June 15, 2007

PV kids head to Omaha for baseball tournament

Michael Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic

NORTHEAST VALLEY - For a lot of kids, the summer road trip to Nebraska might mean two days in the car, trapped with mom, dad and the rest of the family.

For the Paradise Valley Falcons traveling youth baseball team, the vacation to Omaha means playing in the prestigious SlumpBuster Baseball Tournament around the same time that Arizona State University's baseball team fights for a national championship in the College World Series.

The Falcons' team of Northeast Valley middle school students is one of nearly 400 teams from around the U.S. that signed up to play at various levels in the SlumpBuster tournament.

Their first game is early next week around the same time ASU wraps its series with a bracket that includes collegiate powerhouses UC-Irvine, Cal-State Fullerton and Oregon State. ASU's first game is Saturday vs. UC-Irvine.

Falcons' coach Gary Williams said he only carries 10-11 players on the club's roster - a challenging situation.

"The kids get a lot of playing time," said Williams, who runs a printing business in the Scottsdale Airpark. "We make sure each one of them gets a chance to pitch."

Most of the Falcons players - a handful who are familiar with each other from Little League games in Paradise Valley and Scottsdale - followed ASU's team throughout the season, going to games at Packard Stadium in Tempe.

Players get free passes to the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium as part of their participation in Omaha's SlumpBuster tournament.

But the real excitement comes with matching up against teams from outside Arizona.

"I've heard some of the teams are pretty good," said Michael McNamara, 13, the Falcons' catcher.

"Some teams don't play in big tournaments," he said. "It's fun to see what other teams are like."

Matt Lee, 13, who plays second base and outfield, said he notices the attitude of other teams in big tournaments when the pressure builds in big games.

"We're lucky we have good coaches," Lee said. "Other teams have coaches that are always yelling at them."