Well, it’s been a great season. UPB’s athletes have experienced some amazing success. I wanted to take the opportunity to recognize what some of these athletes accomplished.
This season started with Kenny Dobbs and Cody Sandzimier both receiving invitations to minor league spring training. These two guys improved tremendously and didn’t even resemble the players they started out as.
Of course we had David Nick who as you all know got drafted in the fourth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In addition David was an Aflac All-American, played for Team USA and received a scholarship to UCLA. David’s success was fun for me as I have been working with him since he was 13. To see the growth and maturity he has had not only as a player but also as a man has been amazing.
We had two other players receive college scholarships as well. Taylor Richardson will be playing in the outfield next season for Oklahoma State University and Ryan Chapman will be catching for Cal Poly Pomona. These two guys are two of the most intense and hardest working players I’ve met and really deserve all the success they’ve had.
Andrew McNeill batted over .400 and was a first team all league selection in his first full season as a varsity player. Drew is another player who has worked tremendously hard to get to the level he is currently at. It has been very exciting to watch his progress.
Rudy Ledezma was also an all league selection. He made second team all league as a sophmore in his first season as a varsity player. In addition Rudy had a stretch where he hit 4 homeruns in 5 games! Almost catching David Nick for the team lead in homeruns.
Alison Kooistra from Boston College improved her batting average 40 points from the previous year and hit her first couple of college homeruns. Including a walk off bomb against Harvard.
This season we were fortunate enough to have ALL of our in coming freshman make their freshman teams. Drew Strohl, Matt Bui, Mitch Christensen, and Mark Tumlinson (If I forgot anyone I apologize) all made their freshman teams! In addition they all performed extremely well. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these guys.
Even young Brian Neal dominated in his final year of majors and was selected to his 12u allstar team.
I just wanted to say how proud I am off all the success you guys are having. It is very fun to watch your development as athletes.
As you guys know I started UPB based on the theory that we are limitless in what we can accomplish. From my experiences as a player who never played a day of varsity baseball and being a below average college player. To developing to the player I am today I have seen first hand what is possible. I have known that talent is not something you are born with but rather something you allow to happen and something you develop. The problem always was when I would try to inspire others by telling my story I would always get the response, “You are the exception to the rule”. Starting UPB I set out to not only allow baseball players to reach their goals but also to prove that I wasn’t the exception to the rule. To prove that I was the rule. To show that you can accomplish anything, become as good of a player that you desired to become and everyday you guys are proving this to be true. Everyday you guys are improving to levels that even I could only dream of. Everyday you guys are challenging me to be better, to look deeper into the mechanics of the game and deeper into the mind in order to enable you guys to get to where you want to be. The exciting thing for me about this season is that we have only scratched the surface. As good as you guys have become this is only the tip of the iceberg and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for your desire to improve, your passion for the game, and your willingness to be open to new ideas. Even though sometimes I know you guys think I’m nuts. I know you guys are like, “This guy is telling me if I give less effort I will hit with more power?” or “How is focusing on my breathing going to help me hit?” Thanks for being open and trying it out.
So now we have set the bar. Let’s continue to work hard, let’s continue to improve and let’s have fun along the way.
