For as long as he can remember, sophomore Dylan Anderson has wanted to play baseball, whether it was competitive or recreational. At 15 years old, despite the continuous hurdles he has faced, he is determined to keep doing what he loves.
Anderson cannot remember a time when baseball has not been a part of his life. His father played baseball and both his younger brothers currently play the sport. “It was a natural thing,” he said.
Anderson first tried out for a travel team at eight years old, after a couple of years playing recreationally. In addition to making the team, he played in a league with kids two years older than him, something that Anderson would continue to do for multiple years.
After three years bouncing around different age groups, Anderson still wanted more of a challenge, so he switched to a travel team in D.C., where he was playing above his age group again. However, after only one year there, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, suspending baseball in D.C. and Maryland. This forced him to join a team in Virginia, where his progress stalled. “It didn’t feel like I was developing very much as a player,” he said. “The coaches weren’t as good as I thought they’d be.”
In the summer of 2022, after baseball resumed in Maryland, Anderson swiftly left his team and made the decision to go back to a team in his age range to help him get back on track. “My whole life I’ve been playing [above my age group] so I decided it would be best to play with my age group now,” Anderson said.
Anderson joined Dig In Baseball, a high-level baseball program that offers exposure to college scouts. At this program, Anderson has been able to travel all over the country and showcase his talent. “[The coaches] have so much knowledge about the game,” he said. “They’re older [than my previous coaches] and have backgrounds and connections.”
Because of his current situation, Anderson feels he’s in the best position he has ever been in with his baseball. He has coaches and a system he trusts and feels he is in a pipeline to play in college. “With the environment I’m in, I feel I should get some exposure [to college scouts] in these upcoming tournaments,” Anderson said.
Previous Dig In teams have multiple college commits, including multiple commits to the University of Maryland, College Park, which is Anderson’s dream school. He perked up immediately when discussing his tapes that were sent to the university in October 2022.
However, despite his contentment with his travel team, there have been many issues with his path to university; most notably, WIS’s lack of a baseball team. After trying to troubleshoot and find ways to have a high school baseball career, Anderson and his family found a rule in the District of Columbia Sports Association (DCSAA) which would help him.
“The D.C rules state that if your school doesn’t have a team in that sport, you can go to a [nearby] team and play,” Anderson said. Anderson picked the closest program he could find, which is at the Maret School. This is his second year playing there, and he says it has been a great help to his development.
Playing at Maret has not come without its obstacles, though. Because of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC)’s rules, which is the conference Maret plays in, players from other schools can only play out-of-conference games. This immediately wipes out the majority of the schedule for Anderson.
Anderson’s coaches have been campaigning for him to be allowed to play and Anderson has also applied to attend the school. However, after not getting in so far this year, he is worried that his opportunity to have a high school baseball career will be taken away from him and that he will lose potential experience.
Anderson is a starting varsity player for the Maret team and has continued to gain interest from colleges; however, he feels he can still gain more exposure. As of now, “it’s just a waiting game” to see if he will get into the MAC or if the rules will change.
Anderson’s aspirations haven’t changed from when he was younger. “As of now I’m only focused on one thing: trying to play in college,” he said.
He has continued to go to college camps and showcases, but without the right people behind him, this can be difficult. “The main issue is that the price is very heavy so you have to pick and choose which ones can really get you noticed,” he said.
Despite the many obstacles he’s faced, Anderson has persevered due to his lifelong love and passion for the game. “Baseball is something that has been a part of me for the majority of my life and it’s basically engraved into me,” Anderson said. “It’s hard to imagine life without it.”
By Kas Salehi
