Season Highlights

TP had a terrific summer season, capped off by their championship win last Sunday.  This week I've been reflecting on some of the season's most memorable moments and of course I had to share them here!

Topping the list is of course the big win!  Our boys worked hard all season and winning a championship was the perfect end to their season.  Every player on the team gave his all, making it a true team effort.  As always, they played with heart, class, and sportsmanship, true champions in every sense of the word.

I enjoyed every minute serving as team mom this season.  Every player and coach holds a special place in my heart.  I'm going to miss sitting near or in the dug out and hearing requests for everything from the current score to drinks and snacks.  

A's pure enjoyment at being part of the team was another highlight for me.  Not only did Coach C indulge her by allowing her to hang in the dug out and serve as a bat girl, the entire team treated her like a little sister.  Every player and coach looked out for her, and indulged her every whim, from playing catch with her between games to sharing their sunflower seeds in the dug out.  I'm sure there may have been times they wished she'd go away but they never let her know it. To her, they are her team and her boys, and she is their princess.

I enjoyed forging friendships with the other parents.  When you spend that much time with a group of people,   you either like them or tolerate them.  I'm happy to say I liked them and we had many good times over the course of the season.  I especially enjoyed spending time with M, S, and Coach C's mom, Mrs. C. We had a lot of laughs and I'm going to miss you ladies until we meet again!

J personally had some ups and downs this season.  Every moment, bad or good, allowed him to realize that his dream of baseball is as deep rooted as ever.  There may be some struggles along the way but in the end, he's still willing to sacrifice and work hard to make his dream a reality.  The ups and downs have also shown him how fortunate he is to have a coach  who is as invested in him as Coach C is.  His support of J never wavered, even in the worst moments, and because of that, J has made improvements and is ready to keep working hard on his dreams.

Someone asked me today if we'd be bored now that the season is over.  I wouldn't say bored exactly.  It will be nice to have a few less hectic weeks before school starts again, along with all the fall activities.  But I do miss it and will be looking forward to our next season with happy anticipation.

CFl Championships

This weekend TP returned to the CFL Championship Tournament to defend their championship title from last year.  They not only defended their title, they held onto it with both hands and refused to let go. After  five games played over two days and 41 runs scored, the championship was theirs for the second year in a row.  It was a weekend filled with a lot of action so I'm going to do my best to recap the highlights for you here.

Game one was Saturday afternoon, against a team called Mets Elite.  This team was fairly evenly matched with TP and the game was intense from the start.  TP had a shaky first half of the first inning, allowing Mets Elite to score three runs.  After that, they found their groove and played for a 5-4 win.  Game two was Saturday evening against Team Avalanche and that one got a little nasty.  TP started off strong, taking an early lead.  However, some errors led to Team Avalanche pulling ahead for a brief time.  And that's when things got nasty.  This team was one of those obnoxious teams that I hate coming up against.  Bad attitudes, cockiness, and just absolutely no class. When they pulled ahead they thought they were real hot stuff, but our boys charged and left them in the dust with a 10-7 win.  After that it was back to the hotel to have dinner and wait to hear where we were seeded.  Got word that we were the 3 seed around 11:30 that night with a game time of noon for Sunday.  Game three was against a team called Ocala Blaze.  This game took a while due to rain that at one point caused a fifteen minute delay.  The game went very well, ending in a 10-3 win.  This put TP in the semi final round against the 2 seed team, the Renegades.  This game was a bit more intense than game three since the two teams were more evenly matched, though TP took it in the end 4-2.  After a short break of maybe twenty minutes it was on to the championship round.  The team we were playing, LBA Storm, was a team we'd played before, back in our second tournament of the summer.  They had beaten us in the semi final round of that tournament so the boys were pumped for a rematch.   The game started off being a bit frustrating, remaining scoreless then getting deadlocked in a 1-1 tie I believe until the fourth inning.  To be honest some of the details are fuzzy because what happened next proved to be a very emotional moment for me.  J came up to bat with two outs, which always makes me nervous.  His first at bat of the game had ended in a strikeout when he swung at a pitch he had no business swinging at.  Well, he redeemed himself with a bomb hit  deep into the outfield that brought in two runs, breaking the tie.   The look on his face as he stood on first base is a moment I'll never forget.  Following that, the runner on third base managed to score when J, I believe at Coach C's instruction, had gotten himself into a pickle trying to steal second.  While the other team was busy trying to run J down and tag him out, which they eventually did, our runner scored, giving us a 4-1 lead.  Since the run came in before they tagged J out it counted.  From there, TP ignited and never let up, eventually ending up with a 12-1 win for the championship.   

Let me go back to J's awesome, game changing hit for a moment.  At the time, I didn't fully realize what he had managed to accomplish.  I simply thought he'd gotten a great hit, so great in fact that it made me cry I was so proud of him. It wasn't until later, as we were leaving the ice cream shop we'd gone to to celebrate, that  Coach C said something that made me realize the moment was bigger than I'd thought.  Apparently J's hit turned the tide of the game.  The team was so pumped up that it gave them the push they needed to break out and take ownership of the game.  Had J not delivered, the game might have gone in a different direction.  That made me cry all over again, especially since J has had some rough moments this summer as he continues to work on improving the mechanics of his fielding.  But for last night, he came through when his team needed him the most, which will be a memory he'll carry with him forever.  As Coach C said to him, "Way to be clutch."  

The TP season is over which has left me feeling a little sad.  I'm going to miss the boys, the other parents, and the camaraderie we all share.  I made Coach C promise me last night that we'd talk about next summer soon and him moving up with the current team to the next age division.  I'll be sure to update on that once plans are in place!  But for now, I've washed the swing juice jug for the last time, updated the team web page with our record of 16-6-2, and have almost finished putting together a slide show of TP's greatest moments.  

      

The Roots of a Friendship

This past Saturday, J and Coach C spent a few hours doing some hard core training.  Afterwards, Coach C brought J home and stayed for dinner.  During dessert, we were reminiscing a bit about TP's trip to Auburn University last summer and how a moment during that trip became the defining moment of when our friendship really began.  That moment came when hubby decided it would be fun to spill the beans to Coach C regarding A's then newly formed crush on him.  He did this by knocking on Coach C's hotel room door and proceeding to ask him if his intentions were honorable.  Coach C was understandably a bit puzzled, and stated that he always had honorable intentions.  That's when hubby dropped the bomb(with a perfectly sober face) and said he was glad to hear that seeing as how Coach C and A were getting married and having a hot tub honeymoon. (That last part was a quote from A, who has a fondness for lounging in hot tubs.)  Now, I was not in the room for this conversation, but both hubby and Coach C have described his reaction in great detail.  Apparently Coach C turned about as red as a TP jersey and started stammering and stuttering until hubby took pity on him and reassured him he was just messing with him.  After that, there were really only two choices.  We all would become great friends or Coach C needed to run like hell as fast as he could away from our craziness.  Happily, he stuck around and we've nurtured a friendship that has become quite special to all of us.  I know others may look at us and think the friendship is a bit unorthodox.  I imagine  most people don't get as close to their kid's coach, especially one as young as Coach C.  It definitely started on the field, with Coach C and J forming a coach and player bond that is special all on its own.  Readers of this  blog know where that bond has led.  Coach C continues to train and mentor J not only in baseball, but in life.  J values his opinion highly, and looks up to him, like an older brother of sorts.  As the oldest, J has plenty of experience being the big brother, so I think it's been nice for him to have someone fill that role for him.  He is close to my brother, but he's 16 years older than J, whereas Coach C is only 3 1/2 years older.  So it's a different dynamic.  The rest of us love and value Coach C's friendship very much as well.  A of course continues to crush on him, still has plans to marry him, and gives any girl she thinks is getting too close the evil eye.  He, as always, indulges her, treats her like a little queen, and in general, spoils her rotten.  I imagine as she gets older her crush, which is really a huge case of hero worship, will turn more into viewing him as an extra big brother, who will always hold a special place in her heart. Coach C gets a kick out of N and his uniquely quirky personality.  The two of them spend time playing chess or video games and N usually has Coach C shaking his head or laughing at something he says or does.  Hubby loves nothing better than giving Coach C a hard time about everything  from work, (Coach C works part time at hubby's store) to his future nuptials with A.   Coach C gives back as good as he gets, impressing hubby with his quick wit and refusal to let hubby gain the upper hand in their verbal duels.  As for me, I simply love Coach C like one of my own kids.  He won my heart early on, when he saw something in J on the baseball field that others had failed to see.  Since then, he's continued to work tirelessly with J, he's good to my other kids, and is always appreciative of my work for the team.  After our stay in Jupiter, during which he spent a lot of time with us, eating meals and just hanging out, he sent me the sweetest message about how much he loves and appreciates our friendship.  It made me cry, and realize how very much I, too, love and value our friendship. The TP season is coming to an end and I'm not sure what next summer holds for J.  He'll be too old to play on the current TP team, which means he can't play for Coach C.  However, many of the parents and the other coaches are trying to convince Coach C it would be a great idea for him to move up with the current group of boys. I don't know how that all will turn out in the long run, but whatever happens, I know our friendship with Coach C will remain strong.  None of us could have foreseen on that sunny April day when J tried out for Coach C that the six of us would forge such a special bond.  This friendship may have gotten it's start on a baseball diamond, but it's roots run strong and true.

Junior Olympics Recap

I know I said I'd post updates during the week at Junior Olympics, but there was so much going on that I decided to wait and post one big recap.  It was a week with a lot of ups and downs for TP, but ultimately will be a week the boys will never forget.  So here goes.

We arrived on Friday around noon, prior to our scheduled event time of 12:30.  The event time was a time for our team to be observed by the USA Baseball scouts.  Each player ran the sixty, then participated in a modified infield/outfield practice.  The entire process took about an hour and we were then free for the rest of the day.  There was a Jupiter Hammerheads game that evening, for which USA Baseball provided tickets. The game was rained out though, so several of the families ended up going out to dinner together while Coach C and the coaching staff attended the mandatory coaches meeting.  Our five pool play games were scheduled for 8:00am, starting on Sat and ending on Tues.  Here's where some of those downs come in, because TP struggled a bit in their pool play games.  I'll give a brief recap of each game.

Game 1 TP came out and played well.  The team they were playing against was extremely good and unfortunately our boys never did get their bats going.  They lost that game 5-0, though they put up a good fight.

Game 2 was also a loss of 4-1.  For that game, they could have played better.  Once again their bats were quiet and they just weren't playing with a lot of heart.  Coach C was starting to get a little irritated with them because they're capable of playing much better.

Game 3 was supposed to be Sunday but got postponed to Monday due to rain.  It turned out to be the most difficult game of the tournament for them, ending in a 7-0 loss.   The pitching on the opposing team was phenomenal and unfortunately it paralyzed our boys' bats.  They let themselves be intimidated, which killed their shot at winning right from the start.  Coach C gave them a pretty stern talking to following the game, and told them to show up that afternoon for game 4 ready to play hard.

Game 4 was the turning point in the tournament for us.  The boys shook off their previous losses and came out fighting.  Our pitcher pitched an outstanding game against one of the best teams competing in the tournament.  This team was undefeated in pool play and TP shut them down with a 6-4 win.

Game 5 was a heart breaker.  TP was playing well, but during one inning they made a coupe fumbles that allowed the other team to score two runs.  They rallied, and scored, but the game ended in a 2-1 loss.

Wednesday was an off day and we found out TP was seeded 36 after pool play.  Only the top 32 teams advanced to the playoffs, but TP would have two consolation games.  Coach C got them fired up and they approached those two games as if they were the championship round.  On Thursday they played with tons of heart and fire, and ended up with a  7-2 win.  Friday's game was another good one, ending with a 10-2 win.

The overall record for this tournament was 3 wins and 4 losses.  Junior Olympics is one of the best youth baseball tournaments in the country, with extremely competitive teams entering.  Many of the teams that enter  are put together  for the sole purpose of competing at this tournament, bringing in kids from all over to play together for a brief time.  The fact that our boys went out there and did as well as they did is a testament to how well they mesh as a team, their talent and skill, and the excellent coaching they receive from Coach C and the rest of the coaching staff.

We have one last tournament in a few weeks, along with a couple local scrimmage games.  The final tournament is the same one we won last year, so Coach C wants to go and defend our title.  If they keep playing the way I know they can, there's no reason we won't be bringing home the trophy again.

A Graduation and a Tournament

This past weekend, we traveled to Virginia to attend Cousin B's high school graduation.  Along the way, we stopped to visit some friends in North Carolina.  We hadn't seen them since September, so it was nice getting to spend a little time with them and catch up.  We spent the night at their house and continued on our way to Virginia Friday morning, arriving at my aunt's home shortly before 5:00.  She had gotten tickets for my dad, hubby, J, and Cousin M to attend the Yankees/Nationals game that evening, so they left for the metro station shortly after we arrived.  Much to J and my dad's delight, the Yankees beat the Nationals; in fact, they swept the entire three game series of the weekend.  Saturday morning Cousin B graduated, a fact which is hard to wrap my mind around.  She, cousin M, and J are all one year apart in age; she's 18, M is 17, and J is 16, all with February birthdays.  Her graduation marks the beginning of a three year period where we'll have a graduation every spring.  They've all grown up so fast.  I can still picture them as toddlers, ages, 1, 2, and 3 playing together.  They've always been extremely close and I hope that closeness continues as they move into adulthood.  I'm glad we made the trip up to share in B's special day.  I only wish we could have stayed longer.  J, hubby, and I came home Monday.  N and A stayed behind to go to Ocean City, New Jersey for the rest of the week with my parents and the rest of the family.

Which brings me to the second part of this post.  A recap of TP's tournament in Boca Raton.  Obviously we missed this one and from what I've since been told by Coach C, that's not a bad thing.  To call this tournament a disaster is putting it mildly.  The trouble began early in the week.  By Tuesday night, we still had no game schedule for a tournament that was supposed to begin Thursday.  Wednesday Coach C finally heard from the director.  The tournament start date had been pushed back to Saturday and the end date extended from Sunday to Monday.  Right away this caused problems, since everyone had planned their hotel stay around the original dates.  Several parents also had to work on Monday and were unable to stay past Sunday evening.  A call to the hotel solved the lodging issue.  The sales manager there was extremely understanding and wiling to do whatever he could to accommodate everyone.  Games were scheduled for Sat(two games) and Sunday, with Monday being dependent on how they did in those games.  However, by the end of the day Friday the schedule had been changed to one game Saturday, one Sunday, and one Monday morning.  Saturday afternoon I got a text from one of the other moms that they lost 5-2.  Then Sunday morning, I texted  Coach C and told him to be sure to let us know how that mornings game went.  He replied that the game had now been moved to 6:00 in the evening and a couple of our players were going to have to leave, which left the team severely short staffed.  That's when the fun really began.  Following that game I got a phone call from Coach C and he was seriously riled up at the tournament director.  The man had apparently been misrepresenting the tournament to everyone.  It was supposed to have been held at Florida Atlantic University, but had been moved to some high school fields.  Why?  The director owes FAU money from a previous tournament.  Needless to say they weren't allowing the use of their fields.  After Sunday evenings game, the director again tried changing the remaining game schedule.  By that point, Coach C was fed up and began questioning him as to why all these changes were necessary.  He tried explaining that players were having to leave due to parents having work and other obligations.  The director's response?  He threw TP out of the tournament.   From what Coach C told me, other teams were having the same issues with this director.  If you want my opinion, I think he's shady and is pocketing the entry fees.  Each team paid a pretty heft entry fee, yet many teams never played the minimum of guaranteed games.  My guess is he was inventing reasons to cancel games so he didn't have to pay the field fees and pocketing the money instead.  I would also wonder if the games were ever actually booked to begin with.    The very idea of this guy profiting off the backs of young players makes my blood boil.  We all know there is craziness and dishonesty in youth sports unfortunately.  But this level of corruption is a new low.  He misrepresented the tournament from the start by affiliating it with FAU, and likely has pocketed money from numerous teams.  I don't know if anything can be done to stop this guy.  But you can bet that Coach C and every TP parent will be certain to tell this story to anyone who might be considering registering a team for any tournament being run by this jackass.        

So what's next for TP?  We've decided to chalk this tournament up to crazy and move onto the biggest, best tournament of the summer.  We leave Friday to travel down to Jupiter for the USA baseball 17U East Championships.  Seven game guarantee, scout test day, and an opportunity for our boys to really shine.  I'll update from the road for this one since there will be a lot going on.  And let's hope TP brings home the trophy at the end!                       

Tournament Weekend Three, Hardball Baseball Showcase

Today we headed an hour south to Vero Beach for the Hardball Baseball Showcase.  We had two games today and both went very well.  TP played hard and well, once again proving that they are contenders whenever they step on the field.

The first game got off to a shaky start, with the other team scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.  After that though, our boys got their mojo going and started fighting back.  Their bats were swinging well and their defense was solid.  Every player was giving his all, playing hard the entire game.  They won that game 8-4 in six and a half innings.

After a break of two hours, it was back to the field for warm ups for the second game.  TP's bats weren't as hot as they'd been in the first game and they were down 1-0 for the majority of the game.  Finally in the 6th inning, J was pinch running for the catcher and scored on a beautiful line drive double hit by the third baseman.  They held the opposing team in the bottom of the sixth, but then the umps called the game due to an impending severe storm.  The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but I think our boys would have pulled off another run or two if they'd had the time.

Overall, the TP boys played extremely well and Coach C is very pleased with them.  Today's games bring their record to 7 wins - 2 losses- 2 ties.

So how did J personally do you might be wondering?  Especially since I recently posted about the issues he's been having.  I'm happy to report he did very well today, at least in my opinion.  I haven't discussed his performance with Coach C yet, but I imagine he's pleased with him.  He played first base in the first game and did very well, with no errors.  He had three at bats, with one hit by pitch and two walks.  He was annoyed because he'd rather get a hit than take a walk.  But his on base percentage was fantastic so there's the silver lining. In the second game he did duty as pinch runner for the catcher.  He did make a blunder there, and was off on his timing running the bases, causing him to get tagged out at third.   Coach C was pretty steamed at him since it's the kind of error he's trying to teach J to avoid and play smarter.  However, I think he redeemed himself when he hauled butt from first to home in the 6th inning to score the only run of the game.  I wish I'd had my camera out to shoot some pictures as he rounded third, headed for home.  The look of pure determination on his face was awesome.  I'm anxious to get Coach C's thoughts on how he did.  I think he did great, but I'm his mom, not his coach.  I asked him how he'd rate his performance on a scale of 1-10 and he gave himself a 7.

So there it is.  TP is having a fabulous summer season so far.  Next up, they head to Boca Raton for the FAU Showdown tournament.  We'll be missing that one since we're traveling to Virginia for Cousin B's high school graduation.  But I'll  be checking in with Coach C for updates which I'll be sure to share.  Or maybe I'll ask Coach C to do a guest post and write the recap for that tournament himself.

Tales of a TP Team Mom

I love being a part of TP.  I'm thankful that J has the opportunity to play on a such a high caliber team, with an awesome coach.  I enjoy making friends with the other parents and getting to know all the players.   I'm especially enjoying this year since Coach C is graciously allowing me to indulge my inner team mom to my heart's content.    I decided to share some of my favorite parts of being the TP team mom.

1.) I get to spoil the boys.  I love to bake and who better to appreciate my efforts than a team full of hungry baseball players.  As often as I can, I bake goodies to bring to tournaments for the boys to munch on between games, or just hanging out in the hotels.  For the Fort Myers tournament I baked ten dozen cookies and they plowed through the majority of them over the course of the weekend.  Since I was busy with wrapping up the school year and A's recital I didn't have time to bake for them this past weekend.  But they'll have goodies this coming weekend when we head to Vero Beach.  

2.) I get to keep score during the games.  The fact that I'm enjoying this one surprises me.  I've never kept score before and have no clue how to do it in a traditional score book.  But Coach C uses a scoring app on his ipad and asked me a few weeks back if I'd be willing to learn how to run it.  So far so good.  I haven't screwed it up, at least, not that Coach C has told me!  He keeps handing me the ipad before games so I guess I must doing okay with it.  I enjoy doing it because it helps me learn more about the ins and outs of the game.  Since baseball is such a huge part of J's life it makes sense for me to be able to follow it and carry on conversations with him about it.

3.)   I'm the keeper of the swing juice.  What is swing juice?  Swing juice is Coach C's name for the beverage they all swig from during games to bring them good luck hitting.  Truth be told, it's really just raspberry green tea Crystal Light.  Shh, don't tell the boys, Coach C has them convinced it's a top secret blend of ingredients.  I started bringing it along in the cooler because I know Coach C loves it and he usually ends up needing extra drinks during games.  This past weekend I made him a gallon jug and before I knew it, the entire team was swigging from it.  Kind of disgusting I know. But they hit like their bats were on fire so who am I to mess with their superstition.  I'll now be toting a jug of swing juice to each and every game in the special jug I bought to hold it. A wanted to deck it out with sparkly letters spelling out swing juice but I went with basic black letters.  Didn't want to girly the team up too much.  

4.)  I love taking pictures of the team to post for all the parents.  Unfortunately I haven't taken as many I'd like lately because I'm busy scoring.  Luckily another mom also enjoys taking pictures and has been taking care of it.  I'm determined to master running the scoring app and my camera at the same time though.  Last year I made a slide show of the best pictures from the season and plan to do one this year as well.

5.)  I get to plan the team picnic.  Last year's picnic was a huge success and I can't wait to get started planning one for this year.

So there you go, some of my favorite parts of being TP's team mom.  I love to volunteer and be involved in all of the activities my kids are involved in, from school to extracurriculars.  I enjoy all of it,  but TP is near and dear to my heart.  I plan to enjoy every minute of this summer season with Coach C and the boys.