07/11/2022
That’s a wrap on 2021-2022. This was a year of challenging the kids. It wasn’t about winning rings and trophies. It was about developing baseball players. We challenged them all year from starting in FL against a top 10 team in January and then playing in NC in March beating the then #3 team in the country 12-0. After that we played up, and out of state most of the year searching out the best competition. It meant we didn’t win every tourney but we grew a lot this year. Lots of life lessons learned. None more than what CJ Beatty said at the opening ceremonies of the PG Invitational National Championship “Not everything hard in life is worth doing but everything worth doing in life is hard”.
The boys battled and trained hard all year for an invite to the best of the best invitation only Perfect Game National Championship. 27 of the best teams in the world together for one week in Sanford,FL. It’s hard to know what to expect from a team from Michigan going up against the southern and western teams who train and play all year, but these boys played their tails off and made it to the championship bracket as one of the top 16 teams. Along the way we played teams from FL, TX, CA, LA and Puerto Rico. We beat the #7 and #10 teams in the country and played a tough game against the #3 team missing out on a few opportunities to take the lead. In the end they proved they can compete with anyone in the world winning a walk off against Puerto Rico as well. They were one of the last 12 teams standing. Not bad for some northern boys.
To the parents and families, thank you for all of your commitment this year and every year. There have been lots of emotions this year and life lessons that the boys didn’t have to face in previous years as they rolled through tourneys and competition. This year was about growth, not only as baseball players, but as young men. They will be far more prepared for their future baseball careers and life with what they learned this year. Thank you for trusting your boys to us and letting us take them through this journey.
To the boys, thank you. Thank you for your passion and friendships. Thank you for your love of the game and commitment to improve. Thank you for trusting the process. There were lots of ups and downs this year and it was hard for all of you who are used to filling your trophy case. But you will see that this year taught you more about yourself and life than any year where you coasted through to win a ring. ”….everything worth doing in life is hard”. If you aren’t satisfied with only being one of the last 12, what are you going to do about it? Will you work hard, continue to push yourself and your teammates? Will you continue to grow as a baseball player and person?
I hope this tourney and this year showed each and every one of you that you can compete with anyone in the world. Enjoy the time off and get some rest…..almost time to get back to work. 😁