Lil Smokers Go to the Finals at the National's

[Al Doran]

From: PeterJPorcelli(at)aol.com
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 21:28:35 EST
Subject: Lil Smokers Go to the Finals at the National's
To: fastball(at)pmihrm.com


                       Tampa Bay Li'l Smokers go to Final in National 
Tournament





      I know this is a softball list and I hope I do not try your patience 
when I gleefully report that the Tampa Bay Li'l Smokers, fire division AAU 
club baseball team have had a great run in the winter National Championship 
Tourney held each year during the last week of the calendar year in sunny 
Florida! There is not a lot of good news to report lately in our sport, 
mostly people jockeying for position, clout or political advantage, so I 
thought I would give you a bit of heart warming drama, like the type 
Hollywood used to craft and does so little of any more.



      This is the team my son, Trey played with until this fall season, 
when his mom and I decided to allow him to drop down to his own age group, 
yet still compete with the best players in the world, albeit with 11 year olds.



      When the decision was made, Trent Rubley, became the head guy on the 
field of this 12 and under team, and I dropped down to assistant. This 
enabled me to spend time watching my son play on the 11 and under East 
Coast Blue Devils going forward, and for Trent to take the Li’l Smokers 
on a crusade to see just how far they could go.



      When a coach’s son leaves, usually the team folds, but Trent & I 
refused to look at these kids as road kill. They were not playing their 
butts off week after week and making great strides under Rubley’s careful 
tutelage, just because my son was there. So we went forward this fall, and 
took on all comers.



      The regular season was filled with bitter lessons of what it is like 
to have lack of experience, what it means to practice good mechanics in 
games as well as practice, all without much return on the investment 
leading to the big climax of the season, the State & National tourneys. It 
also was marked with the reality that if you are green and work hard, you 
will play and get the aforementioned hard lessons, while if you have talent 
and you refuse to work your hardest, you get left behind, either on the 
bench or off the team.



      Perhaps the hardest lesson these kids have to learn is that just 
because they sign up and just because you might make the team in try out, 
is no guarantee you will still be there after any given week if you do not 
produce what is demanded from you in effort and attitude.



      That being the case, the Li’l Smokers barely qualified for the 
National’s after a mediocre State Tourney, finishing seventh, preceded by 
a less than spectacular 2-9 regular season.



     But that was all forgotten when the 10 remaining Li’l Smokers, who 
wear the identical uniforms the big Smoke Boys did, took the field this 
past week for a run at immortality. Originally the roster was 16, but Trent 
Rubley saw to it that overconfident cocky talent was told “Don’t Bother 
coming,” that those who resented new players with less talent but strong 
desire were also left home, and even parents who thought their kids 
indispensable, were told they need not show up, and it was their job as 
parents to explain it to their sons, who their kids were really supposed 
have listened to on the field.



      That left the remaining ten eager faces with a seemingly bloated 
eight ranking and nobody to blame for whatever was going to happen as the 
tourney unfolded.



      In the round robin, the first game was a close win and a gratifying 
one, as the kids played well but the bounces did not go their way, yet they 
still prevailed.



      The next game saw the face the number three team and fight back from 
a 5-0 early deficit to lose 8-6 but make a statement, that the Smokers were 
there to play. I saw a spark there, and knew that this group was going to 
do damage.



      In the third and final round robin tilt, the number 2 team eked out a 
2-1 win over the Li’l Smokers but another warning message had been fired 
over the bows of the respective competition for the little men in black. 
Because the Smoke Kids had not allowed many runs, they squeaked into the 
playoffs and played the very first playoff game on the same day as the 
round robin with just nine boys, as we had an injury to the heel of our 
catcher and  regular season MVP.



      In that game the Li’l Smokers bats came alive in the fifth and 
final sixth inning and they ran away with an 11-5 win. That put us into the 
quarter finals against an undefeated number 4 team who had a first round 
bye and an entire day off.



Well, we fell behind by a run, then two, and it seemed like lights out and 
an excellent effort with a familiar ending, when the coach of the opposing 
Diamondbacks decided to pull a “Barrie Penman” and try to run out the 
time allotment instead of pitch to our little but nervous boys. Rubes 
objected to the lack of sportsmanship that usually accompanies such moves, 
(but not in Barrie’s case) and was barking how this sends the wrong 
signal, and he nearly got tossed over it. Parents groaned and the Li’l 
Smokers quietly loaded the bases with 2 out.



      After another stall move by the opposition, Rubley saw little time to 
waste and ordered his base runner on third to steal home. He did! The 
Diamondbacks were yelling at each other on the field, nobody wanting to 
take responsibility, then on a 1-2 count with runners on second and third, 
Rubes started the runners, and the little shortstop, Gabe Lopez, went with 
a pitch and sliced it to right field scoring the runner from third easily 
but it was also enough for our runner on second to hot foot it home and try 
to beat the throw that had been bobbled with all the yelling from the right 
fielder. He did, sliding under the tag and it was lights out for the 
Diamondbacks, who had a former Li’l Smoker problem child as their 
shortstop crying over the outcome. No tears in Smokerland, we were going to 
the semi final against the Lakeland Renegades!



      Now our catcher is well enough to give it a go. We are playing our 
fourth game in 24 hours and we are tired. We fall behind 3-0 in the second, 
the the Lakeland team who we had never beaten did something I never thought 
they would. They went into cruise control. A fourth inning saw the 
Smoker’s get five walks and four hits to go up 6-3 as shocked Renegade 
parents started grousing and management arguing.



      In the fifth inning, Renagade bats produced two runs to come within a 
run of the lead, then the overconfidence came back with such a close score. 
Lakeland thought they could turn it on at will. So when the Renegades took 
the field in the bottom of the fifth, they thought it would be minutes 
before they took the lead their next at bat.



      However, Li’l Smoker bats work without razzle dazzle as well, and 
we put another run up that looked huge. Just as we were ready to put it 
away, our opponents protested a pitcher’s inning count and we were 
delayed for 45 minutes while all was verified. As it turned out, a player 
of ours in a game from two days earlier had come in for one batter and was 
charged the entire inning, house rules, totally correct. We lost the player 
and the coach for the remainder of the game.



      Now we are down to nine again with an outfielder with only little 
league experience playing third base, admittedly a weakness they could exploit.



      They did not, we got through the sixth and we’re going to the 
final. The Li’l Smokers had handed two teams in a row their first tourney 
loss and each one was a ticket home for that team.



      In the final, we held the opposition and  defending National Champs 
to a scoreless tie for half the game, before we succumbed 5-0 using a 
pitcher from the fifth on, who had never pitched with runners leading 
before the pitch, had never pitched from further  than 46 feet, as we play 
50, and so on. No excuses. We played hard. We also got to see what it takes 
to be a national champ because we played a good one.



      What a run! And a very heartwarming experience for the leftover kids 
who never complained, learned a boatload from Rubes, and experienced 
competition and glory similar to that which they will hopefully see and 
enjoy again in the future.



      The Li’l Smokers are runner up national champions, but moreover 
they are great kids who ran through brick walls for coach Trent Rubley. One 
of them is a ten year old (a bigg’un though) just to show what can be 
achieved!



      I hope you will take in this effort in hospitable fashion as I know I 
have burned up your fastpitch time with kids and baseball, but it is the 
type of life experience that paves the way for even greater achievement in 
the time ahead. Happy New Year to all, and congratulations to the Lil Smokers!



      My inspiration to post this story was learning that Al can’t take a 
post down once it is up, and I hope he turns a blind eye to this, 
accidentally

Cheers! bsp;





           Peter J.Porcelli

Proud sponsor and assistant coach

Reply to <mailto:PeterJPorcelli at aol.com>PeterJPorcelli(at)aol.com



PeterJ.Porcelli,II
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