Blaze News:

OMAHA SLUMPBUSTER CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Congratulations to the Utah Blaze!!!!!  We came to Omaha with a goal of playing in 6 games and winning a championship and that is exactly what we did.  Going 5-1 and coming home champions, what a great job.  It certainly wasn't easy, especially on Wednesday.  Playing 3 games at 3 different fields, no time for food, barely enough time to get a drink in between games and then of course the heat and the humidity.  You boys should be proud of what you accomplished in this tournament.  Everyone contributed and most importantly we all had fun.  

It was certainly a fun experience to be together this past week, attending a college world series game (Texas vs. Arizona State) and of course being together as a Blaze family.  We would like to thank all of our parents for your support and for making this tournament one to remember!  Drive safe back to Salt Lake and we will keep you informed as to the upcoming Blaze schedule.

Just remember that we do not want to find ourselves "waiting for something to happen, but we need to MAKE something happen."  That is what we need to do on every play in the field and every time we are up to bat, MAKE something happen. 

MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT
 
2 - 2 in a tournament against teams that were 2 years older than us is not a bad way to finish.  All of us coaches are extremely proud of the way you played this weekend.  You weren't intimidated in the least.  We saw really great pitching, probably the best we have seen this year by far, yet we were able to hit the ball and score runs.  It was a very successful weekend and certainly helps us in our preparation for Omaha!  Nice job!!!! 


I neglected to congratulate the Blaze for our first ever triple play which took place during our last tournament.  NICE JOB!!!    


Congratulations to the Utah Blaze for the runner-up finish in the Mountain West Triple Crown Hitting Tournament.  It was a lot of fun and we all got plenty of swings in. 


Our Blaze Basketball season has come to an end, and in dramatic fashion.  It was hard to get any type of consistency with the way they had the schedule, but you boys that played did a great job.  Next year you will be trying out for the 9th grade teams at your respective High Schools, wow, hard to believe. 

Blaze Baseball Looking Ahead to 2009

As we enter our 4th season as a team it is apparent that we are continuing to build upon our winning tradition.  In our first three seasons our combined record is 144 - 67.  That is a winning percentage of .682.  We have also won 4 tournament championships and multiple runner up titles.  There are not many teams in the state of Utah that can claim those numbers.  2008 was another great offensive and defensive year.  We gave up 4.75 runs per game while we scored an average of 9.36 runs per game.  Pitching was great once again.  It has been accomplished by hard work from our players, coaches and parents.  Thank you all and let's continue this winning tradition into 2009!

2008 Baseball Year, looking back.....

All in all we had a very fun and entertaining year.  We won a lot of games and lost some we should have won.   Most importantly we continue to grow closer as a team.  Our bonds of friendship will go far beyond the baseball field.  Our goal as coaches is to not only teach you about baseball, but to teach you things that you will use far beyond the game of baseball, and you guys are learning.  What a great group of young men we have assembled as a team.  We are so pleased with the progress we continue to see in each one of you.

From the entire coaching staff we thank each one of our young men who we have the wonderful opportunity to spend so much time with.  YOU all are the reason we put so much time and effort into this team.  We also thank the outstanding group of parents we have.  Thank you for the the support and allowing your young men to be a part of this team.  One last thank you has to go out to JoLayne, Natalie, Suzy and Judy for allowing us coaches to spend so much time away from you and our families.


Steamboat Springs 2008

Well, not the quite the tournament we had hoped for when we left.  That is baseball.  Sometimes the ball bounces our way, sometimes it doesn't.   Case in point is the last game against the Sting.  Ryno connects for a Grand Slam in the top of the seventh inning giving us a 4 run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.  We in turn give up 5 runs and lose the game.  There might have been only one or two innings in our 56 games played this year where we have given up 5 runs in an inning, in fact our average runs allowed per GAME is only 5.16 runs per game.  The bottom line is you boys all played hard and kept on fighting until the bitter end.  My hat is off to you all.  

Parents, thank you for making it a fun week in Steamboat.  We sure hope you all made it back safe and sound.  Thank you again for you support!!


13U MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS

Well, it's another championship for the Utah Blaze.  We do not make it easy, but we came through when we needed to and collected another championship.  Nice Job!!  Great pitching and some clutch hitting to go along with some solid defense, down the stretch, all combined to solidify the championship.