Roster is full for the Spring Feeder league play.

Contact Coach Simmons for potential opportunities to join the team for tournament play over the summer (May-July).

Coach Simmons contact information:

404.403.8367

tony3xl@bellsouth.net

Visit our team website at http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=14uyellowjackets

The Sprayberry Feeder team is comprised of players who are no older than 14 yrs old on April 30th 2012 and will attend Sprayberry High School. The Sprayberry Travel/Feeder team will compete in tournaments; as well as, play a full season in the North Georgia Feeder Baseball League in the spring of 2012. The NGFBL is made up of other travel/feeder teams who have players dedicated to a high school district. Players will be facing players they will play against in high school. Play will be conducted at 60/90.

The 14U Jr Jackets are hosting workouts on an ongoing basis until the official tryout, October 22nd and 23rd, 2011. Contact Coach Foust for workout dates and times.

For further information contact Coach Michael Foust at 404-274-1027 or mfoust@familiesfirst.org

The Sprayberry 14u Feeder Baseball team will hold workouts at Shaw Park, 845 Shaw Park Rd Marietta, GA 30066, Ongoing team workouts and individual workouts will be held until a formal tryout in early September at Sprayberry High School. A workout will be held at Shaw Park on Sat. September 3 and Sunday September 4. Please email or call Coach Foust for workout times.

The Sprayberry Feeder team is comprised of players who are no older than 14 yrs old on April 30th 2012 and will attend Sprayberry High School. The Sprayberry Travel/Feeder team will compete in tournaments; as well as, play a full season in the North Georgia Feeder Baseball League. The NGFBL is made up of other travel/feeder teams who have players dedicated to a high school district. Players will be facing players they will play against in high school. Play will be conducted at 60/90.

For further information contact Coach Michael Foust at 404-274-1027 or mfoust@familiesfirst.org

2011/2012 Shaw Park 11U Jackets Tryouts

The 11U Jackets at Shaw Park announce upcoming workouts to strengthen our team for the Fall 2011 / Spring 2012 travel baseball season. The Jackets are a second year team playing out of Shaw Park in Marietta, GA, centrally located in the heart of travel baseball in Cobb County.

The Jackets completed their inaugural single A season with strong USSSA play resulting in a tournament victory in a USSSA Champs Wear the Rings tournament, runner up in USSSA State West Championship and runner up in the inaugural USSSA Final Four Championship.

Our intention is to continue our focus on player and team development by playing at the right competitive level, in the right leagues and tournaments allowing the team to earn and demonstrate play at the AA/AAA level in 2012.

We’re looking for 3-5 players who can challenge our returning group and strengthen key positions on the field. We’d love to see players who are ready to make a transition to more consistent and competitive travel baseball. We’re also looking for those players with travel baseball experience that may not have been given the opportunity to develop in a desired position or get quality playing time in key games or tournament situations.

If you’re a “diamond in the rough” or someone who has been passed over by another team, we’d love to have you work out with us.

Our team is:

* Centrally located to significant travel baseball competition, league play and tournaments
* Offered plenty of lighted field time and facility use for practices, games, hosting tournaments/round robins
* Committed to professional instruction for each player at JCS Sports Training (this year all pitchers were instructed by Stephen, hitting with Casey/Ben, speed & agility with Greg) as well as facility use during inclement weather
* Fall sports friendly – we’ll play a light Fall tournament schedule in Sept/Oct to help transition to the bigger field and focus on position development
* Planning on a World Series type destination tournament to end our 11U season
* Offering player sponsorships for the right player with desired capabilities to reduce/remove any financial barriers to play

Our currently scheduled workouts will be Saturday July 23rd and Saturday July 30th from 8AM-12PM at Shaw Park’s Bronco field. If you have a conflict for either of these sessions, we’re happy to accommodate your schedule. Additional workouts will be planned for early August. Directions to Shaw Park can be found at http://www.shawparkbaseball.com.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at any time. Please send an email or call to let me know if you’re planning on attending a workout.

Thanks!

Doug McClure
Manager, 11U Jackets
coachdoug@jrjacketsbaseball.com
678-561-2288

The 10U Sprayberry Jr Jackets participated in the inaugural USSSA 10U ‘A’ Final Four Championship last weekend finishing their own inaugural season strongly. This unique final four championship format brought together the top four teams (Lanier Longhorns, Crossroads Gladiators, Diamond Kings and Jr Jackets) from the 10U “A” USSSA State tournaments to battle it out in the tough 2 out of 3 series format to establish the ultimate 10U “A” champion in the state of Georgia!

The Jackets had the opportunity to face off in a rematch against the Diamond Kings whom they fell to in the USSSA State West tournament the previous weekend in the two of three state championship series. The Jr Jackets bats were hot in game 1 with 11 hits to the Diamond Kings 4 hits led by Jaiden Lan’s season first home run. Jacob McClure pitched three strong innings giving up only 1 earned run setting up Matthew Nay as the closing pitcher in the 8-6 victory. In game two, the recovering Ethan Rezendes took the mound and pitched 3 stong innings giving up only 1 earned run. Middle reliever Shane Bowles put the ball across the plate and the Diamond Kings rallied to put 6 runs across the plate. Matthew Nay closed things out in the 8-4 loss in which the Jackets left 7 runners on base unable to be hit in in at the right times. In the rubber game of the series, the Jackets brought Jaiden Lan to the mound for one of his few pitching appearances of the season. Jaiden pitched 3 strong innings only allowing 2 earned runs. The Jackets outhit the Diamond Kings scoring 8 runs on 6 hits compared to their 3 runs on 3 hits. Matthew Nay secured the win and the Jackets successfully advanced to the championship series on Sunday.

In the championship series, the Jackets were again presented with the opportunity for a rematch against the Lanier Longhorns whom they played terribly in a previous tournament. The Longhorns hit the ball well in game 1 against the best pitching that Ethan Rezendes and Jaiden Lan could deliver. Costly errors in the Jackets defense and a poor mental approach at the plate cost them in the end of the 11-5 loss. Game two challenged the Jackets team and families on multiple fronts for the first time in 60 games this season. Jacob McClure brought the best pitching of the tournament to the mound and delivered 4 shutout innings all the while with increasingly annoying and distracting “frogs” chanting on the other side of the diamond. The Jackets hit the ball well but were unable to drive runs across the plate leaving 7 runners on the bases preventing much needed insurance runs. Unfortunately the Jackets stellar pitching and defense succumbed to the distractions on the field in the 5th inning and allowed the winning runs to score in the 6-2 loss.

With their heads held high, the Jackets accepted their place in Georgia USSSA travel baseball history as the runners up in the inaugural final four tournaments for the 10U ‘A’ class. They received another USSSA Championship Ring which has to be regarded as the best award a player can receive in youth sports today. The Jackets finished the season ranked as the #3 (out of 55) 10U ‘A’ team in Georgia and the #5 (out of 1,180) 10U ‘A’ team in the USA. The Jackets have far exceeded all of the expectations and goals set for the team this year and look forward to continued success in the Fall and Spring 2012 seasons in 11U baseball!

After walking away with a fifth place showing in USSSA 10U “A” State East tournament last weekend, the Jr Jackets took time to reflect on what they’d accomplished this season. The plan was simple – motivate the team by remembering where they were only a few weeks back, what they’d accomplished and what could still be achieved with a strong finish to the season. Their stats spoke for themselves over their first 48 games as a team together progressing from not being ranked to 18th of 54 in the state and 48th of 1,145 in the country for all USSSA 10U “A” teams.

You see, these boys are truly “diamonds in the rough”. Many times over the past few years they’d been written off by their peers, other coaches and maybe even by themselves over their short baseball history. This group of boys has learned how to lose, learned how to win, and learned how to fight on the baseball diamond to successfully transition from recreational baseball to more competitive travel baseball. They’ve taken their punches, they’ve learned from their losses and they’ve come together as a team that has demonstrated that they have what it takes to win! Fifth place wasn’t something the Jackets were happy with. They knew they could do better. They knew they were champions!

The USSSA State Championship format is no laughing matter. With strict pitching rules in place, going the distance meant first qualifying in the top 50% of the teams during three pool play games just to get to the single elimination bracket. The Jackets started out their journey with Friday night play versus the Dublin Drive where Jacob McClure had a one hit, three inning shutout appearance followed by Shane Bowles and Matthew Nay closing out the 6-3 victory. Saturday pool play continued against local rival Kennesaw Generals. Starting pitcher Nick Popham dished up three innings of one hit, one run baseball followed by Shane Bowles closing out the 9-3 victory. The third pool play game of the tournament pitted the Jackets versus the Cobb Vipers and was the toughest test of the Jackets pitching depth in the tournament to that point. Starting pitcher Ethan Rezendes who had been battling a sore arm all week gave us two thirds of an inning before being relieved by Nate Sullivan. Nate, the crafty lefty, pitched two innings giving up only two earned runs allowing Matthew Starker to close out the 8-6 victory.

The Jackets went 3-0 in pool play successfully advancing to the single elimination bracket and one step closer to the State Championship series. The semi-final bracket brought the top two teams from each pool together to square off on Sunday. The Jackets matched up against pool A’s second seed Forsyth Titans. Jacob McClure took the mound for the Jackets and pitched a complete 5 inning game backed up by error free defense resulting in a 4-3 victory moving the Jackets to the State Championship series!

The State Championship best 2 out of 3 series was now set with the Jr Jackets ready to battle the Diamond Kings for the USSSA State West title. The Jackets came out strong in game one with their disciplined and hot bats resulting in big numbers on the board early providing plenty of run support for starting pitcher Nick Popham. Nick pitched three innings giving up only one earned run. Shane Bowles came in as the closer and pitched three up/three down to secure the 15-3 victory. Game two in the series brought the two tiring teams together again in the hot, Locust Grove sun. The Jackets bats stayed hot with 11 hits compared to the Diamond Kings 3 hits but the previous error free defense began to crack. Matthew Nay had the mound giving up one earned run in four innings of work followed by Shane Bowles closing effort giving up one earned run in the 8-6 loss.

The series now tied 1-1, game three would present the most significant challenge for both teams. With a game time temperature in the upper 90′s, each team had to dig down to find the mental toughness and pitching to win the championship. The Jackets bats didn’t stay hot and only produced 3 runs on 2 hits compared to the Diamond Kings 4 runs on 4 hits. Ethan Rezendes took the mound and was able to battle through two innings giving up only one earned run. Nick Popham (aka “Incredible Hulk”) came back to the mound as the middle reliever and pitched two innings holding the Diamond Kings to 2 unearned runs. The ultimate championship scenario was now set with a 3-3 tie going into the 5th and final inning. Justin Yarish reached in the top of the 5th with a clutch single but was caught stealing 2B in a bang bang play by the Diamond Kings catcher. Shane Bowles wanted to close things out to move to a tie breaker but allowed the winning run to get on base and score in the 4-3 loss.

While the hard fought battle for the State West championship resulted in runners up trophies for the Jackets, Georgia USSSA directors extended an invitation for our team to participate in the inaugural Georgia USSSA 10U “A” Final Four Championship Series to be held next weekend. This unique final four championship format brings together the top four teams from the 10U “A” USSSA State tournaments to battle it out in the tough 2 out of 3 series format to establish the ultimate 10U “A” champion in the state of Georgia! The Sprayberry Jr Jackets are ready for the challenge and opportunity to be the Final Four Champions!

The 10U Sprayberry Jr Jackets increased the heat on the field in Villa Rica with their blazing hot bats, sizzling pitching and scorching defense winning the USSSA Champs Wear the Rings tournament!

The Jackets went 1-1 in pool play defeating the Kennesaw Generals 7-5 and battling the Georgia Academy Red team in a tough 12-8 loss. Entering bracket play as the #5 seed, the Jackets defeated #4 seed Dallas Tigers 10-7 with stellar pitching from Ethan Rezendes and Shane Bowles supported by hot bats top to bottom. In the quarterfinals, hot bats and stellar plate discipline allowed the Jackets to defeat season rival West Cobb White Sox 14-10 with Ryan Hunt pitching a complete game.

The Jackets met the Hard Knock Bats of Alpharetta in the championship game. Captains Ryan Hunt and Karthik Puellella won the coin toss and the Jackets secured home team advantage. Jacob McClure dominated on the mound with 5K’s and 12 first pitch strikes facing only 14 batters in his complete game appearance. Error free defense and the hottest bats of the season led the Jackets to the championship ring winning 19-3 mercy rule victory!

Congratulations to the 10U Sprayberry Jr Jackets!!

Starting at 7pm at Sprayberry High School

Tuesday 2/15 Blessed Trinity vs. FCA Patriots
Wednesday 2/16 Centennial vs. Pope
Thursday 2/17 Sprayberry vs. Allatoona
Friday 2/18 Sprayberry vs. Pope

Saturday 2/19 2pm Milton-Amer. vs. Blessed Trinity
4pm Alpharetta vs. Centennial
6pm Milton-Amer vs. Alpharetta
8pm FCA Patriots vs. Allatoona

Sunday 2/20 8am Seed 1 vs. Seed 8 (plays 4/5 winner at 4pm)
10am Seed 2 vs. Seed 7 (plays 2/6 winner at 6pm)
Noon Seed 4 vs. Seed 5 (plays 1/8 winner at 4pm)
2pm Seed 3 vs. Seed 6 (plays 2/7 winner at 6pm)

4pm 1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner (advance to 8pm Championship Game)
6pm 2/7 winner vs. 3/6 winner (advance to 8pm Championship game)

8pm Championship game

The 13U Group in the Jr Jackets Winter Warm Up tournament this weekend has been posted.

Updated 2/17/11

Come on out and make the Sprayberry Jr Jackets Winter Warm Up your first tournament of the year February 17-20th, 2011. For more information, visit the tournament page to see logistics, format and who’s coming.