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LOOKOUT COOPERSTOWN -- THE STARS ARE IN TOWN!!
"When you wish a upon a star your dreams come true." The 12U team has been wishing on a star and their dream has come true - they have arrived in Cooperstown, NY. Make sure to check out our sponsors page by clicking above.
Friday, afternoon many of the families ventured to downtown Cooperstown to check out the sites and do a little shopping. Early check in on Friday was like organized mass confusion with what appeared to be about 700 boys and their parents and coaches moving them in to their barracks. The staff at the Dreamspark do a great job with the checking in process.
If we thought Friday was organized mass confusion then Saturday night opening ceremonies could be described as organized chaos. With 96 teams of boys, coaches, parents and grandparents in the stands and on the field it was quite a site. The grandparents in attendance had a special reserved section and were given t-shirts that were made just for them. The American Flag and 2 Cooperstown Dreamspark Flags were brought in by three skydivers who appeared to be at least 65-70 years old. The procession of teams was quite exciting as everyone cheered for their team and the teams from their state. Everyone stood and honored the playing of first the Canadian National Anthem for the one Canadian team in attendance and then the singing of our National Anthem. Then it was off to the skills competitions. The Stars did not win any of these but competed well. The biggest request the boys have had to this point has been "more blankets" because on their first night they all got cold -- shutting windows would have helped!Game 1 against the Penn Township Warriors brought a 15-1 win for the Stars. The first batter of the game, Bradley Jackson put one over the centerfield fence to score what was the 1st of the 15 runs scored by the Stars. In the second inning of the game, Dylan Rackley hit a home run to score 2 more runs. Every player on the team except one got a hit in game one. As each player got their first hit at Cooperstown, a new ball was placed in the game by one of the Stars’ coaches and the player’s parents were presented their ball. Other hits included a double by Bradley Jackson and Trevor Hayworth, 3 singles by Chase Roupp, 2 singles by Collin Watson, David Williams and Brennan Beck and singles by Jordan Braswell, Spenser Davis, Keith Williams and Dylan Rackley. Bradley Jackson got the win striking out 4 batters in 2 innings followed by more great pitching by David Williams and Brennan Beck. In the 3rd inning the trio of Brennan Beck, Spenser Davis and Jordan Braswell turned a double play and in the 5th inning Spenser Davis, Bradley Jackson and Jordan Braswell turned another awesome double play to end the game.
Game 2 against the Norcross Blue Devils brought a 9-5 loss for the Stars. The Blue Devils came out swinging the bats hard scoring 6 runs in the first three innings before the Stars got on the board with a homerun by Bradley Jackson. The Blue Devils scored another 3 runs before the Stars put 4 more runs on the board in the 5th inning. With Eric Norville’s single he received his Cooperstown game ball. Other hits in the 2nd game were singles by Chase Roupp, Jordan Braswell, Trevor Hayworth, David Williams, Spenser Davis and Keith Williams. Pitching for the Stars in game 2 were Keith Williams, Chase Roupp and Brennan Beck.
Monday brought hot humid weather as the Stars took the field as the home team against the Utah Legend. What an exciting game this was starting with Bradley Jackson’s first inning first pitch homerun over centerfield to be the first of four Stars homeruns of the game. In the same inning Keith Williams belted one over the left field fence for a 2 run homer. The 4th inning brought a 3 run homerun by Dylan Rackley followed by Jordan Braswell’s homerun in the 5th inning. The Stars led the game after the first inning 3-2 and after 5 complete innings were still in the lead 7-5 when the Utah Legend scored 6 runs to take the lead. The Stars answered those runs with a 5 run 6th inning that lifted them to the 12-11 win with no outs on the board. 2 doubles were recorded in this game by Collin Watson and 1 by David Williams. Bradley Jackson, Spenser Davis, Chase Roupp, Trevor Hayworth (2), and Dylan Rackley had singles.
Late Monday afternoon, the Stars kept the sizzle going with a 9-2 win over the Northville Mustangs. Collin Watson joined the Stars Cooperstown Homerun Club sending his first pitch of the game in the 1st inning over the centerfield wall. Spenser Davis and Bradley Jackson had doubles and singles were recorded by David Williams (2), Chase Roupp (2), Jordan Braswell, Trevor Hayworth (2), Spenser Davis and Eric Norville. The Stars defense was on fire with a great double play by David Williams and Jordan Braswell for outs 2 and 3 of the 3rd inning. Spenser Davis at 2nd made an awesome play to end the 5th inning for the Mustangs when a line shot tipped off pitcher Trevor Hayworth’s glove and Spenser was able to scoop up the ball and flip toss it to Jordan Braswell at 1st. In the 6th inning, Keith Williams made a great stop at shortstop with a throw to Jordan Braswell at 1st for the first out of the inning.
After Monday’s play, the Stars record is 3 wins and 1 loss currently putting them in 29th place out of 96 teams. In 4 games the Stars have had a total of 41 runs while allowing their opponents only 23 runs. Tuesday they will face the Eastside 808 from the state of Hawaii and the West Newberry Sachems from Massachusetts.
Tuesday’s Game 5 at Cooperstown was a 13-5 loss against Eastside 808 from Hawaii. 3 of the Stars’ 5 runs came on a 3 run homer by Collin Watson in the 3rd inning. Jordan Braswell recorded 2 singles along with the singles by Chase Roupp and David Williams.
Game 6 the Stars took the field with fire taking a 14-1 win over the West Newberry Sachems from Massachusetts. Collin Watson stepped up to the plate with back to back homeruns in the 1st with 2 rbi’s and a grand slam in the 2nd. Keith Williams added another homerun in the 4th inning. Eric Norville, David Williams, Jordan Braswell and Spenser Davis all had singles. Another Stars’ double play was turned by Chase Roupp’s unassisted out at third with a throw to Brennan Beck at first for outs 1 and 2 of the 2nd inning. The Stars end the 3rd day of pool play in 32nd place with 1 more pool play game on Wednesday morning before tournament play begins on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday's last pool play game against the RBI Angels from Maryland was a 4 inning 18-3 win for the Stars. Jordan Braswell lifted one over the fence in the 3rd inning for a Grand Slam. Bradley Jackson and Collin Watson both had a double and single. Other singles were hit by Chase Roupp, Eric Norville, David Williams, Trevor Hayworth (2), Brennan Beck (2), Keith Williams (2), Spenser Davis (2). After pool play was completed, the Stars were seeded 29th and had a bye for the first two rounds of the tournament.
The Stars first round was against the Norcross Blue Devils from Georgia. The players all came out ready to play. After retiring the first Blue Devils batter and with 2 strikes on the second batter the game was halted due to weather. After a 20 minute delay, the game resumed and the Stars kept the lead until the 5th inning when a Grand Slam by the Blue Devils lifted them to a 8-5 lead. The Stars answered in the 5th with 2 runs making the score 8-7. The Stars quickly retired 3 batters in the 6th and went to bat for the final time of the game but could not recover. Keith Williams hit another homerun in the 2nd inning and David Williams got his first homerun of the tournament. Singles were recorded by Bradley Jackson, Chase Roupp, Jordan Braswell (2), Collin Watson, Trevor Hayworth, Dylan Rackley (2), Spenser Davis.
We should all be proud of how the Stars represented Rocky Mount in Cooperstown. They held their heads high in triumph and defeat and finishing 29th out of 96 teams proved to be a good showing. All of the boys would have liked to play more baseball but are proud of their accomplishments while in Cooperstown. Six players combined to record 14 Homeruns in 8 games. All 11 players combined recorded 89 hits and 84 runs. Defensively all 11 players pitched recording 33 strike outs and turning 4 double plays.
After their final game there were tears and sad faces but these quickly turned to smiles and laughter as they huddled for the last time at Cooperstown reflecting on what they had accomplished. Thursday will be a free day for the team members to spend with their families and packing to go home. They will gather together one last time at 6:00 pm for their induction into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame and receive their Hall of Fame Rings. This will be followed by fireworks and the championship game.
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The 12uaau Stars
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First Row: Keith Williams, Bradley Jackson, Trevor Hayworth, Jordan Braswell, Dylan Rackley, Collin Watson
Middle Row: Chase Roupp, David Williams, Brennan Beck, Spenser Davis, Eric Norville
Back Row: Coaches Mike Roupp, Keith Beck, Jeff Williams and Ron Polk
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