Dennis Dei Baning Became Part of CBL History — But the Real Story Started Long Before That

Recently, Dennis Dei Baning became the first Player of the Week of the inaugural professional CBL season, as the longtime Intercounty Baseball League officially transitioned into the new Canadian Baseball League era.

Most people will look at the numbers and stop there.

The batting average.

The home runs.

The recognition.

The accomplishment.

And honestly, they should.

He earned it.

But baseball has a way of hiding the hardest parts of a player’s journey once success finally arrives. People see the player after things begin going right. They rarely see everything that had to happen just for that player to still be standing in the game years later.

That’s the part of baseball most people never understand.

And honestly, Dennis’ story is exactly why that matters.

The Talent Was Always There

One of the biggest misconceptions people sometimes have with stories like this is assuming the player suddenly became good later.

That wasn’t Dennis.

The ability was there very early. The power was there very early. The compete level was there very early. I coached Dennis from 12U all the way through 18U and even at a young age, you could feel there was something different in how he approached the game.

Not fake toughness.

Not loud energy for attention.

Real compete.

The type of edge that usually comes from growing up understanding life is not always easy and that opportunities are never guaranteed. Dennis played the game like somebody trying to earn everything and honestly, that showed up every single time he stepped onto the field.

That’s why the power never surprised me.

I was contacted by Brian Domenico from the Power Showcase organization back in 2014, and honestly, Dennis was the very first name that came to my mind. At the time, the Power Showcase was one of the biggest stages for young players and you didn’t just end up there accidentally. The event was filled with real talent, real evaluators and some of the best young players in the country.

And honestly, Dennis belonged there.

The problem was never whether the talent existed. The challenge was everything surrounding the talent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUaQxlf6Qz0

Some Players Are Fighting Battles People Never See

A lot of people only understand baseball from the field itself.

Mechanics.

Games.

Stats.

Recruiting.

Showcases.

But for some players, the hardest part is simply staying in the game long enough.

That’s reality.

Dennis didn’t grow up inside one of those perfect baseball situations where every opportunity naturally opened itself. There were financial realities. Transportation issues. Tournament trips that became difficult. Moments where simply getting to the field consistently required effort most people never think about.

And yet he kept showing up.

That’s honestly what I remember most about those years.

He kept showing up.

Over and over again, even when circumstances around him weren’t easy. And honestly, there were many moments where people quietly stepped in to help keep the baseball dream alive for him. That’s something people rarely understand about community baseball. Sometimes it becomes much bigger than the game itself.

Sometimes baseball becomes people helping other people survive long enough to keep chasing opportunity.

The Erie Story Still Stays With Me

One weekend with West Toronto always stands out to me because honestly, it captured exactly who Dennis was as a player.

Before one of our games, Dennis mentioned that he had personally contacted the coach from Erie Community College and asked him to come watch him play.

Think about that for a second.

Nobody packaged that opportunity for him. Nobody created a recruiting graphic. Nobody built social media hype around him. Nobody handed him exposure.

He created the opportunity himself.

That told me everything about how badly he wanted it because real hunger always stands out. Especially to coaches.

But that same weekend also showed the other side of baseball people rarely see.

Late that night, Dennis suffered a serious asthma attack at the hotel and had to be rushed to the hospital. And his mother wasn’t there, not because she didn’t care, but because not every family has the ability to travel all over North America chasing baseball tournaments.

That’s another reality people ignore in this game.

A lot of players survive baseball through the help of other people:

• coaches

• teammates

• baseball families

• volunteers

• parents helping other kids

That night, one of our assistant coaches David Flumerfelt, took Dennis to the hospital and stayed with him through the situation. And honestly, that same coach had already spent years helping several players get to tournaments because some families simply didn’t have the same opportunities others did.

People never see those stories later when the player starts succeeding.

But those stories matter.

They always matter.

Why Culture Matters To Me

One of the things baseball taught me a long time ago is that coaching is not always just baseball. Sometimes it becomes mentorship, support, guidance, transportation and belief. Sometimes the biggest thing you can do for a player is simply help them stay connected to the game long enough for the game to finally give something back.

And honestly, part of why I’ve always believed so strongly in culture and supporting players beyond the field comes from my own experiences in the game.

Following my first season at Texarkana College, I returned home during the summer of 1999 and played for the Toronto Maple Leafs Intercounty team. On paper, it should have been an incredible experience, but honestly, it became one of the hardest baseball environments I ever experienced.

Not because of the competition.

Because of the culture inside the clubhouse itself.

There were moments during that summer where I learned firsthand how much environment affects confidence, growth and a player’s ability to simply feel comfortable being themselves. That experience stayed with me. It shaped how I coach, how I treat players and honestly, the type of environment I always wanted players like Dennis to experience instead.

Because talent means very little if the environment surrounding the player slowly destroys confidence and enjoyment of the game.

And in a strange way, it feels full circle now seeing Dennis succeeding with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization himself years later.

Baseball has a funny way of doing that sometimes.

The Numbers Mean More When You Know the Journey

Over the years, Dennis kept growing into the hitter many of us already believed he could become. And honestly, the power was always real.

For the last three straight seasons, Dennis has opened the year by hitting a home run in the very first game of the season. That’s not luck. That says something about confidence, preparation and compete level.

Over his IBL and CBL career, Dennis has built a strong body of work:

• .287 career batting average

• 24 career home runs

• .473 slugging percentage

• .816 OPS

His progression over the years tells the bigger story:

• 2023: .280 AVG, 6 HR

• 2024: IBL All-Star

• 2025: .286 AVG, 7 HR, .516 SLG, .854 OPS

• July 2025 Rawlings Canada Player of the Month

• 2026: explosive start hitting .444 with a 2.056 OPS through the opening stretch

And honestly, those numbers hit differently when you understand everything behind them because this wasn’t overnight success.

This was survival.

This was perseverance.

This was somebody continuing to fight through life, baseball and obstacles long enough for the talent to finally stabilize and fully emerge. A lot of players with difficult pathways eventually disappear from the game because the obstacles become too heavy.

Dennis stayed with it.

That’s what makes this special.

What I Think About Most

Honestly, when I see Dennis having success now, I don’t immediately think about the stats.

I think about the young kid trying to find rides. I think about the tournament weekends, the asthma attack, the phone call to Erie himself and the people quietly helping him continue during moments where baseball could have disappeared for him completely.

That’s the real story.

Not everybody’s baseball journey looks clean. Not everybody’s path is built with comfort. Some players have to fight for every opportunity they get.

Dennis was one of those players.

And honestly, I think that’s important for young players to understand too.

There are a lot of people in today’s baseball world who will try to convince players that if they didn’t grow up inside certain private programs, certain organizations or certain baseball circles, then they somehow cannot reach high levels of the game.

That’s simply not true.

Dennis’ story is proof of that.

You can still achieve.

You can still develop.

You can still dominate.

The path may look different, the obstacles may be harder and the journey may take longer, but talent, compete level, perseverance and the right people believing in you still matter.

They always will.

And honestly, that’s one of the biggest lessons baseball continues to teach over and over again.