Sweet Blessings: Triple Crown Slumpbuster Tournament in Omaha...Champs!

Where do I even begin describing our trip to OMAHA?! Such a great week with lots of memories made! This year Matthew's 11U Select baseball team competed in the Triple Crown SlumpBuster Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska. This is something the boys look forward to from the time they enter the Select program at age 7. Our boys were prepared and so excited for this tournament! We left a day earlier than everyone else so that Richard (aka, Coach Williams) could get the team checked in and make sure the hotel accommodations were all good! Once we got checked in we hung our Texas flag, door signs and put together goodie bags for the boys. I'm not sure who was more excited...Matthew or Richard!

Another highlight of the week is getting to attend a College World Series game. The boys were so excited to find out that the Arizona team was staying in our hotel! Matthew became an instant fan (hey, why not?) and got lots of signatures from the players.

The boys had an amazing showing in this tournament. Before I post the rest of the pictures, this article will do a better job of explaining just what went on in Omaha for our Coppell Cowboys! This was the article that was posted on the Coppell Baseball Association website.

11U Coppell Cowboys Red are Omaha Slumpbuster Champions!

The long-awaited trip to Nebraska to compete in the Omaha Slumpbuster Tournament ended on a high note for the 11U Coppell Cowboys Red. The Cowboys won the Slumpbuster Division 1 Silver Bracket Championship with an overall record of 8-1 scoring 93 runs and giving up 42. The tournament hosts nearly 600 teams from more than 35 states and runs concurrent to the College World Series. The overall experience of attending World Series games at Ameritrade Stadium and playing nine baseball games over four days was remarkable and a memory the boys will have for a lifetime. Having played only 30 games before making their journey to Omaha, the Cowboys peaked at the right time. A few highlights from the tournament include:

· The team’s batting average while in Omaha scored 112 points better than the 30 games before.

· Noah Wafford scored a batting average of 643 and Tyler Schweitzer, Cade Sorrell, and Matthew Williams all hit better than 500.

· Matthew Paxton, Cade Sorrell, and Noah Wafford led the team in slugging percentage with two home runs from Paxton and one from Sorrell.

· Carter Fields, Mason Roach, and Noah Wafford found themselves on base approximately 70% of the time and accounted for more than 35% of total runs scored.

· Clay Brandenburg and Matthew Williams battled long pitch counts at the plate and recorded no strike outs.

· Garrett Heimann and Tyler Schweitzer both came up big with a hit and sacrifice fly to tie the score in come from behind wins.

· Tristan Davis came up big with a go ahead RBI in the final inning of game seven to secure a spot in the semifinal match-up.

· Carter Fields and Tyler Schweitzer stole 20 bases accounting for more than 40% of the team’s stolen bases.

· All players saw time on the mound as the Cowboys faced 200 batters over the nine games, with Zack Darkoch pitching the most innings at 10 with no earned runs scoring.

· Matthew Paxton and Tristan Davis had strong performances on the mound during bracket play and struck out more than 20% of the batters they faced, both with ERAs of less than three.

· Matthew Williams and Zack Darkoch pitched complete games in the semifinal and championship games allowing only five total hits and no earned runs.

· Clay Brandenburg and Garrett Heimann made tough plays and scored high fielding percentages playing Short Stop and/or 3^rd base.

· Cade Sorrell and Mason Roach helped their friends on the bump by making several tough/diving catches in the outfield.

· Finally, Clay Brandenburg recorded high marks for his celebration dances after homeruns or come-from-behind wins. See picture underneath the team picture below, which pretty much sums up the team’s excitement about their overall experience.

A true team effort! Congratulations Coppell Cowboys Red for a successful tournament and for representing Texas well!

Can you believe it? The boys did amazing and had such great sportsmanship the whole way through. Matthew pitched an amazing complete semifinal game to take us to the finals! It was a great day for him on the mound!

In the pictures below, the boys were so excited...we came back from a 9-0 deficit to win 11-10 in a fourth-inning rally. The boys were so excited! This was definitely one of the most exciting games of the week!

These cute girls were the best fans ever! They didn't complain and had a great time in their umbrella tent! It was so cool even the boys gave it a try!