FINALISTS at USABF Memorial Day Tourney
USABF Memorial Day Results: In what was probably our last Tournament, the 14U Storm reached our 6th CHAMPIONSHIP game in our 11 Tourneys this season--we played baseball on 18 weekends out the 39 that were available since Sept.(End of August 2008-May 2009). The boys went 4-0 before facing off vs. our buddies, the Bulldogs, in the Championship. In a very exciting FINAL the Bulldogs came out on top, 3-1. Both teams had incredible pitching--Brian and Max for the Storm and Cade, Marshall and Troy for the Bulldogs. It was a surreal ending-- with taking an hour break and finishing(and it was an exciting finish)in Palm Springs Stadium! All tournament long the Storm hammered the ball--Jake, Nick, Kyle, Brian, Zack, Logan, Max, Joey, Colin, Jacob, Tyson and Kelly.....and played high-level, solid and intense baseball.
All of this hard work WILL pay off--just look at ALL of the High School rosters in the Coachella Valley!!! The Palm Springs HS Varsity Coach just mentioned in the Desert Sun that all of the travel ball in the Desert has made the difference, as THREE local schools(PD, LQ, PS) have made it to the round of 16 in the CIF Playoffs!
It's going to be strange to not see you guys on Thursday!!!!
Thank you to all the players, parents and families for all of your support, commitment and effort. Good luck in High School!!!!!
14U Desert Storm
Back Row: Jake Powell, Kyle Brunson, Zach Whittet, Logan Baron, Tyson Miller, Max Compton,
Front: Joey Warner, Trae Reik, Colin O'Grady, Kristina, Kyle Kabeary, Brian Serven. Not pictured: Nick LiCalsi
Tournaments/Games from August 2008-June 2009:
August USSSA End of Summer Classic: Reached CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Sept. 19-21 Triple Crown Fall Nationals in Las Vegas: Reached Silver Division CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Oct. 5th Game vs. Palm Springs Team
Oct. 18-19 AAU in the Desert: Reached CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Oct. 26 Game vs. PS team
Nov. 28-30 Triple Crown in Desert: 4th Place
Dec. 6: Game vs. PS 10:00-12:00 @ PS
Dec. 13-14 USTBA in Desert: Reached CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Dec. 27-30 USTBA in Desert: Reached Semi-Finals
Jan 17-18 Triple Crown in Desert: Lost in 1st round of Playoffs
Feb. 7-8 DC Sluggers Tourney in Indio(13's): Reached Semi-Finals
Feb. 14-15 Triple Crown in Desert: 3rd Place
2/28-Mar 1 USTBA in Moreno Valley: Reached CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Mar 7 Game vs. Bulldogs
Mar 14-15 USSSA in Cat City(13's): CHAMPIONS
Mar 28 Games in the Desert
April 4 Local Games vs. Toros and STC(10:00 and 12:00 at Freedom Park) 13's
April 11 Local Games(14's)
April 18-19 Toro's Classic in Palm Desert(13's): Reached Semi-Finals
April 25-26 USSSA in Riverside(14's):
Reached Semi-Finals
May 9 Tourney/Games in Huntington Beach
May 23-25 USABF Tourney in Desert(14's): Reached CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
After this........
2009 14U: May, 10 2009:
Huntington Beach Games: Competitive, intense, high school level games in beautiful weather---what else could we want? Nice job in HB against very good teams. Our pitchers(Max, Brian, Jake, Zack and Nick) did a great job and it was lots of fun. Playing at Marina High School's Varsity field was a great experience and getting ready for High School baseball is our focus.
Big League Dreams Riverside - April 25-26th, 2009
Results:
The 14U Storm had a great weekend, going 3-1, but losing in the semifinals to the eventual Champion. The boys hit the ball extremely well this past weekend: doubles by everyone(Kyle, Zach, Colin, Joey, Nick, Logan, Max, Tyson), triples by a few and two balls hit OUT of Big League Dreams(Jake and Brian).
All Five pitchers did an excellent job(especially Nick). We have just a short time left together but you all have improved tremendously and will be ready for high school baseball, which starts in 1 1/2 months!
USSSA St. Patrick's Day (13's)Classic Results: (March 14-15)
Congrats to the Desert Storm's 13's on WINNING the CHAMPIONSHIP this past weekend here at Cat City Big League Dreams Park.
The boys lost their first game to a very good(and well-coached) So Cal Magic, 8-4. One highlight was Brian hitting one OUT of Fenway.
Tyson and Joey pitched well, but we were a little flat. Considering it was our 1st game together we played pretty well. But, in our 2nd game against the Cobras we opened with a NINE RUN 1st inning and coasted to the victory, 9-4. After a mercy victory in the last pool play game and only allowing two unearned runs we advanced to the Championship against the Magic again. Liam led us to the victory by pitching 7 GREAT innings! Liam also got some BIG hits in the Tourney, twice with the bases loaded in our pool play games. He got a couple of big hits in the Championship, too. Brian pitched incredibly well in his two games and hit the ball well. Kyle was nails behind the plate all tournament and got some timely hits. Trae and Joey(4-4 in the Championship) were on base seemingly every inning. Both of them played excellent defense, too. Tyson hammered the ball and played a great 1st and 2nd base. Hayden got some big hits in the Championship and was his usual great self at 3rd base. Ben came around and got a couple of base hits in the Championship(he was even intentionally walked once). Connor played a great outfield and fit right in at this level of baseball. Great job Storm 13's!!! By the way, nice back-pick at first base to end the Championship!!!
13U Champions of USSSA St. Patrick's Day Classic
Ben Simonds, Connor Berk, Brian Serven, Liam Fleet, Hayden Clark, Kyle Kabeary, Joey Warner, Tyson Miller, and Trae Reik, (plus our ballgirls).April 20, 2009:
ATTENTION 13's
Great job on Reaching the Semifinals in the Toro Tournament. We lost a very exciting game to the Sluggers. Congrats to Sluggers and thanks, Toros for all the fun. Thanks to all the players and to Devon for helping us out.
Our 3 1/2 month run as 13's has come to an end. There is nothing on the plate for the 13's in the near future(with only a month and a half left for the 14's, --maybe...).
But, in our short time together we Won one tourney, reached the Semi's in two others and had a great round robin with the local teams(and BBQ). If we find more events for the group we will be in touch. We are not sure about next year, but if we put together a 14 year old team(and I can speak for coach Miller, too) we would like to have such wonderful players with us.
Thanks to:
Connor
Trae
Kyle
Ben
Joey
Brian
Tyson
Hayden
Here's an interesting story which occurred 31 years ago this past week(Feb. 12, 1978):
BY MATT JOCKS
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
PALM DESERT
MARK ZALESKI / THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
"Shedding light on dark night"
The sole survivor of a plane crash 25 years ago, Palm Desert girls' basketball coach Jim Serven hopes sharing his past can help those in the present.
Palm Desert girls' basketball coach Jim Serven was a high school sophomore at the time of the crash.
Jim Serven, coach at Palm Desert for 11 years, is selective about sharing his story with students.
A hundred miles an hour, straight down.
Trees and snow getting larger and larger in the window.
Blackness.
When Jim Serven awoke, he hoped he would find himself in the comfort of his bed, ready to tell his family about the nightmare he had just experienced. The pain wracking his lower body told him otherwise.
It was 25 years ago today that emergency personnel reached Serven near Cucamonga Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains. A day earlier, the small plane carrying 15-year-old Serven and three other teenagers clipped a tree and plunged onto a tree stump.
Serven was the only survivor.
At 25 years out, it doesn't take much to bring the memories back for him or his family: stormy weather, the sound of a helicopter, or just a calendar that reads "February."
"It's a big part of my life," Serven said. "It always will be."
Now, Serven's life revolves around his family and his job as a teacher and girls' basketball coach at Palm Desert High. He relays his life story selectively, when he thinks it can make an impact on a student. Some know Serven for years without hearing what happened on that mountainside.
Caught in a storm
Serven wasn't the first choice to fill the fourth seat in the plane that day. His older brother Bob, currently the boys' basketball coach at Costa Mesa High, was.
The Servens' 18-year-old neighbor in Temple City, Randy Dowling, was a licensed pilot, looking to make a series of short trips. David Emma, a football player at Temple City High, and Kathleen Taylor, a student at La Puente Bishop Amat bound for West Point, were the other passengers.
"I had no interest at all," Bob Serven said. "But I knew Jim would. He was into Star Trek and all that."
Said Jim, then a sophomore at Temple City: "I was just excited that a senior had asked me to go along."
After some debate, his parents consented.
The group made a couple of stops in the San Gabriel Valley, then headed for Apple Valley to have lunch. On the way back, what had been a light storm turned ugly as the plane approached the San Bernardino Mountains.
A report cited icing of the carburetor as the cause for the plane losing altitude. Eventually, a tree would take a chunk from a wing and send the plane straight down.
A newspaper report two days later quoted the final radio transmission from Dowling. He said the plane was icing and in trouble.
In the background, Taylor could be heard saying, "Don't give up, Randy," followed by "Hail Mary, full of grace . . . "
`Am I important enough?'
Serven remembers Taylor's prayers. He remembers the free fall. He doesn't remember the impact.
"I guess it's the body's defense mechanism," he said.
When he came to, Serven, sitting behind the pilot, could see Emma, in the front passenger seat, was clearly dead. Taylor, sitting next to Serven, appeared to be dead. Dowling, his body crumpled between the seat and control panel, appeared to be barely breathing.
It was already dark and the wind-chill factor was well below zero. Serven went in and out of consciousness through the night, while back home, chaos and panic reigned.
It was dark by the time the families got word that the plane was missing.
"I went to my church to talk to the priest," said Jim's mother, Donna. "I said, `Jimmy's dead,' and he said, `You don't know that. Go pray.' I asked him how long I should stay there and he said, `You'll know when to go.'
"It was like my heart was on fire."
Bob Serven, then a high school senior, said he mostly remembers chaos.
"It was so hard trying to fall asleep that night," he said. "It was still raining hard in Temple City. I couldn't imagine what it must have been up there in the mountains."
Up in the mountains, when Jim was conscious, he had an odd mix of confidence and uncertainty.
"I honestly didn't think I was going to die," he said. "But that's probably just being 15. You're never going to die.
"What I remember thinking, though, was, `Is anyone going to look for me? Am I important enough to send someone out there?' "
Serven got his answer the next morning. The plane's color -- white with green trim -- couldn't have been worse for spotting on a snow-covered mountainside, but the transmitter led helicopters to the area and Serven was spotted. It would be hours before personnel could reach him, though, and more time before the a break in the weather allowed the helicopter to remove him.
Back in Rialto, in a makeshift rescue center, parents were told only one child had survived, and the staff didn't know who it was.
"We had to follow the coroner's car to Loma Linda," Donna Serven said. "That was an awful feeling. When we got to emergency, someone said, `Are you Mrs. Serven?' I said I was and they said, `You can see Jimmy in a few minutes.'
"I said, `How do you know? Are you sure?' I couldn't bear the thought of going in there and having it not be him. They said, `He told us.' "
The road back
Serven suffered two spiral compound fractures of his right leg, a broken pelvis and a dislocated hip. There also was frostbite to contend with.
At first, there was fear his leg might have to be amputated. Or maybe just his foot. Quite likely, some of his toes.
None of it happened.
A three-sport athlete, Serven was told he probably wouldn't walk normally again, much less be able to compete. He spent weeks in intensive care, months rehabilitating at home.
"For months, I slept on the floor in the living room because he couldn't get out of bed by himself," Donna Serven said.
Donna watched while her son gained strength and defied odds. He played junior varsity baseball as a junior and was an all-league varsity player as a senior.
At one point, Serven wanted to be a chiropractor, but the draw of working with young people was too strong.
He went back to school to get his teaching credential and became a coach. He is in his 11th season as head coach of the girls' team at Palm Desert.
Serven said he doesn't try to "bombard" students with his story, but it can be effective reinforcement to old adages such as "the harder I work, the luckier I get."
"For me, he's an inspiration," senior Shana Stewart said. "I have pretty bad asthma, and sometimes when I feel I can't make it down the court one more time, I think of him and say, `I can do this. It's just a little air.' "
Stewart said the personality of the Aztecs reflects the coach.
"We're not a big team and we may not be the most talented," she said. "But we work awesome together."
`I'm so lucky'
"People ask me all the time if I have nightmares about it," Jim Serven said. "I don't, although I do have dreams about plane crashes. But I'm on the ground and I see it crash in the distance."
Serven said he flies regularly on jets, although he's not comfortable doing it.
"I probably wouldn't get on a small plane again unless it was literally a life-and-death situation," he said.
For Donna, there are those reminders, when the rain starts falling or a helicopter goes by.
"The other night, he took his older boy to The Pond to see the Harlem Globetrotters and wanted me to come," she said. "I was thinking, `I've got to be at work at 6 a.m., and I'm not so sure I want to go.' But then I thought, `I'm so lucky to have him.'
"You know, I always wanted boys. For awhile there, I thought maybe I wanted boys so badly that God was going to take one of them from me. For me to get him back was like having a child reborn."
High School Update 2008/2009
This is what it is all about!
Here is a list of players who have contributed to the Desert Storm's success(and their home travel team) and enjoyment over the years and where they are at the beginning of the 2008/09 baseball season. Listed is their grade and their home travel team. Over the years there has been Five local travel teams(in our age group) who have developed the local talent to exceptional levels: Desert Storm, Sun Devils(Coaches: Brian Wiesler and Sean Miller), Desert Crush(Mark Cresse and Garrett Kriske), Patriots/Dodgers:(Tim Burcham and Rex Sylvester), and the Magic(Tony, Manny Alvarez and Chuck Mills).
All of these players have played with the Storm at some point in their careers. Good luck to them ALL!!!!!!
Jordan Riek(9): JV/Frosh at PDHS--(Storm)
Jose Lopez(9): JV at Indio HS--(Storm)
Jonathan Serven(9): Varsity/JV at PDHS--(Storm)
Ryan Clark(10): JV at PDHS--(Storm)
Zach Novis(9): JV at PDHS--(Storm)
Joey Mills(9): Varsity at Palm Springs HS--(Storm)
Nathan Rodriguez(9): JV at LQHS--(Storm)
Jeremy Moniot(9): JV at LQHS--(Storm and Crush)
Connor Lennon(10): Varsity at Xavier--(Storm)
Jacob Clark(9): Frosh at PDHS--(Storm)
Joseph McManus(10): JV at PDHS--(Storm and SunDevils)
Raymond Angula(9): JV at DHSHS--(Storm)
Cody Kabeary(10): JV at PDHS--(SunDevils)
Nick King(9): Varsity at PSHS--(Magic)
Paul Mathy(9): JV at PDHS--(Sun Devils)
Michael Sperber(9): Varsity Soccer at Xavier--(Storm)
Grant Devlin(10): JV at PDHS--(SunDevils)
Scotty Burcham(10): Varsity at PDHS--(Patriots)
Bo Miller(9): Varsity/JV at PDHS--(SunDevils)
Andrew Alvarez(10): Varsity at PSHS-(Magic)
Dylan Costello(10): Varsity at LQHS
Anthony Parise(10): JV at PDHS
Edgar Gomez(10): Varsity at Indio HS
Brooks Kriske(9): Var/JV at PDHS--(Crush)
Conner Ventura(9): JV/Frosh at PDHS--(Crush)
Josh Helmstater(10): Varsity Water Polo at PDHS--(Storm)
Jonathan Tellier(9): Var/JV at PDHS--(SunDevils)
Tommy Callahan(9): Varsity at South Pasadena HS--(SGV Cobras)
Kacey Hammond(9): JV/Frosh at PDHS--(Crush)
Dallas Hessler(10): Varsity at Cat City HS--(Patriots)
This IS quite a list !!!
Tournemant Results:
USTBA Tournament Results:
Congrats to the Desert Storm 14's on reaching ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in the USTBA Tourney on Feb. 28-March 1st in Moreno Valley. The Storm defeated a top team, Team Rawlings, 9-3, on Saturday afternoon. Zack pitched a gem and Colin did a fine job behind the plate. By virtue of our victory all we had to do was not give up 11 runs to the Murrieta Brewers Sat. evening to secure the #1 Seed. Jake, Max and Tyson got the job done assuring us the #1 Seed and another matchup with the Brewers in the Semi's.
In the 1st Playoff game Brian did a great job on the hill and when Logan hit a shot to left to score Jake we found ourselves in another Championship Game. Kyle and Joey had some great hits this weekend for us. Thanks to Kyle K. and Trae for making solid contributions.
Triple Crown Tourney:
Feb. 2009
The 14U Storm went 2-2 in the Triple Crown Desert Tourney this past weekend. We beat a very good 13U team, the Toros, but lost to the Temecula Bruins and the eventuual Champions, PD Bulldogs. Congrats to the Bulldogs! It was a bittersweet time for the 14U Storm. Although Nathan Rodriguez and Jacob Clark combined to win our final game of the tourney, it was THEIR final game with us. Good luck on your High School careers, and maybe we'll play together again in the future. Thanks and goodbye also goes out to Coach Robert Rodriguez. He has been an instrumental part of our success.
Slugger's 13U Tourney Results:
Congrats to our newly formed(two weeks old!) 13U Storm Team on reaching the Semi's of the Desert Cities Sluggers Tourney. The boys mercied the 1st team, 8-0, behind DJ's No-Hitter(in his 1st pitching performance in a while). Brian's legs got tired from walking so much. Tyson and Joey did a great job in our loss to the IEE. In the playoffs, the Storm beat a good Sluggers team, 5-2, behind Liam and Trey's pitching. Brian hit a 3 run home run. In the most exciting game of the Tourney(ESPN would have called it an "instant Classic") the Storm lost on an unearned run in the 8th(we know) to the Toro's, 1-0. The game was a pitcher's duel between Brian and Brody. Brian struck out 12 and gave up one hit(which Tyson may have thrown out if not for a bad hop). That was the only runner to reach base until the 8th inning. Brian retired 19 in a row after the hit. The Storm had runners on in 6 out of the 8 innings, while only collecting 4 hits off Brody(Brian-2, Kyle and Austin). But he shut us down each time. The game was very exciting and when Brian came up with bases loaded in the 8th inning vs. Alex, it was about as exciting as it gets. Great job to all of our kids: DJ, Brian, Trey, Liam, Austin, Kyle, Talon, Joey, Tyson, Hayden(web gems all tourney) and Congrats to the Toros.
PS: For all the players who haven't played competitive baseball in a while: You must come prepared(which is somewhat the responsibility of the coaches, Coach Serven and Coach Miller) or at this level you can go winless and even get mercied occasionally. Great job.
MLK Tourney Results:
The 14U Storm went 1-2 in the MLK Triple Crown Tourney, losing to the eventual Finalists. But along the way the boys played some excellent baseball:
Game 1: Max pitched a 7 inning masterpiece. We had excellent hitting and fielding, too.
Game 2: We lost a nailbiter to the VC, 9-8. Jake and Austin battled the hard hitting Tourney Champions until the end. We had an 8 run inning!
Game 3: Brian was pitching a gem, and the rest of the team was playing inspired baseball for 4 strong innings. But the 5th inning was our undoing as the wheels came off. But, losing to the Inland Empire Elite is nothing to be ashamed of. There were a lot of positives!!!
USTBA Winter Nationals Tourney Results: The Storm go 2-1 in pool play to be the top seed in the American Division but lose in the Semi-Finals to our buddies, Western Baseball, who we beat earlier, 12-2.
Congrats to Jake Powell on WINNING the USTBA Home Run Derby held at Freedom Park!!!!
He beat the 2nd place finishers: Brian Serven and Nathan Rodriguez.
Jake hit 5 out of 10 pitches out. Brian and Nathan hit 4/10.
Also, Congrats to Zack Whittet on WINNING the running contest. He barely beat out our own Logan Baron.
USTBA Tourney Results: (Dec. 15)
Congratulations to the Storm 14's on reaching ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!
We went undeafeated in pool play and won our playoff game against a good Revolution team to advance to our FOURTH CHAMPIONSHIP GAME out of FIVE Tourneys. We hit very well this weekend and pitched very well, too. But we gave up way too many unearned runs in the Championship game, and lost 13-11, in a game we could have easily won but maybe didn't deserve to win. Remember what a local coach said, "NOTHING is easy in sports". Let's keep working hard. The 9th graders have two months left with us and the 8th graders have 6 months.
Triple Crown Thanksgiving Tournament Results
The Desert Storm 14's ended up as the #4 Seed. Unfortunately, only three teams made it to the playoffs. Two were teams in our pool. Sometimes it's tough when you draw the better teams. We came very close to the #3 seed(one run or two minutes). We didn't hit very well, with some exceptions-Zack, Logan, Jake(who all had 3 or more hits). Some of our hitting was just bad luck--shots hit right at someone--but that's baseball. But on the bright side: our pitching was fantastic. Zack, Jacob, Brian, Max, Austin, and Nathan all did a great job on the hill. We only gave up 13 runs in 4 games(with 4 of the 13 coming in the first inning of the first game), with ONLY 5 runs being EARNED! That made our ERA an incredible--- 1.29. But when you only score 9 runs, you usually don't make the playoffs. DJ, Kyle, Tyson and Nick all played solid defense(including Nick's game-saving catch). Our expectations are so high, that when we don't make the playoffs we feel we have not been successful, but we just need to keep working hard.
Las Vegas Fall Nationals Results:(Sept. 2008)
The Desert Storm 14U reached the Championship Game on Sunday afternoon of the Silver Division!!(and had lots of fun!)
Congrats to the 14U Storm team on overcoming being shorthanded on Friday(only nine players but playing well and in position to win both games) to win their two playoff games: Saturday, 17-2, over the South Gate Reds and then Sunday morning, winning 7-4 over the Las Vegas Coyotes. We played the always tough Nevada Sluggers in the Championship, but lost 6-5 in the last inning, in an incredibly exciting game. All the players contributed and are improving tremendously every game.
Brian, Nathan, Zack, Jake, Jacob, Kyle and Max all did great jobs pitching, fielding and hitting. Nick hit the ball well and did a great job behind the plate. DJ hammered the ball, driving in the winning runs vs. the Coyotes with a big triple. Tyson provided us with solid defense and had many good at bats. Logan gave us some needed moral support. Thanks to all the fans(family and friends)who came to the tournament. The kids will never forget this trip!
End of Summer Classic Results:(August 2008)
The 2008/09 14U Storm team played in their first Tournament together this past weekend in the USSSA End of Summer Classic in West Covina and kept the Storm tradition alive by reaching the Championship Game. Although we lost to the Chino Hills Patriots, 4-3, in an exciting Championship Game, the boys played inspired baseball in reaching the finals. We were the only team to defeat the Patriots(in pool play)after we put up NINE runs in the 1st inning.
AAU Tournament Results: (10/20)
Congrats to the Desert Storm 14's on Reaching their Third CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in three Tournaments. Unfortunately, we lost to the top rated Inland Empire Elite in a truly forgettable game. But the good far outweighed the bad. One highlight was Zack Whittet pitching 7 strong innings and shutting down the powerful Elite in our pool play game, 3-2. Also, we had many bombs hit throughout the tourney. We will keep on working hard...
2007/08 14U Storm
For the past three years the Desert Storm Baseball Team has had an incredible experience of learning about and playing baseball, becoming friends, traveling the country and enjoying, arguably, the greatest sport in the world!
We have had a "core" group of players for the past 200 games(Jordan Riek, Jose Lopez, Jonathan Serven, Ryan Clark, Zack Novis, Joey Mills, Joseph McManus) who have anchored our incredible success: (approx.)150 wins against 50 losses. This includes 10 Championships and another 10 Championship Games. We have also made it to over 15 other Semifinal games .
Thank You to ALL Players and to All the Coaches, families and friends who have helped us throughout the years!!!!!!!
