WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS - ***12U PALM SPRINGS LIL SLUGGERS FAMILY***

"IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD, IT TAKES A FAMILY TO BECOME A CHAMPION!!!"  

12U PALM SPRINGS ALL STARS VS 12U PALM DESERT ALL STARS

YAAAAAA!!!! WE JUST DID IT AGAIN!!!!!!!, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? DID I JUST SEE 12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS REPEAT AS WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS? VS BIGGER, STRONGER, OLDER, FASTER, AND EXTREMELY WELL COACHED ALL STAR TEAM?.....YUP, THOSE WERE OUR "YOUNG BUCS", ONLY (1) 12 YR OLD ON THE TEAM, (11) 11 YEAR OLD PLAYERS, AND YES, THE BETTER "TEAM" ON THE FIELD DID WIN.....

A side note I think you guys may find amusing.....There were several shots taken towards our Team during the All Star experience....I did stand up to all the shots fired and we always came out looking stronger for it, the one last parting shot I could do nothing about, the "missing 12u bracket board".....personally I always take one last photo of it prior to leaving, I did see our families taking pictures of it, so I didn't go over there, while I was at the Directors tent and they were discussing the Palm Desert group walking out of their last game, the "bracket board" was pulled down and taken....I didn't think they would say anything as it was given to me last year after we won, the only issue this Season, they were still trying to figure where they would put Palm Desert's finish before they took picture for their  Pony Twitter acct.  They came up with the order of finish, turned to the board, but it was walking away and they were unable to get it done with picture....yes, they called me, yes they emailed me, and yes, I denied taking it though am aware of where it went, just glad it wasn't me, I told them I would recreate it for them and send them a picture of it, man....the little things that give us a bad rap, how about they just focus on our play, the sportsmanship our Team and Parents display, besides pulling down bracket board, I can't begin to tell you guys all the compliments I received as to the ability of the girls on the field, and how we got them to play this way.....I even had an umpire remember us losing to Charter Oak as 8u Team, then tells me we have grown in our game beyond the local High School Teams, his daughter plays for West Valley High......so yes, we came with a small blemish, but I guess as well as our girls played, I will take it, they tried to bring us down, but OUR GIRLS, Coach Marcus, Coach Joe and I just bunkered down and kept our eye on the prize, "12u WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS" -----

Final order for bracket board: 1. Palm Springs - 2. HD Assassins - 3. Redlands - 4. Palm Desert  (QUIT)  - 5. La Quinta - 6. Coachella - 7. Valley Wide - 8. Moreno Valley - 9. Fontana Red (QUIT)

We tip our hat to the 12u Palm Desert All Stars, as they rolled through the Tournaments they played.....I had 1 eye on them the whole time first because of their Coaches, Jim Servin, Angel Garcia, Danny Manney, and Bob Finley, these are Coaches and parents that have been around the game longer than I have, their sons have played at high level and daughters are just repeating what their brothers did before them.....once their team was on the field, they were no joke, they played well, they HIT really well, they pitched good, but the chink in their armor was a sketchy defense, and I did take notice, I had a plan for them in case we came up against them, just never happened till the World Series......Congrats Palm Deseret Squad, but THIS IS OUR TIME, THIS IS WHAT WE WORKED FOR, THIS WAS OUR GOAL, AND YES, PUT A CHECK MARK IN THE BOX THAT READS, HAVE YOU EVER REPEATED AS WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS? YES!!!

12U CHAMPION "HIT SQUAD"  SQUINKY - KANDYKORN - TURBO - GEMINI - KRUNCH - ROCKET - KOOLAID - TURTLE - PEPSI - TAZZ - KFC - 8 TRACK

COACH TONY - COACH MARCUS - CHAMPIONSHIP BANNER - COACH JOE

ONE OF THE FEW TIMES THESE KNUCKLEHEADS ARE CALM AND ORDERLY....CHECK OUT TURTLE...HA HA HA

IT HAPPENED AGAIN, YOUR JERSEY WILL BE PUT INTO THE PONY HALL OF FAME - FOR A 2ND TIME, HMMMM, MAKES ME WONDER, COULD IT HAPPEN BACK TO BACK TO BACK??? WAIT I'M USUALLY HAPPY TO HAVE 12 PLAYERS, I BETTER NOT GET AHEAD OF MYSELF, CYA ON THE DIAMOND, "CHAMPS"

WWW.PONY.ORG ALREADY HAS YOUR WINNING PICTURE UP , WEST ZONE 12U CHAMPIONS

THIS IS THAT TOUGH TIME, TRY TO KEEP THEM CALM....

THIS IS THEIR WAY TO DECIDE WHO GETS THE BANNER.....VICTORY ADDS NEW PROBLEMS, WHAT'S NEXT?

THIS IS MORE LIKE THEM, "BEAST MODE" !!! THANKS FOR THE HELP ANGIE...DAT HAIR DOW..

GIVE THEM THEIR OWN BANNER, AND WE CAN ALL BREATHE A LITTLE EASIER, FOR A MINUTE..

PLENTY OF ROOM,  SIT BETWEEN US - YOU WILL FIT FINE IF ELBOW ROOM ISN'T NEEDED..... 

PALM SPRINGS VS PALM DESERT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

IT'S STARTS OUT A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE, I WAS ASKED IF I WOULD GO WITH PD STAFF AND ASK IF WE COULD BY-PASS SILVER BANNER GAME AND MAKE OUR GAME FOR 1ST/2ND PLACE....THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST AS THESE ARE HOW CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES NORMALLY PLAY OUT, BUT, THIS IS THE FORMAT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AND I KNOW I'M NOT ABLE TO CHANGE THAT, BUT WAS STILL FOCUSED ON JUST 1 GAME, THE GAME WE WERE ABOUT TO PLAY.....WE DO THE COIN FLIP, I LOSE, WE ARE STICKS, AGAIN I WAS ASKED TO WAIT SO "WE" COULD TALK TO BRAD AND DANA ABOUT GAME FORMAT, I REPLIED, I'M FOCUSED ON THIS GAME, IF WE LOSE, I WILL WORRY ABOUT GAME, 2, I AM ONLY FOCUSED ON THIS GAME AND NOTHING ELSE, IF ANYTHING CHANGES, I WILL BE ON THE FIELD....NERVES WERE STRUCK, BUT I HAVE A FOCUS THAT NEEDS TO BE PASSED ALONG TO THE GIRLS, AND NOT WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE.....

As I reach our girls and let them know we are visitors and need to change warm up location, girls were excited, they won last year on field #2 as visitors......I have always told them, if we hit first, we score first, let them play catch up, nothing wrong with visitor side......WE felt as if we had won already......as game was nearing start, again I was asked if we should try and resolve the game 2 issue, told them I was focused on PD squad and no other TEAM.....Dana meets us at home plate, we exchange line ups, as soon as "good luck Tony" is said by Dana, out comes the question, "Tony and I talked about not playing 2nd game, is it an option to make this 1st/2nd place game?"... I will allow you to fill in who it was asked by, Dana simply stated, "this is our format, it was discussed at meeting, this is how we will play it.", end of discussion....Dana then looks in my direction, I simply say, "I have one focus, this game, unless I'm needed, I'm ready to go"......with that, game on, feelings ruffled, and we are up for the challenge.......We got sticks, I tell girls, this is our time, we have worked for this, we will hit, we will score, we will put pressure like they haven't seen before.....Tazz reaches on a 5 pitch walk, Turtle delivers 3 pitch 1b, Turbo hits 1b to score Tazz and Turtle, Gemini hits ground ball to advance Turbo to 2nd, KandyKorn follows with a 1b of her own, Ipod follows with a ground ball to short and scores Turbo for 3rd run of the inn....I tell our girls, we will score, let's stay focused on every pitch and good things will happen.....on the first pitch they reach on a 1b by Carlie, CMoney follows with a 1b, their horse and #3 hitter hit a routine fly ball to center, Krunch catches it and we get a double play catching Cmoney at 2nd, 2 down 1 to go.....their clean up hitter hit a line drive, their best hit of the game, to left to score PD's first run....we regain composure, ground ball to Turbo, she throws to Turtle and retires PD in the first, 3-1 good gals......we had another good abs, Krunch 1b to right, Pep blooper falls in fair and we are 1st and 3rd, Tazz doubles and we score 2 more......KoolAid comes in to run, advances on a passed ball, on her slide she jams her knee on the base, I didn't know that, I thought she collided with the 3rd baseman, I call time, let the umpire know she can't block the bag without the ball, we aren't out here to get hurt, PD catcher took offense, tells her teammate she was good , no worries, umpire tells her it WAS ILLEGAL, but we were safe so no other penalty, Tazz re enters as runner for herself, but our offense fizzled, 2 runs across and we lose a player with a bum knee (I gotta teach this kid to slide)...Tazz was in the zone after this, she hit locations, we made plays, and were never really in any trouble after the 1st inn....DEFENSE was on it's game, if we play clean, we can compete, if we execute offense, we normally play clean, if someone is off, next man up, it happens, it works, we move on, we compete...we were held scoreless in 1 inn, even then they had to work, a walk, a 2b, and a line drive to center chased their pitcher, 3 inn of work and 5 runs and she was done....PD Coach asked me if it was a good luxury to have more than 1 pitcher as he had seen us use 4 pitchers throughout the 3 tournaments they played.....I told him it was a great luxury to have,  and that is why I go picking pictures off the walls so we can fill our walls, he tells me not "pictures" knucklehead, "pitchers"....knucklehead??? oh them pitchers, ya I picked them up on aisle 9 at Target, 4 for a $1....he smirked, aight we are in for a long day.....with that said, we rudely greeted their #2 pitcher, 3 runs on a Turtle walk, Turbo and Gemini 1b, and KandyKorn a monster 2b that had PD just about waving the white flag....I think the only thing that kept them in it was their parents telling them they always come back and win, and the Coaches who kept telling them it was ok as they would get their turn to score......I never say it's ok, because every run you give up, you need to get back, not always easy to do, get the job done, and keep the game simple....we made quick work of them on defense and came to grab our sticks again.....this was our inn if 8 wasn't enough already.......Krunch led off with a 1b, on a hit  and run Squinky crushes the grapefruit and winds up at 2nd for a 2b, Tazz follows with a 1b, Trutle line drive 1b, Gemini line drive 1b, KandyKorn bb, Rocket joins the party with a 1b, after out #2 Krunch again 1bs in the same inn, Squinky once again 2bs and we build a snowman in the 95+heat......3 more outs and we are repeat champions, 2 pitches and ground ball to Turbo for out #1, 2 more pitches and Turtle leaves her claim by shedding skin on a fly ball for out #2, she has the owie to prove it.....2 consecutive harmless 1bs and a ground ball to KFC gets the force to KandyKorn at 3rd for the win, a "mercy" win to the power hitting PD Squad that never quit in games, and would always come back on everyone....we played clean, we picked each other up when we weren't 100%, and we made it happen.....you get what you put into it, I challenged the girls when we took a detour in Colton.....we did not have the commitment from all players, we couldn't do it alone, it had to be as a "Team", we had lost our way, we need to re dedicate to what made us "Champions", quit making excuses as to why we couldn't make it, but look deep within and figure out if this commitment was too much or was it something we could conquer...the girls came back with a different attitude, they were back in it together, they were united again, the were focused again, they were determined more than ever.....we went on another run, and played in several close games, but we always managed to make enough plays to finish on top.....it didn't happen over night, but it did happen, and yes, the hard work does pay off...... we won our last 10 games and Beat Indio's Pitcher Paula, HD Assassin's top 2 pitcher's, Fontana's ace pitcher, Mo Valley's pitcher Vanessa, Redlands new pitcher Pena 2x, Palm Desert"s Carlie in Championship game, that is alot of good pitcher's along the way, and though we didn't by any means throw the hardest, we threw the smartest along the way and our 3 Headed Monster  Tazz - Turtle - Turbo held their own against these bigger older pitchers with the help of our leather crew Pep - KandyKorn - Krunch - Ipod - KoolAid - Gemini - Squinky - Rocket - KFC , OUR OUTFIELD WORKED REALLY HARD IN PRACTICE TO GET THE RIGHT READ ON TRACKING FLY BALLS, WE MADE MOST FLY BALL LOOK ROUTINE, A HUGE PART OF OUR SUCCESS, FROM THE PITCHERS AND COACH TONY, THANK YOU!!!! (8-TRACK - SQUINKY - KOOLAID - ROCKET - KRUNCH - PEP )we finished all challenges before us..a great run, and awesome Season, and another Pony World Series Title, back to back to ?????

BY THE WAY, PALM DESERT NEVER DID GO PLAY 2ND GAME, THEY DROPPED OUT, WHO DOES THAT??? NO EXCUSES, RIGHT?........OUR BUDDIES FROM HIGH DESERT WON THE SILVER BANNER, REDLANDS WAS GIVEN 3RD PLACE CERTIFICATES, AND PALM DESERT WAS SLOTTED WITH A 4TH PLACE FINISH FOR NOT FINISHING THE TOURNAMENT, HOPEFULLY LESSON LEARNED....I ALSO SAW A VIDEO CLIP TAKEN BY A LIL SLUGGER FAMILY, IT SHOWED THE CATCHER OF PALM DESERT THROWING HER MASK TO THE FLOOR AS HARD AS I'VE SEEN AFTER SHE SAW KANDYKORN BURN THE LEFT FIELDER WITH HER HIT, I SAW REACTION OF LEFT FIELD AND KNEW SHE HAD CHECKED OUT, DIDN'T KNOW CATCHER WAS ALSO CLOCKED OUT ON THE SAME PLAY.....COOLER HEAD ALWAYS PREVAIL, DEAL WITH FAILURE AND SUCCESS WILL COME, LET FAILURE GET THE BEST OF YOU AND IT WILL STUMP YOUR GROWTH...CYA ON THE DIAMOND, CHAMPS......  

I HAD A PARENT TELL ME MO VALLEY PARENT STILL INSISTING WE WERE A TRAVEL TEAM, AND SINCE WE TOOK PICTURE WITH THEM THEIR TEAM WENT INTO A SLUMP...IF THAT IS THE CASE, I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE GROUP SELFIES BEFORE EVERY GAME WITH EVERY TEAM.....I ALSO HAD SEVERAL RANDOM PARENTS ASK IF WE WERE OFF TO PRACTICE AFTER THE GAME, I REPLIED "IF YOU TRAIN LIKE A CHAMPION, YOU WILL PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION" A COUPLE OTHER PARENTS WERE ASKED THE SAME QUESTION, THEIR REPLY WAS YES, THAT IS WHAT WE DO.....I ALSO RECEIVED A CALL FROM A PARENT WANTING A TRYOUT FOR OUR TEAM, I RESPONDED I COULDN'T BELIEVE THEY DIDN'T PLAY THEIR 2ND GAME, WE WOULD NEVER WALK OUT ON A TOURNAMENT, SHE GAVE ME A COUPLE OF EXCUSES AS TO WHY THEY COULDN'T PLAY, I TOLD HER OF OUR MOTTO "NO EXCUSES", SHE ACTUALLY LIKED IT BUT DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD EVER WORK FOR THEM....HMMMM........WE'RE FULL, NO EXCUSES!!!!!

***12u PONY WORLD SERIES CHAMPS - PALM SPRINGS LIL SLUGGERS***

WORLD SERIES INCREDIBLE NUMBERS

PALM SPRINGS RUNS SCORED---------49

TEAMS WE PLAYED COMBINED---------7

PALM SPRINGS HITS----------------- 65 HITS (48-1BS/15-2BS/2-3BS)

TEAMS WE PLAYED COMBINED-23 TOTAL HITS

PLAYER HITS IN WORLD SERIES H-ABS

TAZZ  12-15 / TURTLE 7-15 / IPOD 3-11 / TURBO 10-15 / GEMINI 6-12 / KANDYKORN 8-14 / KFC 3-9 / KOOLAID 2-5 / KRUNCH 8-12 / SQUINKY 2-6 / PEP 3-9 / ROCKET 3-5 

WITH THESE NUMBERS AND A SOLID DEFENSE, WE HAD A GREAT RUN!!!!