Corey Hotmer is on a mission.
A mission, that is, to carve his own niche at Lake High School.

Hotmer, a junior, is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Ryan, a former three-sport standout at Lake who is now a freshman pitcher/first baseman at Owens Community College.

“We compete, but we still love each other,” said Corey, 17, “We push each other to try to get better. We compete against each other out back, shooting around or hitting baseballs.”

Ryan, 19, graduated as Lake's career home run leader, with 15, and led coach Greg Wilker's Flyers to the district championship game his junior year.

Corey Hotmer

Like his brother, Corey is also a three-sport athlete at Lake. He was a linebacker and offensive guard on the football team last fall, and he was a post player on the basketball team this past season despite standing just 5-foot-11 (and 190 pounds).

“He enjoys the game,” said Wilker, who is in his 27th season as Lake's baseball coach. “He just goes out and competes and he has fun at it. He doesn't take things too seriously. He just goes out and plays, and that's the way it should be.”

Hotmer is the Flyers' starting left fielder, but he assumes the catching duties depending on who is pitching.

“He's steady in the outfield,” Wilker said. “He has a good arm. That's why he's a catcher. He throws the ball very well.”

Because Lake had a strong senior class last year, Hotmer was relegated to playing on the Flyers' junior varsity team. He made the most of his sophomore season by hitting .425 with one home run, which he hit in a 7-6 win over Maumee.

“A lot of years he would have been on the varsity,” Wilker said. “He's a big, strong kid who hits the ball hard.”

Hotmer said he used last season to improve offensively and defensively and get ready for his junior year. He got called up to the varsity for sectional tournament play but didn't get in any games.

“I was really just focused on the season last year,” Hotmer said. “I was trying to make myself better. I wanted to push myself and see if I could make it up to the varsity. I've played sports my whole life. That's what I grew up doing. Baseball is my favorite.”

Through the Flyers' first 10 games – they improved to 8-2 and 1-0 in the Suburban Lakes League with Tuesday's 4-3 win over Eastwood, Hotmer is batting .333 with two doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and six runs.

“I'm really looking to hit over .400 this year,” he said. “I want to basically play as a team, though. It's a team game. We're looking to go far. I want to make a long tournament run. I expect to keep this up and even work harder towards it.”

Hotmer added that Lake's impressive start to the 2011 season is a direct result of how every member of the team relies on each other.

“We're all really close friends,” he said. “When we go out, we all go out together. We're really tight together and we know each other really well. We're looking to win the SLL. We're going to compete with everybody and play our best.”

There is, however, still one question that needs to be answered. Who is the better baseball player, Ryan or Corey?

“Right now I guess it's him,” Corey said. “But in a few years, when I get to full size, we'll see.”

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