League 42 has produced its first college baseball pledge: Wichita East’s Dorian Lane
In a way, Dorian Lane wouldn’t be committed to play college baseball without League 42.
Lane, a Wichita East senior pitcher, verbally pledged to Northern Oklahoma College-Enid this week. He is the first former League 42 player to make it to the college ranks, executive director Bob Lutz said via Twitter.
Started in 2013, League 42 is a nonprofit youth baseball league “comprised primarily of inner-city players,” the league website states. Registration is $30 per family, not per player, according to the site, and comes with a uniform, baseball glove and other essential equipment.
“It’s great to see the kids advance in the game,” Lutz said,” but it’s more important to see them advance in life and become hard-working people and give back to society in that way.”
Although the site says many of the league’s players have not played before, Lane was on the diamond throughout his childhood. Lane played for the League 42 Purplesocks from sixth through eighth grade before coming to East High. He said League 42 was his last go at baseball.
“I didn’t really want to play baseball anymore,” Lane said. “I was just planning on going to school, trying to play basketball or something. League 42 was where I started pitching, and I loved it.”
League 42 wasn’t where his mind went first when he pledged to the Jets, he said, but that playing in the league was an amazing opportunity for him growing up. Lutz said that was why the league was created: to give an opportunity where once there was none.
“I remember we took a trip up to Kansas City to see a Royals game, and I had never seen an MLB game before then,” he said. “We went to the Negro League Museum and things like that. It was just a great experience.”
Lane said he knew NOC-Enid was the right choice after a talk with his long-time coach Billy Hall. The coaches, facilities and class offerings aligned with what he was looking for, he said.
“He asked me, ‘If you had to take the baseball aspect away from it, and just go there to go to school, would you do it?’ ” Lane said. “I knew the answer was yes, most definitely.”
NOC-Enid is part of NJCAA Division II; Lane said junior college made the most sense for him because of his ambitions of playing Division I baseball. As a slim pitcher at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, he said he knows he needs to put on weight. He also wants to raise his GPA, he said.
Although Lane is comfortable with his college decision, he said it would have been nice to take a few more visits to weigh the pros and cons of his options. But because of the spread of COVID-19, his recruitment was cut a bit short. He said a few other junior college programs were set to come to Wichita to see him play.
Lane said in the days leading up to his senior season getting canceled, he and his teammates talked about their goals for the season, how much better they expected to be than last season.
“I was really frustrated when it all came out,” Lane said. “But I’m ready for the next step.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 2:51 PM.