{"id":342373,"date":"2026-06-19T04:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/342373\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T04:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:41:11","slug":"stammen-classic-where-would-you-rather-be-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/342373\/","title":{"rendered":"Stammen Classic…Where Would You Rather Be, Fort Worth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Impressive arms\u2026Russia 9-year-old Josiah Doseck flashed pitching form beyond his years in opening action of Thursday\u2019s Craig Stammen Classic. (Press Pros Feature Photos)<\/p>\n

Opening day of the Craig Stammen Classic weekend for community baseball attracted good crowds, 9-year-0lds with talent beyond their years, and a major league manager who happily occupied his day off with more baseball.<\/p>\n

\"\"Versailles, OH \u2013 The San Diego Padres enjoyed an off day in Dallas-Fort Worth Thursday, biding their time before opening a three-game series Friday night in Arlington with the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n

Big league clubs covet an off day in June, the season now 73 games deep and the Padres three games over .500 (38-35).\u00a0 And Wednesday\u2019s win over St. Louis, in manager Craig Stammen\u2019s words, \u201cmade the off day a little sweeter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Prenger Financial Services proudly supports the Stammen Classic and youth baseball in the Versailles community.<\/p>\n

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Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/p>\n

But not as good as being at home, in Versailles, for opening day of the annual Stammen Classic weekend for youth baseball, attracting 50 teams from ages 7 through 14, baseball benevolents from nearly every neighboring community in a five-county radius, and Craig Stammen, himself, who spent his off day flying in from St. Louis to watch 9-year-old son Chase play against a team of 9-year-olds from Minster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place that I\u2019d rather be,\u201d\u00a0 Stammen said with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cUnless I could actually play in the tournament.\u00a0 Getting to watch it is something I\u2019ve been looking forward to since the beginning of the season.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had this day marked on the calendar.\u00a0 The only ones happier today are those kids on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cDads are important, and my dad was an awesome baseball dad.\u00a0 But the thing I remember most is him being the ultimate encourager.\u00a0 He always pumped me up and made me feel good about what I did on the field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of only thirty major league managers in the world of sports, Stammen\u2019s very presence Thursday was a metaphor for why baseball in Versailles, in the MAC Conference, and in neighboring communities has enjoyed a consistent success in the OHSAA state tournament for the past fifty years.<\/p>\n

Coldwater has won seven state titles.\u00a0 Minster has won 4.\u00a0 St. Henry has won 3.\u00a0 Delphos St. John has won once.\u00a0 Fort Loramie has won three times.\u00a0 Anna has won twice.\u00a0 Twenty titles that account for only the MAC and the neighboring Shelby County League.<\/p>\n

Communities in west-central Ohio care about community baseball, take pride in it, promote it (along with softball for girls), and don\u2019t treat it as a stepchild sport because it doesn\u2019t make money.<\/p>\n

Baseball in the area borrows heavily from a tradition of local hall of fame coaches \u2013 Jim Hardman, Rick Gold, John Dorner, Frosty Brown, Bill Sturwold, Lou Brunswick, Mark Brunswick, Dave King, Mike Wiss, Trent Dues, and current Versailles coach, Bill Sturwold.<\/p>\n

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Knapke Kitchens and Baths, in Versailles, proudly sponsors the best area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/p>\n

Baseball in Darke, Shelby, Auglaize, Mercer, Miami, and Allen counties is heavy on the \u2018Dad\u2019 factor, where baseball legacy and mentoring is passed down from father to son.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the best baseball dad possible,\u201d\u00a0 smiled Stammen Thursday, talking about his own adolescent experience growing up in tiny North Star, west of Versailles.\u00a0 \u201cMy dad was an awesome baseball dad, he loved the sport and still does to this day.\u00a0 But the thing I remember most is him being the ultimate encourager.\u00a0 He always pumped me up and made me feel good about what I did on the field.\u00a0 When it was time for correction he would do it in private, one-on-one time.\u00a0 Nothing was ever better than playing catch with my dad.<\/p>\n

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Essence of the game\u2026.\u201dThe things we\u2019re trying to teach a 7-year-old are the same tried-and-true things we teach in the big leagues.\u201d\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0 Craig Stammen<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd dads are very important because they\u2019re the ones that usually introduce you to the sport, or your grandpa or another father figure in your life.\u00a0 And another thing, I think that family and faith are a big part of baseball in this community, and good families do things together.\u00a0 So when a young man or woman are excited about a sport, and their parents are involved with that sport with them it brings the family together, brings the community together, and there\u2019s nothing better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dave Knapp Ford, in Greenville, proudly sponsors community baseball at the Craig Stammen Classic.<\/p>\n

It can also create curiosity for those on the outside.\u00a0 Doug Aselage, from Fort Worth, Texas, with Fort Loramie roots, flew all the way back to Darke County to observe this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been reading about the Stammen Classic on the Press Pros site this week, and I was impressed with what I read.\u00a0 The son of a friend is playing in it this weekend and I decided to come back and see it for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Worch Company is proud to sponsor the Craig Stammen Classic on Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/p>\n

At least three Division I college coaches were kind to share their own thoughts about community baseball, Versailles style, and how the future and the allure of the sport is enhanced by the simple act of playing at home with your friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt in my mind that community baseball is beneficial to kids learning the game and for improving their skills,\u201d\u00a0 says Nebraska coach Will Bolt.\u00a0 \u201cMy issue with travel baseball is too many games and not enough practice time together.\u00a0 That\u2019s the value of community baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things we\u2019re trying to teach a 7-year-old here are the same tried-and-true things that we\u2019re teaching in the big leagues,\u201d\u00a0 laughs Stammen.\u00a0 \u201cLike, we have to throw it over the plate.\u00a0 If you walk guys you\u2019re going to give up runs.\u00a0 That\u2019s the beauty of baseball.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same when your seven years old as when you\u2019re thirty seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the guys on our roster in San Diego have had some kind of community baseball experience, and I would argue that guys from the Dominican, from Puerto Rico, and Venezuela\u2026they were playing in the back yard with their people that lived close to them.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t traveling across the island to go play ball.\u00a0 They found the nearest field, the nearest ball, and the nearest bat, got together and just played ball.\u00a0 The culture of their country is about baseball.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the little communities here.\u00a0 You get the little towns together, find a pickup game, throw the balls out there and just go play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chase Stammen, son of Craig, legs out a base hit during 9-year-old action in Thursday\u2019s Stammen Classic.<\/p>\n

In capsule, that\u2019s what you saw Thursday night at Versailles\u2019 beautiful Heritage Park diamonds\u2026and what you\u2019ll see throughout the weekend at the five other venues in Versailles and in North Star.\u00a0 On Thursday Russia, St. Henry, Coldwater, Minster, and St. Henry were there with their eight and nine-year-olds.\u00a0 And even at such a young age, the talent stood out, some more progressed than others. The \u2018Dad\u2019 factor was very evident, no more so than with Russia 9-year-old Josiah Doseck who\u2019s the youngest of eight children, and the other seven all sisters.<\/p>\n

But again, the beauty of baseball, as legendary writer Grantland Rice once penned:\u00a0 \u201cBoys and baseball inspires a good feeling, not unlike the nurturing of the sun.\u00a0 The boy you see now will not be the boy of next year.\u00a0 Like the seasons, they change with the nurturing.\u201d<\/p>\n

No two boys learn alike.\u00a0 No two boys learn at the same pace.<\/p>\n

As for those curious to hear about Craig Stammen\u2019s unique day job, he describes it the same way he equates teaching strikes to a 7-year-old.<\/p>\n

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Russia showed a tandem of good 9-year-old pitching arms, including Kip Cordonnier (above).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the opportunity of a lifetime.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it is,\u201d\u00a0 he says with the ever-present smile.\u00a0 \u201cAnyone that loves baseball would dream of being a major league manager.\u00a0 I have to pinch myself everyday when they play the national anthem.\u00a0 I get to be that guy at the front of the line.\u00a0 I get to manage against Terry Francona, a hall of famer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to it, now.\u00a0 It\u2019s a full gig.\u00a0 You just don\u2019t roll the balls out there and play.\u00a0 But I think I knew it would be an unbelievable challenge and I wanted to take on the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

That challenge will not change Craig Stammen.\u00a0 Having known Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon and a handful of others who held that same job, sitting and talking baseball with Stammen is as comfortable as buying a hay baler from North Star Hardware.\u00a0 It feels like a good idea with both parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not anyone different,\u201d\u00a0 he assures.\u00a0 \u201cI try to be the person I was raised to be.\u00a0 I\u2019m no different than the guy who played high school baseball with the guys at Versailles, or college baseball with the guys at Dayton.\u00a0 I want to be the same guy.\u00a0 I\u2019m just a regular Joe that got the opportunity of a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, baseball in Versailles rolls on this weekend in its best and purest form.\u00a0 Kids will have fun playing the game.<\/p>\n

Families and communities will come together.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing better than that.<\/p>\n

Good enough, in fact, to travel from Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Think of it as Billy Bob\u2019s\u2026with baseball.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Your local Kaup Pharmacy proudly supports amateur baseball on Press Pros Magazine.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Impressive arms\u2026Russia 9-year-old Josiah Doseck flashed pitching form beyond his years in opening action of Thursday\u2019s Craig Stammen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-342373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}