The Lake Oconee Wild Things collegiate baseball program is currently underway in its second season in Greensboro, after previously competing at Reinhardt University in Waleska.
The Sunbelt League program began its venture in Lake Country in May of last year, after being transferred to new ownership a few months prior.
The Wild Things officially began its second season of competition at Lake Oconee Academy on June 6 and currently stand with an 8-2 overall record.
With his first season as head coach, Logan Hicks is spending his summer involved in the community, as he also works full-time as head of residential for The Chaseland Group’s Greensboro branch. He said he is beginning to see the team gain recognition around the community, even in his role off the field.
“I was actually showing a property this past week, and the owner of the house next to it was like, ‘Hey, you’re the head coach of the Wild Things. I didn’t know we had a team here.' My client and I probably spent 15-20 minutes talking to that neighbor after that,” Hicks said. “It’s just with stuff like that, and I feel like this year, we’ve been having some pretty good success on the field, and more people kind of know who we are.”
Hicks said in terms of community involvement, he especially enjoys seeing the players interact with the younger fans. From a coaching standpoint, he most loves seeing the athletes thrive on the field, as he can “put himself back in their shoes,” from his days as a college athlete.
“We had a kid from UGA who played his first game earlier this week; he hit a three-run bomb, and it was like 450 feet,” Hicks said. “He didn’t get to play that much at UGA during the season, and so to see him just get plugged right in and light up with happiness, stuff like that, and seeing them succeed has been the most fulfilling part of the whole thing.”
The Wild Things are now a month into the summer period and will continue to play through the regular season until late July. Hicks said he has seen his players make great progress in the past couple of weeks alone.
“We went 1-3 for those first four games, and were ahead for most of the time, and then we lost it in the last inning like three games in a row,” Hicks said. “[At first] I couldn’t find the right pieces to close it out, and then the more we played, the more I figured out who needs to go where. Now we’re on a five-game winning streak and beat the best team in the league.”
Overall, Hicks believes that taking his position as coach is well worth the effort, even when it means a much busier daily schedule. He said he puts about 50 hours a week into the team, on top of his full-time job, because games are held four times a week.
“It’s like having two full-time jobs, but it’s worth it because it’s rewarding from the back half of helping these kids,” Hicks said. “And maybe [this involvement] can bring someone to the area that hasn’t been here before, and takes a liking to it, or five years down the road, one of our guys comes and works for us, and we can help them get a job in the future.”