Clark S.

Russ Hortman has an unique characteristic about himself that I believe every child should get a glimpse of themselves. He is a man that is very caring for the success of community and youth that are going through a hard time on the baseball field and beyond. I played baseball with his son. We had a very talented team and we went on to have numerous accolades that season that I’m still proud of till this day. I played catcher for my team, but I lost my confidence mid-season when trying to throw runners out. I feared I was a weak link on my team, and as a catcher you never want to believe that. You are an unspoken leader and I feared I was letting my team down by failing at my task. Mr. Hortman came to me and asked if he could work with me. I didn’t hesitate to accept the offer. I loved competing and I always want to the best at every craft I pick up in life. All it took was a few hours in a church gym and I learned so much about character, and how to conquer that fear to gain my confidence back. I ended the season with all-district acknowledgement. I believe that would have never happened without the help of Mr. Hortman, and I still thank him to this day. For the last out of baseball I played, I caught a runner trying to steal second to retire the side. That bittersweet moment was thanks to him. He has so much knowledge that can be transferred, on and off the field, and the mentality he taught me that night in the church gym is something I continue to use in my life today. Clark Mangun-Liberty

Bill C.

Alex is great with kids. My son went from struggling to make contact to batting .833. After his first home run he wanted to call Coach Alex and gave him the nickname Coach Truth, because everything he told him to work on paid off.