TP Picnic

Today TP held a team picnic to celebrate their successful summer season and to get geared up for their final summer tourney.  I was the organizer and I think it went off rather well.  We rented a pavilion right on the river at a local park.  The weather was beautiful, but scorching hot.  We were thankful for the river breezes!   We ate, played games, and enjoyed the company.  One of the most enjoyable aspects of being part of TP is the friendship of the players, parents, and coaches.  It truly feels like a family.  I really hope every player is able to participate in the fall season.    

No TP get together would be complete without a game of wiffle ball, and it didn't take long for Coach C to get everyone playing.  You have to understand that wiffle ball is serious business in TP land, taken very seriously by Coach C and the boys.  Coach K's team snuck by Coach C's team for the win. Following lunch, a parent/player water balloon toss took place.  As you can imagine, it turned into a free for all, with  Coach C and Coach K as the most common targets.  After dessert, a touch football game rounded out the day's activities.  I've included a few pics below.

A playing catch with Coach C.

 J fishing a wiffle ball out of the river.

 Team huddle.

 The other team's huddle.

 A taking her turn at bat while N, J, & Coach C look on.

 

Nearing the end of Summer

My kids go back to school in just a little over two weeks.  Insanely early in my opinion.  Whatever happened to a three month summer break?  For the second year in a row, I'm not ready to let go of summer.  Last year we'd been to Hawaii and I was in such a mellow mood, summer could have gone on forever.  This year, we've enjoyed TP so much that I'm sorry to see the summer end.  Here's how we're wrapping up our final days of summer.

The TP team picnic is this Saturday.  I've sort of become the team mom and have been in charge of organizing the picnic.  We've reserved a big pavilion at the park and plan to grill hamburgers and hot dogs.  Everyone is bringing a picnic dish to share.  And between my mom and Coach C's mom, we have some seriously sinful desserts coming.  Coach C is, of course, planning a wiffle ball game and J had me buy a bucket of 600 water balloons.  It should be a good time.

J leaves for baseball camp at the University of Florida on Sunday.  He and his friend R will be rooming together for the four day camp.   My mom and I are driving them to Gainesville Sunday morning, then staying for a few hours to watch the camp.  R's parents will pick them up Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, I'm transitioning back into my head homeroom mom mode and hosting a get acquainted play date for incoming pk and k students.  The school thought this would be a nice, informal way for the kids and parents to meet before the start of school.  We're meeting at a park for playtime and light refreshments.  A will be starting k this year and she's looking forward to this.

Also next week, TP will be competing in their final tournament of the summer, the USSSA World Series in Kissimmee.  There are 60 16U teams entered in this one.  It will be interesting to see how TP stacks up against all these quality teams.  If they go in with their trademark heart and fire, my guess is they will finish quite well.  Maybe even win the whole thing.  Wouldn't that be an awesome end to their summer season?

Note above that I said summer season.  Originally TP was just going to be a summer season team.  We thought we were done at the end of July.  And I have to be honest, it made me kind of sad.  But, Coach C just told us that we'll be doing a fall season.  Hurray!  He's going to come home weekends from college to take TP to tournaments.  Between Sept and Nov we'll do 4-5 tournaments.  Now, I don't know if the entire team knows this yet.  Coach C told us when he spent the day with us going to another baseball event J was participating in.  I hope everyone is able to do the fall season.  We have such a great group of players and parents.  Coach C says he's enjoyed this team so much he'd really like to continue on.  So we'll do the fall, then take a break during the high school season til next summer. 

So that's how we'll be wrapping up our summer.  Stay tuned for posts about the TP picnic, J's adventures at UF camp, and TP's final summer tourney.   

Top Prospects

It occurred to me that all summer I've been telling you about Team TP, without ever really telling you anything about their sponsor, Top Prospects Baseball Instruction.  TP is an indoor baseball and softball instruction facility.  Team TP holds hitting practices here, as well as bull pen sessions, and indoor conditioning.  You can read about the TP facility here: http://www.topprospects.net/.  The link with team rosters is not current, it still lists Coach C as a 16U player instead of coach, but everything else is up to date.  And you can read a little about Dave Mastro, the owner, and how Top Prospects came to be.  We first discovered TP back when J was around 10 years old.  He attended several camps and lessons there.  In fact, Coach C was a junior instructor at one of the summer camps he attended.  When we were looking to get involved in travel ball it was only natural that we contact TP to see what they had to offer.  And we're so glad we did because this has been an awesome experience.  So thanks to all of the great staff at TP who have made Team TP a possibility.  You're dedication and hard work are appreciated!

Her First Big Crush

My five year old is boy crazy.  There, I said it.  I'm not sure how or when this happened, but A is boy crazy.  Maybe it comes from having two older brothers and being around their friends all the time.  For a while now, she's had J's best friend R in her sights.  R has known her since the day she was born and is like another brother to her.  But recently, my baby girl has developed her first real crush, on none other than Coach C.  This all started when he let her be in the team picture after TP won the championship in Apopka.  From then on, she's had stars in her eyes whenever he's around.  Which, since we're at baseball all the time, is a lot. This past weekend in Auburn, she followed him around as much as she was able.  He made her day Friday when he let her sit in the dug out during the game.  She pulled J's cooler right up next to Coach C's chair and chatted his ear off while he gave signs to the catcher.  Saturday she presented him with three brand new wiffle balls I had picked up for the team.  She claims she is going to marry him when she grows up.  Since he's 18, she has a lot of growing up to do!  This humiliates J in the extreme.  He lives in fear that she is going to propose to Coach C at any moment.   I admit, the whole thing makes me laugh.  A will no doubt have many crushes as she grows up.  But none will ever be as innocent and sweet as this first crush.  Check her out hanging with Coach C in the dug out. 

Auburn Invitational

This post is a bit late in coming because I was hoping to have some positive results to report.  TP got off to a shaky start here in Auburn.  Their first game ended in a 6-2 loss, mostly due to errors.  Coach C was not happy with them and told them they needed to man up and play ball like he knew they could.  The second day they played in two games, both at the Auburn University baseball stadium.  Their first game started out poorly, but they rallied and ended up with a 4-4 tie.  Their second game was dismal, ending in a 5-2 loss when it was called early due to a thunderstorm.  They might have rallied, but we'll never know.  Following that game, Coach C was, to put it bluntly, pissed.   They were not playing with the heart and fire that has become their trademark this summer.  He called a team meeting for 10:30 in the parking lot of the hotel and told them to wear running shoes.  They discussed what was going wrong and ran sprints and suicides for about 45 minutes.  He also took the time to point out a strength of each player.  And wiped the slate clean.  Today when TP took the field, they had their fire back, and proved it with a 4-2 win.  Coach C was pleased, not just with their win, but with how they played.  It's not the losses that upset him, it's how they earn those losses.  Simply being out played is one thing.  Handing games away is another. When they play with heart and give him their all, he's proud of them, win or lose.

 We're finished here, and will head home in the morning.  a few families left tonight, along with Coach C and Coach K.  But several of us just didn't want to start an 8 hour drive this late in the day.  If we get an early start, we'll make it home by late afternoon.  Drive safely home TP families!    

Auburn Invitational, Day One

The drive to Auburn was fairly easy.  As easy as an eight hour drive can be anyway.  Traffic was light and we made decent time, arriving around 2:30 local time.  The hotel had our room ready and we were able to check in to our very comfortable, two room suite.  I think we may have been the first TP family to arrive.  About an hour later, several other families and Coach C and his assistant, Coach K arrived.   Coach C was originally going to ride with us, but at the last minute Coach K was able to come and they rode together.  Within a few hours everyone was here and the boys got a wiffle ball game going out behind the hotel.  Coach C is big on wiffle ball and has passed that on to the players.  Even the little siblings got in on the fun.  After the wiffle ball game, the team relaxed in the hotel hot tub while the parents chatted by the pool. During this time, Coach C received a call from the tourney director informing him that this was a wood bat or BBCOR bat tournament.  Um, that would have been nice to know before we left home!  Luckily we have a couple BBCOR bats and three wooden bats among all the players.  We also found out there is  no championship round at this tournament.  It is strictly a showcase, with college scouts in attendance.  Being a 16U team, it's a chance for our boys to get their names out in front if the scouts.  And for the 18U teams here, it's an opportunity to perhaps get offered a scholarship.  We play a game tomorrow, two on Friday, and a final game on Saturday.  Coach C is a little perturbed at all the last minute information.  He's been trying to get in touch with the director for several days.  The boys are excited to be here though and are confident they can play well.  First game is at 4:30 tomorrow.  Go TP!  

Auburn Bound

Team TP will be competing in their fifth tournament of the summer this week when we travel to Auburn, Alabama for the BEST Baseball Auburn Invitational.  The tournament runs July 6-July 10, with TP playing in their first game the afternoon of July 7.  We're heading for Auburn on July 5.  It's about an 8 hour drive from our home in Florida and we don't want to be rushing to get there.  So the next few days will be spent packing and getting things organized for the trip.  N has opted to stay home with my mom.  He'll hang out with Uncle D, who's retired, while she works.  A is going with us, as is my dad.  Coach C is riding with us as well.  We're planning on hitting the road by 8am Tuesday morning so I most likely won't post again until sometime  Wednesday.  Until then, have a great Fourth of July and stay tuned for updates on TP's progress at their biggest tournament yet!