COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK

All editorial courtesy of Cooperstown Dreams Park; Photos by Justin Martin

Week #1 June 6 - 12, 2009Undefeated Tamiami Outlaws Win Championship

Week one for 2009 is in the record books as two teams fromFlorida battled for the championship at Cooperstown DreamsPark. A total of one hundred and two teams were vying for the

title. The #9 Tamiami Outlaws from Miami defeated the #3 MeteorsBaseball team from Sarasota by scoring in five of the six innings in a 15-3victory at Little Majors Stadium.

The Outlaws jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Willie Padronscored from second for the Outlaws following an error. Josniel Cid scored after a pitch hitAlex Valverde from Jaleel Del Valle with the bases loaded. Hector Abreu singled off ofMeteors Baseball relief pitcher Cody Brickhouse, scoring Sergio Lopez. David Guevarascored on a fielder’s choice hit by Reny Tolentino. The scoring continued in the second forthe Outlaws, as Nelson Montilla and David Silva both scored after a Meteors Baseballerror. Sergio Lopez then pounded a two-run homerun, bringing in Josniel Cid. MeteorsBaseball answered in the bottom half of the second inning, as Nick Blasucci hit a three-run homerun to left field. That would be all the scoring for Meteors Baseball. AlexValverde came in to pitch 3 1/3 innings of shutout baseball for the Outlaws to hold offMeteors Baseball’s offensive attack and get the win. Tamiami continued to pile on theruns. Reny Tolentino hit a two-run bomb in the top of the third inning off of CodyBrickhouse. Alex Valverde added a three-run homer off of Zak Wilson in the fourth. DavidSilva added RBI singles in the fourth and sixth innings as well to make the score 15-3.

Meteors Baseball, coached by Ron Filipkowski, had a pretty easy time making it to theWeek #1 championship game. They defeated the #30 North Texas Titans 16-4 to opentheir set of elimination play. They then went on to beat #19 Team Bama in a 12-11 nail-biter. Next up for Meteors Baseball was #11 Sal Urso’s High Performance of Florida, whothey beat 20-1. In their semifinal game, Meteors Baseball defeated the #7 East CobbBraves of Georgia 8-2. Coach Julio Cabrera’s Tamiami Outlaws took a similar path totheir Week #1 championship. They first defeated the #24 Orlando Gators 12-5. They next

Tamiami Outlaws

Meteors Baseball

Lamorinda Cougars

Chiefs Baseball

Bandits Baseball

6-4-3 DP Baseball Academy Cougars

beat the #8 Viper Baseball Academy ofAlabama 11-9. The #17 DBAT Mustangs-Redof Texas were the Outlaws’ next victims asthey were defeated by a score of 13-5. TheOutlaws then defeated the #21 PanthersBaseball of Alabama 3-0 to set the stage forthe Week #1 championship game.

Week #2 June 13 - 19, 2009 • Cougars Roar in Final

On a cool Thursday night in June, the #2 seed Lamorinda Cougars fromCalifornia defeated the #4 seeded Chiefs Baseball of Georgia 7to 4 for the Cooperstown Dreams Park Week 2 Championship. It

was a well played baseball game under the lights at Little Majors Stadiumwhere both teams played well enough to win. The Cougars rode the rightarm of Daniel Slominski as he went the distance for the complete game victo-ry. The championship for the Lamorinda Cougars came from solid defense and timely hit-ting, which included 4 home runs in the championship game.

The Cougars however, were not in control for the entire game. In the top of the firstinning, the smoke from the pre game fireworks still lingered as Chiefs Baseball put up aquick two spot. Leadoff hitter Bronco O’Brien hacked at the first pitch of the game andsent a rocket line drive into left field. Two pitches later, Jalen Miller sent a high outsidefastball to the bleachers in the right-center gap giving Chiefs Baseball a 2 to 0 lead threepitches into the game. In the top of the second a throwing error and two walks gave theChiefs base runners as they tacked on another run on an RBI single from JohnnyRegister. The Chiefs second inning Powwow was halted after a crisp 2-4-2 exchange ona first and third steal attempt, and a clutch strikeout by Slominski. In the bottom of thesecond, Lamorinda showed signs of life in the batter’s box when Lucas Herbert jumpedon the first pitch he saw for a solo homer. The next hitter, Joe Demers, outdid his team-mate and launched a missile half way up the hill in right-center. Chiefs Baseballanswered back with home run in the top of the third by Jason Heinrich that made thescore 4 to 2 and put Slominski back in the oven. After two walks, Daniel settled down andmade some good pitches to get out of the inning and keep the damage at 4 to 2.Lamorinda scored a run in the bottom of the third on a fielder’s choice and set the stagefor what turned out to be the key moment of the game. It was the bottom of the third withChiefs Baseball up 4 to 3. Matt Bicker stood on second and Daniel Slominski stepped tothe plate for Lamorinda. Johnny Register got ahead of Slominski with two hard sliders.Slominski stepped out of the box, collected himself, and tattooed Register’s 0-2 fastballout of Little Major’s Stadium. Two pitches later Lucas Herbert belted a homer making ithis second of the night. The Cougars scored a fifth run of the inning on a wild pitch mak-ing the score 7 to 4. Lamorinda took the lead in the bottom of the third and never lookedback. Slominski took the hill in the fourth inning with a different look in his eyes. He wassettled down and wasted no time with Chiefs Baseball hitters. He changed speeds welland didn’t allow a base runner in the final 3 innings and struck out five of the last ninebatters. Jason Heinrich relieved Register for the Chiefs and struck out six of the eight bat-ters he faced.

Chiefs Baseball cruised through the tournament round outscoring opponents 54-8.Coached by Charles Culberson, the Chiefs, from Calhoun, Georgia, came into the game

with a 57-9 record, and tournament wins thatinclude the U10 Cooperstown Dreams ParkChampionship in 2007. The LamorindaCougars from Moraga, California had asmooth ride to the championship and beatthe #3 seed South Florida Fire, 7 to 4 in thesemifinal game. Rick Rider coaches theCougars who post a resume that includes aTBS National Championship and USSSAElite World Series Championship of 2008.

Week #3 June 20 - 27, 2009 • Bandits Steal the Show and Win 10U Title

The #14 seed Bandits Baseball from Ringgold, Georgia won the CooperstownDreams Park Week #3 championship, defeating the #4 seed 6-4-3 DPBaseball Academy Cougars from Roswell, Georgia 10 to 0. The

rain was ominous Thursday afternoon but cleared up just in time for fire-works and championship baseball at Little Majors Stadium. Will Hardigreetossed a complete game shutout for Bandits Baseball striking out five andscattering three hits in his six innings of work. Offensively, it was a completeteam effort for Bandits Baseball having seven players score runs, with eight players bat-ting in a run.

A five run inning for Bandits Baseball in the second proved to be the momentum fortheir victory but the run they scored in the top of the first was the most important, turn-ing out to be the highlight of the game. In a championship game where the lights arebright and the pressure is on, the top of the first inning is always significant. The first runscored is essential to a baseball game, because then it takes two runs scored by theopposition to beat you. Hunter Moody for the 6-4-3 DP Baseball Academy Cougars wasthe starting pitcher and delivered a strike right down Meisenheimer Street past the look-ing eyes of Cole Shelton. Two pitches later, Shelton ripped a fastball for a leadoff doubleand put the wheels in motion for the inning. Tucker Bradley then grounded out to secondand successfully advanced Shelton to third base giving Bandits Baseball a great scoringopportunity. This brought Sean Coakley to bat with one out and a man on third. Seanonly saw four pitches in the at-bat but there was strategy involved in all four. Moodydelivered the first pitch and the squeeze was on. The bunt attempt from Coakley rolledfoul on the third base side. The next two pitches from Webb were pitchouts and ColeShelton stayed tight at third base on both. 6-4-3 decided the squeeze was off and decid-ed to pitch something hittable with the 2-1 count. On the fourth pitch, the squeeze wasback on and Shelton was blazing down the line with the pitch in the air. Coakley madethe adjustment from his first attempt and let the ball come deep in the zone rather thanreaching out for the pitch. His adjustment led to a picture perfect bunt not too hard, butback to the pitcher. Shelton scored with ease and Sean Coakley ran back to the dugoutwith what turned out to be the game winning RBI.

Other highlights from the game include;Cole Shelton had two hits and scored threetimes to go along with his great coverage ofCenter Field. Will Hardigree retired elevenbatters in a row at one point and only deliv-

ered sixteen pitches in innings 3-5.For the 6-4-3 DP Baseball AcademyCougars Zach Williams had one hitto go along with not allowing a baserunner in the four batters he facedas a relief pitcher.

The Championship game was fullof familiar faces making Thursdaynight’s contest the sixth meetingbetween the two Georgia clubs thisyear. The #4 seed 6-4-3 DPBaseball Academy Cougars held arecord of 59-2 coming into thechampionship game and has wonfourteen tournaments. Their paththrough the tournament includedwins against the #5 seeded teamTABU (CA), and the #1 seed SanDiego Stars North (CA). The #14seed Champions, Bandits Baseball,beat the likes of #6 seed TexasNationals Team (TX), and the #2seed Mizuno’s Glory Baseball (FL).

Week #4 June 28 - July 3, 2009Luken Baker Propels Team Rattlers in Championship Walk off

The top seeded Team Rattlers from The Woodlands in Texas edged the thirdseeded TABU from Fremont, California, 4 to 3, for the Week #4 championship.Team Rattlers broke a 3 all tie in the bottom of the sixth inning in

dramatic fashion with a walk off home run by Luken Baker. Rains throughoutthe day delayed tournament play from the “Sweet 16” games which startedat 8:30 in the morning and concluded after 3 in the afternoon to the “Elite 8”,“Semi-Finals and finally the championship game which started after midnightbut it couldn’t take away from another exciting Thursday night of championshipbaseball at Little Majors Stadium.

If it is possible for a 4 to 3 game to be a pitcher’s duel then this week’s championshipwas just that. Beau Ridgeway started the game for the Team Rattlers and had ten strike-outs in the first four innings which included striking out the side in both the second andthird. Bryce Dyrda was up to the match for TABU as he scattered four hits while strikingout nine. Both teams combined for nine hits, four of which were solo home runs and allcoming in key moments of the game. Luken Baker homered for the Rattlers in the bot-tom of the fourth as the Texas team took a 2-0 lead through four. Then it was TABU timeas Bailey Gaither homered in the top of the fifth. Up to that point TABU had just two hitsand Team Rattlers pitcher Beau Ridgeway was making fast work with the TABU lineup.Gaither stood in with a 2-2 count, his team trailing 2 to 0, when he crushed a high fast-ball through the looming fog and over the fence in left-center. It was just what TABUneeded! Gaither was the catalyst for the three run inning that put TABU up by one, 3 to2. In the bottom of the inning Ryan Johnson turned on an inside fastball and sent afrozen rope line drive out of the stadium that tied the game at 3. In the sixth inning TeamRattlers brought in Jerry Murillo in relief. Murillo hit the first batter Matt Tarantino, butdodged a bullet by making good pitches to get put of the inning. Now it was walk off timeas Luken Baker came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Baker sent BryceDyrda’s 1-1 pitch into the bleachers in dead center for the victory at thirteen minutesafter two in the morning. Luken Baker circled the bases with a fist pump like Kirk Gibsonand a smile like Joe Carter. Baker hit home plate with his second home run of the nightand the celebration began.

The champion Team Rattlers had a smooth ride to the championship game beatingthe likes of the #4 Virginia Storm of Virginia, the #8 LBA Rangers of California, the #17Simi Valley Trojans from California and the #33 Charlotte Megastars of North Carolina.

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Team Rattlers

TABU

West Pines Cobras

Motor City Hit Dogs

Houston Sox

Georgia Legends

The Team Rattlers were managed by DaveMiles and assisted by Brad Ridgeway andKarey Vaught. For the runner-up TABU, theirroad to the championship game includedwins against the talents of the #2 East CobbAstros of Georgia, the #6 Alpharetta Athleticsalso from Georgia, the #14 North GwinnettBulldogs of Georgia and the #30 Clovis Firefrom California.

Week #5 July 4-10, 2009Hayes & Shirey lead Houston Sox to Championship

The top seeded Houston Sox from Texas defeated the #11 Georgia Legendsfrom Dalton, Georgia, in an exciting 5 to 1 ballgame. Ke’Bryan Hayes lead theSox with six strong innings of work on the mound and an impor-

tant first inning RBI. Other offense for the Sox was a two-run dinger fromZach Shirey in the second inning and hits from Daniel Lopez III and JacobAlexander. A standout for the Legends was Blake Hamilton who pitched 3.2innings of relief allowing just one run and recording six strikeouts.

The three run inning for the Houston Sox in the second put them up 4 to 0 and itseemed like it was well enough to win the game. The Legends’ hitters were off balanceand could not make sense of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ off speed pitch. Hayes was in control ofthe game recording eleven strikeouts on the evening and only allowed three base run-ners in the first five innings of the game. Two singles in the bottom of the fifth byJohnathon Slepka and Kendal Jeffries lead to an insurance run for Houston which madethe game seem well at hand. The Sox were up 5 to 0 and were three outs from winningthe week #5 championship. If someone once said that the last three outs of a baseballgame were the hardest of the game, everyone in attendance at Little Major’s Stadiumwould agree as the Georgia Legends loaded the bases but could only bring one runacross while falling just feet short of a possible game tying home run that left everyoneholding their breath. The Houston Sox won the championship and manager CharlieHayes raised his arms just as high as he did at third base in 1996. Thirteen years agohe was the third baseman for the World Champion New York Yankees. In 2009, a coachand a very proud father!

The road to the championship for the runner-up Georgia Legends included victoriesagainst the #6 Santa Clarita Cubs from California and the #7 Carolina Cubs of SouthCarolina. Coached by Mark Roberts, the Legends came into the game with a 53-12record. The #1 Houston Sox cruised into the championship game by defeating the #32Thibodaux Thunderbolts of Louisiana, #16 Southlake Dragons of Texas, the #8 Pleasant

Hill Hawks of California and the #4 TheFuture of Illinois.

Week #6 July 11-17, 2009Cobras Pounce on Hit Dogs and Win Championship

In front of a raucous and spirited crowd at Little Majors Stadium, theWest Pines Cobras from Florida edged the Motor City Hit Dogs ofMichigan 6 to 5 for the Cooperstown Dreams Park Week #6

Championship. A five-run third inning was the difference for West Pinesand was highlighted by a home run from David Villar. The Cobras usedthree pitchers in the contest starting Anthony Gutierrez, followed by SebastianTorres and Hector Abreau in relief. Abreau didn’t allow a run and struck out four in histwo-inning save. For the Hit Dogs, Tori Sullivan pitched 2.2 strong innings of relief anddid not allow an earned run.

While the Cobras were victorious, the beginning of the game was all Hit Dogs. Afterback to back strikeouts from starting pitcher Anthony Gutierrez, a walk put Tori Sullivanon base and Nick Hazergian blasted a two-run homer. Hazergian had the green light ona 3-0 count and turned Gutierrez’s fastball into a souvenir. In the bottom half of theinning, West Pines responded and manufactured a run to make the score 2 to 1. Noscoring in the second and a 1-2-3 top of the third lead to a bottom half of an inning thatended up being the difference in the ball game. The Cobras put up five runs in theinning using every angle they could to score. The Cobras reached base on a walk, anerror, and two hits. Runners were advanced on two bunts and batted in on a home run.The bottom half of the third gave great chances to score for West Pines and they tookfull advantage. David Villar’s two-run homer was the icing on the cake in the inning giv-ing the already energized Cobra fan section something to dance about. In the top of thefourth, Motor City answered back scoring three runs in the inning. Three singles in arow by Matt Curtis, Nick Serra, and Robbie Jones got the inning alive and a squeeze

bunt by Nick Griffith brought the Hit Dogs towithin one run. Any momentum Motor City’sthree run inning may have generated wassquashed by the work of Hector Abreau.Abreau closed the game for the Cobras andshut the door on a quality scoring opportunityin the top of the fifth. Motor City had runnerson the corners with two outs. Hector however,found his rhythm and got out of the jam with athree-pitch strikeout. In the top of the sixth hestruck out the first two batters and forced abackside ground ball for the final out, comingon a nice sliding play by Sebastian Torres.Torres popped up from his slide, made thethrow to first, then sprinted to the pitcher’smound for the championship celebration.

The #14 West Pines Cobras, coached byArsenio Rondon, came into the game with a48-10 record. Their resume included someimpressive tournament wins and now istopped off with a prestige victory atCooperstown Dreams Park. The path to thechampionship included wins against the #19Royal Palm Beach Riptide of Florida, the #22Long Island Breakers of New York, and theheavily favored #2 Beaver Valley Red fromPennsylvania. The runner-up Motor City HitDogs came to Cooperstown having won thirtyof their last thirty-three games. Jim Sullivancoached the club to a magical tourney runincluding upsets against the #13 KC Royalsfrom Kansas, the #4 Pasadena Eagles fromMaryland, the #5 Chesterton Slammers fromIndiana, and the #8 Sevier County Bears fromTennessee.

Week #8 July 25-31, 2009Gladiators Baseball Conquer Championship

Gladiators Baseball of Beaumont, Texas remained supreme forWeek #8 as they showed their power in knocking off the #6Texas Longhorns from Katy, Texas 6 to 3 in an exciting, well

played championship game at Little Majors Stadium. Lead by the right armof Devon Roedahl and the power bat of David Ortego, Roedahl tossed a com-plete game striking out nine, scattering five hits while giving up the three runs. DavidOrtego had two hits on the night both leaving the field of play earning three RBI on histwo home runs. Texas Longhorns had three players with more than one hit and got threequality innings from starting pitcher Ty Carpenter. Kody Clemens, Tyler Whillock, andTaylor Jiral were the Longhorns responsible for the six hits, and Kody drove in all threeruns.

From the beginning of the game it was clear that any production offensively for bothteams was going to have to be worked hard for. Starting pitchers Devon Roedahl and TyCarpenter were in control of the game and stayed in counts that were favorable to thepitcher. Both changed speeds well and controlled the game by keeping the hitters off bal-ance and hammering the fastball on the inside of the plate. Carpenter only made twomistakes in his three innings of work that resulted in home runs by Jake Cochran in thefirst and David Ortego in the third. For Roedahl, his three runs allowed all came from dis-ciplined hitting by Kody Clemens. Kody took a fastball on his fists and slapped it throughthe 5.5 hole for an RBI in the first, and stayed through another inside fastball driving aliner to center field in the fifth for his second and third RBI. Pitching in relief for GladiatorsBaseball was Jeremy Johnson and Tyler Whillock who both gave up two runs in their oneinning of work. Both teams played well and matched up for an exciting game under thelights at Little Majors Stadium. The fundamentals of the game were displayed and bothteams showed sportsmanship equally in triumph and defeat.

The Texas Longhorns are coached by Dave Brown and cruised through tournamentplay outscoring their opponents 37 to 6. Gladiator Baseball was led by Morgan Walker

Week #7 July 18-24, 2009Eight Home Runs Power USA Travel Baseball Club to Championship

The #2 USA Travel Baseball Club showed off their power and hit animpressive eight home runs as they defeated the top seeded St.Louis Diamond Dawgs 13 to 4. USA Travel Baseball did not waste

any time either, getting started in the first inning with a first pitch leadoffhome run by Rafa Amanau. Amanau had two home runs for the game butwas topped by Johnny Register who had three. The St. Louis Diamond Dawgshad a big inning in the bottom of the third that lead to a grand slam by Ian Nelson.Picking up the win for USA Travel Baseball Club was Johnny Register who racked uptwelve strikeouts, giving up only two hits and not allowing an earned run.

Rafa Amanau’s leadoff homer got the USA Travel Baseball Club rolling and was thecatalyst for a four run top of the first inning capped off by a three run home run byJohnny Register. Three more runs in the second inning made it 7 to 0 with Amanau’ssecond homer of the game and a two run blast from Danny Cepeda. A rally by theDiamond Dawgs in the bottom of the third got the crowd involved and Ian Nelson’sGrand Slam had everyone in the stadium on their feet. For a moment it looked like theDiamond Dawgs could execute the comeback but had trouble containing the bats ofUSA Travel Baseball Club. The top of the fourth had two more dingers with DrewBuckhault getting his first and Johnny Register hitting his second for the game. Registerhad a six run lead to work with and went to work in the bottom of the fourth. Register putthe clamps down and struck out seven of the last nine Diamond Dawg batters. Registeralso sparked more scoring in the sixth after hitting a leadoff homer, making it three homeruns on the game. Pinch hitter Brady Acker tacked on a two run bomb for the eighth andfinal home run for USA Travel Baseball Club.

The USA Travel Baseball Club had never played together prior to the Dreams Parktournament but meshed well as a team and hit an astounding 63 home runs for theweek. Their path to the tournament included wins against the #34 California GoldenGators of California, the #18 M-Pact Baseball of Florida, the #7 Knoxville Stars ofTennessee, and the #6 Jersey Shore Thunder of New Jersey. USA Travel Baseball Clubis coached by Humberto Bencomo. The St. Louis Diamond Dawgs are coached by Tim

COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK

USA Travel Baseball

St. Louis Diamond Dawgs

American Avengers

Oklahoma Jammers

Gladiators Baseball

Texas Longhorns

Nelson and came into Thursday’s game witha 62-9 record. Impressive wins against the#33 Glenview Blaze of Illinois, #16 ArenaStarz of Maryland, #9 East Cobb Warriors ofGeorgia, and the #5 Alexander Cougars ofNorth Carolina brought the Diamond Dawgsto the Championship game.

Week #9 August 1-7, 2009Avengers Continue Texas Championship String

The American Avengers from Houston Texas defeated the OK Jammers fromcentral Oklahoma 9 to 1 as both teams lived up to the hype andwere featured as the top two seeds. For the home team,

American Avengers, the game was controlled offensively by ColtonWardle. Colton had three hits on the game, scored three runs, andhad two home runs responsible for five runs batted in. That was plentyof support for Caleb Morris, the starting pitcher for the Avengers, whowent all six innings for the complete game victory while allowing only one run.

In the top of the first inning, the Jammers scored a run and took a quick lead. WillPickens got the inning going with a single and then moved into scoring position by steal-ing second base. Pickens scored on a groundout by Sean Dixson and just like that theJammers were on the board. The lead however did not hold very long. In the bottom ofthe first, the Avengers responded and evened up the score at one. There was no scor-ing in the second inning or in the top of the third but the Avengers put big numbers up inthe bottom of the third. It started with a towering solo home run by Colton Wardle. A sin-gle by Cameron Kremers, a walk by Caleb Morris put runners on base, and a single byJohnny Rizer scored the second run of the inning. A wild pitch and a single by RyanLeftwich scored two more runs. It looked like the Avengers were set for more scoring inthe inning on a single by Daniel Sobarzo but the Jammers got out of the inning on anifty 9-4-5 double play. After three innings the Avengers were up 5 to 1 and CalebMorris was dealing striking out the side in the second and third inning. In the top of thefourth, Morris struck out the side again making it ten strikeouts in a row. In the bottom ofthe fourth the Avengers tacked on four more runs on a grand slam from Colton Wardle,giving him his second home run of the game. The Avengers were now up eight runs,and that was plenty for Caleb Morris. He fed a steady diet of inside fastballs and hardcurves away the last two innings, recording five of the last six outs via the strikeout.Morris went all six innings and recorded an amazing fifteen strikeouts. What was even

The OK Jammerscame into the game witha 53-9 record and havewon six tournaments thisyear. Head coach WayneTyler led the Jammers toseveral impressive winson his way to the champi-onship game includingcomeback wins againstthe #7 So CalLumberkings fromCalifornia and #3Wisconsin All-Stars. TheAmerican Avengers cameinto the game with arecord of 45-16 and werethe 2009 Triple CrownSlump BusterChampions. TheAvengers had two closecalls through the tourna-ment against the #32Deep Run Thunderhawksof Pennsylvania winningby two runs and the #9Fresno Blue Devils fromCalifornia where they wonby a single run.

more amazing, is that minus the first two outsof the game, and the final out of the game,Morris did not even need a defense. Fifteenouts in a row came from strikeouts.

and shared similar success through tourna-ment play as their in state foe outscoringopponents 35 to 5. The impressive win forGladiator Baseball improves their record to35 wins 22 losses and 1 tie on the season.

Fulton was in relief for the Stars anddelivered a 1-2-3 inning in the top of thesixth to give his team a chance in thebottom of the sixth. Sola took the moundin the sixth and had an intense focus inhis eyes. Tyler Broders led off the inning

and was retired on a lineout to thepitcher. Sola was two outs awayand was composed on the mound

like a crafty veteran. A bobbled ballin the infield hit by Spencer Beatty

and a single by Connor Kerns put abase runner on, and got the heartspumping in the stadium. Sola struck outTrystin Raikes and was now one outaway from winning the week #10Championship. Trey Fulton hit a rocketto right center that scored SpencerBeatty, and attracted a collective gaspfrom Team Rawlings' players and fans.Fulton rounded first and was headed tosecond when the throw from the outfieldwas heading home. The ball was cut offin the infield and fired to second. IfFulton is safe, the Stars have the tyingrun on second base. If Fulton is out, thegame is over and Team Rawlings cancelebrate a championship. The throw tosecond was right on the money and hadFulton tagged just before he could reachthe bag. Eighteen runs, fifteen hits, fivehomers, and four lead changes inThursday night’s game that TeamRawlings can remember for a lifetime.

Bob O’Donnell coached the ChicagoNorth Shore Stars. The week #10appearance for O'Donnell made it histhird championship appearance in thelast four years. The North Shore Starswere a collection of players that repre-

Week #10 August 8-14, 2009Team Rawlings beats Chicago North

Shore Stars in Slugfest

The #7 seeded Team Rawlings fromCalifornia defeated the #4Chicago North Shore Stars 10

to 8 in an exciting high scoring champi-onship game. Both teams came into thegame with reputations of high-poweredoffenses and neither team disappointed com-bining five home runs on the evening. BryceDyrda for Team Rawlings and Kyle Randickfor the Chicago North Shore Stars each hadtwo homers in the contest driving in four runsapiece. Jake Sola, who came in to pitch inthe third inning, earned the win for TeamRawlings as he struck out five batters and dida great job of slowing down the offensiveattack of the Stars.

The capacity crowd at Little MajorsStadium had plenty to cheer for Thursdaynight and the excitement started right afteranother tremendous fireworks display. BryceDyrda led off the game with a solo home runthat had Team Rawlings' dugout and fan sec-tion on their feet. Dyrda set the tone in thetop of the first and inspired his team to manu-facture another run giving Team Rawlings aquick two run lead. The North Shore Starsdid not panic however, and proved in the bot-tom half of the inning that no lead was safeThursday night. The Stars responded withthree runs of their own in an inning that washighlighted by a towering two run bomb byKyle Randick putting the Stars up 3 to 2. Inthe top of the second, one swing of the batby Bryce Dyrda recaptured the lead for TeamRawlings on a two-run dinger, which wasBryce's second homer of the game. TheStars responded in the bottom of the secondand used patience at the plate to lead to twomore runs making the score 5 to 4. By notchasing pitches out of the strike zone,Chicago plated two runs via bases loadedwalks. Alex Malzone protected the lead in thetop of the third and retired Team Rawlings inorder, striking out the side. The Stars kept thefoot on the gas pedal in the bottom of theinning and knocked out Team Rawlings’starter Bryce Dyrda, after Kyle Randick's sec-ond two run homer of the game. Jake Solatowed the rubber in relief and finished theinning, keeping the Stars at seven runs. TeamRawlings was wounded and Jake Sola did agreat job of stopping the bleeding. He got histeam out of the inning and kept his team inthe game. Sola's job in the third was hugebecause in the fourth, Team Rawlings wentback to their game, and exploded for a sixrun inning. Three hits, three walks, and a tworun homer by Lucas Garcia accounted for thesix runs that put Team Rawlings back on top.Sola put up zeros in the fourth to protect the10 to 7 lead. The fifth inning had no scoringfrom either team and was the only inning ofthe game where that could be said. Trey

COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK

Team Rawlings

Chicago North Shore Stars

Tustin Mets

Connecticut Cardinals

sented six states including: Illinois, Michigan,Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. TheStars cruised through the tournament andhad impressive wins against the #8 LasVegas Warriors from Nevada and the #13Club All Star of California. Pete Benzer wasthe skipper for Team Rawlings and hadassembled the players specifically for thistournament. Hailing from the San FranciscoBay Area, Team Rawlings played exceptionalbaseball in order to knock off the #2 NorthCoast Stars from New York and the #3 Hard90 Rally from California.

Week #11 August 15-21, 2009Tustin Mets Baseball WIN in Extra Innings

The #1 Tustin Mets Baseball Club fromSouthern California beat the #19Connecticut Cardinals from Fairfield

County, Connecticut 7 to 6 in an exciting back andforth game that went into extra innings. DylanDoherty hit a sacrifice fly with one out in the bottomof the seventh and when the throw to the plateskipped past the Cardinals’ catcher and into thedugout, Nick Peabody strolled home for the gamewinning run. Scott Christopherson earned the winfor the Mets, pitching four strong innings in reliefand belting a clutch three run home run in the fifth.

After two innings, it looked like it was going to bea low scoring affair. No runs scored in the first twoinnings and starting pitchers Willie Burger for theCardinals and Nathan Gill for the Mets were in con-trol of the game. In the top of the third, Connecticutbrought five runs across highlighted on home runsby Jake Walkinshaw and Brandon Ginnetti. Tustinhowever, answered in the bottom of the inning withtwo runs and showed that they would not backdown. There was no action in the fourth and set upfor a fifth inning that changed the momentum of thegame. No runs scored in the top of the fifth but itproved to be the key moment of the game, not

because of whatit was, butbecause of what

it wasn't. ScottChristopherson

was in his second inning in reliefand found himself in a jam thatcould have busted that gamewide open. Connecticut had thebases loaded with no one outand held a 5 to 2 lead. It wasnow or never for Christopherson,who had no room for error in anintimidating situation; basesloaded nobody out. The first outof the inning came when NickFerraro was tagged out trying tosteal home on a passed ball.Scott Christopherson regainedhis focus, and struck out the nexttwo batters to avoid any trouble.It was a wasted chance for theCardinals, and breathed newopportunity for the Mets whowent to work in the bottom of thefifth. Christopherson was at batwith two outs and two runnerson. A solo homer by Luke

Diadorian to start the inning made the scorefive to three and now Scott had a chance todo more damage. With a 1-2 count, Scotty hita high fastball deep into center field off thebatter’s eye that was reminiscent of ReggieJackson in the '77 World Series. In oneinning Scott stepped up on the mound andthen delivered a legendary blast at the plate.It was a knock out blow no doubt, but it was-n't fatal for the Cardinals who answered inthe top of the sixth. Anthony Amoroso had asolo jack that tied the game at six and sentthe crowd into a frenzy. After six innings thescore was now tied. This was championshipbaseball at its finest. In the bottom of theseventh, Nick Peabody reached base andwas followed by Matt Avila who singled tocenter. Christian Molfetta popped out in theinfield and then Dylan Doherty hit a fly ball toright. Peabody bluffed a tag on the fly ball,and when the throw skipped by the catcher,Peabody scored the winning run. Peabodywas mobbed next to the plate and the gamewas over.

The Connecticut Cardinals were coachedby Tom Burger. The Cardinals had nothing tohang their heads for after a tremendous runin tournament play, beating some greatteams along the way. The #14 ConejoPanthers from California, #3 Shrub OakStorm of New York and the #7 RISE Baseballof Virginia were all victims of the poweroffense and gritty play of the Cardinals. Forthe Tustin Mets, coached by Pat Doherty,they ran the table and finished week #11undefeated as the #1 seed. The Mets are acommunity team from Tustin, California andbeat the talents of the #8 Jersey ShoreStallions from New Jersey, the #12 PottsvillePythons of Pennsylvania and the #16 LosAngeles Rattlers of California en route totheir championship victory.

Week #13 August 29-September 4, 2009Inaugural Champs - Team Rawlings Elite

The inaugural Cooperstown Classic proved to be a big hit as Team RawlingsElite from Laguna Niguel, California defeated the Long IslandTitans of Ronkonkoma, New York 14 to 7 in a back and forth

game which featured six home runs. David Clausen, Brandon Perez,and Austin Fresquez had home runs for the Elite, leading a high pow-ered offense that scored in five of the six innings played. On themound, Brandon Perez was the winning pitcher and he was relieved in thefourth by Griffin Canning who stymied the Titan bats in the fifth and sixth innings.Steve Foster, Andrew Gazzola, and Mat Anunziata added solo home runs for theTitans.

The two championship teams were no strangers to each other after meeting earlierin the week. In the final regular play game prior to the tournament seeding, the Titansmet the Elite in a game that had extreme implications. The winner would take the #1seed, as well as carry momentum into tournament play as the top seed. Both man-agers, Jared Sandler and Gregg Sarra, were no strangers to tournament strategy, andboth elected to save their ace pitchers. The Long Island Titans won a close game 4-3and thus took the #1 seed into the Cooperstown Classic tournament.

The second meeting was for all the marbles. The score was higher and the rolesended up being reversed. The Titans’ high powered offense was on track, but the batsof the Elite proved more powerful. The scoring was highlighted in the third inningwhen Team Rawlings Elite put up five runs and would not fall behind the rest of theway. After the big inning, Griffin Canning entered the game as a relief pitcher and shutthe door for Team Rawlings. Pitching with a cast on his glove hand, Griffin changedspeeds and struck out five in his three innings of relief.

Week #12 August 22-28, 2009Ryan Shinn powers Tri State to N.A.T.C. Championship

The #1 Tri State Arsenal prevailed over the #3 So Cal Thunder 2 to 1, in a crisplow scoring affair at Little Majors stadium to win the NationalAmerican Tournament of Champions for 2009. Tri State had fea-

tured a high powered offense throughout the week, but only needed twosolo home runs from Ryan Shinn en route to victory. Zak Gakeler pickedup the win for the Arsenal, pitching four strong innings for the Arsenal andrecording four strikeouts.

The Tri State Arsenal had an ideal first inning, retiring Thunder hitters in the top of thefirst inning in order. In the bottom half of the inning, Ryan Shinn launched a two out solohomer to right field that put the Arsenal on the board, and set the tone for the rest of thegame. Zak Gakeler put the clamps on the offense of the Thunder, working strong andfast in the next four innings only allowing four base runners. He eluded damage in theforth, forcing a ground out and a pop out while So Cal had runners in scoring position.Ryan Shinn added another run for the Arsenal in the bottom of the fourth, sending a longball out to right center. Justin Hagenman relieved Gakeler, and allowed a run in the fifthafter singles by Chase Lambert and Chris Colarossi. Hagenman stepped up though, andforced consecutive ground balls to limit the Thunder's scoring to one. Hagenman steppedup again in the sixth, retiring Weisberg, Kinder and Jones in order. The final out of thegame was a ground ball to AJ Wright, who threw a seed across the diamond to end thegame.

The So Cal Thunder, from the Los Angeles Area, was coached by Don Fehmel. It wasan exciting week for the Thunder, who played exceptional baseball outscoring opponents39 to 10 in tournament play coming into the championship game beating the likes of the#11 Massachusetts All-Stars (MA), and crosstown rival #10 So Cal Outlaws. For theArsenal, who were coached by Dan Hagenman, they rolled through the tournamentallowing just three runs in pool play, and scoring seventy-eight runs in tournament play.

COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK

Tri State Arsenal

So Cal Thunder

Team Rawlings Elite

Long Island Titans

The National American Tournament ofChampions victory was fifth tournamentchampionship for the Arsenal this season.

Week #1 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner: Willie PadronGolden Arm:

Jake McKenzieAround the Horn Plus:

Lakewood RanchLonghorns, FLKing of Swat:

Grant Geppert

Week #2 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner:

Bronco O'BrienGolden Arm:

Hunter SadowskiAround the Horn Plus:

Florida Crackers, FLKing of Swat:

Ben Turner

Week #3 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner: Ryan GoddardGolden Arm: Roger Garcia

Around the Horn Plus: Cincinnati Stix, OH

King of Swat: Austin Hendley

Week #4 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner:

William McCleanGolden Arm:

Joseph SoraghanAround the Horn Plus:

South Georgia Blazers, GAKing of Swat: Tyler Petite

Week #5 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner:

Jerad WashingtonGolden Arm: Wade McGee

Around the Horn Plus: Georgia Legends, GA

King of Swat: Blake Hamilton

Week #6 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner:

Troy KeysGolden Arm:

Brendan GriffithAround the Horn Plus: Franklin Comets, TN

King of Swat: Von Watson

COOPERSTOWN DREAMS PARK

Week #7 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner: Brian VollertGolden Arm:

William CrosbyAround the Horn Plus: Mifflin Mustangs, PA

King of Swat: Chris Mathieu

Week #8 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner:

Shelton SchimmingGolden Arm:

Jordan JohansenAround the Horn Plus: Dawsonville Kings, GA

King of Swat: John Aiello

Week #9 Skills ChampionsRoad Runner: Sean DixsonGolden Arm:

Jacob MarshallAround the Horn Plus: American Avengers, TX

King of Swat: Harrison Johnson

Week #10 SkillsChampions

Road Runner: Trystin RaikesGolden Arm:

Cameron BondyAround the Horn Plus: Chicago North Shore

Stars, ILKing of Swat:

Christopher Greenfield

Week #11 SkillsChampions

Road Runner: Ryan HinojosaGolden Arm:

Christian TailorAround the Horn Plus:

Jersey Shore Stallions, NJKing of Swat: Zack Loroesh

Week #12 SkillsChampions

Road Runner: Adolfo BarajasGolden Arm:

Thomas Malik IIIAround the Horn Plus: Long Island Wolves, NY

King of Swat: Matthew Buckshaw

Week #13 SkillsChampions

Road Runner: Josh WiesbeinGolden Arm:

Austin CastellanosAround the Horn Plus: Long Island Titans, NY

King of Swat: Tyler Osik