Dig In Baseball

Congrats to Seif Ingram, a member of Dig In Baseball’s 16U team for being named the athlete of the month for the Fall 2015 season.

Seif has been a part of Dig In since he was 13 years old and is currently a 15 year old freshman student-athlete at Avalon High School.

“I think the one thing that really stands out to me about Seif is how coachable he is. You can talk to him in between innings about a correction or concept and he can go out there and implement it immediately. Not many players have that ability. Nor do they have the motivation to actually listen and get better. But this is the strongest part of Seif’s game, and why he has been able to be successful and continues to get better on a daily basis.” Coach Bruce, Seif’s coach since 13U

Coming to Dig In as a 13U player Seif made a seamless position change to shortstop and has continued to develop and grow as a person and player ever since.

“Seif’s a high school freshman this year and to be honest I’d always assumed he’d play baseball for the local high school. But as Coach Steve Ballance always stresses “someone is always looking”. Apparently, someone was looking while Seif played on Dig In teams during middle school. The head coach for baseball at the Avalon School, Patrick Duffy, saw Seif playing shortstop in a few tournaments and during a few practices. He later reached out to recruit Seif as a middle infielder. So, it turns out joining Dig In resulted in a huge opportunity. “ Kevin Ingram, Seif’s father.

The step up from youth baseball to the high school ranks is a huge one and often one that many kids simply cannot make. Too often, kids “peak” at the youth level and get by on a size advantage, weak competition or a combination of the two. Just as important as the player understanding what it takes to advance to the next level, is the parents acceptance of that fact as well. High School baseball is a totally different game and success at the youth level doesn’t guarantee success in high school. It takes a different tool set and most importantly, a strong work ethic and willingness to listen and get better.

Seif and his parents bought into the process of getting better prepared for high school the moment he set foot in Dig In and he has now started to reap the benefits.

“Quality youth baseball can be intense. Of course it’s this kind of competition parents are trying to expose their kid to in any sport; they get better as a player and mostly they learn the connection between success and the hard work it requires; and, that failure is a critical part of the process which requires a mindset to move on almost immediately past setbacks in order to transform those experiences into success. In the context of baseball, you can’t do it right unless player development is right up there next to trying to win as a baseball programs philosophy—you need both and you can do both.” Kevin Ingram

As Seif makes the transition from youth to high school baseball we all look forward to continuing to watch him play and progress.

When Seif isn’t on the field or at our facility taking swings he enjoys fishing and playing video games. Seif takes his school work just as seriously as his baseball work and achieved a 4.06 GPA his first semester of high school. Often times, a first semester that can be difficult for students.

“I think the best part for Seif is that he has just scratched the surface of what he is capable of on the field. This past fall was a true test for him. He succeeded playing against older and bigger competition, something he will continue to see the next 4 years and hopefully beyond” Coach Bruce

Congrats again to Seif for being named Player of the Month!