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Scout Day Spotlight: Cincinnati Hornets

CINCINNATI - While the Cincinnati Hornets have only been around for a little more than a decade, the organization is actually an offshoot of the White Oak Athletic Club that was founded back in 1954.

In 2007 the Storm Club, as the original program was called, folded and the Hornets came into existence thanks to Chris Sexton, a former major league player with the Rockies and Red Sox back in 1999-2000 and the pioneer of the Hornets.

“We had one team back then,” explained AJ Nieman, the current coordinator of the organization.

The Hornets have since grown to 13 teams ranging from 8U to 18U, with some ages featuring more than one team.

“The biggest thing now is finding coaches,” pointed out Nieman, a former two-sport athlete at Holy Cross who is in charge of the 16U Hornets.

Other head coaches currently lined up are Scott Lawson 18U, Mike Combs 17U, Mark Bruner 14U, Tom Taulbee 14U and Josh Smith 9U with Kevin Lawhorn, Tom Bill, Troy Lippert and Bryan Farrell assistants in the organization. According to Nieman, there are 52 coaches with the Hornets

“We look at things two ways,” said Nieman, who joined the Hornets in 2012. “The U8-U14 is one animal where we field more teams and the U15-U18 is another animal where the dynamics of baseball changes and we focus on one team that leads to the high school level.”

Things have changed since the early days.

“Originally we only were recruiting kids from the White Oak Athletic area,” Nieman noted. “We didn’t go outside the area.”

While that is now different, the philosophy of the Hornets has not changed.

“Our primary goal is player development,” said Nieman, who listed 23 former members of the organization now playing in college. “A measure of success is the final won-loss record but that’s only one measurable factor in evaluating success. Player development is the main reason we formed. It’s not win at all costs. We want to see teams that develop kids while at the same time staying competitive.

“We like to see our first teams compete at the national level and like to see our secondary teams compete at the american league level.”

Colerain, LaSalle, Harrison, Hamilton Ross, Moeller, Elder, Oak Hills, Northwest and Mount Healthy are schools represented by players in the Hornets organization.

“We try to stay a west side organization, we don’t go look for them,” Nieman said. “If they want to come to us, that’s fine.”

The younger teams in the program play mostly in southwest Ohio, with the U8 playing two tournaments a year while the 14-year-old group plays from four to six. Things change after that.

“We’re not playing leagues anymore,” Nieman said of the 15-18 year olds, which participate in events such as East Cobb, the Black Swamp and the Flames tournament as well as at Grand Park, Nashville and the University of Louisville,. “We’re playing tournaments every weekend.”

One highlight last year was participating in the PBR Scout Day.

“That was our first one,” noted Nieman, whose team will participate in a PBR Scout Day event for a second time on Jan. 26. “It worked out well. It’s the first PBR we’ve been to, though my son has been to others.

“We had 80 to 100 players turn out. It’s a good way to jump-start the season and get focused on the coming year. It’s a nice introduction.”

Nieman found it valuable for players in the organization.

“You’ve got to go to a PBR to understand what college coaches are looking for and what you’re evaluated on,” Nieman explained. “You may not be successful at the first one, but as you get older you understand what it takes to get to the next level. It was kind of a wake-up call.”

The event was also important in one other way.

“It brings camaraderie to the organization,” Nieman said.