World Series or bust
Parsons has Babe Ruth team geared for state and beyond
By: Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Saturday, July 4, 2009 8:58 PM PDT
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| SUBMITTED PHOTO
SRV National head coach Dave Parsons has a photo snapped of himself Saturday in Ontario. Parsons and the 15-year old SRV Nationals have high expectations for the 2009 baseball season. |
Ontario—Off to a 3-0 start and having outscored its opponents by a 42-12 margin, the 15-year old Babe Ruth SRV National all-star team has the motor revving for a trip to the Babe Ruth World Series.
First-year head coach Dave Parsons said this team, from top to bottom, is blessed with power, speed and most of all, pitching.
From tallies registered by all the local coaches in the area, the team of 12 members are represented from both Idaho and Oregon.
On the team are Vale’s Austin Tolman and Shadd Samio, along with Nyssa’s Rocky Garcia and Alec Blanchard. Fruitland’s lone participant, Zach Rhinehart, also is on the squad along two other Payette County residents Spencer Pollock (Payette) and Tom LaMue (Payette)
Ontario is highly-represented on the 15-year old squad with five members, led by catcher Tony Machuca.
Along with Machuca, Brady Baker, Gabe Grove, Zayne Sather and Derrek Rodriguez round out the rest of the roster.
In the three games thus far, the Nationals have played 15 innings and average 13 hits a contest in wins over Middleton, Northwest Ada County and Baker County.
“I would say we have a lot of guys that are good fundamental hitters,” Parsons said. “It is a matter of teaching them about having a good approach at the plate and having a quality at-bat.”
Parsons has penciled in Garcia as the leadoff hitter and Rhinehart batting second in the order. The big boppers in the lineup at 3-4-5 are slated to be Baker, Machuca and Pollock.
One thing Parsons is prepared for is the expectations. He said the Babe Ruth program has a long history of success and hopes to continue that trend.
“We have a Babe Ruth program that is used to winning. The high expectations is a good thing. The kids expect to win. They are competitive and expect to play good baseball,” Parson said.
After this weekend, the Nationals head to La Grande Thursday for the district tournament. From July 20 through July 26, the Nationals host the 15-year old state tournament at Elks Memorial Field on the campus of Treasure Valley Community College, as they look to advance to the regional playoffs and beyond.
“When I handed out the schedule, I have on there dates until the World Series,” Parsons said. “I said I am not here to put on a show, I am here to do well. Part of our goal is to teach these kids how to be goods athletes and good young men. We also want to win. We have it in our mind that we want to win this thing. We just don’t have our sights set on the state tournament. I do not think our goal of winning the World Series is too big of a task. It’s not wishful thinking, it’s a legitimate goal.”
The Nationals hit the diamond again at 11:30 a.m. today at Ustick Field in Caldwell. A win, and the Nationals advance to the tournament championship game which is slated to start a 2 p.m. at 10th Street Field in Caldwell.
