The Greensboro Grasshoppers have powered their way to the top of the South Atlantic League this season. They lead the South Atlantic League North in home runs, which is just one reason they’re the first-half champions and playoff-bound.
As successful as the Greensboro Grasshoppers have been, players face adversity everyday. They shared the experiences they faced as a professional team from staying consistent to building team chemistry. Right-handed pitcher Derek Diamond explained that baseball players face various obstacles, specifically on the field.
“There’s big adversity, like a few bad games in a row, and then there’s little adversity, like throwing a bad pitch and giving up a home run,” Diamond said.
Players struggle with being seen as people off the field while coping with what they see as failures on the field. Diamond wants people to know that he is the same person on the field as he is off the field, trying his best every game.
Pressure from the game can create roadblocks for the players, but reconnecting with their dream of playing professional baseball has helped the players continue to show up and perform. Infielder, Mitch Jebb explained the impact that growing up around baseball had on him and how watching his older brother sparked his interest.
“Since you’re a kid it’s something you’ve always wanted to do,” Jebb said.
Despite spending most of their time on the field playing professionally, the players all share a deep love for the game. Manager Blake Butler emphasized how important the team’s chemistry is to its success.
“A group of people that really enjoy the job and enjoy being around each other every single day … is just so motivating and inspiring,” Butler said.
As the team continues throughout the rest of the season, they are focused on staying consistent, trusting and believing in each other.
“Don’t fix what’s not broken,” Diamond said.
Due to their consistency and hard work, they were able to clinch the 2024 MiLB playoffs after they became the SAL North First-Half Champions.
Butler, attributes the team’s success to the work the players have put in.
“The players come here every single day, whether they lost the day before or won by a lot the day before, they’re ready to go to work and just be consistent,” he said.
However, Butler acknowledged that failure is essential to the game of baseball.
“You can fail 70% of the time and still be a Hall of Famer in our game,” Butler said.”
At the end of the day, there is more to the game than just putting the wood on the ball for the Grasshoppers. Players learn from the challenges presented to them and grow from it not just as players but as everyday people.
“I just sleep most of the time, you know, I am just a normal person.” Jebb said.
Manuela Roncancio-Roldan
Manuela Roncacio-Roldan was born and raised in New Jersey. She is currently a junior at Mount Saint Mary High School, where she engages with her classmates and gains leadership positions in her clubs. She has always been passionate about poetry and many forms of art that are media of expression. She finds writing and art provide a pathway for people to process and identify their emotions. They give people the space they deserve to cultivate their identities. Manuela volunteers at Muunar, which is a small organization created last year to help immigrants process their emotions as they go through assimilation and acculturation. Manuela is involved in social justice causes regarding immigrants, as she knows many who have immigrated to the United States and faced countless hardships.
Andrew Hancock
Andrew Hancock was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, where he spends his time playing basketball and baseball. He is just as involved in school, as he is in sports. He is co-president of Chinese club, co-director of testing for DECA, a business competition club, and on the executive board for crochet club. He also spends time in his school’s law center, which offers classes primarily focused on law and foreign relations. Andrew wants to become a business lawyer, but outside of his aspiration to practice law, Andrew works for a non-profit organization that advocates for independent living for people with disabilities. There, he mentors people with disabilities, helps them set goals, and helps with the newsletter committee for the nonprofit organization.