The South West Baseball League season has moved right along and of late, the offense of the Brandon Young Guns has propelled the team forward and player/manager Chris Campbell is looking to keep it going down the stretch.
"It was a tough start, but we're starting to come around," Campbell says of his teams season. "The bats have been hot all year, it's just a matter of shoring up the defensive side of the game and getting some better outings on the mound, but we're coming around and playing better."
A real point of pride for Campbell is the team scoring a lot of runs, over 100 already and he says they're showing no signs of slowing down. "The guys are having great approaches, great at bats, being very selective and doing the right things at the plate. It's contagious. Guys see other guys doing well and it just rubs off on the rest of the group, it's good."
Playing solid ball of late has Campbell feeling good and he says a key part of the game is sustainable and will lead to more success. "I'm pretty happy with our bats," he says with a laugh. "Our bats have been there all year. You can't win games without scoring runs, so we'll just keep rolling with the bats. Hopefully, the defense we know we can play comes around a little bit and sures up a little bit."
The North Division is quite the battle and Campbell says every game has a little more on the line and it's something the team loves. "That's what we looked forward to when we joined the South West league. Going on those road trips with the boys, having some competitive games and having games mean a little bit more. Having that something more to play for has been great."
Campbell believes this is a special group and is proud of how they've revamped and really started to live up to their Young Guns name. "We were a little limited last year with numbers, but a few of the vets came back after we joined the South West league. We had a small core of kids right out of high school or in high school, they were so important for us last year, helping us get through the season and now we've added a couple of more young guys. We were getting towards being the old guns, but we're trending back toward being our name. It's a great mix and the guys are having fun, it's been a great, great group."
Playing in the South West, Campbell says the community support has been fantastic and they see it every where they go, people really love the teams and care about the league. "It's an outstanding league. Everybody knows one another, too, we've either played with or against one another over the years. It's worth playing, it's got a lot of meaning. We're really proud to travel from Brandon out to Reston for example over the weekend, it was their fair day, so we stuck around for a few bevy's after, too. It's just fantastic."
Baseball has always been called the "kids game" and Campbell says to play the game they love in the community they live in, it's special. "It's summer for the boys, that's what it is. It's always good to be with the guys in the summer, play some competitive ball and hopefully win some games as we go."
As the sprint toward the playoffs kicks into high gear, Campbell says the mindset for the group is a simple one. "Focus on what we can control, keep the bats rolling, keep doing what we're doing at the plate. We'll piece together the pitching. We just focus one day at a time, just win the game we're playing. Keep improving like we have been throughout the year and go forward from there."
The Young Guns host Oak River in a battle of the top two teams in the North Division tonight, 7:00 p.m.