Dwayne Epling’s search for a local prep baseball team took him across Northern New Mexico.
Until he finally found a sympathetic ear at Mesa Vista.
The Trojans baseball team has had a checkered — at best — past.
The New Mexico Activities Association records show the team last played three games in 2023, losing all by a combined 91-13 score. Prior to that, the Trojans last played in 2018, going 0-13 and they were mercy ruled in each outing.
But Epling, who has coached at various levels across the country, is determined that it’s time Mesa Vista gets a new start on the diamond.
“I’ve been in baseball 35 years,” he said. “I played in college and I never would have gone to college if it wasn’t for baseball.”
Epling said he wanted others to catch the baseball fever like he did.
“Baseball is the greatest sport in the world,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get baseball in Northern New Mexico and nobody wanted to do it. ‘It’s too cold. Nobody will play.’ My son transferred to Mesa Vista this school year and the principal (Richard Apodaca) and the athletic director (Eric Vigil) were completely on board to get baseball going so that’s what we’re doing.”
Once he got the administrative thumbs up, Epling set out trying to find players.
“We really have some very athletic kids here in Mesa Vista,” he said, noting the basketball team went all the way to the 2A championship game. “There are some great athletes here. Baseball is going to be no different.”
Actually, the level of baseball acumen has been a pleasant surprise.
“We have some players who have played before,” Epling said. “My son, he’s 14, the first time I put him in catcher’s equipment, he was 10 and he took to it like a fish to water. Most of these guys have Little League or have been on other summer teams. So pretty much everybody has had experience.”
Of course, the notorious local weather — as he was warned — has taken a toll on the team’s preparation, as has the need to share athletes with other sports.
“We have some guys also running track and that makes it difficult having to split our practices up between track and baseball, but it’s what you’ve got to do,” Epling said. “And just getting on the field has been difficult. The weather has been on and off. It’s less than 40 degrees one day and the next day its 50, but the wind is blowing 50-60 mph, so getting field time has been one of the challenges.”
In addition to his son Samuel Epling behind the plate, the coach is looking toward strong seasons from AJ Sandoval in the outfield and Steban Peña on the mound.
“We’re going to be competitive,” Dwayne Epling said. It’s a building season and hopefully this will be the start of something that lasts for the next 30-40-50 years.”
Sandoval, a junior, said his friends encouraged him to come out after he previously played in a summer league.
“I think it’s a good idea to have baseball for people to try and find something that they like,” he said. “It’s pretty fun. I have some extra time and I didn’t want to do anything else and my friends told me to play, so I thought I’d do it for fun.”
Tempering expectations has been something Dwayne Epling said is important for the players and the community to understand.
“We’re letting these kids shine and giving them an opportunity to be able to play a sport that they really haven’t had an opportunity to play at this level,” he said. “This is a sport that they want to play. To me, my biggest expectation is getting some wins, but also building a program that’s going to last quite a long time.”
So he’s taking the long view of it.
“We’re writing a new book for the Mesa Vista baseball program,” Dwayne Epling said. “This year, I don’t want to stress about wins or having that many wins as our main priority, at least this year. My main priority is teaching the love and respect of the game. We’re not just a team, we’re family and having respect for opponents and bringing pride into the baseball community.”