Season ending thanks!

Another season has come and gone! On behalf of the entire coaching staff, I would like to thank all of the parents and players for a fun, exciting and extremely busy season! To think back to all of the preseason workouts in November and then our first practices in early January to now, it was certainly a long year, but without a doubt it is one where the boys learned a lot, played a ton of baseball and had some fun along the way!

While several of us are moving on in a different direction for next season and this team will see several changes on the coaching and player front, I wanted to say thank you for allowing myself and my son to be a part of a great group of people this season. I wish nothing but the best of luck to every one of these boys for next year and hope to see each and every one of them in a game next season and hopefully in the future on the high school diamond!

I also wanted to give a big thanks to Dave and Michelle Perry, Terry and Jen Hejduk and John Wheelock for all of their time this season. For Dave, it is a thankless job when you are the head coach and you are always second guessed, whether that coach is a dad, volunteer, or a paid professional, but he did a great job and spent lots of time and energy on and off the field to put the best possible team he could out there. Most of all, he communicated clearly, honestly and expediently, which often times is a tough task for a lot of coaches.

Terry was one of the biggest difference makers for this team this season. His coaching experience, positive energy, pitch calling and other efforts made a huge impact on this team this year. John was also very quick to lend a helping hand in practices and did an amazing job with the Gamechanger app to help us track our stats which we used so much this season to assist us in making lineup and pitching decisions. And last but not least, Michelle did an excellent job running the finances and leaves this team in much better shape than when she took over the books last year. And for all the wonderful pictures Jen took!

A 26-win season, making six semi-finals in eight tournaments and making two finals appearances are great accomplishments for the boys!

Thanks again everyone and good luck Storm!

Storm finishes 12th in Myrtle Beach!

The 12U Lake Erie Storm team finished their season with a trip to Myrtle Beach for the Cal Ripken Experience. In total, 26 teams battled it out and the boys played hard through some tough  heat and onfield conditions with temperatures over 120 degrees to play some good baseball.

They started pool play with a 12-2 loss to the New Tampa Florida Predators, a team that would go 5-0 in their pool and get all the way to the semi-finals of bracket play before losing a late inning lead and losing in extra innings. The Storm bounced back in their second game with a sound 9-1 win over the Lake Shore Blue Sox (Maryland). They came back the next day and beat the Arlington Cardinals (Illinois) by a score of 10-8, a game where the Storm scored 7 runs in the first inning and had to hang on late for the win. The followed that up with an ugly 14-3 loss to the Oconomowoc Jr 5 O's (Wisconsin) in what was their most poorly played game of the tournament.

They came back the next day and played a thrilling game against the Grand Blanc Blue Cats (Michigan) that they lost 11-9, but it was a thrilling game that went back and forth and arguably the best played game of the tournament for the boys, especially considering the onfield temperatures were above 140 degrees! With a 2-3 finish in pool play they got a tough matchup in the first game of bracket play against the St. Louis Tide and lost 15-0 - the team that ended up winning the tournament.

It was a fun experience for all and a perfect capper to a great season by the boys! Congrats on a great year!

Storm 12U nabs 3rd place finish in Firecracker!

The 12U Lake Erie Storm had another good tournament showing once again finishing in 3rd place in a tournament, this time the Mentor Firecracker Tournament from July 2-4.

They started things on a good note with a 13-5 win over the Lake County Vipers and a 5-5 tie against the Ohio Glaciers Marcavich to get a #2 seed in bracket play. They won their first game in bracket play with a rematch against the Vipers by a score of 10-5 and then matched up against the Glaciers again in the semi-finals. In one of their most competitive games of the year they battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it 3-3 and then a 6-3 deficit to take the lead 10-6 after four innings, but just ran out of steam and some hot Glacier bats eventually falling 16-11.

With a 2-1-1 showing and third place finish the Storm wrapped up local tournament play having reached the semi-finals in six of eight tournaments and were setup to make a seventh in another that was cancelled early in the season because of rain. Great job Storm!

12U Storm finishes 3rd at Littlest Heroes

The Lake Erie Storm 12u team had another good showing with a 3rd place finish in the Littlest Heroes Tournament held June 24-26.

They kicked things off with an 18-0 pounding of the Solon Stampede and then followed it up with a 14-4 win over Andy's Niners. They lost their third game of pool play to the Norwalk Naturals 14-1 to finish 2-1 in pool play and advance to the semi-finals where they were matched up with the Aurora Athletics. They jumped out to a 3-0 early lead but could not hold a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning as they allowed two runs to tie the game and then eventually lost 4-3 in extra innings (eighth inning).

It was another good showing overall and some good baseball that all the boys played and the families were able to enjoy. Great job Storm!

Lake Erie Storm 12U struggles to 6th place finish

The Lake Erie Storm 12U baseball team struggled to a 6th place finish in the 16-team Kirtland Strawberry Festival from June 17-19. They made it out of pool play going 1-1 before losing the first game of bracket play on Sunday to finish 6th in the tournament and their lowest finish of the year.

The pitching and defense was there once again the first two games as they lost their opener to the Willoughby Wildcats 6-5 in a tight back-forth-game that saw Willoughby put up a run in the top of the sixth to take the lead and the Storm leave runners in scoring position to end the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Storm bounced back quickly with a strong 9-1 win over The Blaze and secured a spot in bracket play with a 1-1 record and allowing just 7 total runs in their first two games.

Unfortunately, the bats, gloves and arms disappeared the first three innings in their bracket play opener against the Geauga Lake Coasters as they fell behind 5-1 in the first inning and were down 9-2 after four innings. But as they have done all season they found a way to make it very interesting and give themselves a chance at a win as they recorded six straight hits with two outs in the sixth inning to make a 9-3 game a 9-7 game with runners on second and third, but just came up short in the end.

The bats have cooled the last few tournaments as they were hitting over .400 as a team with an on-base over .500 through their first four tournaments, but over the last three tournaments they are barely hitting .300 as a team with an on-base a little over .400 as a team. The strength of the team continues to be their pitching and defense as they have only allowed 5.2 runs per game for the season! Great job to the pitchers, the defense and to Coach Hejduk for his pitch calling.

The Storm looks to break out with the bats and get back to their winning ways in the Littlest Heroes Tournament from June 24-26. Good luck boys!

Lake Erie Storm 12U goes .500 in Geauga Knights Classic!

The Lake Erie Storm 12U boys had another good weekend going 2-2 in the Geauga Knights Baseball Classic from June 10-12. The boys once again played some very good fundamental baseball with some excellent pitching and good defense, though just couldn't find many holes at the plate as they hit into a lot of loud outs all weekend and just were never able to string together several hits in an inning.

That said, they played in three hotly contested ballgames in pool play against some good pitching and very sound defensive teams losing 4-3 to the Diamondboys, winning 8-7 over the Kenston Bombers and losing 5-4 to the Lake Erie Warhawks White before beating Grand Valley 11-5 in a consolation game. They lost two one run games to the two teams who ended up in the finals.

The highlight of the weekend was a comeback from a 6-0 deficit in the late innings to Kenston and a walkoff single to left field in the bottom of the seventh by Anthony Clark to bring home Cole Marut! Great win and exciting finish boys! While they did not place in the tournament they played three very good pool games that were all decided by one run against three very good games. Congrats on another strong showing!

 

12U Storm finishes Runner-up in Sandusky!

The 12U Lake Erie Storm baseball team had another great showing over Memorial Day weekend in an out of town tournament in Sandusky, Ohio. In the 21-team Brawl-by-the-Bay tournament they were one of four teams to bring home some hardware finishing as the runner-up in the "Brawl" bracket.

They kicked things off on Saturday with a sound 11-3 win over the Oregon Jr. Eagles and then followed it up with a 21-0 pounding of the Northern Ohio Storm. Their 2-0 record and 3 runs allowed in pool play earned them a #2 seed in bracket play where they were matched up once again with the Northern Ohio Storm and came away 9-1 winners. They faced a tough Bay Area Baseball club in the finals and held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning before Bay Area Baseball put up a big six run inning to finish the scoring and win the game and tournament by a 10-5 score.

It was once again another great team effort with several strong pitching performances, sound defense and some good hitting up and down the lineup. The boys have now made the semi-finals in all four tournaments they have played that have reached bracket play and own a 10-1-1- record in pool play in tournaments. Way to go and congrats on another great tournament showing!

12U Storm takes third place in Solon Spring Classic

The 12U Storm had another strong showing the weekend of May 20-22 as they went 3-1 and finished in 3rd place out of 12 teams in the Solon Baseball Classic.

The boys played three very close baseball games against three very good opponents in pool play winning 4-2 over Hudson Navy, 8-5 over Diamond Kings Baseball (Kent) and 3-2 over the North Coast Red Devils to advanced to the championship bracket on Sunday. They lost a hard fought game with Final Score Heat Baseball, 4-1, in the semi-finals.

It was another great weekend of baseball that involved a lot of clutch pitching, clutch hitting and many crucial moments that will only make they stronger as a team as the season plays on. Way to keep grinding boys, never giving up and congrats on a another great tournament!

12U Storm takes 2nd place in Batter-Up Classic!

The 12U Storm had a great Mother's Day weekend going 4-1 and finishing runner-up in the 14-team Batter-Up Classic.

The boys went 3-0 in pool play to advance to bracket play on Sunday with a 7-5 win over the Kenston Bombers, 7-5 win over Shaker Heights and 27-3 win over Cleveland Heights.

The highlight of the weekend was on Sunday in the semi-finals against Final Score Heat Baseball when the boys came back from a late inning 6-1 deficit to score three runs in the 6th inning and two runs in the 7th inning to tie it and force extra innings before eventually winning it 7-6 in 9 innings and move on to the championship game! They almost did it again in the championship falling behind 9-2 before rallying to make it 9-7 before eventually falling 13-10 to the Medina Sting Black team.

Great job once again from the boys! They never give up!

12U Storm finishes in top two at GLBL Early Bird

The 12U Storm had another very good tournament showing going 1-0-1 in the rain shortened GLBL Early Bird Qualifier. They along with the Medina Sting Green were the only teams without a loss in the tournament and both finished tied for first.

The Storm kicked things off with a good 10-8 win over the Golden Spikes. The faced a very tough Medina Sting Green elite level team in the second game and tied them 10-10. This was the highlight of the weekend as they fell behind 10-1 and battled all the way back to tie it in the last inning. Both teams were set to be top seeds in round robin play the next day before Mother Nature washed out the rest of the tournament.

Another strong showing of toughness, resilience and good baseball this weekend boys!