Day 4

The Pirates woke up today looking for a little redemption....  They got it!  Seacoast traveled to Port Charlotte where the Tampa Bay Rays do their Spring training.  The facility was beautiful and there was carolina and navy blues everywhere.  Walking to the field we got some good vibes and juju as it felt like it was our home stadium.

Our opponent was Cangelosi Baseball from Chicago.  The starting pitcher for the Pirates was another left hander Ray Touchette.  Touchette's fastball had some good life to it but after 52 pitches threw two innings it wasn't clear what type of game we were going to have on our hands.  Our offense once again jumped on the opposing pitcher with three good at bats and line drive outs with nothing to show for ourselves after the first inning. 

In the second inning  after a walk, a wild pickoff throw and an RBI ground out we were down 1-0.  Axel Post worked a great walk with one out in the bottom half of the inning and eventually tied the game after a past ball.  Then Touchette went out to pitch in the 3rd and only had to throw 7 pitches. All of sudden we were hitting again and again we were putting on the pressure.  This time we were able to score a go ahead run with a Garret Roberts single to left. 

Something clicked with Touchett as he absolutely dominated the rest of the game.  After throwing 52 pitches in two innings he needed only 52 more pitches over the next 5 innings to shut the door on the opposing team. He finished with 9 strikeouts, 4 walks, and only gave up 1 hit! (a blooper over the mound that looked like a Coach Eric Wells pitching wedge shot that stuck right in the ground where it hit)

Pirates offense manufactured some insurance runs with an RBI single from Ryan Sullivan, and RBI groundout from Davis Leighton, a sacrifice fly from Dan Sims and a game clinching RBI double from Sam Rollick. Final score...Pirates 6 Cangelosi 1

Tomorrows opponent is a team from Puerto Ricco and we are excited to compete.

Today we played the game the right way and it rewarded us!

"The game knows"

Go Pirates!
 

Day 3

Today Seacoast united Pirates faced off against the East Cobb Astros.  This team was ranked 6th in the country and the Pirates were excited for the challenge.  The first half of the game it seemed as though the Pirates were destined for an upset win. 

After 3 innings the game was tied 1-1 with the Pirates putting good swings and competitive at bats together each inning.  Unfortunately a few base running mistakes proofed costly and they could not push another run across. East Cobb took a 3-1 lead into he fourth and then scored three more times in the 5th. the game ended with Seacoast losing 6-1

Although the Pirates hung in tough against one of the best programs in the country we cant help but feel like if we played our game we could have pulled off the upset.  Some good life lessons were learned in this game and as a coaching staff we were hoping we could turn it around for the final pool play game Saturday afternoon.

After a tough loss the boys licked their wounds with a great meal at Shoeless Joes.  Unfortunately for the Red Sox fans they had to watch their beloved team go down 0-2 in the Division series to the Cleveland Indians.

Days like today remind us that baseball can break your heart but if you play it the right way it will reward you soon enough.  "The game knows"

Go Pirates!

Day 2

Well....Today was what we call a day and a half.  Started off on a great note as we went down to breakfast and there was an amazing spread of food laid out for the boys.  We ate like kings and then went back to our rooms to get ready to go the red sox old spring training facility for some batting practice and field work.  The squad came ready to work hard and we did a great job of getting ourselves ready for game one.  After our practice we stuck around the complex and watched the start of the tournament.  As you can see in the pictures below there were a lot of college coaches and scouts in attendance.  That is a big reason we come down to this tournament and I think it got the players really excited about getting on the field and showing what a group of players from New England can do.

Our game was delayed due to rain and we started around 8:30pm.  We jumped on the Triple Crown Royals from Ohio with three big runs in the first inning.  We took advantage of some early mistakes and with hustle and heads up baserunning we gave our stud left handed pitcher Ryan Sullivan a three run lead.  Over the next three innings of great pitching from Sullivan, unreal speed from Garret Roberts running down balls in the gap and some timely hits highlighted by a triple from Peyton Goodrich the Pirates grew their lead to 6-0.

The Royals dinked and dunked their way back in to the game with a couple runs in the 5th but Sully ended the 5th with a big strikeout to strand two runners.  Then something crazy happened that I have never seen on a baseball field.  As the Royals pitcher was about to deliver a 1-2 pitch to Dylan Chase the lights went out and all of a sudden we were all standing around in the dark!

30 minutes later when the lights came back on Chase worked a walk and we added a couple insurance runs in the 6th and 7th.  New comers to the Pirates program Jonathan Dube and Joe Quinlan had two big RBI hits and Dan Sims came in to shut the door with a big strikeout to end the game. 

Pirates are 1-0 so far and are looking to compete hard tomorrow at the Minnesota Twins Century Link Minor League Complex against the power house program from the south East Cobb Astros.

Let's go Pirates!

Day 1- October 5th: 

This is our second year in a row taking a group of eager and determined baseball players down to Ft Myers Florida to compete in the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship. It is the biggest recruiting tournament in the country!

At 4am everyone showed up on time to Boston Logan Airport. The crew got their boarding passes, waited in lines and soon enough in typical New England style with Dunkin Donuts coffees in one hand and bags in the other we were boarding the plane. We took our seats on the plane and took off for a connection flight in NY. One of our players got a great pic of Citi Field (see photo below). Where, as I speak Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner are dueling it out in the NL Wild Card game. We got back on to another bird headed for Ft. Myers. Dylan Chase sat next to the "nicest grandmother ever" and talked her ear off for the next few hours while most of the team tried to catch up on some sleep. 

We anxiously landed in Ft. Myers where the sun and warm weather welcomed us graciously.  We got our rental cars and headed straight for the hotel.  Luckily the hotel receptionist had our room keys already made up when we got there and all of a sudden a day that started so early seemed to have a light at the end of the tunnel.  We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ft. Myers and the facility is first class.  We dropped our bags and off we went to get our first real meal of the day!  Blue Moon Pizza was the perfect spot to get the kids together at one table for some good food and interactions (see photo below).  I didn’t even have to take the phones away! After dinner the crew invaded Walmart neighborhood market for some waters and snacks for the hotel and games (see photos of below...it was kind of like super market sweep..anyone remember that show?!). 

Back in the hotel now, we are all looking forward to putting our hats on tomorrow and competing on behalf of Seacoast United Pirates and New Hampshire.  We are facing some of the best competition in the country over the next few days and we are excited for the challenge.  The support the teammates have shown each other already tonight makes us feel good about our chances on the field.  The life lessons we learn every day on and off the field will make them successful well after their playing careers. 

Lastly, I am very proud of this group when it comes to the hard work they put in to their school work.  As I was finalizing roster information to hand to the college coaches tomorrow, I realized we do not have a single player with a GPA under 3.0.  That speaks volumes to what kind of student athletes we have in our program. 

Let’s Go PIRATES! 

Welcome Seacoast United Pirates official blog as they travel to compete in the PG WWBA Underclass Showcase! 

The Seacoast United Pirates are traveling to Fort Myers Florida to participate in the biggest tournament of the year, the PG WWBA Underclass Showcase! There are 264 teams registered for this years tournament and the are being split into 66 pools of 4. Only the pool winners will make it to playoffs. Quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games will be played on Monday, October 10th. 

Seacoast United Baseball Club Director and Coach, Scott Dubben will update our blog nightly with results, pictures, special mentions and much more! Stay tuned for more from Coach Scott and the Seacoast United Pirates.