Long Recap

My apologies for taking so long in between posts. I had to go out of town for orientation but now I am back.  Now for the recap of the rest of the FAU tournament. 

In our second game we played the Team Mizuno Black Racers. Was a good game against an opponent with many 2009 graduates who were going onto play college ball at very respected universities. On the mound for them was a pitcher who was drafted and was signed to play for the Georgia Bulldogs. We ended up winning 4-1. Doubles by Orlando Hernandez and Scooter Price paved the way for us. On the mound we were led to victory by Mike Kelly, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Adrian Talton and then Kurt Copeland came in to seal the deal. Of course, just like it seems all of our other games this summer, we had an hour rain delay as the infamous South Florida afternoon thunder storms rolled through. This win guaranteed our number one seed in the tournament so we got a bye in the first round of the playoffs and went straight to the semifinals. 

In the semifinals we played the South Florida Prospects which is a local team with many players we know. This helped us with the scouting reports. Brad Gero and Kurt Copeland combined to throw a 3 hitter and only game up one run. We ended up winning 8-1 and were on our way to the championship game.

In the championship game we were matched against the Florida Bombers, a team with a very profound reputation for getting the best baseball players in South Florida. On the mound for us was T.J. Farjad. It was one of those games where it seemed like no matter how good of a pitch you threw or where u put it they were going to hit it and find a hole. Hats off to T.J. for not giving in and keeping his cool. They jumped out to 6-0 lead but we did not stop fighting. With the help of some good at bats and some timely hits we ended up fighting back to 7-4 but falling short of the Bombers. The team showed great poise and fight in this game. Sometimes though the balls just don't seem to drop your way. Second place was what we had to settle for. Congratulations to Orlando Hernandez, Michael Stemle and Sean Murrell for making the all tournament team.

Now we have a little break from baseball in preparation for the East Cobb tournament. 

On another note today is a very special day, it is Fathers Day. Without our fathers (much like our mothers) we would not be where we are today. Whether he taught you how to play the game or just really didn't want you to play soccer our fathers have been inspirational in our now very young baseball careers. I know some of us don't always fully appreciate our dads but today we should take the time to let them know just how special they are to us. Also would like to say something how Coach Pete's dad. Our team last year wore the initials WHG on our sleeves and for the longest time we never knew what they were for. It wasn't until half way through the summer did we actually know what it was about. They are in honor of Coach Pete's father who has passed away. I have heard nothing but stories but from what I've heard he sounded like an incredible man. He had to be a hell of a man just by judging by how Coach Pete is because you truly are a product of your parents. Happy Fathers day to all the dads.

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 12-3-1

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

Mother Nature continued to be relentless during the Team One tournament and we continued to get pounded by rain. The skies cleared for us on Tuesday and we were able to start the playoffs. In our first game we played the Palm Beach Clippers. We ended up scoring one in the first and thats all it would take as T.J. Farjad threw an unbelievable game. We ended up beating a future 6th round draft pick of the Washington Nationals as the pitcher was taken in this years MLB draft. Was a well played game as neither team made many mistakes. With one game down on tuesday we would need 3 more to win it all. 

In the second game we played Palm Beach County PAL again. To say they were ready for the rematch would be an understatement. They came out with an enthusiasm and intensity that I had never seen out of them. Their pitcher threw an unbelievable game. When we did hit that ball hard it seemed like it would go right at someone. We ended up losing the game 3-0 and were very disappointed. Hats off to PAL though they played an unbelievable game and went onto win the championship. Congrats to them.

We had a nice long break between the Team One tournament and the FAU tournament...one day. We played Thursday morning against the bombers. We ended up blowing them out 11-0. The first couple innings were much like taking your kid to the carnival...you just kept putting another quarter in the marry-go-round. It seemed like every hitter got on and then went from first to second to third and then scored. On the mound Brad Gero and Curt Copeland threw a very good game as the Bombers couldn't even get a runner past third. All around a very good game. Team played together with a lot of enthusiasm and really seemed to be enjoying the game of baseball. Now time for the second game of the FAU tournament. 

Next game Friday 5:00 at FAU.

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 9-2-1

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

Cheap Shot at The GM!!

Well, I see that you compliment a guy for a job well done and he throws clay in your face. As soon as I am healthy I am taking the Interim ( and I stress interim) Coach out behind the barn and giving a piece of my mind!!
I am most definatly proud of the way this group is gelling. Coach Gero has given me great updates and Jim has helped also. It feels good to be home albeit I am exhausted. The comfort of my own digs is big time good.
Lets win this thing and move on to the next event at FAU.

Peter G
GM
Bad BP Guy!!

Long Over Due

My apologies for not updating the blog. It has been awhile so I'm going to update everyone on what has happened this week. 

First we scrimmaged the West Palm Dirtbags on tuesday night. This is a team that is filled with players who played on the Hammertime team which was Coach Pete's team several years ago. All of the players on the Dirtbags are now in various colleges playing ball. Game started off well for Diamond Vision. The old saying is patience is a virtue and we showed that in the first inning. We made the opposing pitcher work and ended up squeezing out a run in the first to take an early lead. We ended up scoring 5 overall as we exploded in the third. Offensively we were led by Mike Kelly and Brad Gero who each collected a pair of hits. The pitching continued to be outstanding for Diamond Vision as we did not allow a hit till the 5th inning which was very impressive while facing this team filled with college hitters. On the mound was Michael Kelly, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Kurt Copeland, Orlando Hernandez, and Brad Gero. This proved to be a good tune up game as we were heading into this weekends Team One tournament. Final score was Diamond Vision 5 Dirtbags 2.

Our first game was saturday against the Florida Snappers, we were supposed to play Friday bur mother nature had other plans for us. It was an early game being at 8:30. It took a little while for our bats to get woken up as their lefty baffled us for the first 5 innings but then we exploded for 6 to take a commanding lead. Don't want to sound like broken record but once again our pitching was very very dominate. Michael Kelly, Brad Gero and T.J. Farjad were next to unhittable on the hill as the Snappers could only manage to come up with two hits. There were many offensive highlights but the main one was Scooter Price taking a fastball over the left field fence for a 2 run homerun in the 7th inning to ice the cake for Diamond Vision. 

The second game of the day was against Baseball Factory. These games are usually interesting because you never quite know what your opponent is going to be like because they are just players put together for that tournament. This game ended up being another dominate win for Diamond Vision as we won 6-1. On the bump was Kurt Copeland and Adrian Talton. They combined to throw a 3 hitter. One of those hits however was a moon shot to the 5 hole hitter. From what I hear many people think the ball is still traveling, but its ok Adrian you just wanted to make the other team feel good by giving them a run, very noble of you. 

Sunday's game was against the Palm Beach Select. Their pitcher proved to be next to unhittable for us. I would compare their pitchers velocity to that of whatever Coach Pete's velocity would be while throwing batting practice (I can assure you Pete hasn't thrown batting practice in a very very long time.) Their pitcher proved the age old tale that its not how hard you throw it, but where you throw it. We ended up tieing the game at 1-1 as extra innings are not allowed during pool play in order to keep everything flowing well. 

We were then supposed to play at 3:30 which was going to be our make up game from friday, but once again Mother Nature just didn't want it to happen. So the game has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 2:00, hopefully Mother Nature won't mind letting us squeeze this one in.

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 7-1-1

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton