College Football Preview: SEC

This year the SEC is going to be a very competitive conference. In the AP Poll Preseason Top 25, they are repersented by 7 teams: Alabama (2), LSU (4), South Carolina (12), Arkansas (14), Mississippi State (20), Georgia (22) and Florida (23). I think once again the National Champion will come from the SEC. I think the SEC Championship game will be between Alabama and South Carolina. The only other team that could win the East Division would be Florida, but I doubt they will win the East with a first time head coach, Will Muschamp. The West Division will be very competitive. LSU will compete with Alabama for the West title, but they will face a tough matchup early in the season against the Oregon Ducks. I do think LSU will win that game even though Oregon is ranked higher. I think Oregon goes undefeated every year because they play a weaker schedule than all the SEC teams. If a SEC team moved to the PAC 12,  they would go undefeated almost every year. Therefore, LSU will win based on the experience gained from playing a much harder schedule than Oregon.

Mark Your Calendar for these SEC Matchups:

Alabama/Auburn (Iron Bowl)
LSU/Alabama (Winner Wins West)
South Carolina/Arkansas
Auburn/Arkansas
Alabama/Mississippi State (Could End Bama's BCS Title Hopes)
South Carolina/Georiga
LSU/Arkansas
Florida/South Carolina (Winner Wins East)

BPA 11U World Series

This summer I participated in travel baseball. It was my first experience playing a travel sport, and it is one I will always remember. Our team was very good, and we could always compete with the best teams. The last tournament we played was the BPA World Series in Owensboro, Kentucky. To qualify for this elite tournament, your team had to have played in your state’s tournament and to have enough BPA points.

On the first day of the tournament there were no games, but there was an opening ceremony for all of the teams. At the opening ceremony, all of the teams were lined up outside of the gym before each team walked into the gym. As we entered the gym I was so excited. I felt like a pro athlete, the star of night, because you could see yourself on the big screen, and everyone was cheering for you. We sat down and listened to a few people speak; then it was over. After the ceremony we went back to the hotel.

The next morning we had a game against the Indiana Express at 11. We won that game and were done for the day with games. That night we came back to the ballpark for the skills competitions and pin trading. Most teams at the World Series brought a pin to trade with other teams. Over the course of the weekend I collected 15 pins from other teams. For my team, The Middle TN Titans, I was the catcher for “Around the Horn.” Our team was quick, very quick, but not quick enough. I had so many feelings in my body after competing. I was upset we hadn’t won but happy we got third out of twenty-nine teams. Next, I went to go watch my teammates in the speed contest. Our team got second in that competition. After that, I was so excited to go watch my other teammates in the “Homerun Derby” that I forgot my glove. At that moment, I was worried and panicked. Luckily, one of my teammates’ moms picked it up and returned it to me. At the “Homerun Derby” our team was represented by two players. Neither one of them hit a homerun. After the Derby our night was over.

On Friday we had a game at 9 against the Kentucky BlueSox. We woke up early and won the game. We played again at 3 against the PV Legends, a good ballclub. Our bats got off to an early start, and we beat one of the top teams in the tournament. After that, our day was over. No night activities. Nothing. We could just relax the rest of the day.

With the win over the Legends, we were guaranteed only one game on Saturday at 7 pm against Baseball Factory, another good team. On our off day we played around in the hotel and had a team video session of the previous day’s games. As a team we went to Subway to eat before heading to the ballpark. Once again, our bats got off to a great start and led us to a victory. I even had friends in a whole other state getting updates on our game. All of my mom’s texts were about my game. Close to the end of our game it began to get tight. We put in our best pitcher to finish off the game. He did his job and got us out of a jam. The win put us into the winner’s bracket finals.

With the win over Baseball Factory we were set to play the West Michigan Broncos at 9 am. If we won this game, we would be in the championship. Both teams went into the game undefeated, and both teams deserved to be here. We got down early and never really fought back, going on to lose this game. However, we were not out of the tournament yet! We would play the Southern Indiana Spikes, and we were not ready to go home yet. This game was an up and down battle for us. We got down early, got a terrible call, and two coaches got ejected from the game. This sparked us to come back and win on a walkoff hit. The whole game was an up and down battle. With that win we made it back to the championship game. We would play our third straight game of the day against a well rested West Michigan Broncos. They once again got ahead early. By then I was ready to go home. I got up to bat with two outs in the last inning. I grounded out to shortstop becoming the last batter of the World Series. After the game and a long day our team went over to the trophy ceremony.

It didn’t really hit me until we were almost home that we had gotten second in the world. We were the second best team in the world! That is unbelievable. Our coach called me up to get my trophy. I took the trophy and posed for a picture with him. On our way home, most of the time I was only half listening to my dad because I was in shock of how well our team did. SECOND IN THE WORLD!!!

I know second isn’t the best, but it’s better than third. I know our team isn’t the best in the country, but we were second. I’m so proud of these boys. That winter day I showed up at BGA to tryout, I never would have thought we would have been second in the world. But there’s still room for improvement next year!!!