Life lessons from the diamond and beyond

It never happened before.

Cedar Grove-Belgium High School baseball coach Tom Race had each of his players write down their team goal and individual goal.

Every single one came back — ‘We’re going to win state.’ That never happened before in all the time I’ve been coaching. It was outstanding,” Race, who has coached for 13 years, said.

That came to pass on June 18 in a 13-9 win over Dodgeville. It was the Rockets’ first baseball championship in their first appearance in the tournament since the season switched to spring.

The team qualified during the summer seasons in 1977, going 1-1 and in 1984, going 0-1.

These Rockets have become the fourth to win a team title in school history, joining the 2009 boys’ cross country team, the 2024 girls’ soccer team and 2024 boys’ cross country team.

Getting that golden trophy entailed a different type of weekly practice. On some Fridays, the Rockets would also take batting practice. On others, they wouldn’t even take the field.

Race sat his team down and talked about the mental side of baseball and beyond.

“You cover things like respect the game, sportsmanship, controlling your emotions, how we conduct ourselves,” Race said.

“You’ve heard in the movies, respect the game. Well, what does that actually mean? In the classroom, we define that by bullet points. When you teach it there and the kids aren’t emotional — because on the field it’s all emotion — the message gets through.”

The players confirm that.

“It means a lot more than any practices we do. It’s about character and being good men,” senior Jonah Banton said. “We learn a lot about leadership and a lot about keeping your head up through ups and downs. You just learn how to be a better person through those practices, and Tom does a great job running them and so does my dad (assistant coach Brandon Banton).”

“That totally changed this program and the way we look at stuff,” senior Carter Schmitz said after the title game. “You could see today. We got behind but we were never nervous. We never got down. We just kept fighting. Those Friday meetings totally changes our mindset.”

Junior Connor Waters discussed how those sessions change the team’s approach.

“Those have helped a lot. Not many people talk about the mental side of the game, but I feel like that’s one of the most important part of the game,” he said.

“If somebody strikes out, we made a rule you can be mad until the dugout. Then once you’re in the dugout, you have to move on and start cheering for everybody.”

The Rockets showed that at state. Schmitz made a few mistakes on the bases in the semifinal but also turned two double plays, including one to close a 13-4 win over Marathon.

Seth Race, the coach’s son, got called for interference at third base, allowing a run to score. He soon made a sharp backhanded play for an out.

“He came right back,” his father said.  “They flush it right away and it’s movin’ on.”

It doesn’t matter if someone is a starter or a star; those Friday sessions hit their mark.

“That’s understanding what’s behind the game of baseball,” Ira Hilbelink, the top-ranked junior in the state, said. “We just talk about the brotherhood we all share and how big our bond and relationship is. That’s all we talk about because that’s really important. Baseball — it doesn’t really matter how good you are. You just have to come together and just compete with each other.”

Noah Lukens, who joined the team as a senior, noted the impact of the discussions.

“You’re going to fail. You’re going to face adversity. But it’s just how you bounce back from that adversity,” he said. “Keep going. Keep your head up, have a good attitude all the time.”

Race started the sessions three years ago.

“I kick myself. I’ve been coaching for 13. I wish I would have known to do that when I was younger,” he said.

What the Friday sessions didn’t do, team photographer Jon Waters, Connor’s father, did.

Late in the season, Waters noticed the baseball grind was wearing on the teens. He has captured their photos for years and devised a scheme to reignite the Rockets’ enthusiasm.

Waters printed individual photos of the players as 10-year-olds and handed them out.

The message was “Play like you’re 10.”

It worked. The Rockets recaptured some of the boyish exuberance they had and remembered the reason they play the game is for fun.

Those two mental elements helped carry the Rockets all the way to the championship.

It’s a feeling they’ll never forget, especially the seniors, whose final memory of high school is not being handed a diploma but having a gold medal placed around their necks.

“So grateful. It’s just the most amazing thing ever. These boys, we’ve been working for it as long as I can remember. It’s been my dream every night for how long now. You just can’t even explain it. It’s so surreal,” Banton said.

“It was highly emotional for all the seniors,” Schmitz said. “I’ve had a great time in high school. I’m just happy to go out this way.”

It’s especially sweet for Race, who earned silver medals in individual and in team wrestling this season.

“It’s amazing. It’s well worth it. I took second in wrestling twice. So finally we got the gold. It feels amazing,” he said.

Lukens described his thoughts when junior Griffin Knight caught a fly ball in center field for the game’s final out.

“I saw it go up in the air. I didn’t even really watch him catch it. I knew he was going to catch it, and I just jumped over the fence and got ready for the big dogpile,” he said.

The seniors tried to sum up what the program means to them.

“I wouldn’t be going to college if it wasn’t for Tom. I wouldn’t be what I was without my dad being my first-base coach for the last three years and then third base coach this playoff run. I wouldn’t be anybody without this team and all the character building and all the Friday meetings,” Banton, who will play college baseball at Highland Community College in Illinois,  said.

Schmitz, who will play quarterback for Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon, said, “It has taught me a lot about perspective. Tom’s been teaching us so many things, like a goldfish memory.  You’re just onto the next right away. You’ve gotta flush it. You’ve gotta battle through everything. It doesn’t matter what it is in life.”

“The people around us, the supporters. It’s amazing, everyone in and out of baseball,” Race, who will wrestle at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, said. “Our team bonded so well throughout all four years and since the sixth grade.”

Coach Race cited the community support.

“The support that came out here. That’s what you dream of when you say OK, we can do this and the community gets behind you,” he said after the title game in Grand Chute.

Parents and the athletic association helped pay for drinks and food and organized sendoff rallies as the bus left town.

“You felt the love. It’s been special. This doesn’t happen all the time,” coach Race said.

The team embodied that community concept.

Everyone who batted in the semifinal scored a run. Everyone who batted in the championship game got at least one hit.

Play like 10-year-olds? Sure, like 10-year-old state champions.