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!
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
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!
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!
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