Step through the gates of Savannah’s Grayson Stadium and you’re entering somewhat hallowed ground.

Spend a few minutes with Savannah Sand Gnats President John Katz, and you’ll realize he’s extremely proud of this year’s team. In fact, all it takes is a simple query about how the season’s going so far to get him talking. Enthusiasm and pride rises in his voice as he responds.

“This season has been very unpredictable,” he explains. “We won three straight games, then we lost four straight and now we’ve worked our way back from last. So, we’ve had success and struggles, and they’ve both come in spurts.”

However, as far as Katz is concerned, all that matters is the present, and right now his club is going gangbusters.

“This team is super-hot right now,” Katz beams. “Our first home stand ended last Saturday, and now we’re standing at 10-5 in first place.”

An old hand in the world of professional baseball (he was Vice President and General Manager of the Salem, Virginia Red Sox for four years prior to relocating here to run the Sand Gnats organization), Katz feels the key to this team’s ability to supersede adversity is the strong camaraderie its members have developed – despite hailing from disparate backgrounds.

“We have a lot of what I like to call ‘international flair’ in our dugout,” he offers. “The catcher hails from Germany, we have nine or ten players that hail from Latin America and our coach is from Puerto Rico. So, there’s a good degree of diversity in this team.”

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