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May 18—ROCHESTER — The start of the spring season marked nearly five years since the Schaeffer Academy baseball team last won a game.
The losing streak finally broke when the Lions defeated Houston 8-5 in their season opener on April 9.
Schaeffer Academy did not field a baseball team in 2023 and the program has been rebuilding ever since. An argument could be made that the rebuild dates back further than that. During the 2021 season, the Lions recorded two wins. The following year, they finished 0-21. 2024 and 2025 saw winless seasons as well.
All of that is in the past now.
This spring, the Lions are 5-8 heading into the Section 1, Class 1A tournament, which begins Wednesday. It's the most wins a Schaeffer baseball team has tallied since the 2018-19 season, when the Lions went 6-14. Also, for the first time in years, Schaeffer sits in the middle of the Southeast Conference standings as opposed to last place.
"When you're in a really small school, you can have these ebbs and flows of big classes or class interests, and it was just a low time for baseball," third-year head coach Justin Osborne said. "When I took it over three years ago, I had two seniors. I had one junior who was (in) his first year of organized baseball and I had seventh and eighth graders. And then last year, I had two seniors who didn't really play baseball. I had a foreign exchange student who was a junior in his first year of baseball and I had eighth and ninth graders."
Osborne has three sons at Schaeffer Academy, including sophomore shortstop/pitcher/catcher, Henry. Osborne didn't have any prior experience coaching varsity baseball, but wanted his boys to have the opportunity to play baseball for their school.
This season's lineup consists of two seventh graders, two freshmen and five sophomores.
"So a lot of these kids, I have either taught them how to play baseball or coached them since they were fifth graders," Osborne said. "They've got a fair amount of experience, and they're getting older, they're getting bigger, they're getting better. And so right now, to be decent, I think we're middle of the conference. Next year and the year after, I don't know. I mean, I think they might be pretty good."
Beating the Hurricanes to kick off the season was unforgettable, especially since Houston took down SA by scores of 13-0 and 19-2 last year.
"I wasn't sure what was going to happen," Osborne said. "Like, am I going to cry? Am I going to jump for joy? And I mean, honestly, when it happened, sportsmanship sets in. You shake their hands. The boys were ecstatic.
"One thing that we try to do is, we are a Christian school, so we tried to pray right away. A lot of times, people pray when they need something, but then also when you get something, you should also pray right away, too. And so, we did that. And then we celebrated a little bit. But yeah, it was super fun. I have that baseball."
The players were just as excited.
"It was so much fun," Sophomore centerfielder Grady Boldt said. "I was so happy. I was pitching at the end of that game, and I don't think I've had a bigger smile in a long time. It was such a good feeling to finally win."
Right off the bat, Henry Osborne knew this season would be different.
"When we started the game, it was like, man, it felt like a whole new game since we had played last year," he said. "It was more fun to play and compete than it had been in a couple years. The win itself wasn't that big. But just knowing that more of these are going to come and that it's a whole new season, that was the cool part about it."
Henry Osborne and Boldt have been starting on varsity since they were eighth graders and are two of the team's key foundational players. The pair has even earned the title of team captains.
They agreed that their teammates feel more like family, which has contributed to the turnaround.
"We just keep continuing to play together, mesh better and getting to know each other better," Henry Osborne said. "I know a lot of the guys on the team are putting in a lot of off-season work, and we've really just grown stronger and bigger. ... And this year, it's like we see the fruit of our labor. ... We can win these games, and we can show everyone what we can do and that we've been putting in the work for this."
The past few seasons have taught the Lions resilience and humility. Now, they're gaining confidence, too.
"I can hit the ball way better," Boldt said. "It's just a whole new feeling. ... I think just having the confidence and trust in my teammates to make the play."
As the program continues to grow, a new baseball field is being built for the Lions, with the first pitch set for next spring.
"It went from not having baseball in (2023), and we now have 30-some kids in the baseball program," Justin Osborne said. "So it's just kind of a recommitment to the sport."
As for current and future aspirations?
"We would like to go from worst to first, but I think from worst to the middle — I think we're happy with that," Justin Osborne said. "That's great progress. There are some conference championship banners in the gym, and I don't think there's one for baseball. And so before this group of guys is done, that's one of our goals. We would like to win the conference."
Continue reading...
The losing streak finally broke when the Lions defeated Houston 8-5 in their season opener on April 9.
Schaeffer Academy did not field a baseball team in 2023 and the program has been rebuilding ever since. An argument could be made that the rebuild dates back further than that. During the 2021 season, the Lions recorded two wins. The following year, they finished 0-21. 2024 and 2025 saw winless seasons as well.
All of that is in the past now.
This spring, the Lions are 5-8 heading into the Section 1, Class 1A tournament, which begins Wednesday. It's the most wins a Schaeffer baseball team has tallied since the 2018-19 season, when the Lions went 6-14. Also, for the first time in years, Schaeffer sits in the middle of the Southeast Conference standings as opposed to last place.
"When you're in a really small school, you can have these ebbs and flows of big classes or class interests, and it was just a low time for baseball," third-year head coach Justin Osborne said. "When I took it over three years ago, I had two seniors. I had one junior who was (in) his first year of organized baseball and I had seventh and eighth graders. And then last year, I had two seniors who didn't really play baseball. I had a foreign exchange student who was a junior in his first year of baseball and I had eighth and ninth graders."
Osborne has three sons at Schaeffer Academy, including sophomore shortstop/pitcher/catcher, Henry. Osborne didn't have any prior experience coaching varsity baseball, but wanted his boys to have the opportunity to play baseball for their school.
This season's lineup consists of two seventh graders, two freshmen and five sophomores.
"So a lot of these kids, I have either taught them how to play baseball or coached them since they were fifth graders," Osborne said. "They've got a fair amount of experience, and they're getting older, they're getting bigger, they're getting better. And so right now, to be decent, I think we're middle of the conference. Next year and the year after, I don't know. I mean, I think they might be pretty good."
Beating the Hurricanes to kick off the season was unforgettable, especially since Houston took down SA by scores of 13-0 and 19-2 last year.
"I wasn't sure what was going to happen," Osborne said. "Like, am I going to cry? Am I going to jump for joy? And I mean, honestly, when it happened, sportsmanship sets in. You shake their hands. The boys were ecstatic.
"One thing that we try to do is, we are a Christian school, so we tried to pray right away. A lot of times, people pray when they need something, but then also when you get something, you should also pray right away, too. And so, we did that. And then we celebrated a little bit. But yeah, it was super fun. I have that baseball."
The players were just as excited.
"It was so much fun," Sophomore centerfielder Grady Boldt said. "I was so happy. I was pitching at the end of that game, and I don't think I've had a bigger smile in a long time. It was such a good feeling to finally win."
Right off the bat, Henry Osborne knew this season would be different.
"When we started the game, it was like, man, it felt like a whole new game since we had played last year," he said. "It was more fun to play and compete than it had been in a couple years. The win itself wasn't that big. But just knowing that more of these are going to come and that it's a whole new season, that was the cool part about it."
Henry Osborne and Boldt have been starting on varsity since they were eighth graders and are two of the team's key foundational players. The pair has even earned the title of team captains.
They agreed that their teammates feel more like family, which has contributed to the turnaround.
"We just keep continuing to play together, mesh better and getting to know each other better," Henry Osborne said. "I know a lot of the guys on the team are putting in a lot of off-season work, and we've really just grown stronger and bigger. ... And this year, it's like we see the fruit of our labor. ... We can win these games, and we can show everyone what we can do and that we've been putting in the work for this."
The past few seasons have taught the Lions resilience and humility. Now, they're gaining confidence, too.
"I can hit the ball way better," Boldt said. "It's just a whole new feeling. ... I think just having the confidence and trust in my teammates to make the play."
As the program continues to grow, a new baseball field is being built for the Lions, with the first pitch set for next spring.
"It went from not having baseball in (2023), and we now have 30-some kids in the baseball program," Justin Osborne said. "So it's just kind of a recommitment to the sport."
As for current and future aspirations?
"We would like to go from worst to first, but I think from worst to the middle — I think we're happy with that," Justin Osborne said. "That's great progress. There are some conference championship banners in the gym, and I don't think there's one for baseball. And so before this group of guys is done, that's one of our goals. We would like to win the conference."
Continue reading...
