Northport Nationals

 Northport Nationals Advance to the Regional Championship Game!

             The 7YO Nationals opened their season Saturday with a victory over WalkerCounty.  Northport traveled to face WalkerCounty in the hot summer Alabama heat where the temperatures were pressing near 100 degrees and the heat index over 100!  The Nationals wearing their white jerseys with royal blue lettering and white pants with royal piping were settling in for their first game of the 2009 All-Star season!

            The coaches met next to first base as they shook hands with each other and the umpires.  The umpires went over a few basic rules then flipped the coin, as the Nationals coach calls heads.  The coin flips upward about two feet over the umpires head before tumbling down on the hard dusty field.  The coin lands tails up, the WalkerCounty coach selects home.  Both coaches shake hands one last time and tell each other good luck before heading back to their dugouts to give their final last words of encouragement to their teams before hitting the field.  WalkerCounty came out swinging their first time at the plate where they sent 7 batters to the plate and scoring 4 runs.  Going into the bottom half of the inning, the Nationals were trailing 4 to 0.  The Nationals added 7 runs in the bottom half of the inning and shutting down WalkerCounty the rest of the game only giving up 1 more run.  The Nationals claim their first victory 22 to 5!

            The Nationals had to play a double header later in the afternoon.  During their downtime many of the parents brought fruits, drinks and high protein snacks for the boys on this hot summer day!  They had to wait about two and a half hours before their next game against LimestoneCounty began.  LimestoneCounty came off the field with their first victory of the day moving them one step closer to the championship game on Tuesday.  Limestone beat Jasper scoring 20+ runs and holding them under 6.

            As mid afternoon was closing in, the Nationals were beginning to make their way to a vacant field in order to get ready for game two where the coaches talked to the boys about this afternoon’s game plan, fundamentals of the game and to remain focused.  After a twenty minute rest, the team made their way back to the batting cage to begin warming up for game two.

            LimestoneCounty was on the opposite side warming up preparing for their second game of the afternoon.  Both coaches met at home plate where the umpires were ready to flip the coin and get the game started.  The umpire made the flip as the Nationals called tails. The coin flips up over the umpires head before slamming down on the dusty field.  The Nationals lost the coin toss and LimestoneCounty elected to take the field.

            The Nationals came out strong sending ten batters to the plate and scoring seven runs to open the game.  LimestoneCounty was not fazed with Northport’s seven runs they added in the top half of the inning.  Limestone sent eight batters to the plate scoring 4 runs.  After one, the Nationals lead 7 to 4!  The Nationals tacked on 6 more runs in the second after sending 11 batters to the plate.  After two innings of play, the Nationals lead 13 to 4!  The Nationals came to bat in the third inning only scoring one run while LimestoneCounty scored 5 runs and closing the gap at 13 to 9 after three.  The Nationals sent 11 batters to the plate in the 4^th scoring 7 runs!  Limestone managed to score two more runs over the next two innings.  Northport won the game 20 to 11 advancing them into a head to head matchup with the Northport Americans!

            The Nationals faceoff with the Northport Americans Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.   The winner will play Tuesday for the Regional Championship game!

Northport Nationals vs. Limestone County

Regional Championship Game 

            As The Regional Championship game was set to begin Tuesday afternoon, both teams were slowing filling the parking lot.  When I arrived there were no cars in the parking lot, nobody around the fields.  It was a quiet, hot afternoon in Alabama where two teams were about to faceoff for a Regional Championship.  LimestoneCounty players, coaches and parents arrived fifteen to twenty minutes earlier than most of the Northport kids.  Limestone wearing their maroon jerseys was taking batting practice on one of the park’s 4 fields.  Their coaches were having a full practice for their kids as the Nationals were slowing trickling in preparing for game 4.

            As game time was slowing approaching, you could hear the excitement around the park!  The Nationals wearing their royal blue Under Armor jerseys trimmed in white piping, a tiffany N trimmed in white on the front of their jerseys, and only showing their number which was in black with tiffany font and trimmed in white on the back of the jerseys.  All the boys were ready to play ball!

            The players took the field and jogged out to left field where they began their 8 minute stretch routine led by Coach LeRone and our pitcher Trace Hannah.  Once the stretching was over, they began warming up with their partners.

            Once the game was near both teams were in the dugout making their final preparations for today’s matchup.  Limestone needing to win game one in order to force a 2^nd game had plenty of confidence after winning their last three games to get to the championship game.  Their fans, their players and their coaches were rocking as play began.  The Nationals went to bat sending only five batters to the plate and being shutout in the first inning of play!  Limestone had the advantage coming up to bat for their first time.  Limestone’s first two batters reached base before the Nationals held them scoreless.  After the first inning, the score was locked up at zero to zero!  The fans on both sides were rocking, cheers from both stands were rumbling through the park as the Nationals came up to bat in the second inning.  The Nationals sent all 11 batters to the plate scoring 7 runs; Limestone County was held scoreless in the 2^nd inning.  After two, the Nationals led 7 to zero.  The Nationals added three more runs in the 3^rd inning, pushing their lead to ten runs.  LimestoneCounty came out fighting in the third inning sending 11 batters to the plate scoring 5 runs to close the gap.  The Nationals added 7 more in the 4^th inning and 5 more in the 5^th inning to seal up the Regional Championship game.  Northport won 22 to 7 capping off a four game weekend!

            The next tournament for the Nationals will be the weekend of July 4^th in Gardendale where they will compete for the Alabama State Dizzy Dean State Championship trophy!  Go Nationals, bring home the state trophy!

            The Northport Nationals wrapped up practice yesterday on a very hot and humid afternoon. Temperatures soared into the upper 90’s and the heat index climbed well over 100 degrees. The Nationals had a successful practice despite the high temperatures and humidity. The kids played hard and never let up! Many of the kids stayed around after the 2 plus hour practice to play with friends and family.

One of our team mom's wanted to share these photos with everyone!  You can view the photos at the following link!

Photo's by T. Stout

http://picasaweb.google.com/dlestes/NorthportNationals2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCK6F7YCZ3-7dmAE&feat=directlink

Another DATE CHANGE FOR OUR REGIONAL TOURNAMENT!

          Our Regional Tournament has been set! We will begin play June 20^th in Adamsville where we will compete for one of three regional championship trophies. We will be playing with eight other teams: Albertville, East Walker #1, East Walker #2, Jasper, Limestone County #1, Northport Americans, Northport Nationals and Walker County. More information on the date and time we play should be available after Saturday’s credentials meeting in Hayden.

Click Here

Logan's grandfather took several photos of tonight's practice before the rain set in.  You can view the photos at the following link!  Thanks Richard for sharing such great photos with us!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dlestes/NorthportNationalsPracticeII?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7ijJbp-tTr_gE&feat=directlink

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

          It's that time of year again!  Spring baseball is over, the tournaments have all wrapped up, schools are out and all star season is starting out with a slam!  We have our roster filled with 11 very talented boys.  I look forward to this opportunity to coach these boys during this all star break.  I'm excited about this experience and time that we will share with each other over the next two months.  This is a very exciting time for these young boys as well and a wonderful experience and learning opportunity for all of them.  During this time, the coaching staff and I will strive to teach them as much baseball as we possibly can.  We will also strive to teach them the importance of sportsmanship during the next two months as well.

          We will spend many weekends away from home in our travels playing other teams from around the southeast.  It's important that we show class and sportsmanship during this time.  Let's all rally around these boys and get them ready to play ball!

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009