Wild Things now in Lake Oconee

There's a new team in town at Lake Oconee, and a summer of weekend baseball kicked off on May 3o.

Story and photos by Skyla Morris

 Lake Oconee Wild Things is one of eight baseball teams in the Sunbelt Baseball League, a summer collegiate baseball league in metro Atlanta. The league, partially funded by the MLB, was designed to showcase the participating college athletes during the summer and help expose them to scouts or other schools of interest.

Lake Oconee Wild Things

The “Wild Things,” formerly based in Waleska, Georgia, spent their first four seasons with Reinhardt University as their home field. The team recently moved to Greensboro under new ownership and will play all home games at Lake Oconee Academy’s baseball field, Bank South Park.

As the new owner of the Lake Oconee Wild Things, Corey Schachter believes Greensboro is a perfect fit for the team because of its strong sense of community. He hopes the team will bring the lake area an event to look forward to, especially with many residents' shared interest in the game.

“I'm looking forward to just the community getting together and watching baseball," Schacter said. "Moving here from Metro Atlanta, there's less family entertainment close by that's not inside a community. We've got the movie theater close by, and there's not much outside that."

According to Schachter, the team's roster is "started from scratch" each recurring season. He took on most of the responsibility for assembling this year's lineup, which was "a lot more work" than he initially expected.

"This was my first time as an owner assembling a roster and setting everything up for the community," Schachter said. "Navigating putting it on a school also was a lot of additional obstacles.”

Despite the geographical challenges, Schachter believes that Lake Oconee Academy is a great place to host the games because of its turf field, helping prevent rainouts.

“I have children here, and it’s a great facility, so we're hoping that the community supports

the team,” Satcher said. “And if there's revenue created for the team, whether it's through merchandise or ticket sales, we want to use that to reinvest into making it, you know, even making it a better fan experience there because right now it's just a high school field.”

With opening weekend around the corner, Schachter hopes to implement numerous vendors for the event, including multiple food truck options.

 Tony Matos, head coach of the Wild Things, looks forward to the opportunity to coach this year’s roster. As a full-time teacher and varsity baseball coach in Barrow County, this venture marks his first time working with college students. 

Matos credits the former coach of the varsity baseball team for introducing him to the opportunity to take this position and seeing him as a great fit.

"[Coaching the Wild Things] seemed like a great opportunity, so I reached out," Matos said. “I emailed Mr. Schachter, and we talked on the phone the next day. Within the next week, I was on board."

Before starting his current position in Barrow County, Matos played college baseball. He believes this experience and his former coaches have well-equipped him for this new experience.

"I played for some really great coaches, and I can take the things they used as well and

apply them to my coaching philosophy," Matos said. So I know every single person, whether they're on the bench, starting every day or dealing with an injury, whatever it is, I can put myself in their shoes because, as a player, I experienced the same thing."

With the opportunity to coach an older group of athletes, Matos is excited to see where this venture takes him.

 "I'm actually really excited about it. I've always had this itch, and it's something I pray about to see if one day I think I'd want to coach at the college level," Matos said. "So this is like getting my feet wet and seeing if I'd like working with this age group."

According to Matos, he has yet to meet the Wild Things athletes in person and will do so at the first team practice on Monday, May 26. Regardless, he has already seen their motivation to play.

“It's cool to see some of these guys that I've talked to, not only because of their maturity but also because of their respect and eagerness to work,” said Matos. “That I love because I'm a big ‘hustle and do your best at what you're doing’ guy. It can be hard with high schoolers because you have to teach them how to hustle and how to want to work hard.”

Overall, Matos looks forward to helping the players learn and gain experience on the field throughout this season. He appreciates his experience and background, which allowed him to coach many players.

“I always had the same dreams as many of these guys who will be playing for our team. They want to play at the highest level of college and probably want to go pro," Matos said. "It didn't work out for me, but it wasn't the end of the world. I feel like it was God's plan for me to go and coach now, and I can use everything that I've done in my playing career within my coaching."

Season and game ticket information is available below and on the team’s “Lake Oconee Wild Things’ Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/p/Lake-Oconee-Wild-Things-61574032801024/

Game photos were taken by Skyla Morris at the WIld Things exhibition scrimmage and season opener May 27, 30-31.

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This story appeared in Lakelife magazine, Volume Volume 19, Issue 3 and is the property of Smith Communications, Inc. No portions of the story or photos may be copied or used without written consent from the publisher.