laurels and instead embarked upon the challenge of building another quality ballclub from the ground up. As part of this process, during the summer of 2004 Mark formed another 15U team, and it was not long until the new contingent began to match the high standards set by their predecessors. In 2005 the now 16U Sluggers advanced to the NABF 16U World Series in Northville, Michigan, where they captured the organization’s first ever national championship in dominate fashion winning the title game by a score of 17-6.
As 17U and 18U teams, the second incarnation of Sluggers continued their winning ways culminating in a second NABF World Series Title in 2008. With two national championships in a period of 3 years, the Sluggers’s second graduating class is commonly thought of as one of the most talented baseball teams to ever come out of Indiana. Further, the Arizona Diamondbacks first round (9th Overall) selection of Slugger alum Jarrod Parker gained national exposure for the organization that continues today.
BECOMING AN ORGANIZATION
Following the matriculation of the second batch of Sluggers, Coach Delagarza expanded the organization and added both new coaches as well as new team. New to the staff were Huntington University assistant coach Mark Flueckinger, and Greg Van Meter who in addition to becoming a coach also enlisted his 12U team to the Sluggers fold.
In 2008, a decision was made to create a Sluggers’s Board of Directors and Mark Flueckiger was elected as President while two parents of former players (Joyce Frane -Treasurer and Linda Woodward -Secretary) also joined the Board. In addition, Dustin Sebastian’s 15U team joined the Sluggers’s organization. With these additions during the summer of 2009 the Sluggers’s brand fielded teams at 14U, 15U, and 17U.
During the fall / winter of 2009, under the guidance of Todd Armstrong and Tyler Baatz (an original Slugger), the program added 13U and 14U teams. In addition, Lance Hershberger (a former collegiate baseball coach) succeeded Mark Flueckinger as the organization’s Board President, and Greg VanMeter assumed the role of Board Vice President.
During the fall of 2010, the Sluggers program added two new board members (Jayme Frame) and former Indiana Tech skipper Steve Devine. Further, Deb Delagarza assumed the role as program treasurer. In addition, the 2011 Sluggers program will feature reshuffled coaching staffs and new teams at 12U (Dave Rickert) and 13U (Cam Brannock.) These new programs will augment the existing Sluggers coaching lineup that includes 14U (Tyler Baatz), 15U (Gary Baker), 16U (Mark Delagarza), and 17U (Dustin Sebastian.)
The Board of Directors
| Lance Hershberger...................... | President and Director |
| Greg Van Meter.......................... | Vice President and Director |
| Linda Woodward........................ | Secretary and Director |
| Deb Delagarza............................ | Treasurer and Director |
| Jeff Roach................................. | Director |
| Todd Armstrong......................... | Director |
| Steve Devine.............................. | Director |