Freising: Grizzlies men start the Bayern League season confidently, but without a coach

The baseball players of the Freising Grizzlies are aiming for relegation in the Bavarian League. However, they have to do it without a coach.

Freising – The first men’s team of the Freising Grizzlies has not had a coach since the end of the 2018 season. Daniel Schober had given up his position at that time – and since then, despite the efforts of the club management, no replacement has been found. The team will be on their own again in the 2021 season in the Bavarian baseball league, but they know how to make things happen temporarily: “We have divided important tasks among several people who have taken on these alongside their playing roles,” reports team spokesman Julius Geßele. For example, Heidenheim Bundesliga player Johannes Krumm took care of the training sessions.

Nevertheless, the Grizzlies are confident: “The goal is definitely to stay in the league – and above all to have fun playing,” says Geßele. It remains to be seen whether this will actually succeed, because the team was unable to train in the hall during the winter due to the pandemic and thus brush up on the “basics”. Thanks to the relaxation of the Bavarian state government, the players were only allowed to stand together on the pitch again for the first time at the end of May. Before that, it was only possible individually in the open air. But “the fact that we can do our two weekly training sessions in full presence again visibly increases the morale of the team,” says Geßele.

Two players will sorely miss the Grizzlies

There were a few newcomers and departures in the team. The grizzlies Maximilian Kreilinger and Johannes Schober will be sorely missed, from now on they will only take care of the youth work. Daniel Lasetzky switched to the Bundesliga team in Baldham and his brother Tobias to the second men’s team of the Grizzlies. But there is no goodbye without a welcome: Some U18 and men’s 2 players will occasionally strengthen the first team in the coming season.

The Grizzlies play their first games on Sunday in Garching. “The focus is on the joy of being on the field together and the desire to play good baseball,” says Geßele.

The Grizzlies squad

Julius Geßele, Luca Simon, Fabian Hagemeyer, Maximilian Glass, Thomas Frischhut, Timo Sandner, Noel Salomon, Nils Sandner,
Benjamin Krüger, Bob Degener, Adam Deger, Lin-Jie Shu, Michael Binder, Andreas Dobra, Leon Gattermeyer, Finn Millitzer, Lukas Ring, Gregory Geltl, Philipp Sellmann, Sebastian Rackl, Markus Kaiser, Atsadawuth Sangang, Hussein Mohammad.

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