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BRANDON WRIGHTThe skilled players on the Tampa Crush travel and play nearly 100 games. The result is an AAU national title.
TAMPA - Raindrops were falling, but coach Bill Lockwood wasn't about to stop. There was work to be done, and that meant taking grounders in the drizzle.
The kids went through the drills cleanly and efficiently, far better than most 12-year-old squads.
This was the Tampa Crush, a bay-area all-star team and the No.1 12-and-under AAU team in the country.
Built on strong fundamentals, Lockwood and manager Jimmy Piloto took the nucleus of the 2001 Pony Mustang World Series runner-up team and assembled the Crush in January, 2002.
Since, the Crush has lived up to its name.
After playing a nationwide schedule it finished fifth at the 2002 nationals, and less than two weeks ago, after going 90-4-1 in tournaments around the country since September 2002, it won the national title in Burnsville, Minn.
And now the Crush is a marked team.
"Everywhere we go we have a target on our backs," first baseman Jamiel Smith said, which means the team relies even more on fundamentals.
Ray Delphey IV is the team's ace with an 80-mph fastball to go with a slider and knuckle-curve. Third baseman Jamie Mallard, whose penchant for the long ball landed him in ESPN The Magazine in May, has hit "about 40 home runs," this season, Lockwood said.
But Lockwood also is quick to point out the Crush is a complete team not relying on one or two players.
Case in point: Mallard didn't make the trip to this year's nationals, and the Crush outscored opponents 44-4 and went 7-0 in the tournament.
Lockwood and Piloto hand picked the Crush from players from as far as Lakeland and Sarasota, one of the many differences between the Crush and traditional Little League teams.
Unlike Little League, which mandates each player must participate in a certain number of innings per week, playing time on the Crush is earned through performance, a fact about which Lockwood is very up front.
"We play a different brand of baseball than Little League," Lockwood said. "To their credit they take players of all levels and provide parity on the field. But because of the skill level on this team, players compete for positions."
While most Little League teams' schedule consists of 40-50 games including postseason all-star tournaments, the Crush plays nearly 100 games a season.
Is this too many for 12-year-old kids? Lockwood doesn't think so.
"We very carefully monitor innings played, especially pitches thrown," Lockwood said. "We play a lot of baseball, but we have kids who play football, soccer, basketball and skateboard."
Another difference is the size of the fields. Rather than have kids jump from Little League fields to regulation fields after their 12-year-old season, AAU finds a middle ground to ease the transition.
Teams such as the Crush play on fields with bases 70 feet apart, as opposed to 60 feet in Little League and 90 feet on regulation fields.
"The toughest thing players around this age have to do is make that jump from (Little League) fields to regulation fields," Lockwood said. "This makes it a little easier."
Skill and competition are perhaps the biggest differences between the Crush and other teams.
"Not to minimize other sanctioned baseball, because they are all great," Lockwood said. "But if you're associated with a finer skill level and have finer players around you, you're going to accelerate your game."
But with the extra games and travel come funding issues.
The Crush has four main corporate sponsors, which account for roughly a third of the team's $30,000 budget. The rest of the money comes from team fundraisers and parent contributions. Players recently wore uniforms and stood outside a Publix soliciting donations. The result was $800 toward expenses.
"Jimmy and I are constantly looking for new sponsors, because this does require so much money," Lockwood said. "But the kids know the level of dedication that comes with playing for this team, and they are willing to commit."