It was three decades ago that Hank Williams Jr. had a hit record singing about his family and its traditions. Brett Szakats knows all about family tradition, too. But while the Williams family had it for whiskey and country music, Szakats would be singing about baseball.
It’s the tie that binds this Amherst clan.
“Baseball is pretty much what my family is about,” Szakats said. “It’s the one thing that interests us. I’ve been playing it since I was 4 years old, in the backyard with my dad and my uncle — just them throwing it to me and me catching it or hitting it.”
And it paid off. Szakats was the best player in the Southwestern Conference in 2007. He was the only SWC player to be named All-Ohio first team, landing on the Division I list.
It’s a family tradition.
“My dad (Don) and my uncle (Dale) were both real good ballplayers” Szakats said. “My uncle had a chance for a minor league career, but they didn’t pay very well in those days.”
It’s hard to believe now, but it was true. So Uncle Dale moved to Freehold, N.J., opened a store and could claim as one-time customers two local celebrities — Freehold’s favorite son Bruce Springsteen and former Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, living in nearby Spring Lake at the time.
But now it’s Brett’s turn to be the baseball hero. Despite looking every inch like the star high school athlete he is, Brett plays no varsity sports besides baseball. He had his breakout year as a junior — surprising even himself with the All-Ohio designation.
“Last year I thought making all-conference would be good enough,” Szakats said. “But when I opened the newspaper I said, ‘Woah!’”
Now Szakats knows what kind of statistics land you on the All-Ohio first-team list. He batted .441 last year, with 41 hits in 93 official at-bats. He led Amherst in hits, doubles (13), runs batted in (35), on-base percentage (.518) and slugging average (.699). He hit three home runs and a triple and scored 30 runs while batting No. 3 in the order.
“He’s the best hitter on a 20-victory team,” Amherst coach Al McConihe said. “That’ll tell you enough about what kind of a player he is.”
The Comets had a 20-7 record in 2007 and tied a school record for wins in a season. In Southwestern Conference play, where Amherst was tied for second at 10-4, Szakats hit .415 with 22 hits in 53 at-bats and 20 RBIs.
“It never crossed my mind that my name would be there (all-state team),” Szakats said. “All-state was a goal for this year, I figured. I thought it was only for seniors.”
Maybe his surprise came from the fact he began his sophomore season on the junior varsity. But it wasn’t long before his hitting earned him a promotion.
“We could see there was talent there,” McConihe said, “but he was squirrelly little kid when he was a freshman. He wasn’t in any real bad trouble, but I would have teachers say to me, ‘That Brett Szakats is one of your baseball players, isn’t he?’ He has grown quite a bit since then.”
And his growth hasn’t been just in maturity and baseball prowess. Szakats said he was just 5-foot-8 as a freshman. He’s now a robust 6-2½.
As for his weight, well, he has actually dropped some of that in spite of his impressive spurt in height.
“I was 5-8 and 220 pounds as a freshman,” Szakats said. “I knew I had to slim down. I lifted a lot of weights, ate healthy food. I’m maybe 210-215 right now.”
As for the future, Szakats knows he wants to go to college and play varsity baseball. A good number of Division I universities are seeking his services, but he’s yet to make a decision. He’d like to major in either business marketing or criminal justice.
His immediate goals are more definite — to get the Comets over the hump in the SWC, and extend the postseason past one game.
Amherst finished a game behind Brecksville in the conference standings. In their sectional opener, the Comets lost to Westlake. The fact Amherst tied a school record for victories in one season was cold comfort.
“I’d be surprised if we didn’t do just as well as last year,” Szakats said. “We went from 14-14 my sophomore year to 20-7, but we did not win the conference and we lost in the first game of the tournament. It’s tough to do so well overall, and have nothing to show for it.”
 

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