It all began in 5th grade when my friend Korbinian invited me to join baseball training for the first time. Up until then, I knew little about the sport, let alone could I imagine it would have such a profound impact on my life.
One day, there was a tryout, and to my surprise, I clinched the first position. The prize? A year of free membership in the baseball club and even a brand-new bat. That marked the beginning of my journey in baseball.
The club I joined was the Schanzer from Ingolstadt. Over time, it became evident that I had a certain talent for this sport. After the German Championship, the question arose of whether I should attend a baseball academy or not. For me, it was a tough decision, while my father seemed determined to send me there. After two weeks, the decision was made, and a new chapter in my life began.
I was thrown into the deep end. At 16 years old and 500 kilometers away from home in Paderborn, I had to navigate myself in an entirely new environment.
The hard work began. We spent at least 3-4 hours daily on the baseball field or at Ahorn Sportpark. Athletic training with Ingo, sprint training with Ines, infield practice with Tavo, catching drills with Phildrick, batting practice with Alper (Head Coach), and strength training workouts designed by our coaches Matt Kemp and Ingo.
The baseball field became my second home. It was a sport of constant learning and repetition. Every movement, every reaction had to be perfect. Baseball was a game of losing and rising again, of perseverance and endurance.
Physically, the demands were extreme. The speed of an average fastball in the Major Leagues exceeds 145 km/h (90 mph). When a ball is flying towards you at that speed from less than 18 meters away, you have about 150 milliseconds to decide whether to swing or not. That’s faster than a single blink.
Even though the batter has these 150 milliseconds to decide, the ball is in the “batting zone” (the zone where you can hit the ball) for less than 10 milliseconds. Essentially, the time the ball is in a position where the batter can make contact and keep it in fair territory is equivalent to the duration of a hummingbird’s wingbeat.
Sports psychologist Änne assisted us in team-building, and the book “Mental Game of Baseball” became my bible. In 2019, we won the U-18 Palomino European Championship and qualified for the Palomino World Series in Laredo, Texas. Unfortunately, it was without success.