Congratulations to all of our Memorial Day tournament teams! OBA was well represented this year in Fremont, Citrus Heights and Monterey -- read about how our teams fared in this issue of OBAToday! Without question, the most difficult task our Commissioners face is overseeing the selection of OBA's tournament and All Star teams. Working with the regular season Managers, they select 24 or so players in each of their Divisions to represent OBA at Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and PONY sanction play tournaments.
We recently distributed the tournament team selection guidelines when we announced this year's Memorial Day tournament teams. Many of the selections were relatively easy because these players were either overwhelmingly nominated by their peers and teammates and/or they were consistently recognized by opposing managers and coaches as being standout players. The more difficult decisions surround the last few on each team, for which an extensive discussion amongst the Managers is led by the Commissioner. If a Manager's child is being considered, that Manager leaves the room and cannot participate in the discussion. This year we fielded two teams of 13 players (instead of 12) due to tie votes.
Despite our best efforts, this is not an exact science. Our Commissioners and Managers do their very best to be fair and objective, but from afar it may appear to some of you to be anything but that. I sincerely hope that is not the case because we have worked hard to make the process as objective and transparent as possible. However, each year we receive the same questions: why wasn't my child chosen? why does it always seem to be the same players every year? why are there so many Managers' and Coaches' children on the teams?
Our goal is to select the players who have demonstrated the best baseball skills (relative to their peers) as of the selection date, i.e., have high batting averages; can throw and catch well; have strong infield and/or outfield abilities; and exhibit good sportsmanship and teamwork. It should come as no surprise that many of the players selected are the children of Managers & Coaches because of the strong baseball interest in these families. It is likely that much parent/child time is spent outside of practices and games working on the child's baseball skills. Those efforts pay off.
These teams are not exclusive or static. All OBA players are eligible who can make the additional time commitment and demonstrate the requisite skillset. Players move on and off these teams every year. I can attest to that from personal experience. Just because a child does not make a tournament or All Star team in Pinto does not mean that they will not make one in Mustang, Bronco, or Pony. Each year is a new year, and children develop at different paces. Nurture your child's interest in baseball by doing what you can to help them improve. And as part of that process, treat our tournament teams as a goal they can work towards. If they make a team, great; they will have learned that hard work and focus has its rewards. If they don't, it's not the end of the world, and perhaps it will incent them to work even harder. Either way, hopefully it will have resulted in a lot of quality parent- child time and a continued love of baseball!
Last, but not least. Please take a moment to complete the Spring Ball Survey. Your feedback is critical to helping us identify opportunities to improve the OBA program. The survey is completely anonymous and takes only 10 minutes. To start the survey, click here. See you on the field.
Rob Weikert, OBA President
| Memorial Day Tournament Team Results |
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Here's a recap of how our teams fared in the Memorial Day tournaments.
PINTO
Pinto Titans Our young OBA Pinto Titans played excellent defense all weekend at the Fremont Memorial Day Tournament, executing three double plays and five plays at the plate over the course of five exciting games. The Titans went 3 and 1 in the round robin to qualify to play in the Monday play-offs as the fourth seed. Losing only to eventual tournament champion San Bruno 20-9, the Titans easily handled Fremont White 24-2 and came back from behind to beat El Cerrito Navy 10-6. In a thrilling 8 inning game against our neighbors in Piedmont, the Titans won 11-9. In the playoffs, the Titans played their hearts out, but fell to El Cerrito Navy 8-2. A fun and very memorable time was had by players and parents alike. Congratulations to Manager John McGonigle and Coach Skip Tague on a successful weekend!
Pinto Pythons The OBA Pinto Pythons finished 1-3 at the annual Fremont Memorial Day Tournament. They surprised the Fremont Red team on Saturday afternoon with a 15-14 victory. The unusual blustery weather cooled off the bats in the Saturday night game under the lights where they fell to the Fremont Blue team 11-3. On Sunday morning, they lost to El Cerrito Red 22-5. The final game of the tournament for the Pythons was a heartbreaking loss to El Cerrito Blue, 7- 6 when they were unable to hold a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the 6th. Everyone had an enjoyable weekend spending time with old friends and making new ones! Thanks to Manager Mike Meyers and Coach Scott Mollahan for a terrific experience for OBA's youngest!
MUSTANG
Mustang Outlaws The OBA Mustang Outlaws took Third Place in the Citrus Heights Memorial Day Tournament with a 4-1 record. The team won their bracket with a 3-0 record in pool play defeating the Pleasant Hill Raptors, Citrus Heights, and North Sacramento. On Monday, in the single elimination format of the Championship Round, the Outlaws beat a tough San Ramon team with a thrilling comeback that all of OBA can be proud of. In the top of the last inning, the team was down 3-0 with two outs and no runners on base. After a single, the number two hitter hit a Home Run to bring the score to 3-2. Next, a double and an intentional walk set the stage for another Home Run for a 5-3 lead. The kids went crazy providing the highlight of the tournament! Solid pitching in the bottom of the inning preserved the 5-3 win. The semi- final game was played against Pleasant Hill's top team, the Pleasant Hill Condors. Again, down 3-0 in the top of the last inning the Outlaws waged a valiant comeback and came one hit short of beating this perennial power house. The final score was 3-2 and the kids left with the knowledge that they gave it their all and were still so excited about their big comeback win in the quarterfinals. After each game, the opposing manager, coaches, or umpires commented about what a sportsmanlike and respectful group of kids we brought up to the tournament. What an appropriate compliment for our Memorial Day tournament team and one that OBA is proud of. Manager Matt Moran and Coaches Jerry Armosino, Gary Gibbs, and Bob Wegener could not have been happier with the effort, sportsmanship, and play of this team. Congratulations Outlaws!
Mustang Rebels The Orinda Rebels put forth a spirited effort during Memorial Day weekend. The Rebels opened against their neighbors from Piedmont. After falling behind by 3 runs, the Rebels rallied to take a late lead. Unfortunately, the Rebels were upended by a last inning rally by Piedmont and lost 12-6. The second day saw the Rebels square off against San Ramon and Star City Records, a Sacramento area team. Against San Ramon, the script was similar to their game against Piedmont. The Rebels took an early lead only to see one bad inning hurt their chances of victory with a final score of 15-5. The Rebels played their best complete game of the tournament against Star City Records. Once again, however, a late inning rally by the opposition resulted in a one run loss 7-6. Despite the game results, the Rebels played competitively. There were plenty of individual pitching, hitting and defensive highlights. Most importantly, the Rebels uniformly played with great effort and skill throughout the tournament. Thanks to Manager Jim Stehr and Coaches Brad Carn and John Parodi for a great weekend!
BRONCO
Bronco Warriors (12 year olds) The Orinda Warriors did Orinda proud in Citrus Heights. After dropping their first game to an incredibly strong Tara Hills squad by a 13-3 score, the Warriors came roaring back to win their final two first round games to qualify for a 2nd place consolation round game on Monday afternoon. In their second game of first round play, the Warriors battled back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits against a tough San Ramon team to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth inning, 3-3. The Warriors then took the lead in the sixth 4-3 and held on for their first win of the tournament. Later that same day, the Warriors came from behind again, this time against a feisty Moraga squad. Down 2-1 going into the top of the sixth inning, the Warriors exploded for five runs to cruise to a 6-3 victory and earn the right to play one more game on Monday. On Monday, the Warriors played their best game of the weekend, pounding a year round traveling team from Pleasant Hill by an 18-8 margin. The major damage in this one came in the second inning when the Warriors batted around, scoring 10 runs. All 13 players on the Warrior roster got at least one hit over the weekend and 10 of the 13 players pitched at least one inning. Thanks to Manager Tom McConnell and Coaches TJ Deutz and Mike Evans for a successful weekend!
Orinda Rebels (11 year olds): The Orinda Rebels (11's) headed up to Citrus Heights knowing they had their work cut out for them as 11 year olds in a 12 and under tournament. In their first game against Piedmont 1, the Rebels broke out with 4 runs in the first and with superb defense and pitching won 5-2. On Sunday in their first game of the day, the Rebels were down 5-0 and then 6-1 before roaring back to tie the game 6-6 in the fifth. In the sixth, the Rebels scored 3 runs and shut the opponent down in the seventh for a 9-6 win. In the second game that day, the Rebels lost 10 - 5 to Moraga 2. With a 2 wins/1 loss record, the Rebels won their bracket and faced the number 1 seed - Moraga 1 - in the Championship Round. A true David vs. Goliath story. With the Orinda 12's, their families and the loyal Rebel's contingency rooting the team on, the Rebels took a 2-0 lead, only to watch the Moraga 1's come back and win the game and eventually the Tournament Championship. Up until this game, Moraga had only given up 2 runs in the 3 previous games they played in the tournament. The Rebels scored 3 runs in their one game against Moraga. Look out for this team next year when they will be 12!!!!! Congratulations to Manager Doug Nelson and Coaches Greg Anderson and Gino Paoletti for a great tournament!
PONY
The Orinda Padres Pony-level team went 2 and 1 at the Seaside Memorial Day Tournament in Monterey. The Padres took a tough loss (6-3) in their opener to Carmel Valley, but rebounded nicely to win the next two games in decisive fashion, beating both Clayton Valley and Morgan Hill handily. Unfortunately, though, other developments in their bracket prevented the Padres from moving into Monday's Championship round. Thank you to Robert Filipas and Jeff Pick for leading the Padres in a great tournament!
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Please take a few minutes to complete the OBA Spring Ball Survey. Your feedback is important in helping us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the OBA program.
Last year's survey helped us identify a need for more communication about Tournament and All Star Team selection, player equipment needs and field prep improvements.
Our goal is to offer a high quality baseball experience for your players and your feedback is critical to helping us do just that! All responses are confidential and we count on your honest feedback.
To take the survey, click on the link below. The survey will close on Sunday, June 17, 2006. Thanks!
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