LIVE: From the Under Armour Southeast Tournament

Becky Oldham: We're There

For the updated tournament schedule and game results, visit the Team One web site.

Tuesday, June 10 - Day 5

The championship round of the Under Armour Southeast Tournament was underway early Tuesday morning as Diamond Vision Elite defeated the Palm Beach Clippers (18) 2-0 in a close match-up, advancing to the next round. They would face the number one seed, Palm Beach PAL, who had a bye in the first round. Orlando Baseball Academy, the Columbus Explorers and Treasure Coast Young Guns also advanced to the second round. In their first game of the championship round Palm Beach PAL handled Diamond Vision Elite with a 3-0 victory. Their win secured a match against Orlando Baseball Academy to determine who would advance to the championship game. Meanwhile, a very exciting game began to unfold on the neighboring field. In a back and forth match-up, the Columbus Explorers battled the Treasure Coast Young Guns in a game that took them into the 14^th inning. Enforcing the International Tiebreaker Rule , starting the inning with a runner on second base, the Columbus Explores mustered enough offense in the bottom of the 14^th to score the winning run, defeating the Young Guns and advancing to the championship game.

The Explorers would face the winner of another exciting match-up that was underway between the Orlando Baseball Academy and Palm Beach PAL. Orlando jumped to an early lead but Palm Beach staged a rally, coming from behind to defeat the Orlando Baseball Academy 4-3 to advance to the championship. Having thrown a few of their fielders on the way to their 14-inning victory, the Explorers headed into the championship game to face the number one seed Palm Beach PAL. The game proved to be yet another close match-up, but in the end the PAL were able to defeat the Explorers 4-2 to win their first ever Under Armour Southeast Tournament.

Despite the inclement weather, the Under Armour Southeast Tournament was a success. Over the course of the five day event 30 college coaches and six Major League Organizations were in attendance. Even though the rain cut the game play short, our staff worked hard to ensure teams were still able to get quality games in. Thanks to all the players, parents and coaches; the tournament could not have continued without your patience. Special thanks also goes out to the Roger Dean Staff for keeping the fields in such great condition throughout the tournament and for accommodating the daily changes to the schedule. Next year let’s hope for better conditions!


Monday, June 8 - Day 4

Despite the fourth straight morning of clear skies and the anticipation of a full day of baseball, the forecast for Jupiter, Florida remained grim. Local forecasts were again calling for a chance of severe thunderstorms, though by now we had just come to expect rain anytime after noon. On a positive note, considering the amount of rainfall that occurred over the three days thus far, the fields at Roger Dean were in immaculate condition. This allowed for games to begin at 8:30 a.m. and like the previous day, games that were in progress Sunday afternoon when the storm hit were scheduled to resume at this time slot. Utilizing all eight of the available fields on both sides of the complex, the previously interrupted games were completed. In an effort to get in as many games as possible a new time limit was set at an hour and a half, as opposed to the originally set two-hour time limit per game. The second round of games was completed in time to start the third round at approximately 11:30 a.m. Then the rain came. By now the first sign of rain was enough to send the fans running for cover, and for good reason. However, unlike previous days, this storm cleared up and the sun reappeared. Pending field conditions, games were set to resume at 5:00 p.m.

By 5:00 two fields looked more suitable for a swim than a baseball game, their condition would remain unplayable for the rest of the evening. The grounds crew worked to make the other six field’s game ready as more dark clouds loomed in the distance. Those with Doppler radar could see the large cells in the area and once again we prepared for Mother Nature. Despite the threatening skies games got underway around 7:00 p.m. To our luck, finally, the storms did not pass over Roger Dean and we were able to complete 15 games before the night was out. Due to the complexity of the schedule and the amount of games completed as a result of the weather, the championship round was reformatted. All teams were seeded within their pool, with the top seed advancing to a single elimination championship round Tuesday. The nine teams to secure championship round seeds were:

Palm Beach PAL
Columbus Explorers
Florida Hardballers
All American Prospects
Orlando Baseball Academy
Treasure Coast Young Guns
Palm Beach Elite
Diamond Vision Elite
Palm Beach Clippers 18

For teams who did not advance to the championship round, consolation games were set for Tuesday morning on the available fields.


Sunday, June 7 – Day 3
As a result of the heavy rain on both Friday and Saturday, today’s schedule was booked full from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to get as many games played as possible. Any games that were in progress Saturday afternoon and interrupted by the storms were rescheduled for the 8:30 a.m. round on Sunday. Team Mizuno, the Atlanta Blue Jays, Palm Beach Clippers 16, Triple Threat Baseball, South Florida Snappers Green, Treasure Coast Young Guns, Palm Beach Select and Florida Raiders all returned to the field to secure a win. All other games began immediately following the make-ups, and the skies stayed blue into the early afternoon. Around 3:00 p.m., with games in progress, violent storms hit the Roger Dean Complex for the third straight day. Rain poured relentlessly until the remainder of the games had to be called off.

To stay up-to-date with the new game schedule for Monday, June 8, check Team One Baseball’s website at www.teamonebaseball.com.


Saturday, June 6 – Day 2:
Day Two began with as equal promise as the first day of the tournament. Blue skies and sunshine greeted the families and friends who flowed through the gates to support their teams. More coaches and scouts showed up to find prospects for their programs. In order to fit as many of Friday’s games in as possible, Saturday’s first round of games kicked off at 8:30 a.m. A packed schedule of games was set to follow, with the last scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. In a late morning game that drew much attention from coaches and scouts on hand, the Columbus Explorers took on the Orlando Scorpions. The Explorers scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 7-3 in their favor. Columbus would go on to defeat the Scorpions 8 – 3.

In another morning game across the complex, a walk followed by a single kicked off a big inning for the Baseball Factory Navy. Capitalizing on a few of the Florida Raiders’ errors, the Baseball Factory Navy was led by outfielder, New Jersey native, Joseph D’Annunzio and a third baseman/catcher out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tanner Ashcraft. Their efforts were enough to lead the Baseball Factory Navy team to a 5 – 3 victory. Other teams who emerged victorious from the Saturday morning games included the St. Thomas Raiders, the Columbus Explorers, the Florida Hardballers and the Atlanta Blue Jays. But as the Atlanta Blue Jays took the field for their second game of the day, dark clouds loomed in left field. Though the Jays were able to build a 4-0 lead through two and a half innings, the rain began to fall hard on the Roger Dean Complex for the second straight day. Unfortunately for the players, the storm was even more powerful than Friday’s and the fields were under water. Inches of rain accumulated, resulting in all remaining games being postponed.

Look for tournament play to resume Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Let’s just hope for sunshine and blue skies!


Friday, June 5 – Day 1:
Day One of the Under Armour Southeast Tournament, powered by Team One Baseball in Jupiter, Florida began with sunny skies and high hopes. The first tournament games kicked off just before noon at the Roger Dean Sports Complex. This year’s tournament promised to be a thrilling one, with 45 teams scheduled to participate over the five day event. The air was filled with excitement as the games got under way Friday at the Spring Training home of the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, with 23 college coaches and 6 pro affiliates in attendance. A few of the teams to enjoy early victories were the Columbus Explorers, the Bomber Bruins, the Palm Beach PAL and the Palm Beach Clippers 18U. Unfortunately, the first day was abruptly halted, as dark clouds opened over the complex and emptied enough rain to halt the schedule until 7:00 p.m. Games were set to resume, and the Gardens Gators and Treasure Coast Young Guns began play, until Mother Nature responded with another round of storms. As Day 1 concluded in a wash-out, games were pushed back to a packed Saturday schedule.


Becky Oldham is the Marketing Associate at Baseball Factory. Becky started with Baseball Factory at the end of 2008.

LIVE: From the USA 16U Baseball Championships part 2

Dave Lax: We're There

A winning trend has started for the Baseball Factory team! Baseball Factory took out the 2006 USA 16U Baseball Champion All-American Prospects Red. The Baseball Factory came away with their third victory in a row at the USA 16U Baseball Championships East. As the visiting team, the offense wasted no time as they loaded the bases in the 1st inning. With two outs, Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, NJ) came through with a 2-RBI single to left. Two batters later, Mike Ford (Belle Meade, NJ) scored the 3rd run on a passed ball.

After shutting down the Prospects in the bottom of the inning, Baseball Factory's offense got back to work in the 2nd. Patrick Martin (Bassett, VA) started things off with a double. He eventually would score after an overthrown pick-off attempt and a fielder's choice. With a runner on 1st, Denzel Campbell (College Park, GA) hit an RBI double down the left field line, putting the Factory up 5-0.

For the rest of the game, Baseball Factory continued to get on base, but were unable to get anyone across the plate. However, the story continues to be Baseball Factory’s pitching. Mark Williams (Vienna, VA) and Harrison Musgrave (Notter Fort, WV) pitched four innings and three innings respectively. Both shut down the Prospects throughout the game, scattering hits while striking out seven batters (Williams 2, Harrison 5). Our defense was also solid behind them, with only one error throughout the entire game. There were also two outstanding plays made in the field - a diving catch in left field by Campbell and a heads up double play by Sean Hagen (Reading, PA) behind the dish. The Factory won the game by a final score of 5-1.

Baseball Factory will take on the 7th overall seeded Virginia Mavericks at 8 AM on Thursday.

THIS JUST IN: Baseball Factory upended the #7 Mavericks 8-2 in the first game of the day. A full recap will come in later today. Our next game is at 5 PM.

Update: (3:00PM)
Same Old Story

Once again, the bats came alive and the pitching stayed strong as Baseball Factory beat the 7th seeded Virginia Mavericks, 8-2. Michael Bradshaw (Crestwood, NY) pitched a solid 3 innings, giving up just one run and recording two strikeouts.

The offense got going in the 4th, when Joseph McCrary (Stone Mountain, GA) led off the inning with a double to right. The next batter, Mike Ford (Belle Mead, NJ) reached first base on a throwing error by the second baseman, which would also score McCrary. After a single by Denzel Campbell (College Park, GA), Anthony Bowman (Damascus, MD) hit a sacrifice fly to score Ford and Baseball Factory went up 2-1.

Andrew Chin (Newton, MA) came into pitch in the top of the 4th inning. The Mavericks came up with a tying run, but stranded two to keep the game tied at 2-2.

Andrew Green (Mt. Juliet, TN) terrorized the base paths to start off the 5th inning. He reached 1st and advanced to second on a throwing error and would later take 3rd on a passed ball. After a walk by Chad Miller (Angleton, TX), McCrary beat out an infield hit and scored Green from 3rd. Miller would later score from 3rd when Mike Ford hit into a double play. After the 5th inning, Baseball Factory had a 4-2 lead.

Chin came back with two more great innings. He ended his day pitching three innings, giving up one run and striking out three.

Still leading 4-2 at the top of the 7th inning, the Baseball Factory team took advantage of some Mavericks errors and had some timely hitting. Baseball Factory added 4 runs in part by McCrary's RBI single to center, Ford's RBI triple to the right center gap and Trevor Larson's (Northbridge, MA) RBI single to left.

With the score 8-2 going into the bottom of the 7th, Mike Ford came in to close the game. After a couple harmless hits, Ford shut out the Mavericks to give Baseball Factory its 4th victory in a row, 8-2.

Baseball Factory is now 1 out of 16 teams still fighting for the championship. Remember this tournament started with 72 teams! Wish us luck as we play again today at 5pm!

LIVE: From the USA 16U Baseball Championships

Dave Lax: We're There

Greetings from Florida!

The Baseball Factory has brought together 16 top players from 11 different states to compete in the USA Baseball 16U Championships in Jupiter, Florida. After our Friday afternoon practice was rained out (a reoccurring theme as you will see), our first game began the following morning versus South Florida Baseball Blue. After spending only a few hours together, the Baseball Factory was down 6-0 after 5 innings. After persistent rain, our game was officially called and we took our first loss of the tournament.

Game 2 versus the Southwest Florida Underclassmen began Sunday afternoon after a brief lightening delay. With the game tied 2-2 at the top of the 5th inning, a lightening bolt struck VERY close to our field and was followed by another heavy downpour. Our game was suspended for the day and we resumed play early Monday morning. Losing some of the momentum we had from the day before, Baseball Factory took its second loss of the tournament, giving up a winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning.

But it was evident that this team was starting to gel. Later that day, the bats came alive versus the Proway Colt 45’s. Along with strong pitching performances, the team earned its first victory, 8-2. They kept the offense going Tuesday morning, as they beat the Florida Bombers 8-6.

The Baseball Factory team is now at .500 and looking to win their third straight. With more time together on the field this team is only getting better. Timely hitting and overpowering pitching has kept us in every game.

Check back for more updates from Jupiter and the USA 16U Baseball Championships.

LIVE: From the Under Armour Southeast Regional Wood Bat Tournament - Day 4

Dave Lax: We're There

Elimination Day is here and some teams as expected moved onto the final day of play while other teams had some surprises for the entire tournament. Upset was the name of the game in the first set of games. Although the teams that were playing were only a few seeds apart it seemed that the team with the lower seed kept on winning. The Florida Pokers took out the always dangerous Atlanta Blue Jays 3-2 in a great game. The Florida Pokers went on to beat the #2 overall seed All American Prospects Red team 4-2.

Most of the big names in the tournament held true to form as they moved easily into Day 2 of elimination. Chet Lemon’s Juice beat a stingy Treasure Coast Young Guns squad 3-0 to advance. The All American Prospects Navy avenged an early pool play loss to the Broward Mavericks to move into the final eight. Line Drive Baseball had the most convincing win blanking the Pirates Prospects. The Palm Beach PAL dispatched of the Baseball Factory Red team 10-2 after the Baseball Factory Red edged out their counterpart Baseball Factory Navy in the first round of games.

The big surprise of the day was the upset of #1 overall seed DiamondVision Elite. The Palm Beach Clippers who were a #17 seed took out the top seed in the tournament with a 3-2 win. So as it turned out both teams that were undefeated lost their opening game and were eliminated from the tournament along with 14 other teams.

We look forward to our final day of the 2008 Under Armour Southeast Regional Tournament. Who will be playing at the stadium at the Roger Dean Sports Complex? Who will take home the crown? Will it be a top seed or one of the many underdogs?

Check back tomorrow for a recap of the entire event.

LIVE: From the Under Armour Southeast Tournament - Day 3

Dave Lax: We're There

The stage has been set. The seeds have been assigned. It is now time for the elimination portion of the Under Armour Southeast Regional Wood Bat Tournament. After another intense day of baseball all 24 teams now know who they will face in the first round or if their hard work was enough to earn a first round bye.

We finished the round robin portion of the tournament with three undefeated teams. The top two seeds going into the single elimination bracket are the DiamondVision Elite and the All American Prospects – Red. They enter the next round as the #1 and #2 seeds respectively with 3-0-1 records. DiamondVision kept their perfect record intact by coming back in the last inning to tie the Line Drive Baseball team. The All American Prospects – Red finished the round robin play by winning three straight games after tying their first.

After tying DiamondVision Elite in their first game of the day, the Line Drive Baseball team sent a message to the rest of the field in the second game by dismantling the #23 seeded Hitaway Prospects 11-3. At 2-0-2, Line Drive Baseball earned themselves the #3 seed edging out the four 3-1 teams.

The three “powerhouses” of the tournament Freshwater Storm, Chet Lemon’s Juice and All American Prospects – Navy all finished 3-1. The Storm lost its bid for a perfect 4-0 record at the hands of the All American Prospects – Navy in the days’ first round of games. The Prospects came out on all cylinders winning easily 7-0.

Only time will tell who will become this year’s champion. Will it be the #1 seeded Elite team? Will the Juice prevail to capture their second straight title or will one of the other 22 teams get hot and bring home the championship. We will soon find out as elimination play starts tomorrow morning.

Check back for all the updated tournament information.

Click Here to check out the elimination bracket.

LIVE: From the Under Armour Southeast Tournament: Day Two

Dave Lax: We're There

Sunday has always meant big time sporting event finals. Golf has its championships for most tournaments on Sundays. Tennis’ Grand Slams have their fortnight of action conclude with the championship on Sunday. Football is played on Sunday. However for the second day of play at the Under Armour Southeast Regional Wood Bat Tournament Sunday only meant the second of three days of round robin play. This was an important day for teams looking to fortify their standing in the tournament. 16 more games took place today as the field started to take form heading into Tuesday’s elimination portion of the tournament.

Going into Day Three there will be three undefeated teams. Team DeMarini out of Texas fought hard with the Miami Pokers to win 6-4 and improve to 2-0. They were fuelled by back to back homeruns by catcher Drew Benefield and shortstop Victor Guerra. However, Team DeMarini will have its hands full tomorrow with a double header including match-ups with the Hitaway Prospects and the Miami Fat Cats.

The Freshwater Storm still stand as the team to beat with a 3-0 record. Today the Storm took down the 2007 Under Armour Southeast Regional Wood Bat Champion, Chet Lemon’s Juice. The game was the most exciting one of the day coming down to the final half inning. Both teams showed that they had offense putting up 15 total runs, but it wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh that the Storm’s true character appeared. Faced with a two run deficit the Storm came up with the determination and “never say die” attitude to push across three runs and take the win to stay perfect in the tournament.

The final undefeated team is Line Drive Baseball which went into their day with a 0-0-1 record. They took out the Florida Pokers in the first round of games today to improve to 1-0-1.

With hundreds of spectators in attendance and over 40 college coaches and pro scouts scouring the fields every play and every game is important. As we get closer to the elimination round and the seedings start to take shape, we look forward to what Day Three has in store.

Click here to see the full updated scores.

Check back tomorrow for a Day Three update and the bracket for the elimination round.

LIVE: From the Under Armour Southeast Tournament

Dave Lax: We're There

With temperatures hitting the mid 90s and high humidity in the air it can only mean one thing: Jupiter, FL. It is that time of year again when the top travel teams come from all over the southeastern part of the United States to compete for the title of Under Armour Southeast Regional Wood Bat Champion. 24 teams take the stage at the Roger Dean Sports Complex in Jupiter, the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals. In only its second year, the event has already made a name and reputation for itself. There was a 15 team waiting list to even enter this year’s tournament.

Scouts and college coaches were out in force to hopefully find the next Tim Beckham, 2008 #1 overall draft pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in this years Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Tim dazzled at this very same tournament one year ago and his team the Atlanta Blue Jays are back. The Blue Jays bring a strong team again this year with standout players like Braxton Lane who will be competing in this year’s Under Armour All-America Game, powered by Baseball Factory, held on August 17 at Wrigley Field. With each team playing four games in the first three days of this tournament, which is also the round robin portion of the event, teams were looking to get off to a quick start.

The Freshwater Storm made the first noise of the day with an 11-2 victory over the Broward Mavericks. They later went on to win their second game of the day improving to 2-0 with a win against the Columbus Explorers. However, the Storm was not the only hot team on this day. The Baseball Factory Red team proved to be a force in this tournament. Baseball Factory Red won their first game with a 4-1 margin over the Palm Beach PAL. In their second contest of the day a close game was broken wide open in the top half of the last inning when the Baseball Factory Red put up eight runs against the Pompano Beach Post 142 to cruise in with their second victory.

In one of the highly anticipated match-ups of the tournament the Atlanta Blue Jays took on the All-American Prospects Navy. With three Under Armour All-Americans between the two competing teams and a former Cape Cod High School Classic participant there was no shortage of talent on the field. The game did not live up to the hype as a pitching and defensive battle took center stage until the Prospects pushed a few runs across in back to back innings taking the win 7-0. However, the game must have taken its toll because the very next game the Prospects played they lost to the Broward Mavericks.

As we look forward to Day 2 we can only hope that there is more great baseball to come from Jupiter. Check back in tomorrow as we continue to recap the highlights from the tournament.