Last year the University Bank 88s finished the season with the Shawnee County Amateur Baseball Assn. Gopher League regular-season title. This year the team has set their sights on a World Series appearance.

“If we lose more games than we win that is okay,” head coach John Parker said. “The main goal is to continue to develop the talent of the kids at the different positions and as players, then the wins and losses will take care of itself.”

Despite lofty postseason goals, the primary desire for the coaches is teaching the skills needed for future baseball success.

Parker said that the team’s aim is to compete at another World Series event, but in the process not lose sight of the five-year plan to be at a certain playing level at the age the boys begin high school baseball.

After last season’s first-place league finish and a fourth-place finish in the USSSA State Tournament, team members continued to practice together during the offseason. Through fall ball, indoor hitting work and once-a-month defensive drills, the team maintained their continuity.

“At higher levels in baseball, team chemistry is very important,” said Parker. “For these boys they all get along and want to continue to play after the season ends.”

The 88s, which have moved up to the SCABA Pony League this summer, return all but one teammate from last year, and two players were added in the offseason to fill some holes. New faces on the team allow the coaches to reinforce old rules and develop a few new ones.

Parker recalls an April practice where one of the new kids asked if he would have the opportunity to pitch. The other kids laughed and said that on the 88s everyone gets the chance to pitch.

The coaches find that going into the third season as a team allowed the sophistication of the drills and skills to improve.

“We have the ability to talk and discuss things that not all 13-year-old teams can do together,” said Parker.

So far, the 88s are on track to finish the season with the same success as last year. On May 1, the team took first place in the Ottawa Spring Fling Tournament, defeating the Topeka Rockets, 12-4, and the Blue Valley Rangers, 15-11.

Three weeks later, the 88s took home first place at the Heartland Beltland Tournament with a thrilling 10-9 victory over the Lee’s Summit Hurricanes in nine innings of play. The team had defeated the Lee’s Summit Titans and the Belton Blue Angels earlier in the weekend.

“We had never played in the Heatland Belton before,” Parker said. “It is a good deal as far as coaches are concerned for us to play against three teams that we don’t normally see.”

For all their tournament success so far, the 88s still do not know what tournament they will play in at the end of the year.

The team has two more chances to qualify for the Division One level of the Steamboat Triple Crown World Series. If they do not qualify, the team will more than likely go to the AAYBA tournament in St. Louis.

“If we do not qualify for Steamboat, it will not be a step backward, we’d be happy to go to St. Louis,” said Parker. “There is nothing wrong with not achieving a higher goal. Setting our goals high creates growth for the team.”

The kids on the team are self motivated and focused about what they want to get out of the season, Parker said, adding that as a coach he must develop a certain amount of character in the players.

“Each player has a specific role for making the team successful,” said Parker. “Kids must learn that even when they are sitting on the bench they are still contributing to the team.”