Notes from the GM'S Office

Players, coaches and parents, I could not be any more proud than I am right now. You all are a very special group. You have lifted my spirits to no end.
A visit in Tampa brought tears to my eyes. I am proud of your dedication on the field and your desire to win. I have followed your progress all the way.
Brandon, hit a few more bombs for me, Mike work hard, Brad fight thru the flu. Hell, all of you just do what you do.
I am feeling better and am getting ready for the big transplant.

Good Luck to you all and I love you all

Peter Greenberg GM

Sitting Pretty

Well in our first game in Fort Myers we were matched back against the Chilidogs. We were out for some revenge. In the top of the 1st we put up a quick 3 runs to put the pressure on them. They responded to top us with 4.  After that it was back and forth but no scoring. It wasn't until the 6th inning when Brandon Murray turned around a 94 mph fast ball from son of former Cy Young winner Steve Bedrosian to give us the lead. Pena pitched out of a bases loaded no out jam to keep us in the lead. Combination of Ronald Pena and ChiChi Gonzalez on the mound worked masterfully. Was a great team victory and a good way to start off the tournament. 

Wednesday we had a double header in the scorching South Florida heat. First game was against the Diamond Pros and I think the heat had gotten to us a little bit. We started off slow and found ourselves behind again. Wouldn't you know Brandon Murray stepped back to the plate with us down by 1 and a runner on. Sure enough he hit another homer. Its starting to get a little ridiculous. We ended up winning 6-4. Our second game was against the Upstate Mavericks. We jumped on them early when Mike Kelly had a two rbi double. After that we kept banging.  They threatened in the 1st inning but Bo gunned down a runner trying to steal third. In the field Sean Murrell played a great shortstop making several nice plays. He also added in a triple that was launched just for giggles. We ended up winning 8-4 to move us to 3-0 and first place in our pool. 

Next game is today at 2:00 at Terry Park against the Orlando Scorpions

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 20-4-2

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

2nd Half of the Roadtrip

Well we are now in Fort Myers after a very long day of traveling. We did however get to make a pit stop at the University of Florida and Coach Bell gave us a great tour and let us see what UF baseball was all about. Then we got back on the road to make it to Fort Myers. First a recap to the Saturday and Sunday games. 

Saturdays game was against a team from Knoxville. We had them up till the 7th when they just started finding holes. Kurt Copeland was lights out for the first 6 but then they got a couple bloop hits that just seemed to find the holes. We ended up tying them but we did put up a little rally in the 7th that ended with Sean Murrell hitting a shot to right field in which their right fielder did, I kid you not, 3 circles while running back and then somehow came down with the ball. Still not sure how he did it. Our Sunday consolation game was against a team from California. We jumped out to an early lead and that was all it would take for Kevin Hanlon, Evan White and Adrian Talton to get the job done. Offensively we were lead by Brandon Murray and Scooter Price who each hit homeruns. That was the fourth for Brandon on the tournament. We ended on a good not and will hopefully carry the momentum into the Fort Myers tournament as we attempt to defend out title. In the first game we get another shot against the Chilidogs which we are all looking forward to. 

On another note. On our way to Fort Myers we were lucky enough to be able to surprise Coach Pete at his brothers house in Tampa as he is having tests done at the Moffitt Center. Tests came back with nothing but good news as all of his counts are better then ever. It  truly was great news to hear and it was great to see Pete. We are all thinking and praying for you Pete.  

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 17-4-2

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

2 Big Wins

This post will be updating you all on the last two games we had. We definitely carried the momentum from our game against the St. Louis Gamers. 

Our first game was against the Zachary Highschool team. They had won back to back to back state championships in  Louisiana. On the mound for us was Michael Kelly and he was in the zone. He ended up throwing a 2 hitter as we won 9-1.  Offensively we were kept quiet for the first 4 innings but then we broke through. It started with Brandon Murray hitting his third homerun of the tournament. In the fifth we added on more when Peyton Walsh led off with a double. After his double we scored 6 in that inning. Then we coasted to a mercy rule at the end of 6 innings. 

In todays game we played a team from Long Island, New York. This was a surprisingly good team as teams from the Northeast usually aren't that good. We came out swinging and were up by 5 at the end of the 2nd. That would prove more then enough for T.J. Farjad who kept them off balance. He got the big outs when he needed to which seems to be the key to pitching. Offensively Chi Chi Gonzalez hit a monster homerun in the 6th to seal the deal for Diamond Vision Elite. Next game is against a team from Knoxville who seems to have some big country strong boys. Should be a good game. 

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 16-4-1

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

Good Win

Yesterday we played the St. Louis gamers in a 3:00 game. They jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but we knew after the Chilidog game that we were gonna come out banging so it was going to take more then one run. In the bottom of the second we started to hear some thunder. In no time at all it came over the mountain and payed a over friendly visit. Within minutes the field was soaked. They decided to reschedule us to another field at 7:00 that night. We went to Ruby Tuesday's as a team and Coach Gero did his best Coach Scrivner (GM of PAL) impersonation and tried to negotiate a better price. He ended up getting us free sodas. A+ for effort coach. When we got to the field we came out of the shoots like a wild ban-chi. We scored 6 in the bottom of the 1st and did not stop there. We ended up winning 15-2 in a 4 inning game due to mercy rule. Highlights of the game were doubles by Michael Stemle, Curt Copeland, and Michael Kelly. Also very impressive was Brandon Murray with his two homeruns the second of which is probably about to land in West Palm Beach right now. It was one of those balls that you see hit and you just go "Oooohhh geeze". It was a bomb. Excellent pitching on the mound by Chi-Chi Gonzalez and Ronald Pena who each wowed scouts as they lit up the radar guns. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into todays game and for the rest of this roadtrip. 

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 14-4-1

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

Just One of Those Days

Yesterday was our first game up here in East Cobb. Not sure if there were nervous jitters but something was going on that didnt allow us to play to our top level. We played a team from Georgia called the Homeplate Chilidogs. This was a team that I and many other players on the team had seen before while playing with the Palm Beach PAL team. Alot of familiar faces along with some new ones. One of the new ones just happened to be standing 6 feet 7 inches in the air. This was their starting pitcher and he was on today. He threw 6 shut out innings before turning the ball over to a pitcher who was throwing 90-93. I think we left our bats in WPB because we couldn't hit anything it seemed like. We finally mustered a run in the 7th but it was far to lat as we lost 6-1 in our opener. 

P.S. Please send wood, think we broke 5 today. (As long as it wasn't Scooter though because Curt and I have a bet on that.)

Diamond Vision 2009 Record 13-4-1

Next game today at 3:00

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton

Anticipation

Well tomorrow is the day when we embark on the long journey up to East Cobb. This was by far my favorite trip of last summer. Even with living out of a suitcase, being away from home for about 2 weeks, and sleeping every night right next to someone else in a hotel bed its still the best because the only thing you have to focus on is baseball and lots of it. We will be going to East Cobb to play in the East Cobb 17u and then heading to Fort Myers for the Perfect Game tournament there. These two tournaments are very heavily scouted and will be great exposure for our team. All of the players will get a lot of good looks. We will have a bullseye on us though as last summer we came in 3rd in East Cobb and won the championship in Fort Myers. Walking to the field in Fort Myers and seeing a banner with 2008 Diamond Vision Elite Champions inscribed on it will give us the extra motivation.

We had practice  Saturday at Mike Kelly Field (really named East Boynton Little League fields but dubbed Mike Kelly field because that is where he dominated in Little League). We had started practice when all of the sudden coach called us all in. He said he had a special guest for us. I turned around then low and behold it was our G.M. Pete Greenberg. This was a very special moment for all of us. This was one of the best surprises any of us could have asked for. I was not expecting at all to see him because I had spoken to him the day before and he had said nothing of it. He then proceeded to give us a Vince Lombardiesque speech to motivate us for this exciting next two weeks. Seeing Pete out at the fields with everything that has gone on with him will give us the motivation to never quit and truly live by our motto...100% no regrets. It was great to see you Pete meant a lot to all of us. You won't be there physically with us but I can guarantee you will be on the minds of all of us. 

Well have to go finish packing now since I have procrastinated greatly and have put it off till the absolute last minute. Will see everyone tomorrow bright and early and then on the road all day.

Thats all sports fans

Jim Holton