Improvements of Charlotte area baseball

My son has had the opportunity to work with both Mike Shildt and Gary Robinson. Both I consider to be great teachers of the game and hate that they are not currently as involved with teaching the game to the young players that they were at one time.

 

Braves:

All this competitive baseball play and why the Charlotte area has such great baseball players coming out of it these days is great reading but can we move it all to a thread of it's own and let the Region 6 State Games thread continue on it's own as well?

 

Yes..we can.

 

I can proudly say that without a doubt, my son has benefitted from all four of the individuals mentioned by Braves, but I would also like to add one: Jason Hill.

1) Pete Snell - I will begin with Pete because as far back as when my son was 9-10 years old (he's now 17), we began frequenting the Grand Slam facility that was operated by Jeff Barkley and Mark Snyder located on Old Monroe Road. My son took several individual lessons as well as participated in the hitting leagues and classes offered by GS. We had several team parties and practices there as well. Pete continued the great GS tradition by continuing to offer the lessons and training opportunities. Since then Pete has built a tremendous new facility on Independence Point Pkwy, where I still go and throw buckets and buckets of batting practice (of course, my arm is not what it used to be, but I can still throw gas). We still rely on the Pro Shop to purchase a lot of our bats, gloves and other equipment and Pete is always willing to share his baseball knowledge and advice. Lynn, Sean and everyone who works there are always helpful. I want to say thanks to Mike Gardner as well. Thanks Pete and Lynn!

2) Gary Robinson - I will have to say that Gary was and is one of the most knowledgeable baseball men I have been around. My son will tell you that the most important influence on his baseball career to date was the instruction and training he received during the two years when he participated in the Winter Academy at Extra Innings. The training was extensive, 18 weeks, 3 days a week, two hours a night. This was our first exposure to combining agility training, conditioning and basic fundamentals. The boys started working as soon as they stepped through the door and left many a night exhausted. Gary also allowed us to be exposed to the AAU/travel team experience by letting us play on the Charlotte Express. I want to thank Gary as well as Mark Richards, who has allowed us on occasions to continue to use the facility at Extra Innings.

3) Mike Shildt/Jason Hill - Primarily during the past two off seasons, mainly because of Jason Hill, my son has been working out at the OnDeck facility in Pineville. I think at first I had a misconception that OnDeck was primarily for mainly South Meck players and a few others, but I quickly learned that Mike was interested in developing ALL players. Mike would always say some nice things to us. Jason is another person who I totally respect for his knowledge of baseball, specifically hitting. Let's face it, Jason could flat out hit the baseball. We were fortunate to take individual lessons from Jason and he was not only a person you could talk about baseball but you could talk about anything in general with Jason. That is the kind of guy he is. Jason exposed us to what it meant and took if you wanted to become a good hs player and whether or not you had the desire to play college ball. We learned what it meant to have a plan when you went to the plate, situational hitting and being aggessive. Jason has a wonderful family, Jeanine, his dad, brothers, and his kids. Thanks, J Hill!

4) Jeff McNeely - Jeff has given my son the one thing I will always be thankful for and that is the opportunity to play the game. When we were at a point where we weren't sure we had a place to play, Jeff stepped in. He didn't make promises, he was honest with us from day 1, (this is our 3rd season with the Megastars), and told us that it was up to my son to do the work and strive to get better and as long as we did that he would continue to provide us with the opportunity. I don't know of any person who is more loyal to his players than Jeff. Jeff was instrumental in allowing us the opportunity to be exposed to the showcases and tournaments that made my son better not just as a ballplayer, but as a person. Thanks, Jeff and all the Megastar coaches, parents and Ms. McCurdy.

 

The Bar Has Been Set and Others are Raising It

Some team results from up and coming players in the Charlotte area.

Last year the Charlotte Diamondbacks 15U travel team with players from S. Meck, E. Meck, Providence, Providence Day, Myers Park, Piedmont, Christian and others won the NC AAU State title, NC USSSA State title and a number of other travel tournament titles before ending with a top 5 finish at the AAU Nationals.
I just read in their internet site where the South Charlotte Panthers 15U team with players from S. Meck, E. Meck, Ft. Mill, Providence, Christian, Country Day, Catholic, Myers Park, Rock Hill and others have won 4 of 4 travel tournaments including a possible first ever Championship for a Charlotte team last week in East Cobb.

 

Last year's 15U teams statewide did well

The D'backs last summer won the 2003 NCAAU 15U title over Greensboro Batting Center and the Kernersville Cardinals. The D'backs went on to place 7th in the 2003 National AAU tournament in Daytona Beach while GBC won the whole dang thing, as in numero uno. The Cardinals went on to place in the top 5 in the USSSA national tournament. The fact that 3 different 15U NC teams placed so well in 2003 speaks well for this rising junior class.

 

I agree Squid. The talent level of ballplayers in NC keeps improving each year. There will be more '05's signing college scholarships from this state than ever before...and this trend will continue with the '06's and '07's.