The Directors of the Team Ontario Astros would like to thank all the participants who travelled south to kick off the 2019 season. Our teams fared well at West Palm and our players got in their reps in ideal weather conditions at a top-notch facility in Lantana.
Despite some last-minute changes by tournament organizers, our coaches and players were up to the task of competing hard on the diamonds they were sent to. Most impressive was the final record of the 14U-15U travel team, who finished the West Palm Classic 5-2. Coaches Presutti and Stewart both believed that "the team should have gone 7-0" but they were satisfied with our youngest players' work ethic, especially during practice times.
The 18U's yielded at least four scholarship offers from visiting College coaches. Coach Booth was very pleased with this "accomplishment in one week" and thought our 18U's "were impressive in their games versus College and Pro teams," going 3-2 in these contests. Our 16U's competed hard, and Coach McKay was impressed with his team's pitching performances and some timely hitting.
In total, 52 players, including invitees, pulled on a Team Ontario Astros uniform in the Sunshine State, and 42 players and five coaches weathered the 26-hour bus trek. More than half of our 82 players in the organization participated in this excursion--an impressive number, indeed.
A special thank you to Coaches Joe Presutti, Kyle McKay, Alex Stewart, Daryl Ringwald, and John-Michael Tashos for serving as bus supervisors and on-field instructors for our 16U and 14U/15U teams in Florida. A big thank you to Coaches Jason Booth, Dan Gillis, and Kevin Hogg for actively supervising and coaching our 18U's in their 11-game odyssey versus pro teams, colleges, and 18U national travel teams. What a terrific showing by our senior team!
We look forward to the 2020 excursion. The Astros organization is contemplating a move to Cocoa Beach and its beautiful facility--once the Spring Training site of the Montreal Expos and recently retrofitted to feature nine diamonds and dorms for the players and coaches. More to follow about these prospective plans. We invite your feedback to make the 2020 trip even better!
