By ANTHONY SAMBROTTO
Standing next to Caleb Lang, one just gets the sense that he was built to be batting in the middle of a lineup for some baseball team.
And that is just what Lang, a native of Batavia, New York, is doing for the Niagara Power this season.
Lang, also a member of the Power last season, was lured to the team by owner Cal Kern and still remembers his initial thoughts on the organization.
“I saw a game two years ago in Batavia and it looked like everybody was having a lot of fun and they had a purpose for playing, ” he said. “Playing here gives me a chance to give back to the community I grew up in and to see the family before I head back to school in the fall.”
Lang attends school at Cairn University outside of Philadelphia, and will represent the Power at Thursday’s all-star game in Oneonta. He has been one of the major reasons why Niagara has gotten off to such a great start. The Power started the season 21-8 and in first place before a current six game losing streak has them sitting third in the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Western Division.
Regardless of the team’s recent record, Lang has been the steady number three hitter in the Power lineup. He has appeared in all 35 of Niagara’s games this season and is near the top of almost every single hitting category.
Lang, a senior season at Cairn, is using his experiences from last season’s run with the Power to help him this year.
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“For me, it’s been learning from your previous at-bats and previous years, ” he said. “I played in this league last year and a couple of these guys I’ve seen already and once you know what a pitcher has it is easier to get the barrel on the ball.”
Lang’s barrel has found the ball plenty this year. He is ninth in batting average, second in hits, tied for second in RBI and has only seven strikeouts in 138 at-bats.
And Lang isn’t just blooping singles to the outfield, either. He leads the NYCBL in doubles with 13 and triples with seven. Nobody else in the league has more than four triples.
His manager, Josh Rebandt, is also very pleased with what he’s been seeing from Lang at the plate.
“He has just been able to swing at the right pitches in the right counts and the ball is traveling, ” he said. “He is confident and comfortable in the box, and that is what you want at the top of your lineup.”
Any conversation about Lang, however, also needs to address his stellar defense. As legendary Niagara Power public address announcer Doug Smith says after nearly every spectacular catch by Lang, “Water covers two-thirds of the earth, Caleb Lang covers the rest of it.”
And Smith, as usual, couldn’t be more spot on. Lang leads all NYCBL centerfielders with 58 putouts and hasn’t committed a single error all season.
“I take great pride in my defense,” Lang said. “Especially in center, you have a lot of room to cover and it is about getting jumps. I run a 6.7(40-yard dash) but I make up for it with good jumps off the bat and this place (Sal Maglie Stadium) is so big that the ball hangs up there and I can make the plays and the pitchers love it.”
It is hard for anyone not to love Lang’s play this season. Lang now hopes that scouts at the NYCBL’s all-star activities on Thursday will love it as well.
He wants to continue playing baseball for as long as he can but is already paving out another path if he can’t.
“I’d like to keep playing baseball for as long as possible if it’s the Lord’s will,” Lang said. “If not, I am getting a business finance degree and a biblical studies degree so wherever the Lord leads and opens doors I am willing to do whatever. I love this sport, though, and want to play it as long as possible.
For now, Lang will help lead the Power down the stretch in hopes of bringing Niagara its first NYCBL title.
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