Coping with failure, showing gratitude, and building a sense of community are all reasons that spirituality, or the act of living for a greater purpose or mission larger than oneself, is the tenth position player on this year’s Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

From praying together before games and reading Bible passages every night to simply just saying “thank you”, many Y-D players and coaches tap into their spiritual muscles to remind themselves that they are defined by something greater than their performances on the diamond.

Jake Souders is an outfielder from Mississippi State and has been a staple of Y-D’s offense this summer. He is a power hitter (.270 batting average, .486 slug) and a devout Baptist Christian who reads his Bible every day.

From Birmingham, Ala., Souders has prayed before every baseball game for as long as he can remember. When he was younger, his coaches would lead a pregame prayer. As he got older, they stopped leading group ones but Souders continued praying on his own.

“I open my hands and just give thanks to the Lord, just for the opportunity to play [baseball]...coming out here with just a healthy body, being willing and able to play the game that we love,” Souders said.

Regardless of whether there’s a scheduled group prayer or not, Souders prays alone before every game.

“If I’m in the field, I’ll pray out in right field, but if I’m hitting first, I’ll pray out on the on-deck circle,” he said.

One of Souder’s reasons for prayer is to “thank” Jesus Christ for allowing him to play the sport he loves, that is, baseball. Still, he doesn’t only pray to show his gratitude to religious figures. He also does it to remind himself that he's more than just a baseball player defined by a bundle of statistics.

“[I] just open up to him and say, ‘Lord, whatever happens today, just allow me to see faithfulness and goodness through all things.’ It’s hard to not be wrapped up in stats and performance, and [prayer is] a reminder that whatever we do on the field, we’re not defined by that,” Souders said.

Another spiritually-focused player, who played for Y-D until July 10, was John Beverley.

Beverley is an outfielder from Auburn University, and was a reliable pinch runner, bunter, and bat for Y-D (.298 batting average, .353 on-base percentage). He is a non-denominational Christian who goes to church most weeks, periodically attends church youth groups for 18 to 25-year-olds, and reads daily Bible verses from an app on his phone. He is currently reading Psalms and Exodus.

Beverley finds Bible passages particularly useful for dealing with failure. He holds himself to a high standard on the baseball field, and the Bible’s messages help him cope with what he sees as failure, such as going 0-for-5 at the plate, he said.

“Baseball is obviously a game of failure. I don’t want to say the Bible talks about failure, but it definitely talks about like how to deal with it in a Christ-like way,” said Beverley.

For Beverley, this “Christ-like” way of coping involves reminding himself that his performance on the field does not affect how Christ views him as a person.

“Just going back and reading my Bible and praying, like, helps me slow down and calm down,” he said.

Beverley was Souders’ throwing partner until the day he left. The two prayed after warm-ups every day. At the beginning of the summer, the prayer involved the two of them. Over the next few games, other players joined and it became a team-wide affair.

Beverley explained that openness of their prayer circle has brought the team together on a deeper level than just connecting as baseball players and young men, but as spiritually connected minds.

“Whoever just wants to pray, they just come,” Beverley said.

He clarified that prayer participation is voluntary, and Beverley and Souders do not force the act on any of their teammates.

One of the first to join the prayer circle was Brady Dallimore, a catcher at the University of Mississippi. Dallimore is a reliable chip in the Y-D lineup who hits and gets on base often (.286 batting average, .422 on-base percentage). He is also a non-denominational Christian and a weekly church attender.

“[Souders and Beverley] started [praying] before every game. It was kind of the leadership. It just shows this team, like we’re really connected and we just love each other,” said Dallimore. “I always try to bring Jesus into everything…this is kind of just one way to do it.”

Prayer and religious studies are not the only way that members of Y-D maintain their spiritual health. Some of the team’s spiritual practices are secular, as shown by Assistant Coach Craig Gianinno.

Gianinno has been with the team for six seasons. Although he carries a cross in his pocket, his on-field spiritual practices are entirely secular. For similar reasons that Souders uses prayer, Gianinno thinks about how grateful he is to be surrounded by baseball every day.

“I think my prayer is in gratitude,” said Gianinno. “Like, I’m just thankful I get to be out here.”

After saying this, he turned toward the center field fence.

“Like look at that backdrop, look at that. Beautiful night, like time stands still when you’re out here. [I’m] grateful for all the opportunities to be at this place. I don’t have to be here; I get to be here.”