Lake Erie Monarchs Serve God On and Off the Diamond
By Frederick J. Day

Midway through the 2008 Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League baseball season, the Lake Erie Monarchs were struggling. The team had a record of 10 wins and 12 losses. Monarchs head coach Copley Gerdes couldn=t hide his disappointment. There were games in which he sensed a lack of intensity among his players.

By another measure, however, the season had already been a success for the Monarchs, a team composed largely of practicing Catholics. Win or lose, the Monarchs had put their faith into practice at every game.

Like other collegiate-level summer league teams, the Monarchs spend eight weeks in June, July, and August playing baseball, some 40 games in all. In future years, road games will take the Monarchs as far away as Alaska. Beyond Alaska, professional baseball beckons, at least for some.  For now, however, the Monarchs do their work in and around Bowling Green, OhioCand it is a uniquely focused type of work.

The Setting

The Monarchs play baseball in a setting that is conducive to the practice of the Catholic faith. The team is based in Bowling Green and plays its home games at Warren E. Steller Field on the campus of Bowling Green State University. Each year, the Monarchs begin their season in mid-June with a Mass offered by the team chaplain, the Rev. Michael Dandurand of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Bowling Green. And before each game, the players take time to pray as a team.

Faith in Action

When not playing in games, the Monarchs find unique ways to put their faith into action. The team=s members kicked off the 2008 season by helping to run the Second Annual Alicia=s Voice Charity Golf Tournament, an event that raised thousands of dollars to support legal, medical, and social services for victims of family violence in Ohio=s Wood County. In addition, team members routinely put on clinics to demonstrate the fundamentals of baseball to youngsters.

The Players

The 2008 Monarchs include college-level players from Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. The Monarchs are well-stocked at every position. Designated hitter/ right fielder Pedro Dager and infielder Aaron Crooks lead the way offensively, each sporting a .333 batting average. Infielder Derek Spencer has driven in 12 runs while hitting at a .284 clip. Starters Kevin Leady, Sean Hoffman, and Nick Montgomery lead the pitching staff. Leady has posted a sterling earned run average of 1.42 in five starts, with two complete games. Hoffman has a 2-1 record in four starts with a 2.03 ERA. Montgomery leads the team in wins, with a 3-0 record.

The Management Team

General Manager Jim DeSana is a native of Wyandotte, Michigan and the father of eight children. DeSana is the varsity baseball coach at Catholic Central High School in Monroe, Michigan. As the Monarchs= general manager, he is responsible for assembling the team roster each year, a task that requires year-round contact with college coaches and a thorough interview process with the players being considered for the team.

Copley Gerdes, a 2005 graduate of St. Leo University in Florida and a three-year member of the St. Leo varsity baseball team, serves as the Monarchs= head coach. Gerdes is from St. Petersburg, Florida and is a graduate assistant coach at St. Leo University.  He is currently pursuing a master=s degree in business administration at St. Leo=s.

The Daily Routine    

Monarchs players spend the summer living with families in the Bowling Green area who have volunteered to serve as hosts.  Typically, the players spend the mornings running, lifting weights, and engaging in other types of workouts. Road games may take the team to Cincinnati, Columbus, or any of the other eight cities that serve as the home base for Great Lakes League teams. For road games, the Monarchs usually leave Bowling Green by 2:00 p.m. Home or away, the Monarchs are on the field two and a half hours before game time. The players spend two hours in batting practice and going through full infield and outfield fielding drills. Some forty minutes before game time, the Monarchs players supervise a home-run derby for local little league players and conduct clinics for the little leaguers in which they share pointers on baseball fundamentals.

The Prospects

Each year, at least a couple of former Monarchs players figure prominently in the Major League Baseball draft. In the 2008 draft, Major League teams selected seven former Monarchs players, including pitcher Billy Morrison (2006 and 2007 Monarchs), who was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the ninth round. Since 2003, twenty-six former Monarchs players have either been drafted by Major League teams or have signed as free agents.

The Plans for the Future       

In coming years, the Monarchs plan to become even more involved in community activities in the Bowling Green area. The Monarchs look forward to assisting disabled children in baseball games played on rubberized surfaces specially designed for wheelchair athletes. The Monarchs also hope to become more involved in activities aimed at older adults confined to health care facilities and in conducting summer camps for youth baseball players.

Over the next few years, the Monarchs will also attempt to complete arrangements so that the team can play games in Alaska against opponents from the Alaska Baseball League. No matter where they play, however, the Monarchs will continue its objective of attempting to field a competitive baseball team within the uniquely Catholic framework of prayer and service to the community.