Brian Serven, Zack Whittet, Max Compton, Nathan Rodriguez, Tommy Callahan, Nick LiCalsi, Jacob Clark,
Kacey Hammond, Damion Hernandez and Kyle Brunson
USSSA Tourney 9/08
"Travel" baseball seems to have been around forever, while in reality it is a relatively new creation. Organizations like USSSA, Triple Crown and Super Series are approx. a decade old. The concept of pitting teams comprised of above average players against other similar teams was a way to raise everyone's level of play. The explosion in the number of teams in the past five years is remarkable(especially in So. Cal.). Considering the limited area and number of players our Coachella Valley can realistically produce it is AMAZING that local teams have been so successful in the last couple of years. So, Congratulations, Kudos, job well done and any other positive accolades to ALL the travel teams that have made the Coachella Valley a formidable area for travel ball.
There are many different "types" of travel teams. Some teams are made up of mercenaries, high level players who play with different teams every weekend. These teams sometimes have rosters 25 players deep. Then there are teams who have somewhat of a finite roster but have a HUGE geographical area to draw from. For example, when we ask teams from Orange County if they get their players from North or South Orange County, they usually answer, "Yes". Teams known as "West Coast Whatevers", truly draw their players from ALL of So. Cal. and the West Coast!!! Then there are the teams who are truly "local" to one general area. Because of the limits to this Valley, most of the teams in the Coachella Valley fit into this category.
Five years ago a team was formed, the Palm Desert Patriots, where the core of the team all lived within a two mile radius! At the time this was the only travel team in the Desert. Now, there are many more and the SUCCESS of many of these teams has been nothing short of phenomenal! The Diamondbacks won a State Championship in San Diego as 9 year olds. The PD Titans and the Desert Storm teams were born and both won numerous Tournaments as 10's and 11's. The Titans had a great run in Cooperstown, finishing in 3rd place. As the Patriots continued their successful ways the Desert Storm, the Desert Crush, the Sun Devils and the SoCal Magic were all competing as 12 year olds. Every tournament one of these teams seemingly was in the Championship or winning the Championship(the guess here is that these teams have been in over 30 or 40 Championship games). Both the Storm and the Crush had great runs in Cooperstown, considering there were 96 teams in these tournaments. The Storm 12's came in 3rd at the Vegas Fall Nationals. The Toro's came in 3rd at the TC World Series. A Magic team won a TC World Series. This success has continued over the years. Now there are younger teams who are continuing on with the competitive tradition of the Desert. The 12U and 11U Storm have been in Championships on a regular basis, with the 12U Storm winning two Championships recently. The 11U PD Toros have won numerous Championships in the last two years. These days there are many teams of all ages competing and(some are doing very well) in "travel" tournaments: the PD Bulldogs, the Desert City Sluggers, the PD Aztecs, the Longhorns, the Desert Rattlers, the Palm Desert Dodgers, Manny's Magic, the California Kings, et al... Two teams from the past few years who developed a large number of players to be successful at the high school level are the Patriots and Go Yard.
It should be fun to watch these up and coming ballplayers as they develop and make the jump to high school(and beyond?). Good job to all of these teams and their coaching staffs on raising the level of baseball in the Desert. Although there are rivalries, whenever a Desert team wins another Championship(or even just does well) there is a little bit of pride in knowing they are one of our own.....
12U Update: The 12U Storm Baseball Team WON its 6th CHAMPIONSHIP of the season by defeating the Murrieta Mulisha, 7-5, on Sunday in a San Diego USSSA Tournament. The boys went 4-0 to improve our season record to 54-11-3!!! The Storm 12U Team has been in 12 Tournaments this year and has reached the Championship Game in 10 of the Tournaments.
12U Accomplishments: 2005-2006
So far this season we have been in 13 Tournaments and have reached the Championship Game in ten of the thirteen!!!
USSSA Veteran's Day Classic: Finalist
USSSA Thanksgiving Super NIT: CHAMPIONS
USSSA World Series Qualifier: Finalist
Triple Crown MLK Classic: CHAMPIONS
USSSA State Championships: CHAMPIONS
USSSA President's Day: 5th Place
TRIPLE CROWN Qualifier: CHAMPIONS
USSSA St. Patrick's Day Classic: Finalist
USSSA April Tourney: 3rd Place Moreno Valley Mem. Day Classic: CHAMPIONS
Storm Invitational: Finalist
USSSA San Diego: CHAMPIONS
USSSA San Clemente: 5th
Cooperstown 5th out of 96 (9-1)
Vegas Fall Nationals 3rd out of 42
13 U Accomplishments (2006-2007):
Veterans Day USSSA: 3rd Place
Thanksgiving USSSA: Finalist
December USSSA: CHAMPIONS
January MLK: 5th Place
Jan. State Championships USSSA: 3rd Place
Super Series Presidents Day: 5th Place
March Triple Crown Finalist
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