Greg Norris remembers his introduction to baseball at Sacramento High School.

A few players didn't have gloves or cleats. Many had little baseball experience.

And at a school renowned for basketball, playing baseball wasn't considered all that cool.

Beyond that, studies show baseball's popularity among African Americans has fallen dramatically in recent years. It's a potential factor in drawing athletes to the game at Sac High, where 55 percent of students are black.

"I was shocked," said Norris, who took over the Dragons in 2009 and is in his third season leading the team. "I knew I had my work cut out for me when I took the job, but it went even beyond that."

Not that challenges are new to Norris, a former high school and college baseball standout.

From 2000 until 2002, he was in the Peace Corps, living in a dung hut in Faraba, a village of 350 people in the West African nation of Senegal.

There, he taught villagers how to manage sustainable agriculture and build irrigation systems. Everyone, including Norris, lived without electricity and running water.

"At first I kept saying to myself, 'What am I doing here?' " said Norris, 33. "As it turned out, it was the most amazing experience of my life."

In Africa, he learned to do a lot with a little. There, he also met his future wife, Megan Angelides, the daughter of former California Treasurer Phil Angelides.

Her ties to the Sacramento area brought Norris – who was reared in Rochester, N.Y., and attended South Carolina's Wofford College – to the capital.

His first season at Sacramento High ended with a 5-18 record and included plenty of one-sided losses as well as the benching of his most experienced players because of academic ineligibility.

Despite his team's struggles, Norris could see the potential, especially in five gifted and eager sophomores who carried the team, which improved to 11-14 in 2010.

Those five – Leander Carter, Nick Miller, Bryan Kennedy, Antoine Wade and Ricki Nivison – now are seniors, leading a team that hands out the one-sided defeats.

The Dragons (11-3, 7-1) are in the thick of the Metro Conference championship race with McClatchy and Rosemont, two teams that have dominated the league the last four seasons.

The Dragons also are emerging from the giant shadow cast by the school's basketball program.

"We're trying to get Sac High baseball on the map, even though basketball still dominates the talk around the school," said Carter, a tri-captain and speedy center fielder.

Carter is an example of the transformation occurring under Norris. He's one of 11 African Americans on the 15-player roster.

Recent studies show African American participation in major league baseball is 9 percent, down from its high of 27 percent in 1975. Only eight of the 269 players in last season's College World Series were black.

Norris said he simply wants to get the school's best athletes interested in baseball.

Carter, an Oakland native who played basketball only as a freshman at Christian Brothers, said he considered it his primary sport as a sophomore and junior at Sac High. Now it's baseball.

"It was real tough decision not to play basketball, but I felt it wasn't fun anymore," said Carter, who averaged 3.9 points per game as a junior. "I have more passion for baseball, so I wanted to put my all into it."

He played about 45 games for two traveling teams last summer, one reason Carter is batting .476.

Now, most of Sac High's players focus on baseball year-round. Norris offers fall and spring ball and worries less about eligibility issues.

"It's that good senior core," Norris said. "They've grown up in our system. They're more baseball savvy."

It showed Tuesday in a 14-0 mercy-rule victory against Valley.

The Dragons stung the ball, as Carter and sophomore Claro Somera hit inside-the-park home runs and Miller a triple to ignite an eight-run first inning.

They also ran the bases aggressively on their funky, all-grass infield, fielded flawlessly and received savvy pitching from the left-handed Nivison, who allowed one hit.

Carter said the team is like family, especially the five seniors who endured 2009's tumult.

"It was tough losing, but we knew it was mainly our inexperience," Carter said. "We came together. It still was a good season."

Norris said he wants his players to experience the playoffs – the Dragons last made the postseason in 2007 – and believes they have a good chance with three teams advancing from the Metro.

They'll get a taste of playoff atmosphere Saturday when they play defending Metro champion Rosemont at Raley Field.

"I'm proud of these guys," Norris said. "They're buying into the system, and now a lot of them aspire to go to college."

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