Wesley Carswell, Ryan Bay, Rudy Maquinalez and their teammates listen to coach Warren Gasper give out their assignments during practice Tuesday evening. The Silicon Valley Extreme will be playing in Cooperstown, NY at the end of the month.

The Silicon Valley Extreme youth baseball team will travel to
familiar and hallowed ground once again when they compete in the
American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament at the
end of the month.
By Greg Chapman Staff Writer

The Silicon Valley Extreme youth baseball team will travel to familiar and hallowed ground once again when they compete in the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament at the end of the month.

The Extreme, made up of 12-year-olds from all around the Bay Area, will be making their fourth consecutive trip to Cooperstown, N.Y. with Coach Warren Gasper. They will play a minimum of eight games in a 96-team pool on their week-long trip to the ‘Big Apple’ from June 30 to July 6.

Among other things, the tournament gives teams and kids the chance to showcase their talents in the legendary home of baseball. A lucky few sometimes get to have the experience twice.

“It’s amazing, it’s like a once in a lifetime experience, except for me and Bryant Park,” Ryan Bay, Gilroy resident, said.

Bay and Park, the only two players on the Extreme that have played in the tournament before, are excited about having a second chance to play in the elite tournament.

“I’m just excited to go again,” said Bay who is anticipating spending time with his teammates and having a good time in the dorms.

Last year Park, who was new to the team, had a chance to get to know his teammates a lot better.

“Our whole team kind of bonded when we got there,” Park, a Gilroy resident, said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Last year, the Extreme competed in more than the minimum playing 10 games in five days, and “obviously that’s a lot of fun, if you love baseball,” Park said.

Sometimes the physical size of the other players on other teams and the crowd can be intimidating

Bay described a team from Florida as being huge with the players six feet or more.

“Knowing that you’re there all your fear comes out and you just want to play,” Bay said. “When you started playing, you just wanted to do good because you’re only there for a week. You want to do your best.”

The skills competitions, “King of Swat” home run contest, “Around the Horn Plus,” “Road Runner” base running contest and “Golden Arm” throwing competition, alone had about 3,200 people viewing.

It wasn’t until the seventh or eighth game that Park said he got used to the attention from the other teams looking on and scouts viewing how teams played.

Heading into the tournament, the Extreme hope to have all their kinks out, so they can peak during the tournament and possibly finish better than 2004 when they came in 6th place.

Coach Gasper said that pitching is the key.

“Pitching is the most valuable thing in Cooperstown. You got to have pitchers,” Gasper said. “In Cooperstown, where teams make mistakes, is when they panic.”

Among the 11 pitchers on the Extreme, Gasper said that the team has eight that can pitch a whole game by themselves.

To get ready for the tournament, Gasper will be setting up his pitchers during the BSA Fall Championship – Gold Division, pairing them in groups of two.

Teams get seeded based on their performance during pool play, the team’s first seven games. Gasper said a seed in the 50’s or 60’s could cause a team to play six to eight games in one day with possibly four games following to contend for the championships if they were to survive.

Everything the Extreme do from this point on is in preparation for New York. In their four-game tournament in Turlock, Gasper will bring in two pitchers per game, with three pitchers designated for set-up and closer duties to keep his pitching staff fresh.

Defense will be a factor in the tournament because of the 14-foot-high fences.

After their success with throwing runners out at second and third in last year’s tournament, Gasper said he will move Matthew King and Bay into the outfield and possibly try to get runners out at first because the field is only 200 feet away from the plage.

This year’s team has the most pitching Gasper has ever had, and he believes they have a chance to do quite well.

“If we can keep the game simple, we can go a long way,” Gasper said.

Another local team, the Silicon Valley Express will be making its first trip to Cooperstown, receiving the bid to the tournament in March.

“We’re very excited,” Coach Stan Styczynski said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing for the kids.”

Styczynski said the team has been playing in tournaments preparing for their trip in August and are number one in the 12 and under Triple A Division of the United States Sports Specialty Association.

The Express want to win, but it just as important to take in the experience, Styczynski said.

“The kids are going there to have fun,” Styczynski said. “Hopefully, we can win a few games and we’ll be happy.”

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A staff member wrote, edited or posted this article, which may include information provided by one or more third parties.

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