As a baseball player-turned-journalist, I absolutely love this time of the year.

And for Iowa’s prep athletes who are getting ready to take the baseball and softball diamonds Monday, the summer months ahead are special, unique and everlasting for players, coaches, families and schools.

Trust me, I know.

For starters: Iowa is the only state that plays its high school baseball season in the summer. So while most kids are out at the pool on a hot day, working a summer job or never removing their carcass off the La-Z-Boy, we were living at the ballpark … and then also doing that fun stuff.

I played at Urbandale, a Class 4A program that was established and sustained under tradition from “now” legendary head coach Denny Barton, who retired from teaching and coaching after 32 seasons with a 776-518 record that ranks 11th all-time in state history (and it’s weird for me to type that sentence because I’ve thought Bart would always surround his life with the game of baseball. Hell, what am I thinking — he probably still does!)

But playing for Bart, and spending four summers with him which practically seemed like every day, you learn a thing or two — or six, particularly — about the sport as well as life.

At the start of every season, Bart would pass out a piece of paper that he wrote in his chicken-scratch penmanship to every Urbandale baseball player — freshman to senior — that laid out what he expected from us. Ultimately, it dummied down to these six core objectives:

Every morning, when I’d wake up and was about to grab my bike or hitch a ride with a teammate to the field, I’d read that sheet of paper over and over again in my head.

Bart instilled a type of burning confidence in his players that could be easily seen on and off the diamond. He, along with our assistance coaches, Brian Hoff and Mike Cook, provided opportunities for us to become better ballplayers, and eventually boys that grew into men.

They created a trait in me that made me want more. One of my best friends and teammate, David Peyton and I liked to get to the field early and get extra work in; 99.9 percent of the time Bart was there too, taking care of the field before he had to leave for his classes. When the gates were locked, we’d hop the fence and start feeding each other balls for batting practice in the cage or play long toss out in the outfield grass.

And after a couple of days, more guys showed up for early practice.

And then some more.

And then some more.

We didn’t do it because we were trying to smooch the coaches’ butts. We did it because of objectives No. 1 through 6.

My freshman year — back in 2007 — Urbandale won the 4A state baseball title with a talented group of upperclassmen that I looked up to as a ninth-grader. I wanted to play like them, and I wanted to grasp that glory.

But baseball is a sport that is designed to make you fail.

In 2008, there was no way anybody was stopping our rivals, Johnston, who won state after going a historic 40-0. In 2009, I ended our season in a substate semifinal game at Johnston by being called out when I check swung on a called-third strike. And in 2010, one game away from qualifying for state, we had our hearts torn out in an extra-inning loss at Indianola. I remember that game like it was yesterday, and a former Simpson College teammate of mine, Michael Chia, likes to bring it up every once in awhile.

But those in-game situations, the ones that place you in adversity, teach you more about yourself regardless of the outcome. And they make the successes that much more gratifying.

I learned all of this in four summers, and that knowledge is greater than any strikeout, any diving grab or any home run I’ve ever experienced.

If you’re a senior who’s ready to give their all for a shot at Principal Park in your final season of wearing your high school’s colors, you’ll understand. If you’re a freshman ready to make a name for yourself, you’re welcome for the inspiration. (Pro tip: ALWAYS wear your jock strap. The only thing worse than getting hit in the bean bags is having to run poles for a long time.)

So as you’re lacing up your cleats, digging into the dirt, gripping the bat, smacking your glove or rounding the bases, keep this saying from coach Hoff in mind:

Aaron Young is a producer at The Des Moines Register, where he helps manage content across print, digital and social media platforms. In 2015 he was named Baseball Writer of the Year in the Central District by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches’ Association. Follow him on Twitter: @AaYoung15

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