UK baseball coach offers words of wisdom to teens

Nationally, University of Kentucky Boys Baseball Coach Nick Mingione received much attention after leading the Wildcats to their first-ever trip to the NCAA Men’s College World Series in 2024.

However, less than one month later, he was in Winchester for a different reason on the evening of Wednesday, July 10.

At Robert D. Campbell Junior High School, Mingione spoke to hundreds of youth from several different states during the yearly Work Camp, talking about different aspects of Christian faith.

“[City Commissioner Shannon Cox] had asked me if I would come out and share and I never want to miss on those opportunities,” said Coach Mingione. “I’m going to share about the heart.”

After being introduced by Cox – for which he received a round of applause from those in attendance – and beginning with some lighthearted humor, Mingione began with a statement.

“You guard things that are important to you,” he said.

Specifically, Mingione then referenced the Bible verse Proverbs 4:23, which in the NIV translation states “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows through it.”

Not only did Mingione reference the verse, but he also guided attendees in how to remember it through hand gestures, such as pointing to their heart or making a hand motion that indicated flowing.

Mingione also spoke of his deep faith and connected it to his message.

He referenced two additional Bible verses – Matthew 15:89 and Ezekiel 36:26 – and further elaborated.

“If your heart and [the] condition of your heart is open to be taught, then we can learn more about Jesus and the sanctification process…to be more like Jesus,” he said.

Mingione added how he came to have a faithful relationship during his freshman year of college.

“I went to Daytona Beach…I’ll never forget it. The pastor gave a sermon at the very end. He came out for the invocation [and] kept asking a bunch of questions like “Do you feel something’s missing in your heart?’….if that’s you, that’s because you’re missing somebody,” he said. “I started out with tears and I came down to that guy and I surrendered my life to Jesus.”

Since then, Mingione acknowledged, he has sought to live by faith – even teaching his son to memorize a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet.

His encouragement was for others to do the same.

“I’m not perfect, but I will tell you this…Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life,” he said.

After continuing to involve attendees by asking them about what Bible verses they’d memorized, which included one from the Book of Psalms and Mathew 28:20, Mingione mentioned that one of his favorite bible verses is Ephesians 6:7 and advised campers to remember three points.

They were to guard the position, condition, and direction of their heart.

“We want it to be pointed toward Jesus”, he said.

In the end, Coach Mingione showed gratitude for the opportunity to speak.

“I’m just happy to be here and just thankful for all the people that travel really all over the country to help those in this community,” he said.

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