The Gritty Swamp

By Colby Hatler

Every kid that plays baseball growing up has the dream of playing in the MLB. 

For me, it wasn’t any different.

I grew up with a bat in my hands. When I was about two years old my parents got me a toy bat and ball that I never wanted to put down. As I got older, I joined a recreational league near my house and began playing on my first team.

I had never felt more comfortable in my life than I did on the field. 

I practiced every day with a tight-knit group of friends, and the fire that I had to play the game never went away.  

Besides, I just loved to be outside and compete. 

I played every sport I could just because I wanted to compete. My dad played football in college, but he played baseball in high school as well. His guidance and passion for sports definitely led me to play multiple sports as well. Growing up I played mostly football and baseball and ended up playing football through my sophomore year of high school.

Even now I will play pickup basketball or football with my friends back home.

Specializing in one sport can sometimes make certain movements robotic with the sheer amount of repetition required at high levels. Playing other sports allowed me to stay loose and athletic.

It is also a great reality check. 

A reality check that later on I would come to know as grit. 

But anyway, the best parts of my baseball journey happened when I got to high school. 

I came into my freshman year after committing to play at the University of Florida. 

Some might say I had a lot of pressure going into that year, and I had no idea whether or not I would even touch the field as a freshman. 

But I kept pushing myself and ultimately won the job as starting shortstop. 

Soon after this, I started getting invites to big showcases and tournaments. One of the best times of my life was getting to represent my country with team USA. That team was full of unreal talent. We got to visit Taiwan and Korea playing the game we loved. That was an amazing group of guys and an experience I’ll never forget. 

We even have 10 of them in the pros right now and a few more in college trying to get there.

Although high school was amazing, the switch from high school ball to college ball has been quite the journey so far. 

When I arrived at the University of Florida for the first time, the first thing that struck me was how solid everyone was. Every person on that team was the best player at their high school. Everyone out on the field was a stud. Even our third-string guys are some of the best in the world.

At this level, baseball is a job. 

It takes digging down deep and giving everything you have each and every day regardless of what you have left in you.

It takes grit.

I remember growing up, my parents would always tell me “Baseball is a great dream and all, but you need to have a backup plan.” That was, however, until I was about 14. I remember my mom sitting me down and saying, “Honestly, I don’t know why I always tell you to have a plan B. If this is what you want to do, go at it with all you’ve got.” 

That was a great moment to know that my parents believed I could achieve the dreams that I’d always had. 

This gave me the confidence to embrace the grit of the game.

I went through every practice, workout, and game with the goal of playing in the MLB in the back of my mind, but ultimately my biggest driver was just to get better each and every day that I was on the field. 

I mostly wanted this so I’d be prepared to win at whatever came next in life – learning to beat the guy standing across from me.

That is what this mission is truly all about. 

I love this game. I love going out and competing every day. I love the work it takes to give yourself a chance to be successful. Things like 5:30 AM workouts are brutal, but after walking through fire and coming out on the other side you gain a certain confidence that can’t be achieved any other way.

Nothing about baseball is easy.

And neither is anything worth fighting for in life.

Everyone wants the same thing. Success.

But the ones who make it are separated from the ones who don’t by who is willing to work the hardest. 

In essence, it’s who has the most grit.

At this point in my life, baseball has allowed me to do things and meet people I never would have been able to without the game. 

I truly believe this is the result and reward for asking the utmost of myself each and every day. 

The good thing is, I can promise you that the life you see for yourself, your “dream,” isn’t that far off from reality. It just takes grit.

The same grit that exists down here in Florida that breeds some of the best athletes on the planet is the same grit that your one conscious choice away from embracing that will allow you to sacrifice the necessary things you must to be successful. 

I am so thankful for every memory and experience this game has created for me, including the countless friends and mentors I’ve gained as well. I am blessed to have made it this far, and I cannot wait to see where it takes me in the future.

But there’s no way this dream would have been a reality without grit.