Building Momentum – Shaping the Future: Flag City Sluggers Celebrate Fairytale Inaugural Season

Organizers Committed to Developing Leadership Team, Players; Enriching Community Experience in Findlay

By Sarah Mayle

The Sluggers took the community and the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League by storm in 2025 – building remarkable experiences for interns, drawing tremendous community support, and seeing exciting success on the field. Numerous Sluggers players received league recognition, and one player booked a slot with the Milwaukee Brewers – the first player ever to be drafted from the GLSCL straight out of high school.

“When I think about this first year and the idea of trying to replicate it, I have to admit, I’m a little nervous,” said Joe Fenimore, a Sluggers founder and president of the board of directors. “I don’t know how we could have had a better year. It was impactful on other people’s lives, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”

The Sluggers are part of the 8-team GLSCL, which competes regionally against teams in Ohio and Southern Michigan. The GLSCL provides a summer opportunity for college players to improve and be seen with the goal of making it to the minors or majors and is supported by Major League Baseball. Landing a spot on such a team is competitive and the league attracts exciting, elite athletes from the region, as well as throughout the U.S. and Canada.

On the baseball side of success, Rylan Mills, a Sluggers catcher from Missouri, was drafted straight from high school to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Sluggers had the MVP of the league; three players were awarded First-Team league honors; two players received Second-Team recognition; and three received honorable mention. Thirteen players were league All-Stars, and seven posted batting averages above .300. The team finished fourth in their division – one win out of the playoffs – with a 20-20 record, and Fenimore said all Sluggers coaches moved on to opportunities at the next level.

“That’s exactly what we want,” Fenimore said. “Our team, on every side of things – players, coaches, interns – it’s all about what can we do to help you get to the next level? I’m proud of the team. We kind of had a team of misfits this year, great kids, great players who needed a second chance. Some were playing for a community college, we said we were the ‘Gritty Slugs,’ and then to see them playing against these Division I collegiate players and hanging tough, it was awesome.”

A large chunk of the Sluggers organization is run through interns who plan everything from customer experience, to marketing, merchandise, ticketing, and more. A new “Core Four” team of intern directors will start in January, and they will interview and bring on additional interns to make the organization run. Eric Stoller, a business professor at the University of Findlay, who is also a board member and treasurer for the Sluggers, developed and taught last spring a “Business of Baseball” class that came up with marketing strategies, marketing materials, kids club ideas, ticket options, and much of the Sluggers’ extensive website. He will teach the class again in the spring of 2026.

“We’ve heard back from many of our interns; one is trying to get an internship with the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, and they all tell us they’re realizing how unique this was, the things they got to do,” Stoller said. “When they sit down with interviewers, they are blown away by (the students’) experiences. We want to get them to the next level. We’re behind the curtain for guidance, but they’re doing just about everything.”

The team brought the community together, with season attendance reaching nearly 5,000 people. Average attendance per game was 265, and on opening day, 603 people came out to support the Sluggers.

This brings an economic impact that’s hard to measure, Stoller said, but eight teams play in the league with players and parents from all over the country learning about Findlay, Ohio. They support the local economy, staying in hotels, eating at local restaurants, shopping at local stores, all while making positive memories in Findlay. And, when there are fun things to do, places to go for affordable, family fun, that elevates the community as well, making it an attractive place to live, work and play.

“We’re really looking forward to the coming season and continuing excitement around the team,” Stoller said. “We want to continue building that affordable family fun. That’s the number one piece we won’t get away from. It’s the old school feeling of how people think back on their childhood baseball games. It’s sentimental, it’s bringing the community together, it’s fun. That’s what we’re trying to bring back.”

Fenimore said he would love for the Sluggers to bring home a league championship this season – after such a great start, it’s certainly a possibility. He and Stoller, along with the Sluggers Board of Directors and numerous local supporters, hope to make the Sluggers a mainstay of Findlay.

What’s coming in 2026:

• Sluggers tickets were $5 in 2025 and that won’t change in 2026. Game time has been moved up from 7pm to 6pm, so the games don’t run too late for kids.
• First game is June 5, 2026. There will be a Sluggers home game on July 4, 2026, America’s 250th birthday, and Stoller and Fenimore want to make the game into an exciting celebratory event. They’re currently looking for fireworks sponsors.
• The team is also looking for host families during the two-month season (one extra week if they make the playoffs). Host families need to be able to offer a bit of refrigerator space for the player’s food, a washer and dryer, and a private room. Players follow the rules of the house and provide their own transportation. Fenimore said a major element of the Sluggers’ recruiting process is character. Players are expected to maintain high moral standards both in the league and at host families’ homes. It’s an opportunity for players to connect with the community; Stoller and Fenimore both hosted players last year and treasure the time spent.
• Volunteer opportunities and internships at various levels are available through the Sluggers. If you have a skill you would like to develop or volunteering you would like to offer – for example social media management, photography, marketing, statistics, ticket sales, singing or performing, selling beer, selling merchandise, mowing grass, announcing, and more – reach out.
• Striving for quality and excellent customer service, the Sluggers offer a variety of marketing partnerships and advertising opportunities that can be custom-built around a business’s goals. Reach out for more information on how to become a sponsor.

For More Information or forms to become a sponsor, join the team, volunteer, intern or become a host family visit flagcitysluggers.com. You can also email info@flagcitysluggers.com or call 419-957-3480. Find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Read our original FHCED story for more about the Sluggers here.