Good Morning WOB Families and Happy New Year, Well, this was a wonderful past year at the World of Baseball. Clay and I have so much to be proud about. Our number of teams increased, we had success on the diamond , and we had more players than ever sign college scholarships!! With the help of our players and families, the World of Baseball has become a common name on the national stage. Last summer, we had the privilege of putting together two showcase teams. Both the National and Amercian teams played a very demanding schedule. The highlight of the American team was a very good showing in the 18U Perfect Game National Championships in Atlanta, Ga. They were tied for 1st place in their respective pool before losing the pool championship game to national powerhouse, South Carolina DiamondDevils. Our National team had a great season. We won another pool championship in Perfect Game and had a tremendous showing in the Prospect Wire Florida State Championships. We won our bracket championship and had the good fortune of beating Team Mizuno twice in three days. In addition to the two showcase teams, we had our very first 15U team, a 13U team, and finished the summer off with a 12U team. All teams played well, and progressed very nicely. I would like to applaud our 13U team. The core of that team came to WOB as 12 year olds and couldn't play dead in a cowboy movie:) Within a year's time, their skill and confidence sky rocketed, as they made noise in several tournaments. We had a championship, and lost in two other championship games. Our highlight was a great showing at Cal Ripken's facility in Myrtle Beach, SC. We made the championship game, but came up short to a team that we had previously beaten. Also, this past summer, our 1st annual World of Baseball College Tour kicked off. This couldn't have went much better. We had teams from all over the southeast attend, the weather was great, and college coaches did a great job evaluating all of the players participating. As a result of our college tour, we had 3 players sign with Jacksonville University, and one underclassman verbal to the University of Florida. This past fall was fantastic as well. We had our first ever 10U team assembled, a 12U team, a 13-15u team that participated in a high school league, and our 17U showcase team. Our 12U team was very talented as they ended the fall with a undefeated record and a championship trophy in the Peach State Fall Championships in Brunswick, GA. Our 10U team showed some good signs, but couldn't play a consistent schedule due to many of our players participating in football. Our 13-15U held their own having to compete against varsity and junior varsity teams. All the boys progressed and have showed the potential to be great ball players. Our 17U showcase team was once again invited to the Perfect Game World Championships in Jupiter, Fl. Our organization is the only team from Jacksonville, Fl to be invited to this marquee event in Perfect Games 11 year history. Our senior boys had accomplished the monumental feat of qualifying all 3 years they have played for WOB. The boys traveled to Jupiter with a purpose and made national noise. We reeled off 3 straight wins, with our 3rd win being one of the biggest victories in our 3 year history. We defeated the Orlando Scorpions Undergrad team, that previously won the Perfect Game Undergrad World Championships. The game was highlighted by Aldo Ferrante driving a 2 out, 2-run double off the left field fence that scored Colin Monagle giving us a 7-6 victory. Our last game of the fall was also fantastic. We had a depleted line-up, but, still tied National Powerhouse Santa Fe Community College 1-1 in 8 innings. Junior sensations, Beau Hilton and Bryan Mathews combined for 12 strikeouts and 1 earned run. This biggest highlights of this past year were many of our players signing college scholarships. We are still anticipating more players signing scholarships within the next 2 months. Below is a current list of this year's signees: PLAYER HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE BLAKE BRAMBLETT PONTE VEDRA TALLAHASSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE CLINT CRONIN PONTE VEDRA SEMINOLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAM GRIMSLEY UNIVERSITY CHRISTIAN THE CITADEL RYAN HAYES EAGLE'S VIEW CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY CLAYTON LEVINS PAXON JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY TONY MOLLICA MANDARIN JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY CHRIS MOYE UNIVERSITY CHRISTIAN JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY MIKE PARKER UNIVERSITY CHRISTIAN JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY AARON SILBAR WOLFSON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MAX FOODY (SO.) PONTE VEDRA VERBAL TO U. OF FLORIDA AS SOON AS OUR OTHER PLAYERS SIGN I WILL SEND A REVISED LIST. In closing, I would like thank all of our players and families once again for your loyalty and committment to the World of Baseball. Thanks for believing in the process. Thanks for believing in us!! Take care and Happy New Year!! Dan Corsi The World of Baseball Head Coach/Instructor Baseball Operations coachcorsi@theworldofbaseball.com 904.566.3860 |