Tournament update from Coach Alfred

I signed us up for the Triple Crown Spring Championships (March 24-27th) The director will schedule our games after 6pm on Thursday and hopefully (but not guaranteed) after 4pm on Friday. So the boys should not have to miss school on Thursday and possibly some school on Friday. So this is exactly the same scenario we were in back in January when we agreed to play next weekend. Hope this calms every ones fears about the boys having two miss two straight days of school next week. This tournament is going to be extremely competitive with teams from AZ, CA, Oregon, Montana and even Canada so it should be a good test for our boys. It also cost us $835.00 to play (4 game guarantee) so we need to ensure that all players participate to be at our best.

USSSA Spring Training I March 5 and 6

Great weather for baseball this weekend.  All the games were at Rio Vista in Peoria, early games some of them.  Some families chose to hotel it on the west side rather than get up at 5am.  Good idea.

First game against the AZ Broncos resulted in victory for the Red Mountain Finest, final score 13-6. The next game on Saturday was also a win for the Finest,  Storm 12U Red, 2, Finest, 8.

Sunday's game was again against the Storm 12U Red and we took that one too, 12-2.  The championship game was against the Rawlings Grinders, which we won 5-1.  First place.  Great job to the Finest players.

2011 Spring Meeting

From Coach Alfred:

I hope everyone has enjoyed their time off from baseball.  However, it’s time to get going with our 2011 Spring Season.  To kick off our season I’d like to have a parent meeting to go over schedules, tournaments etc.  Here’s the details on the parent meeting:

WHEN: FRIDAY (January 28^th)

TIME:6:30pm

WHERE: Mesa PD Superstition Station

2430 S. Ellsworth

Mesa, AZ

(This is the place we had our parent meeting at in August.  It’s on Ellsworth just north of Guadalupe.  The PD building is on the west side of the street.   

I need at least ONE parent for each player to attend the meeting.  Also, I need to start collecting dues that night so please bring your checkbook to the meeting.  The players don’t have to attend the meeting.

Winter Nationals Super NIT

For the Winter Nationals this year we ended up playing 5 games.  The first game saw the Finest lose to the Ball Club 10 to 5.  The second game was against the LP Tigers. Finest were victorious with a score of 9 to 7.  The third game the Finest narrowly lost 6-7 against the Venom Baseball Club.   The fourth game was won by the Red Mountain Finest, 8 to 4, against the AZ Desert Dawgs.  The final game saw us lose to the Stetson Hills Stealth, 9 to 0.

Winter Nationals Warmup

Sorry for the delay getting this stuff up....no excuses.  The Winter Nationals Warm-up tournament had four games for the Red Mountain Finest.  The first game against the Louie Sluggers ended in a loss for us, 10-5. The second game against the Casa Grande Diablos was a victory for the Finest, score Finest 4, Diablos 2.  The third game was against the Renegades.  We won 11 to 1.  The championship game was again versus the Louie Sluggers.  Unfortunately, the Sluggers won 4 to 3.  The Finest get 2nd place.

Winter Classic

This year's winter classic was played at Big League Dreams on day 1 and Snedigar Sports Complex on day 2.

Saturday's games were a win against the Tempe Thunder, 10-2, and a loss to the Scottsdale Toros 11-6.

Sunday at Snedigar unfortunately was a loss to the Chandler Bulldogs, 7-6.  The Finest did a great job almost tying this game after having a five run deficit.

USSSA Thanksgiving Shootout

This years Thanksgiving Tournament was played at Rio Vista park on Friday, Big League Dreams on Saturday, and Victory Lane on Sunday.

On Friday, we faced the Anarchy and lost 7-5.  Next was the Chandler Bulldogs.  Red Mountain Finest won 16-5.

Saturday was the Finest versus the Desert Dragons. We won 14-4.  The second game of the day was the critical one for us. Win or go home.  Unfortunately, we lost to the Aces 8-3.

Revised date - Team Holiday Party

~~Happy Holidays~~

Team Holiday Party

Dec. 3^rd 10th

6pm

Hunsaker's House

RSVP

Michelle cell 602-818-6056 or

by email michellelhunsaker@gmail.com

The boys are to bring a $20 gift for a gift exchange.

Thanks, hope to see all of you there.  If you (parents) can't make it

let us know, we can help get your son to the party. 

Thanks!

Holiday Potluck

Here’s a copy of an email Michelle Hunsaker wanted me to pass on to the group.  Chad and Michelle are offering to host a holiday potluck at their home for our team.  Michelle also said if Dec. 3^rd doesn’t work we could also have the potluck on Friday December 17^th.

Please email Michelle back @michellelhunsaker@gmail.com to let her know.  Sounds like it should be a good time.

Thanks Michelle!

Coach Alfred

12U Red Mountain Finest Baseball Club

480-236-9503 (cell)

redmountainfinestbaseball@cox.net

Hey Red Mtn. Finest!

The Holidays are here.......we want to have a Red Mtn. Finest Holiday Potluck on Friday, Dec. 3rd at 6pm.  I know we have a lot of games going on in Dec. & it's a very busy time of year, so please let me know if this date will work for you.  If you can't make it, but your son can, & you need help getting your son to the party, we can help with that too.  It'll be fun for the boys.  We'll do a gift exchange with the boys.
      Have a great day!

Michelle Hunsaker

USSSA Veterans Day Salute

Last Saturday, the Finest played two games out at Rio Vista Park in Peoria.  The first game at 1 pm against the LP Tigers resulted in a loss of 9-1.  The second game was against the Stetson Hills Stealth and was a much closer game.  The temperature started dropping so it was much more enjoyable to watch and I'm sure play as well.  This one ended up a loss as well but only 2-3.  It seems like we lose a lot of these games by our errors and not the superiority of the other team.

On Sunday, we returned to Big League Dreams for hopefully 3 games but sadly the Finest only played against the AZ Wildfire before getting eliminated.  Final score Wildfire 5, Finest 4.  Seems like we should have had this one.  It was definitely in our reach.

AZ USSSA Halloween Scream

The weather is finally cooling off....now is a good time to play ball.  Saturday's games were against the Legends and AZ Aces.  The game against the Legends ended as a loss for the Finest, 1 to 9.  The Aces  game was much closer in score but also a win this time, 10 to 8.

Halloween Sunday the Finest played the North Valley Kings, Chandler Rangers, and finally the AZ Blaze.  The Finest won the first game against the Kings 7-2.  The Chandler Rangers lost to the Finest, 0-8. And finally the championship game against the AZ Blaze was a win for the Finest with 17, and the AZ Blaze with 5.  Hopefully the next time we play the AZ Blaze they will have matured a little.  At the end of the game when both teams line up for a handshake and "good game", the Blaze used it for "showoffs".  Maybe they should just stick to playing in their own age group.

Great job Finest!!!

USSSA Southwest Shootout

Last Saturday's game against the Tucson Cardinals was a hard fought win for the Finest.  The score was tied 5-5  going into the bottom of the 6th. Justin Jensen's great hit brought in the game winning RBI.  Final 6-5.

The second game of Saturday was against the Bulldogs. The Finest played hard and looked much better than previous weeks. Final Finest 10, Bulldogs, 1.

On Sunday, the Finest played the Ball Club at noon.  Winning this game was not required to get into the championship.  Seeding had already determined that.  This one ended a tie at 5-5.

Championship game at 2:00 on Sunday was against the Tucson Cardinals.  The Cardinals took an early lead and never looked back. Final Cardinals 10, Finest 0.

This was a good series for the team. The players and coaches seemed happy with the results.  The parents were happy seeing happy players and coaches. The weather was fantastic.  Thanks to all!

USSSA Fall State Championships

Last weekend's tournament played the Finest against the Gators, Dirtbags, and the Drillers.  We are still having the basics mistakes, like poor throws, catches, fielding mistakes that allow the other teams to score runs.  The Gators are never an easy victory because they really can hit hard and deep.  Saturday's loss of 13-2 Gators shows how simple mistakes in fielding really cost us.

The second game on Saturday, against the Dirtbags was a loss at 10-6 but could have been a win.  Twice the Finest had bases loaded with only one out.  A nice hit from our team could have easily tied this one.

Sunday's loss against the Drillers was much closer, 3-2.

USSSA Fall Classic I Tournament

The Red Mountain Finest's first tournament together went about as well as can be expected for a new group of players playing together for the first time.

Saturday's games against the Gators and Predator USA were both losses (9-6, and 5-3) but as the coaching staff has repeatedly stated, winning is not our primary goal here.  Learning baseball fundamentals, teamwork, having the players learn and play multiple positions are more important at this time.

Sunday's game against the Octane was a loss as well (5-1) but with more practice, the errors such as dropped balls, confusion, and over-throws should start to be minimized.

A little free advertising for parents with a business or a worthy cause

Red Mountain Parents:  if you have a business you would like to advertise or a cause you actively support, let me know the website link and I will put it in the link list at the bottom of the page. Send it to me here.

Coaches and Parents startup meeting

Yesterday the coaches, players, and parents attended the first meeting of the new season.  Topics discussed included:  introductions of coaches, parents, and players;  expectations of parents and players; potential tournament selections;  practice schedules; monthly fees; and uniforms, among other things.

We will be sizing the players for the new uniforms on the upcoming Saturday, August 7.  The roster and tournament schedule will be posted as soon as they are finalized.

Under Construction

We are currently forming our team.  We are setting up this site early so we can post updates on the team's status as they become available.