Baseball Pro Coaching the Baseball Team

The boys of summer are back on the diamond and the VFMA baseball team is ready to play. The coach, new to VFMAC this year, is not new to baseball. Hank King is a retired scout for the Philadelphia Phillies and was with the team when they won the World Series in 2008.

Coach King is a local guy, having graduated from Upper Merion High School. Shortly after graduating, he entered the Baltimore Orioles farm system and later the White Sox system. A left-handed pitcher, his arm ran out of steam before his passion for baseball.

“I have been around the game all my life,” said Coach King. “There is something about the sport that gets in your blood – even when I opted out of playing, I wanted to be part of the game and so it is a privilege now to be coaching the team here at VFMAC.”

There are 22 Cadets comprising the team, allowing for a bench and relief when needed. While none have a plan for a career in baseball, Coach King says they show up for practice and play like pros.

“The Cornerstones taught here are in evidence at practice and at the games. The Cadets work together, support one another, stay positive, and compete like gentlemen,” he said.

The baseball team competes in the Bicentennial Athletic League against schools such as Bristol, Dock Mennonite, Delaware County Christian, Church Farm, Jenkintown, Calvary Christian, Morrisville, Phil-Mont Christian and Faith Christian.

The season is underway and Coach King says the team is better than the record suggests.

“We have one win and four losses. In the win over Church Farm School, we saw excellent play from Cadet Haywood who pitched a great game and had three hits. And there was equal support from the others. And the losses had our guys showing up, playing hard and just being outpowered by the other teams’ bats.”

Coach King says this team has players who really want to learn and are willing to ask questions to better understand the game and how to play better. As the saying goes, there is no crying in baseball and with several games yet to play, Coach King and the team are looking forward to reversing the trend. Good luck to the baseball team.