Coaching baseball and teaching are similar in many ways – there’s a “right” way to do both, and results show up in more than just the numbers.

Cougars 12 baseball Head Coach John Martin has found his players to be quick studies and strong performers on and off the field. The team is off to a 2-0 start in 2022, which follows a 19-13 season in 2021 that included a Western Suburban Baseball League division title.

Martin has served 15 years as a Cougars coach, manager and board member, starting when his twin sons were 9 and coaching their teams until they were 16. He’s now in his “third round” as 12U coach and inspired by a group of players he led for several seasons who recently went off to college, with some of them continuing to play baseball at the collegiate level.

“My sense is coaching and teaching baseball aren’t always being done the right way, so I decided to continue my journey with the Cougars,” Martin said. “Coaching is not only about teaching kids how to play the game. It’s also about mentoring them to be better people and teach them the love and respect of the game.”