For Riley Pesek, coaching baseball goes beyond developing skills and competing on game day. His goal is to create an experience that helps his players grow while ensuring they leave each season with an even greater love for the game.

Pesek, who coached the 14U Fargo 61’s Red team this summer, has spent the past four years coaching baseball. Now entering his senior year at North Dakota State University, where he is studying Physical and Health Education, Pesek hopes to become an elementary physical education teacher.

Growing up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, baseball was an important part of Pesek’s life. Coaching has given him the opportunity to pass that experience on to the next generation.

“I love coaching because it allows me to teach a game that I have loved my entire life to kids who simply want to play, have fun, and spend time with their friends,” Pesek said.

That love of the game is at the center of his coaching philosophy. His measure of a successful season is simple: when it ends, he wants every player to be able to say, “I want to play baseball again next year.”

Over his four years of coaching, Pesek’s philosophy has continued to develop. He once centered his approach around the phrase “We over Me.” After coming to Fargo, however, another message began showing up again and again in conversations with his players: Attitude and Effort.

“You can only control the controllables, which are your attitude and your effort,” Pesek said.

Those two words became a foundation for how he approached the season. Players cannot control every call, every bounce of the baseball, or every result. They can control how they respond and how hard they work.

Pesek also believes development requires giving young athletes opportunities to struggle. Rather than protecting players from difficult situations, he wants them to experience challenges, learn how to respond when things do not go their way, and build the confidence to try again.

That requires a coach to understand that every player is different.

Pesek considers adaptability one of the most important traits a coach can have. A coaching style that works for one player may not work for another. Some athletes need additional instruction, encouragement, or attention to put themselves in a position to succeed.

The same philosophy extends to players who may not be in the starting lineup on a particular day. Pesek makes an effort to give those players a specific responsibility from the bench, allowing them to remain involved and giving them something they can accomplish for their teammates.

No matter their role, he wants every player to know that they are part of the team.

Building that team mentality happens at practice, too. Pesek uses challenges that require players to work together, giving them opportunities to solve problems and accomplish something as a group. At the same time, he works to balance those challenges with something just as important in youth baseball: fun.

“I balance challenge and fun,” Pesek said. “I give them some challenges during practices or a game and let them have fun with it in their own way.”

That balance is especially important because Pesek sees youth baseball as the foundation for a player's future relationship with the sport. Fundamentals, communication, work ethic, and sportsmanship all matter, but so do the memories created away from competition.

For Pesek, some of the best parts of this summer came from the relationships he developed with his players and their families. He credits the support of the parents for helping make the season possible and is grateful for the group of young men he had the opportunity to coach during their final Babe Ruth season before moving on to Legion baseball.

He hopes they remember the games and practices, but he also hopes they remember everything around them—the hotels, road trips, time spent hanging out, and friendships they built as teammates.

Those experiences are part of what makes youth baseball special.

Ultimately, Pesek wants to develop better baseball players, but that is only part of the job. He also wants to help develop better teammates, better friends, and better young men.

“Thank you for the opportunity to coach this year,” Pesek said. “I had a lot of fun with this group of boys, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the next few years as they continue throughout life.”

And if they come back next season ready to pick up a glove and play again, Pesek will know the summer was a success.



Attitude and effort. Control what you can control, enjoy the game, and keep coming back to play.