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Youth
AZ Scorpions live the Cooperstown dream BY TIM J. RANDALL
Bart Giamatti, former Major League Baseball commissioner, reverently spoke of baseball as a “Homeric” journey in which the batter must leave home with their ultimate destination to return there. This “Odyssey” around the bases was the very definition of a life lived, opportunities seized and risks taken. The 12 young men of the Arizona Scorpions baseball team took a journey on May 30 to Cooperstown, New York, to win a championship and post their name in the pantheon of the national pastime. While the Scorpions’ dream of a Cooperstown championship fell a bit short, Manager Jeremy Stawiecki indicates: “I couldn’t be more proud of these 12 exceptional ball players, who play their best game each and every day.” Established in 1996, Cooperstown Dreams Park pays tribute to the game with an induction ceremony annually to the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame. Since 1999 the organization has played host to the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational, the National American Tournament of Champions and the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame “Cooperstown Classic.” Every week from May through August, 104 teams are invited from around the country to compete and share the love of the game with other
young players. “It’s not every day you get to play ball in Cooperstown for the chance at a national title,” Stawiecki says. The team learned of its future peripatetic to the home of baseball in late fall of 2013 after Stawiecki entered the team for the tourney and was accepted. The Scorpions are Todd Stawiecki, Kaiden Frees, John Wiston, Steven Losefsky, Bo Brown, Ryan Stark, Sebastian Gongora, JD Willis, Tyler Smith, Ethan Galetti, Mason Cope and Davis Hubble. “It is really quite an honor to be chosen as it is a competitive application,” he indicates. The boys, 10 from Chandler and two from Tempe, play for the Scorpions under the U.S. Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), as well as compete in Little League. Over the last months, they worked tirelessly raising money for the trip with designs on playing the best baseball they could and winning for their families and coach. Stawiecki, who played college ball at Tufts, has enjoyed managing the squad and impressing on them the fundamentals of the game. Arriving on Friday night, the first games were to begin on Sunday May 31, with the Saturday open for moving into the barracks that house the boys for a week, as well as a spirited skills competition that afternoon. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday saw each of the 104 teams play six games,
ultimately leading to a seeding in a full team win-or-go home tournament staged Wednesday and Thursday. In that opening sextet, the team went 4-2 with crushing wins of 12-0 over the Brighton Bulldogs, and a 14-2 thrashing of the Erie Outlaws. Its record was good enough for a four-way tie for 30th out of 104, and an opening match in the one-and-done contest against the Memphis Tigers. The seeding would have been higher if not for a heartbreaking first-game loss against the Margate Titans on Sunday 10-9. Wednesday’s tourney matched the Memphis Tigers and Arizona Scorpions, as the Tigers took the game 14-7 and advanced. Yet, for Stawiecki and his team, they were content with the quality of the effort and for the chance to compete at Cooperstown. “These kids played their hearts out and I could not be more proud them, they proudly represented their team and state,” Stawiecki says. Tim J. Randall is a freelancer for the SanTan Sun News. He can be reached at news@santansun.com.
June 21 - July 4, 2014
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Open house for online school A free information session for Arizona Connections Academy, a tuition-free, fully accredited K-12 online public school, will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, at the Courtyard Phoenix Chandler, 920 N. 54th St., Chandler. The information session will cover a variety of topics, including the school’s program and curriculum, how teachers interact with students in a virtual environment, social events, such as field trips and clubs and other relevant topics. Arizona Connections Academy is available to K-12 students who reside anywhere in Arizona; tuition is free and enrolled students receive a computer and books at no charge. “This is a terrific opportunity for families to learn about our online program and individualized approach to education,” says Kerri Wright, ACA principal. “We follow the same curriculum as a traditional school, but students have much more flexibility in terms of when they attend live lessons and when they do class assignments. Students can work at their own pace, advancing quickly or taking extra time with teachers on subjects that are more challenging.” Visit www.ArizonaConnectionsAcademy.com or call (800) 382-6010 to learn more.