Phenix City, Alabama

I was driving through Phenix City, Alabama with my family last week on the way to Destin, Florida and it brought back enough memories to make the rest of the 10-hour drive fly by. Some of you with '05 sons will no doubt remember the team from Phenix City that won the US Little League championship when our guys were 12. Some of you in the Kernersville area played against them in the regional tournament and lost a close game, I believe by a 3-2 score, that cost you a trip to Williamsport.

Our little league all-star team that year (Myers Park Trinity in Charlotte) lost in our distict finals to Mint Hill, who lost in the state finals to that Kernersville team 2-1, but several of us took the trip to Williamsport with our sons and had one of the greatest times of our lives. If you have never made the trip, it is certainly worth doing. I remember at the time my son and I pledged to return evey year, but sadly we have not made it back. He still keeps his pin collection with little league pins from teams and leagues all over the world.

While there we quickly related well to the Phenix City kids and families and were pleased when they did so well.

Anyway, my point here is, I was shocked when I thought through the lineup of our 12 year-old team, which achieved a lot as eleven year old district champs and twelve year old runners up, and realized how few of them are still playing baseball now.

Most are seniors in high school, one (who had a great Aug. 1 little league birthday) is a feshman in college. The lead off hitter and center-fileder is now an all-conference golfer who also plays basketball at Myers Park; the number two hitter, the shortstop plays baseball and basketball at McCallie in Chattanooga, Tenn, but his first sport is clearly basketball; the number three hitter, our dominant pitcher, is paralyzed and playing wheel chair basketball as his sport; the number four hitter, our catcher, plays baseball at Myers Park; the number five hitter, a pitcher and third baseman, lives in Richmond, Va. and plays golf -- he has signed to play golf at Richmond next year; the number six hitter, a first baseman and pitcher, is at Charlotte Latin where he plays football and basketball; the number seven hitter, our right fielder, is now a college freshman at Wake Forest, where he walked on to the baseball team; the number eight hitter, our second baseman, runs track and cross country at Myers Park; and the number nine hitter, our left fielder, lives in Houston, Texas where he plays high school basketball. The other five players on the team are all out of baseball, two play football at Latin, another is an all-region golfer at Myers Park with a plus two handicap who will play golf somewhere in college, and the other two tried out but weren't able to make their high school baseball teams. So that means that only three of the fourteen still play baseball, no more than two of them will play past high school, and neither of those two is likely to be a scholarship player in college.

I started thinking about the other teams I coached over my 20 years in little league, and while I haven't kept up with all the players, the results from the other years that I do know about are not much different. In retrospect, the thing I am happiest about is that, while we taught baseball fundamenals and hoped all the boys would turn out to be great ballplayers, we stressed developing a love for the game, being a part of a team and doing one's best. While I am pleased for having had a small part in the development of a very few who have done well and played at the college level, I am proudest of having played a small part in the development of the quality young men that many of them have become as adults.

Is your experience the same or different? How many guys on your 12 year old all star teams are still in baseball?

 

Great post DB ...

If you've been around the kids for any length of time, there are lots who seem to "fall by the wayside" but are really following the beat of a different drummer.

Communist ball (a.k.a. Soccer) grabbed a few of our best from when the kids were young and one is now headed off the UNC to play football, but we've been pretty fortunate. It seems like 2/3 of our guys are still in the game of baseball, at least through HS with a nice number headed off to college ball.

Compared to their peers who didn't play sports, they get into very little trouble. After school, you'll find them running laps on the track (on their own) or working on their long toss ... maybe hitting the batting cage. They are good students ... you don't find their name in the local newspaper except in the HS sports section.

It's really been fun watching these young men grow up.

 

DodgerBlues, that is so true. Of that Kernersville team who missed going to Williamsport by a run, I believe only around 5 are still playing baseball in high school. And of that group, probably only one (Ryan Caldwell) will play at the next level. Like NCBBallFan said, soccer and football caught the attention of some of them and "other things" got the attention of others.
I think this happens very often and possibly because many, but not all, of the players who are "All-Stars" at age 11 or 12 are such because they are simply more mature(physically) and stronger than other players who catch up and eventually pass the former All-Stars in high school.

I do know that players who blossom a little later are forced to work harder and don't have the luxury of taking anything for granted, which in the long run plays to their advantage. It should also be said, how parents and players handle success and relative notoriety at such an early age goes a long ways in determining how they will handle the more difficult and challenging years of high school when they are no longer head and shoulders above everyone else.

I think there are a lot of morals to this story. But on a positive note, it shows just how much of an accomplishment it is for the guys who not only choose to stick with baseball through high school but excel and play beyond.

 

A trip to Williamsport...priceless

I took my boys three years in a row (98-2000) and it is hard to imagine a better trip. We would camp about an hour NE of Lamade Stadium and spend the days swimming in mountain streams, bike riding and watching lots of baseball. Who would ever think that sliding down a hill on cardboard could be so much fun. Shoot its worth the trip just to see the umpires do YMCA between innings or to see the precision of Japanese kids taking infield.

Interestingly, the Phenix City team contains not one, but two of Baseball America's top 05 HS prospects.
The manager's son,Colby Rasmus is #28 and Brandon Monk is #66. Both players have committed to Auburn. The elder Rasmus was actually fired for missing work while at the LLWS, but it didn't seem to bother him. He also had a younger son,Cory who caught, so there were times when Phenix City featured a Rasmus/Rasmus battery.

Having only 3-5 Allstars playing HS baseball sounds lower than average to me.
I would expect half.

 

I had the privilege of coaching the South Buncombe Babe Ruth 12 year-old team that won the state championship hosted by Park Sharon in 2000. It was a tough tournament and we had to beat a very good team from China Grove to advance to the SE regionals in Alabama. After winning our first game against Tennessee 1-0, we moved on to play Floirida. They were loaded and beat us 10-2, and eventaully went on to win the World Series by beating South Korea 5-0. They went through the entire tournament (district, regionals, world series) without loosing a game.

After Babe Ruth most of the group continued on with AAU ball. We took our 14U team to the Divsion II AAU Nationals at Disney World and finished third out of 42 teams. We lost in the final four to a team from Toms River, New Jersey that had several players that were members of their 12 yr-old Little League World Series Championship team.

Of the twelve players on our all-star team, ten are playing high school ball, one is playing golf and the other wrestles. Seven of them play for TC Roberson, one for West Henderson, one for Carolina Day and one plays for a school near Sebring, Florida. One of the three seniors has already committed to play college ball and two of the juniors are being heavily recruited. One of the juniors is ranked 22nd in the 06 class by Baseball America/Prospects Plus.

It was a special group of kids that have matured into an outstanding group of young men. And the best thing of all....I still get to watch most of them play ball.

 

Dodger Blues your story brings back great memories of that '99 Little League Year. Mint Hill did lose to Kernersville 2-1 in the winners bracket then lost to a fine team from Greenville 5-3. With runners on first and second, my son, made the final out with a hard grounder to third. Of that Mint Hill team, you need look no farther than Independence High to find the majority of those kids: Marc Nicholson, Aaron Bray, Daniel Cooke, Steven Miller, Evan Taylor, Chad Hartis- still playing baseball. Griffin McGuirt and Tyler Kirkpatrick are at Charlotte Christian School playing baseball. Tyler transferred to CCS from Indy this year. Kyle Josey attended Butler and played ball ( He was some kind of nasty as a 12 year old lefty- gave Kernersville all they wanted) Jordan Dalto plays basketball at Independence and T Cunningham moved to SC and I think left his spikes for cleats and sneaks. Ryan Wilson, Travis Neesmith and Noah Wells.

Kernersville had a kid by the name of Tony Morino who was throwing low 70's as a 12.-I've not heard more of him since he was asked to "retire" from Kernersville's 14 year old All-Star team, just before their return to the Junior League state tournament.

As 14's Mint Hill won State and Division Championships, finally losing to Louisiana (whom Kernersville knocked out of SE Regional as 12's). Louisiana lost to Hawaii who beat Venezuala to repeat as back to back World Champions. O' so close.

The 4A State Championship game was a rematch for some of those kids from Mint Hill ( Indy) and Greenville Rose.