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Rebels With a Cause: Teams make lengthy trips for AAYBA World Series
BY Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
FLOWER MOUND -- In the past two weeks, more than 508 youth baseball teams from Texas and surrounding states made the trek to Flower Mound for the AAYBA World Series -- which has been in Flower Mound since 2007.
But no team had quite the journey as the 8U Rio Rebels.
Coming from Rio Grande City -- a low socio-economic city near the border of Mexico -- the Rebels underwent many months of fundraising to secure finances to make the World Series for a second consecutive year.
"It's been an awesome experience," said Ana Liza Garcia, Rio head coach. "We're from a little town near Mexico and some of these kids have never even left the city. But they love to play baseball and this has been a great experience for them."
Last year, the Rebels made the 10-hour drive to compete in the 7U Division, finishing second in the Gold Bracket.
It was camaraderie among the competing teams that drew Rio back for a second year.
"It's the way they treat the players and the fans," Garcia said. "We love coming out the opening Saturday when all of the teams are out there. The socialization between the teams and different kids is incredible. We are from primarily a Hispanic community, so to have the chance to interact with kids from all over Texas, they really enjoy it. And they get to play a bunch of games against teams from different areas. The kids tell me all the time 'Coach, I feel like I'm a real baseball player.'"
To make the trip happen, Garcia set up a non-profit bank account.
"We would have a fundraiser every three weeks and did a bunch of other things to raise money," she added. "We would sell roasted corn on the side of the road, have raffles, play Chalupa bingo and have carwashes. We did everything we could and our school district even sponsored a baseball tournament to help raise funds."
Seeking $1,800 per family to cover all expenses during the trip, the Rebels exceed their goal, generating $2,000 for each family.
"We even had a little extra money for entertainment and took the kids to Hawaiian Falls Waterpark," Garcia said.
The Rebels' voyage began with a trip to a Rangers game last Friday, where Dante De La Rosa -- who had never ventured outside Rio Grande City -- threw out the opening pitch.
"He was so excited," Garcia said. "He said he was never going to wash his hand off."
The Rebels found success on the field, qualifying for the Diamond Bracket -- an improvement over 2011. The team hopes to make the World Series trip an annual event.
"That's our goal," Garcia said. "The kids have had such a great time and when we get back, we will regroup and try again so that more kids have the opportunity to experience the tournament."
While Rio made a lengthy trip, a large portion of the tournament consisted of Metroplex teams, including the Flower Mound-based 10U Texas Rattlers.
"This team has been together for the most part for three years," said Gary Wells, Rattlers head coach. "I started coming to the tournament with my 14-year-old son and have coached a team every year since 2007."
"The great thing about this tournament is way it is set up," added Scott White, AAYBA tournament director. "In most tournaments you play your pool games and then go to one big single-elimination bracket, but here you have pool games and then you have a crossover game. From there, every team is seeded into a bracket with a similar caliber of competition and the tournament continues. You get to play one game a day for seven days and see teams from different areas and get to play teams of all different levels."
In addition to the competition, the organization of the event keeps teams returning.
"We play as many games here in these two weeks as the Texas Rangers will have home games in 20 years," said Tracy Black, Flower Mound Youth Sports Association tournament director. "And to do that, you have to have a great amount of help and good relationships."
To accommodate the size of the tournament, seven locations are used throughout Flower Mound, Lewisville and Highland Village.
The tournament also leans on volunteers, which include shifts of 50 people and a roster of more than 130 total. Tasks include working the gate and maintaining the fields.
"My guys do an incredible job," said Chase Houston, Flower Mound Athletics field supervisor. "They totally change their schedule around. They usually work during the day, but during these two weeks, they are here from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. getting the fields ready to be in the same playing shape they were the day before. They water the fields, pack the dirt and clean up the stands and parks. They do it all."
The World Series concluded last Saturday, but the AAYBA and city of Flower Mound hope to continue the relationship.
"We don't plan on moving it anywhere else," said Mark Long, Flower Mound athletic supervisor. "We've had a great partnership and hopefully it continues."
AAYBA champs call McKinney home
One of the big winners during the AAYBA World Series was the McKinney-based Twins-Benhardt, who won the AAYBA Texas World Series 9U Platinum Championship with an 11-4 trouncing of defending champs Broncos de Zapata.
The Twins 8-0 run included wins against the Lake City Bandits, Rattlers and Fast Center 45s during pool play. After advancing to the Platinum Bracket, they remained perfect with wins against Coppell Red, Frozen Ropes Elite, the top-seeded Dallas Tigers-South and the Prosper Crush, who they beat 8-7 to advance to the finals.
In the championship game, the Twins jumped out to an early lead and paired powerful offense with solid defense to seal the win.
The Twins began the year in AA tournaments and quickly moved into AAA play.
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