(NOTE FROM THE SBJ STAFF – As 2025 approaches, the SBJ is featuring some of our favorite content from this year. This story originally ran April 11. More good ones will follow before New Year’s Day. Enjoy!)
By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
The season is coming to a close for the baseball team that will finish in last place in District 1-4A. If you look strictly at results, you might think it has not been a success.
Not only have wins been hard to come by – there have been none – but so has scoring runs.
This is a team that basically started from scratch. There were very few games last year, some of which were forfeited for lack of players, and even those that were played would generously be described as disorganized.
But success isn’t always measured on a scoreboard. And when you look at it from that perspective, there have may not have been a bigger success story in local high school baseball this year than the Booker T. Washington Lions.
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A backstop.
That’s it. That’s what BTW has for baseball facilities. Down the hill behind the school and next to the football stadium, the most action the baseball field gets is for parking places at the annual Soul Bowl football game.
When the baseball season started, they didn’t even have bases. There still is no pitcher’s mound.
But the school did have one thing going for it – opportunity.
BTW Principal Crystal Barnes called assistant football coach Josh Jones into her office one day and asked if he would be interested in reviving the baseball program. Not because she thought he was the second coming of former LSU coach Skip Bertman, but because of the way the students gravitated to him.
“Just trying to expose the kids to the game of baseball,” Jones says.
Barnes believed that Jones was perfect choice to get students interested. It didn’t take long to find out that Barnes was right.
On the first day, about 50 students – mostly freshmen and sophomores – came out to practice. That’s the good news. The bad news came when Jones found out he would have to trim the roster.
“We just couldn’t handle all of them with the budget for the program,” Jones says. “But for a person like me, it’s hard to do something like that because these are kids who want to do something.”
Jones got the numbers down to about 30. More bad news – that meant they needed gloves for 30 players and enough bats that could be shared.
And catcher’s equipment. Plus helmets.
And, quite significantly, uniforms.
But it didn’t take long for those problems to be solved. Equipment donations came flowing in and, most importantly, the uniforms were ordered.
Two sets.
“That was a big thing for me this year, so that they could feel like they were a part of something,” Jones says. “Just small things like that matter to a kid. The old ones were mildewed. You would have thought I brought in top of the line, major league uniforms. They want to wear them at school.”
Little by little, things began to fall into place. “We’ve got bases now, but we really don’t have a mound,” Jones says. “One thing I love about these kids is that they don’t use that as an excuse or a crutch.”
Baseball is a tough game to learn and Jones knew the Lions weren’t going to compete for the District 1-4A title. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome were players who were literally afraid of being hit by the ball.
“I just show them and help them learn the game,” Jones says. “Their development has been the best part to me.”
Earlier this year, BTW traveled to Northwood for a district game. The Falcons are one of the top-ranked teams in the state, so the results that night were predictable. But the scene that played out after the game has been common whenever BTW plays against a strong opponent.
“We stayed probably 10 or 15 minutes after the game with their starting pitcher and working on some things,” Northwood coach Austin Alexander says. “We were going over different things like the windup and stretch and pickoff moves. It was impressive because the kid was like a sponge. He just wanted to learn everything.”
“The coaches in the district have been great in helping us,” says Jones, who came to BTW from Northwood. “Everybody is happy for us to get this going. We don’t have everything like the other schools have. Like a batting cage. Or a pitcher’s mound. But I commend the kids; on the days we can’t practice, they are sad because they want to be out there.”
Earlier this year, a scheduling conflict canceled a game for the Lions. “When they got on the bus, they asked me, can we at least have a scrimmage?” Jones says. “That’s when I knew they were starting to love it. They are just happy for the opportunity to play another sport and learn the game. They don’t necessarily care about the score. They are just excited to be playing. It’s been a good experience for all of us.”
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When you look at BTW’s schedule this year, one thing become very obvious very quickly – there are no home games. Some might think that would be a problem. But never getting the opportunity to bat last is a non-factor when you consider the other side of that equation.
When Jones brings the 20-25 players to a game on the road, it is often to a place – even inside the boundaries of Shreveport-Bossier – that many of his kids have never seen. They get to see facilities such as the ones at Northwood and North DeSoto and Minden and Evangel and they realize what else is out there.
“Just taking them to other parks and seeing their reaction has been amazing,” Jones says. “Some of them have never gone anywhere other than home and school.”
To them, they might as well be at Yankee Stadium.
It’s hard to ask a coach about the highlight of his season when the team hasn’t won a game. But Jones knew that was likely going in. He says there has been definite progress and he’s looking forward to seeing how the team can build on this foundation next season.
On Feb. 28, the second game of the season, the Lions were (of course) on the road at Southwood when that defining moment of the season came. It wasn’t a tape-measure home run or turning a triple play. It wasn’t throwing out the winning run at the plate or striking out the side.
On that night, the Lions were down 16-0 and came to bat for the final time. One thing led to another and before you knew it, the Booker T. Washington Lions scored a run.
“They weren’t even mad about the loss,” Jones says. “Just to see them celebrate and cheer on each other and hearing the fans clapping, that was great.”
That’s when Jones knew it was all worth it.
“Our players feel so great with all the love they have received with people understanding that they are out there trying for the first time,” he says. “The support has been great all around. It’s taken off and I can’t even believe it. It’s been amazing.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com