Nathan Hafner is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Notre Dame Prep for AZPrep365.com.

Baseball is more than just a game to Notre Dame Prep head coach Brian Fischer. It's his life's journey.

Born and raised in Seattle, Fischer got into coaching at age 21. Following an injury, he soon realized that his dreams of professional baseball were over. However, once becoming a coach, he never looked back.

The most important thing to Fischer is that he wants to improve the lives of the young men that come through his program. He is not only there as their coach but as a guide to make them much better people as they go off into the world.

"Ever since I just fell in love with coaching and to be able to mentor young kids and, you know, give the passion and the dreams that I had, and hopefully that they could, you know, fulfill those," said Fischer.

While Fischer has found success in coaching, he has persevered through many obstacles. He has used these challenging times to educate and drive his teams. One moment that impacted Fischer's life was when his son Brady was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. This diagnosis truly changed Fischer's outlook on life.

"I was probably about eight years into my coaching career at that time, and he ended up having open heart surgery to repair it. So that was kind of one of the things that I needed baseball," said Fischer.

Despite this diagnosis, Brady persevered and went on to play for his dad at Notre Dame Prep.

Another time Fischer had to turn to baseball was when his older brother was killed in 2013. The unimaginable happened the week before the Saints were set to play their championship game.

In one of the darkest times of his life, Fischer could still teach his team a life lesson.

“They didn’t need me there to coach them to win a state championship,” said Fischer. “So, I was just more part of the team. I told them when I got back this is not about me, this is about you guys, and they went out and won the first state championship at Notre Dame.”

The team takes his messages and elevates themselves to be good baseball players but, more importantly, great people. Pitcher Erick Dessens understands how important this advice is to perfect the little things.

"Coach Fischer has taught us how to be strong, disciplined men that care for the little things …  These things and many more could be used in our everyday lives to become better people," said Dessens.

In addition to stressing the little things, Fischer weaves life lessons into his coaching. Life is more prominent than baseball. Shortstop Griffin Nee takes this message to heart.

"If we lose and we played as hard as we could, with no mistakes, then we'll just learn from it," said Nee. "Baseball is a sport of failure, so not everything is going to go your way," said Nee.

Fischer has been the head coach at Notre Dame Prep for twelve seasons and has had many successes in his 25 years of coaching. He led teams to four state championships, one with the Saints in 2013. He is an inspirational coach that uses life lessons and baseball to develop young athletes to be prepared for any obstacle they may face in their life journey.

"I think the goal is that you know if you can just teach life to kids. I've gone through some things in my life that I'm able to pass on," said Fischer. "I tell these stories to my kids and tell them all these things that have happened, along with some of the good things on the baseball side of it. And I think that stuff goes a long way with these kids, and I think they remember that stuff for a long time."