SIU’s other baseball team plays in the big team’s shadow.

Factoid:Anyone interested in the baseball club should contact John Lewis at 549-5819.

The Salukis hosted a doubleheader at Abe Martin Field while the Salukis were out of town.

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The SIU baseball club, the other baseball team on campus named the Salukis, swept an April 6 doubleheader from Saint Louis Christian College on the field the varsity Dawgs call home and many club Salukis wish they could call home.

A lot of our guys are guys that don’t make the cut, said club treasurer Jake Gordon on the significance of playing on Abe Martin Field. They try to walk on, and if they don’t make it, they usually become one of our players.

Varsity baseball head coach Dan Callahan arranged for the club to play on the field, one of the perks the club enjoys because of its close relationship with the varsity team. Along with the occasional use of a beautiful field, Callahan supplies the club with old and torn-up baseballs, used catcher’s gear and occasional advice.

But Callahan does not coach the baseball club. That title belongs to John Lewis, the club’s president/manager/center fielder, who is in charge of games and practices at the team’s usual home, Williams Field, just south of campus.

Lewis is in charge of 24 ex-high school varsity players and has to control them and keep morale high while concentrating on playing a solid center field and hitting decently.

It’s tough, Lewis said of being a player/coach. For one, I’m coaching my peers, and at the same time trying to find playing time for myself because I feel I deserve it. Then I have to try to make myself not look like a jerk for playing myself all the time.

Lewis is also responsible for the club’s schedule, which can be a challenge since the club doesn’t belong to any specific league. It just plays opposing teams when it can, where it can, leaving the burden of schedule creation on the players.

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Despite the challenges, Lewis still enjoys coaching and does not fear any kind of player insurrections. Lewis does not rule the team with an iron fist the way a Division I coach would, something Gordon feels contributes to the appeal of the club.

There isn’t a regimen we run that’s what it’s all about, Gordon said, comparing the club to a conventional squad. We’re more relaxed. We don’t go to practice and get yelled at by a coach. We coach ourselves.

Nearly every member of the team played varsity baseball in high school and knows the basics of the game. Club vice-president Rob Facker compared the team’s talent to that of a good junior college varsity team.

The heart of the SIU club team is its pitching, which fits into its small-ball mentality. The pitching staff is anchored by Nathan Richards and Brendan Gatens, who barely missed the cut at the varsity team’s walk-on tryouts earlier in the year and have been clocked at 85 mph.

Although the team is stacked with great talents like Richards and Gatens, the team is still seeking new members of any talent level.

Lewis said the club is fun and relatively cheap, costing a player $40 per semester in dues, plus about $60 for a uniform.

If you really enjoy the game, consider coming out and giving it a shot, Gordon said. Everybody’s welcome.

Reporter Michael Brenner can be reached at [email protected]