‘This is a lot of fun’: Players share their thought of playing for the Griffons

Two weeks have nearly passed since the beginning of the 2023 Nevada Griffons season, and things will continue to roll on into the end of July to complete a two month grind of non stop baseball. Imagine doing this with people you barely even know? Would you enjoy it? To no one’s surprise, the players love playing for the Nevada Griffons.

“I love this community and I love playing the game of baseball,” stated No. 13 Clay Palen. “It’s a lot of fun playing for the Griffons. It can be a big mental and physical challenge at times, but if you can get through it, it will make you a better ball player.”

No. 5 Evan Bock stated similar comments. “I’m really enjoying it. Playing baseball in Yankton, S.D., ( for the Mount Marty Lancers at Mount Marty University) it gets cold up there. Coming down south to play summer ball is a lot more humid, but it’s a lot of fun. You get a lot more AB’s than you do in the spring, and I’ve made a ton of friends so far.”

The main reason why players joined the Griffons for a two month grind, is the fact that more playing time will make them better players. Here’s No. 7 Elijah Bear’s thoughts on joining the Griffons.

“I was looking for a summer league to play in, and the MINK League and the Griffons are the ones that really stood out. I wanted to play summer ball so I could constantly see pitching and get ABs. Then as soon as I get back to college baseball in the fall, I'll be able to just get right back into it. That's the main thing about summer ball, just consistently getting reps in the summer and being able to practice.”

No. 2 Garret Dennis has a different story about being introduced to the Griffons, as Head Coach Tyler Brown convinced him to play in Nevada for the summer. “I played with Coach Brown last year in the Prospect League in Lafayette Indiana, and at the beginning of the fall he asked me to see if I wanted to come catch for him this summer. I was all in for it because I like Coach Brown and love playing for him.”

So what’s the overall environment like in the Griffons dugout? Let the guys who make the magic happen explain.

“I didn’t know any of these guys coming into this season,” stated Palen. “We have a wide variety of people from different regions of the U.S. But the cool thing is that we do not have one person that’s an outcast. Everyone gets along and we have such a great team culture which will help us win more games later in the season.”

Bear told Nevada Daily Mail, “It's all super fun. We all just joke around in there and have fun. We play for the community honestly, because even when we lose sometimes we still just have fun. It's just a fun game to play and especially with this group of people. We have a lot of fun.”

The Griffon's will play their next home game this upcoming Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Lyons Stadium.