Viva Las Vegas! - 5 Tool Newsletter

“Only one way to heat up at this time of year, you’ve got to be colder than the cold!” -Coach Jack, pumping up his teams before the 2022 Las Vegas travel tournament…

Fresh off a very successful trip to Las Vegas, as well as Winter Training in full swing, we are beginning to wind down 2022 on a high note! 3 Select Teams traveled to the Thanksgiving Cranberry Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they all experienced great success. In fact, this was the MOST successful trip in 5 Tool History! Details, pictures and videos to follow below! What an unforgettable trip it was, let’s dive in… Vegas Baby!!!

We’ll start by introducing the 3 teams that traveled down to the tournament in Vegas, where the visiting Vancouver kids sported the best look of the tournament; the Roman 5, the red, gold and black, the FLYING V!!!

5 Tool’s special Vegas/Vancouver-Themed jersey caught many compliments from players, coaches and parents all weekend long at the tournament. But as the saying goes, “It’s the wizard, not the wand, that makes the magic!” Front V: 11U Select Team coached by Coaches Sam, Nick and Matt D. Middle V: 12U Select Team coached by Coaches Jack and Shawn. Back V: 13U Select Team coached by Coaches Matt C, Doug and Sean.

Vegas crew getting their team celebrations and pregame cheer down after a great joint practice on Thursday afternoon, 5’s UP!

The fun didn’t stop with the joint practice on Thursday, as one of the highlights of the trip was the bowling night at the Orleans Casino! The lanes were invaded by the 5’s and their families for a fantastic team event, each team/group had a champion, pictured below, who bowled better than the rest! All the teams had very close finishes but ultimately only 5 winners were crowned, the highlight of the night being Coach Nic erupting for 7 STRAIGHT STRIKES(!!!) to finish with a score of 207. The comradery and laughs shared at the bowling night undoubtedly helped the teams prepare for the big games in the best way possible, what a great start the weekend, congrats to all of our bowling champs!

Bowling Night Champions! (From left to right) Parent Champ - Bryan Hudie, 13U Champ - Luke Narvaez, 11U Champ - Shea Taggart, 12U Champ - Nicho Martin, Coach Champ - Nic Lindsay (207 pts!!!)

Team Results and Highlights

11U Team - Introducing the Cranberry Classic 5 Tool 11U Squad!

  • Bowen Barta - Trout Lake

  • Chase Donnelly - Vancouver

  • Cole Abbott - South Van

  • Edgar MacMillan - Little Mountain

  • Elliot Kim - Dunbar

  • Lochlan Richdale - South Vancouver

  • Luca Tomei - Richmond

  • Shea Taggart - South Vancouver

  • Titan McRee - Edmonton

  • Willem Hanson - South Vancouver

  • Wyatt Spence - Ladner

Coach Sammy and Coach Nick getting the team ready to roll! Nice 5 Wyatt!

On Friday the 11’s had their first two games, where they were off to an early start, playing at 8 and 10am. The early morning rust wasn’t evident however, as the team battled tough against a AAA team from Nevada in their first game. A tough back and forth match left the 11U with a 6-5 loss in game one, but the team wasn’t discouraged going into game 2! The whole team contributed offensively, scoring early and often to give the pitchers a comfortable lead to work with. Scoring runs in every inning, game 2 was over before it started as the 11’s won 14-2. Great resiliency team!

Saturday was a similar story, as the bats had another early wake up call for game 1 and got right to work. Game 1 on Saturday had 23 total runs, 6 lead changes and most importantly: 1 Victory for 5 Tool! A total team effort was needed in the early game Saturday, 4 different pitchers and all 11 bats shared the wealth to pull out the much needed 13-10 win. Game 2 was a tough contest for the kids, as they saw their 7-1 lead dwindle in the final two innings. With the go ahead run on 3rd base, the team could not convert in the top of the 6th and ultimately lost the game on a ball to the backstop, 8-7 the final score. A stinging loss but our crew refused to hang their heads, and they certainly weren’t ready to go home yet! The 2-2 record placed the 11U team 3rd in their pool, which meant they were lined up for the Silver Bracket Semifinal Sunday morning!

Championship Sunday. The stage was set, an 8am game for the 3rd day in a row and the kids were fired up to earn some hardware! The 11U semifinal matchup was against the same California team that we had defeated the day before, and even though the offenses weren’t putting up the same numbers as their previous meeting, the semifinal was just as close and even more nerve-wracking! Cooler heads prevailed as the 11’s stuck together through early hiccups and grinded their way to a 1-run lead in the final innings. Coach Sam stated how impressed he was with the team defense in the semi, as the squad put on their best steel-trap impression to lock down the semifinal victory and book their ticket to the Silver Bracket Championship! The Championship final was against another AAA team, our 11’s plated a run in the top of the 1st but simply ran out of steam after that. Despite their best efforts and many gutsy performances, the AAA offense was too much to handle, as 5-Tool fell in the final and placed 2nd. Winning the championship is always the top goal at travel tournaments but the grit, determination and collective effort of the 11U squad was amazing to watch throughout the weekend, especially considering they only trained together for 2 months prior to the tournament! What a fantastic accomplishment for our 11U team, an incredibly memorable weekend that saw a massive amount of improvement and maturity on the baseball field over the course of 6 very strong games. Congratulations to all the players on our 11U team, keep those rings shiny!

Cranberry Classic 11U Finalists!

13U Team - Crank the Jackpot! The 2022 Cranberry Classic 13U Team!

  • Alex Tamayo - Ladner

  • Caleb Miller - Ladner

  • Cole Hudie - Ladner

  • Drew Sochting - Ladner

  • Hayden Mangat - Ladner

  • Jaxxon Lawrence - Ladner

  • Luke Narvaez - Whalley

  • Marco Morais - Whalley

  • Matthew Marchant - Coquitlam

  • Miles Eaton-Parfitt - South Vancouver

  • Noah Wegner - Ladner

  • Sam Dowle - Jericho

Mean Muggin! The 13U squad had a very good showing in Las Vegas

Back Row: Coach Sean, Coach Matt, Hayden, Jaxxon, Caleb, Noah, Luke, Coach Doug

Front Row: Marco, Drew, Miles, Alex, Cole, Matt, Sam

The 13U select team also had a very good first day of competition in Nevada! Their first game was against a very good Majors team from Orange County, California (who would go on to win the 13U tournament). After going down 2-0 early in the game, the team battled back and forth with the OC team tying the game on 3 separate occasions after the opposition responded to every blow that the 5’s threw. Our guys weren’t able to break the ice unfortunately, getting as far as the go ahead run up to bat in the bottom of the 6th before falling 10-7. Our team gave the other side all that they could handle, as the opposing coaches told our coaching staff that we played them tougher than any team they’ve played all season. Even coming off a loss, the 13’s showed a very short memory and were fired up for game 2 later that evening. 4 runs in the first, 5 runs in the fourth and some insurance runs along the way propelled the 13U team to a convincing 13-4 victory in game 2, as all 12 players reached base and contributed to the big win on Friday night.

Alex Tamayo strikes out the side in Game 2!

Saturday, much like the 11U team, was almost a carbon copy of the games on Friday for the 13U team. Game 1 was played against a strong opponent from Las Vegas, as the team jumped out to a quick 2-1 lead. Largely in part to the stellar defense of the 5 Tool team, the game was a stalemate until the 5th inning, where the opponent broke through with aggressive baserunning and strong defense, combined with some baserunning errors on our side, the 13’s would lose a great game, 4-2. Having to rebound quickly and win game 2 to make the semifinals, 5 Tool was matched up with Southern Nevada baseball who had their ace on the mound. Down 4-1 early, the 13’s exploded for 11 unanswered runs thanks to 6 extra base hits in 2 innings! Finally shaking off the loss in game 1, the team woke up and pounced on the opportunity to clinch a spot in the Silver Bracket semis, locking down Southern Nevada defensively for the rest of the game. Another game where production and success came from the entire lineup, the squad did exactly what they needed to do to book their ticket to elimination Sunday!

Nerves? Never heard of em. Or at least that’s sure what it looked like when the team rolled up to the Silver Bracket semifinal early Sunday morning. We’re still not sure what the team had for breakfast Sunday morning, or maybe they weren’t fed at all, because our squad came out on fire!! 3 triples, 2 doubles and a whole lot of baserunners, the guys surely got their cardio in running the bases in this one! Scoring runs in every inning, 5 Tool 13U won the semi-final by a score of 8-0, mercy-ruling their opponents in 5 innings to book their ticket to the Silver Championship! The Championship game was a tight one, as the 13’s were in for their toughest match yet. A shaky first inning on defense left the team in a 4-0 hole after the top of the 1st, but the never-say-die attitude of the team bloomed as they settled in for an uphill battle the rest of the way. 1 run in the bottom half, 2 runs in the second, another in the third and we had a brand new 4-4 ballgame. Pitchers were dueling, defenses were airtight, the bats were stimied on both sides. It seemed as if nothing would give after the 3rd inning, as we went into the 7th and final inning still tied at 4. In the top half, the visitors had bases loaded with 1 out, and a ball hit off the plate and bounced 20 feet in the air proved to be the difference and would score the go ahead run… baseball. The 13’s left everything they had on the field all weekend and although we were so close to taking home the championship, the baseball gods would not favor us this time. 5-4 was the final score as the 13U team finished 2nd in the Silver Bracket.

Cranberry Classic 13U Finalists!

Never ones to hang their heads, the 13’s showed an incredible amount of resilience and toughness through the tournament. Sickness, soreness, tiredness and everything in between tried to deter the team all weekend but once they stepped on the field, no one could tell. The team played excellent and should be very proud of the great work they displayed in Las Vegas this year. It was Coach Matt’s first time as head coach of a travel team, and he was incredibly thankful and proud to have this as his first tournament team, you best believe we’re coming for that belt in Phoenix next spring!. The guys pushed each other and played for each other all weekend!

13’s showing off their new jewelry!

12U Team - The Champs are Here!!! Your Cranberry Classic 12U Champions!

  • Dane Preece - White Rock

  • Dawson Schmidt - Ladner

  • Dylan Larter - Little Mountain

  • Ethan Carpenter - White Rock

  • Hudson Wortley - Ladner

  • Jack Riley - Ladner

  • Kane Laporte - Tsawassen

  • Matteo Mirabelli - White Rock

  • Naden Anderson - South Vancouver

  • Nathan DePiciotto - Ladner

  • Nicho Martin - Kerrisdale

  • Nico Yau - Trout Lake/Ladner

The 12U squad hanging out in between games!

What a tournament for the 12U squad, high expectations coming into the weekend didn’t waver the team in their pursuit for the tournament title, as they showed up and showed out in Sin City! Day 1 was a walk in the pa-, I mean a walk down the strip, for the founding fathers Jack and Shawn and their stud-filled roster. Gas was thrown, bombs were hit, gloves were golden. A near perfect first day for the 12U squad saw them take down their first two opponents 16-7 and 11-1.

Day 2 was (almost) a different day of games for the team. The bats got molten-hot in game 1 as they dismissed their game 1 opponent via mercy-rule, 25-1. Game 2 was a much tougher game as the undefeated hangover seemed to set in for Coach Jack’s squad. Down 3-0 early in the game, the team continued to push through the sluggishness and took a 4-3 lead in the 4th. The visitors returned fire though, bouncing back to a 6-4 lead over 5 Tool heading into the final inning thanks to a brutal batters interference call that negated a run off the board for our 12’s. Needing a rally, the call was made to “FLY THE V” and the team hit the ground running in the 6th, mustering together baserunners, aggressive baserunning and some timely hits to lead them to a massive 7-6 comeback victory. Some minor hiccups along the way but the team accomplished exactly what they set out to do: 4-0 in pool play and the #1 seed locked up going into Championship Sunday!

Going undefeated makes us hungry…

The top seeded 12’s found themselves playing a familiar opponent in the semifinal. The other Canadian team held onto their receipt from the San Diego semifinal loss, but the redemption effort was denied by the Fives! Down 1-0 after the top of the 1st, the boys got some inspiration from the 11’s and 13’s who came to cheer on the boys between their games. Our squad had the stadium packed with V’s and used the energy to their advantage! A majestic homerun and 10 batters in the inning helped take the lead right back from the opposition, from there the team never looked back, taking the semifinal 8-4.

Hoping to avenge the tough 11U and 13U losses, the 12U were locked, loaded and ready to roll in the Championship final. It would turn out to be no easy test though, as the team once again found themselves in an even deeper 1st inning hole against their opponents, 5-0. Clawing, stratching and battling their way back while never losing faith, the team made their comeback stand on the defensive end, only allowing 1 run for the rest of the game. This set the stage for the best lineup in the tournament, as the BC boys flexed their muscles in the final and outscored the other side 14-1 in the final 4 innings. The theme of the tournament for all 3 select teams was winning with a team effort. Collective Pitching, Hitting and Defense were on full display all tournament long, and this cohesive attack resulted in some amazing wins for the 12U team! Winning 14-6 in the Final, the 12’s were crowned the Champions of Las Vegas, an outstanding victory for 5 Tool and for all of our athletes!

The final out! 12U are the Champions!!!

The Champs show off their Rings! (L to R) Coach Shawn, Dylan, Naden, Hudson, Dawson, Nico, Kane, Jack, Ethan, Matteo, Dane, Nicho, Nate, Coach Jack

What an amazing tournament in Vegas this year. Without a doubt this was the most successful trip in 5 Tool history, all the coaches were honored to coach such fun, hardworking and committed athletes! Thank you to all the parents who took the time out of their lives to get their players and families down to Nevada for an amazing weekend!
2, 3, 4, FIVES!!!

5 Tool Newsletter December 9th 2022

5 Tool Baseball Inc.

Fall Ball Wrap Up Special!

We’re baaaaaack!

Apologies for the short hiatus there 5 Toolers, a busy time of the year for the coaches! No excuses though, the 5 Tool newsletter is back and here to stay, on a 2-3 newsletters-per-month basis! There was lots of action in the last couple weeks to highlight, Fall Ball has officially wrapped up and the champions have been crowned! Plus, we are just days away from winter training starting and less than a month to go before the Travel teams head to Vegas! Let’s dive in…

Fall Ball Review and Championship Highlights - 5 Tool Baseball has just finished our second year of hosting our own Fall Ball league. This fall we had over 100 kids from ages 9-13 play between the 11U and 13U age groups. The championship games were played last week, both games were exciting and came right down to the wire! The 11U Champions, The Angry Birds, took home the Golden Birdcage after a 7-5 Victory, details below! As for the 13U final… We’ll get into that farther along in the newsletter… It was a great success all fall long and the coaches loved the energy of the teams as well as being able to put on a mini-league exclusively for our 5-Tool players. Next year we hope to go even bigger! So, tell your friends and teammates, 5 Tool is the place to be for fall baseball! A huge shoutout is in order to our players and their parents, as without their dedication and commitment to 5 Tool Baseball, we would not have been able to run such a fun and entertaining fall season. You all are the reason why Fall Ball was such a success! Let’s keep it going next year and beyond!!

11U FALL CHAMPIONSHIP - What an exciting final it was between Coach Bob’s Angry Birds and Coach Sammy’s Golden Eagles. The best 11U teams all fall destined to meet in the final, and they did not disappoint! But before we get into the game itself, we hosted a skills competition before the Championship that featured a Homerun Derby, Base Race, Relay Race and more! The skills event was definitely the highlight for the 11U league, as this is a tradition we hope to keep alive for all age groups moving forward! Who doesn’t love hitting tanks for prizes??? Here are your 2022 Fall Ball skills competition champions! Congratulations to the winners!!!

Bunt Accuracy Champion: Dylan “Joe D” Bielli

Base Race: Golden Eagles

8-Player Relay Race: Penguinos

Fly Ball Challenge: Hudson “Hi-Def” DeFrenza, Kaden “The Professor” Li, Henry “Doctor” Strange

Throwing Accuracy: Keaton “Ka-Kching” Kurucz

HOMERUN DERBY CHAMPION: Dayyan “The Fresh Prince” Samsudeen

SKILLS COMP GRAND CHAMPIONS: GOLDEN EAGLES (Coach Sam Siddall)

The Championship final was a back-and-forth effort all game. Fall League MVP Ava Dawson started the game on the mound for Coach Sam and the Golden Eagles and did exactly what Ava does, threw some heat! The Eagles scored early and often, jumping out to a multi-run lead thanks to a HR-Derby-Champ-Dayyan-Samsudeen-double. By the third inning, clearly Coach Sam had made those Angry birds even angrier because they woke up their bats in a hurry! Aggressive baserunning, clutch hits and a few costly errors from the Eagles left the game tied 4-4 halfway through. Strong at bats from Austin Carpenter and Oliver Toigo in the bottom of the 5th left runners on for big Ryan Murray, and he came through with a scorcher off the bat that the Golden Eagle fielders couldn’t quiet down! A 7-5 lead into the 6th was all that Ryan needed as he stepped onto the mound for the Championship save... 9 pitches, 9 strikes, 3 strikeouts, Immaculate Inning, BALLGAME! Needless to say, Ryan Murray was our Championship game MVP, as the first immaculate inning in 5-Tool fall ball history is a pretty good way to close out the championship game! Congratulations to Ryan, Coach Bob and the entire Angry Birds team! 2022 11U FALL CHAMPIONS!

13U FALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Our 13U final was another great game on a cold Wednesday night last week. The Championship Final featured the #2 seeded Green Monsters, managed by Coach Doug, and the #4 seeded Big Red Machine, managed by Coach Ryan. A little retrospect first; coach Ryan’s team started the fall season 0-4, playing like they were destined for the bottom seed, but snapped out of the losing streak in a big way by winning 6 straight games before making the final! For a 13U fall game, this one had it all! There was a darkness delay since the city didn’t turn the lights on, candy was thrown from the press box to scrums of players below, homerun robberies, great pitching and an even better finish by the Champions!!

The Big Red Machine and The Green Monsters warming up before the Final

Here were the starting lineups (with a twist) for Coach Doug’s Green Monsters and Coach Ryan’s Big Red Machine:

Big Red Machine (Visitors) The Green Monsters (Home)

  1. “The Kobster” Kobe Khoo 1. “Cool-Nate” Depicciotto

  2. Benny “The Jet” McGauley 2. Jack “J-Dogg” Riley

  3. “Automatic” Alex Tamayo 3. Jaxxon “JFlow” Lawrence

  4. Naden “Chuckles” Andersen 4. Caleb “Yubbs” Miller

  5. Dane “Moneybags” Preece 5. Jonah “Siggy” Sigurdson

  6. Jaxon “Jax” VanDerHidje 6. “Hugtavious” Hugo McDonald

  7. Niall “Tiger” Woods 7. Adam “The Sherriff” Marshall

  8. Crosby “Thing 1” Sengara 8. Jesse “J-Bone” Vance

  9. Gabe “Thing 2” Sengara 9. Wyatt “Moose” Spence

  10. Isaac “The Terminator” Poon 10. Aiden “Bobblehead” Pedersen

  11. Cole “Bomb-Baby” Abbott

Jesse Vance (left) and Benny McGauley (right) square off prior to first pitch of the Championship Game

Adam Marshall started the championship final for the Green Monsters, and the Big Red Machine took advantage early as Benny McGauley, reaching base on a walk, was driven in by an Alex Tamayo double ripped off the wall. Green responded instantly, scoring a run in the bottom half off a Caleb Miller single, which scored Jaxxon Lawrence after he was walked and stole second. Green wouldn’t let off the gas from there, as Jesse Vance and Nate Depiciotto threw scoreless 2nd and 3rd innings for Coach Doug while the offense went to work! Leading 2-1 heading into the bottom half of the 3rd, darkness set in and we had to delay the game while we waited for the field lights to be turned on. During the delay, those in attendance saw Nate D try to hit in the dark, kids wrestling for Halloween candy while Coach Matt launched the treats from the scorer’s box, players dancing to the YMCA and of course the short-lived dance battle between Kobe Khoo and Nate. When the lights came on and play resumed, Coach Ryan decided to leave the same pitcher on the bump for the Machine, leading to costly errors and hit by pitches from the defensive side. Caleb Miller drove a ball to deep centerfield that was caught, but a run scored on the sacrifice fly putting Green up 6-1 after 3 innings. The Big Red Machine had their biggest bat coming up in the top of the 4th though as Alex Tamayo, who was tied for the Fall lead in homeruns, launched a moonshot deep into the night at Latrace to not only chip away at Green’s lead, but also secure his title as Fall Ball Homerun King. The momentum grew for Red, as Dane Preece lit up the radar with 3 straight K’s in the bottom half, sending Red down 4 runs into the 5th inning. Base hits by Benny Mcgauley, Niall Woods and Gabe Sengara combined with some timely stolen bases from Niall and the Sengara twins left us with a TIE GAME!!! Naden Andersen was handed the ball to keep the Green Monsters at bay before the 6th and final inning. The lights got a bit bright while the pressure was on for team Red, as Green scored 2 runs in the bottom half off of throwing errors. The dagger shot came from none other than Caleb Miller, who scorched an opposite field RBI-single off of Naden to push Green’s lead to 3… And guess who came in to close out the Championship for Coach Doug… Yup (or should we say “Yubbs”), Caleb came out to finish the job himself. Caleb struck out The Red Machine in order on 12 pitches, dominating the heart of Red’s lineup and securing the 9-6 Championship Victory for the GREEN MONSTERS!!! There you have it! The GREEN MONSTERS are your 5 Tool Fall Ball CHAMPIONS of 2022! Caleb finished the game 2-2 with 4RBI’s and of course the 3-strikeout save, earning him Championship MVP Honours! Coach Doug and the team were awarded the golden bat, the 13U championship trophy, which has the names of each championship roster engraved on the side!

Caleb Miller solidifies his MVP performance with a strikeout to end the game and win the Fall Championship for The Green Monsters

Another huge shoutout to all the fall ball players, coaches and parents, who gave up so much of their time to allow us to put on a fantastic Fall Season, we can’t wait for next year! Congratulations to Caleb, Coach Doug and the entire Green Monsters team, who played a fantastic Championship fall season!

Winter Training Sessions start this Week! It’s the busiest time of year! Winter training at the ballyard is about to take off into high gear this week, as we have almost 100 kids signed up and ready to rip it up in the cages this winter! Parents; we are going to be using a scheduling website/phone app called Team Linkt, this will be your one stop shop for all schedules, availability and information regarding the 11U, 13U, 15U and Travel Team’s training sessions this winter. Please make sure to look out for emails from TeamLinkt later today to sign you and your players up to be able to access the schedules and RSVP’s for the practices over the course of the winter training season. If there are any parents still yet to pay or set up a payment plan with Coach Jack, please do so as soon as possible!

WINTER MERCH ORDERS ARE HERE!!! - If you haven’t heard, our winter merchandise catalog was released over the weekend! We have brand new t-shirts, hoodies, toques, jackets and more ready for order so make sure you get your orders in! The final day to submit an order is tomorrow, Wednesday November 2nd. We realize that this is very short notice for those who aren’t involved with any travel teams but don’t worry you have until midnight tomorrow, lots of time to get an order in since it only takes 5 minutes to fill out the form! Plus, limited extra quantities will be ordered to be sold out of our offices at the ballyard to those who do not submit an order. If you’re really broken up about not getting gear this fall do not fret, we will be doing another order in the new year and relatively regularly after that! All order sheets must be dropped off at the Ballyard (2611 Viscount Way, Richmond) by tomorrow night OR for a better option please send in your order attached to an email sent to 5toolgear@gmail.com !!! Below you will find the 3 pages of the order sheet, you should easily be able to copy or save the catalog screenshots from this section and use them to submit your order! If you are having trouble with the catalog images below, then please email 5toolgear@gmail.com to request an order form sent directly to your email. Coach Jack and Fourteen Athletics worked really hard to put the merchandise designs and quantities together, you need this new gear! Have any friends or teammates not with 5 Tool Baseball? Send them the catalog as well! Our goal is to get our logo out there in the baseball world as much as possible, and by representing your program you are not only helping us accomplish this but, you’ll look great doing it too!

That’s all for this newsletter! Thanks to all you who take the time to sign up and read our newsletters, we really appreciate it and can’t thank you enough for helping 5 Tool continue to grow as the best baseball training company in the Lower Mainland!

5 Tool Newsletter November 1st 2022

5 Tool Baseball Inc.

Quick Announcement!

Hey 5 Tool Family!

Apologies if anyone was expecting a newsletter release yesterday! We are going to wait until tomorrow (Thursday) to do a more complete Fall Ball wrap-up newsletter post! Speaking of fall ball, this announcement is mainly for any players/parents of players NOT playing in the 13U final tonight!

Please feel free to come by Latrace Field tonight for what should be an electric 13U fall final! The 11U final was a huge success and much like Monday night with the 11’s, tonight we will have music, in-between inning trivia, and a trophy presentation post game! Some parents had organized pizzas and snacks for spectators if anyone did feel so incline tonight but absolutely not necessary or expected! The coaches will bring some sweets and treats for the trivia prizes but any and all are encouraged to come watch the final tonight! Our athletes have had a great fall season so far and we should reward them with a great final’s atmosphere!

Regarding any winter training communication with the registration lists and payments; Coach Jack has gone away for the week and since Coach Matt is still relatively new to the 5 Tool administrative processes, we are likely going to delay any responses back to those emails until Jack gets back. I will do my best to respond to those of which I have the knowledge and capability of helping out, but in terms of switching times and days, we are going to wait until Coach Jack returns. Apologies for the timing! If there is anything extremely urgent information that is needed, please email 5toolwintertraining@gmail.com and I (Coach Matt) will do my absolute best to help you out!

All are welcome tonight, let’s try to pack the stands! Whether you were on one of our 13U or 11U Fall teams or not, come on by to the field to pump up the kids for the final, the game starts at 6PM!!!

It's Rocktober! - 5 Tool Newsletter

October has arrived! Although it seems like no one told the weather that we are in our autumn season, 5 Tool is winding down our fall festivities and gearing up for the winter training season! This week our self-run fall ball league began the playoff rounds, with the 10U championship taking place next Monday, October 10 and the 13U semi-finals on Wednesday, October 5, and championship on Wednesday, October 12.

Week in Review - The last 7 days with 5 Tool was a solid week of baseball, with the majority of our schedule focused on the end of Fall Ball and preparing for what should be our busiest winter training season yet!

On Monday October 3rd, the 10U fall teams played in their Semi-Final matchups, and man were they some close exciting finishes! Coach Bob and the Angry Birds have been the best team all fall entering the semifinal 6-0. They went up against the scrappy Penguinos, who were ready for an upset! The Angry Birds were not having the notion however, as they came back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 6-5 off of 4 runs in the 4th! The Penguinos battled the whole game, as Seth Gagnon scored 3 of the Penguinos 5 runs, and Keaton Kurucz knocked a clutch double off the Left field wall in the 6th inning, unfortunately the tying run was stranded at 3rd as Ryan Murray shut the door on the rest of the Penguinos rally to secure the save and the spot in the Championship final! In the other semifinal. Coach Jack and the Parrots took it tough to Coach Sam’s Golden Eagles, but it was no match for Fall MVP Ava Dawson and the Eagles. Ava finished 4-4 with a double, homerun, 4 RBI’s, and an outfield assist… oh yeah, plus 3 strikeouts in just 1 inning on the mound! What a stud!! The Angry Birds will take on the Golden Eagles for Fall glory next Monday, October 10th at 6pm. Please keep an eye out for 10U fallball emails as there may be some timing changes with the skills competition and Championship final next Monday! The Battle for the Birdcage is set!

On Sunday, October 2nd, the 13U fall teams played in their Quarter-Final matchups. Coach Ryan and the Big Red Machine took down Coach Jordan’s Homestead Grays by a score of 6-2. Benny McGauley and Alex Tamayo went (way) deep on back-to-back homeruns to seal the deal for Red. They move on to face Coach Jack and first seeded Los Azules in the semifinal #1, October 5th at 6pm. In the other Sunday Quarterfinal, Coach Chase stepped in for Coach Sam to coach the Black Sox, who have been on a homerun hitting TEAR as of late. They took down Coach Matt and the Fightin Phil’s, 9-2 behind five homeruns. Hudson Wortley was the big stick in the Black Sox lineup on Sunday, hitting 2 towering homeruns for 4 runs batted in, dealing the final blow to the Phillies’ fall season. The Black Sox move on to face Coach Doug and the Ladner Green Monsters in semifinal #2… Oops, we mean just The Green Monsters, coach Doug may have been up to something during the draft… Teams Gray and Teal (Homestead & Phillies) will be in the ballyard cages tomorrow from 5:30-7:30pm to get some hitting work in while the semifinals go down. The semifinals are without a doubt going to be action-packed and the players are fired up!! The Fall Final Four, tomorrow at 6! Be There!!

Winter Training Update - Good and Bad news here folks, want the bad news first? All 13U and 11U winter training sessions are 100% FULL! Unfortunately, we cannot take any more signups unless you would like to be on a waitlist, we do usually have a few backouts but there is absolutely no guarantee that players on the waitlist will be accepted into the winter training program. Please email 5toolwintertraining@gmail.com after the finalized winter sessions and schedules have been released for any questions on a waitlist. The good news? 13U and 11U is 100% full!! Thank you very much to those of you who reached out and registered for winter training. As of right now, we have the largest groups and most weekly sessions that we’ve had at 5-Tool thus far. Looks like it’s going to be a busy winter for the gang at The Ballyard! There are still a few spots for Bantam/15U training on Sundays from 3:30-5pm OR Sundays 5pm-6:30, lets fill those spots!

Ahead on the schedule - As detailed above, 5 Tool Fall ball is beginning to wrap up with the 10U Final next Monday, October 10th and the 13U semifinals and finals happening on Wednesday, October 5th and 12th, respectively. Have nothing to do next Monday and Wednesday? Come back out to cheer on the teams in the finals! Teams that weren’t able to reach the final this go-round can and should still come and show support for our entire 5-Tool family, it will mean a lot to those playing in the final, more so the added element of crowd buzz really brings the games to life! What better motivation to make next year’s final than watching your friends battle it out next week!

Once again Winter training for ages 11U and 13U are completely full. There are minimal spots left for 15U in the times listed above but we really want 3 full groups so please sign up and tell your teammates! Please keep an eye out for Winter Training scheduling and updates as the finalized session rosters and scheduling will be released soon.

The Merchandise Order Sheet is almost complete as we are starting to build our inventory for you all! Updates on merch and gear can be found via emailing lists or right here on the newsletter!

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page and register your email to receive our newsletter straight to your inbox! Let’s get the 5 Tool Baseball newsletter out there!!!

5 Tool Newsletter October 4th 2022

5 Tool Baseball Inc.

Welcome to the 5 Tool Baseball Newsletter!!!

At long last… The first 5 Tool baseball newsletter is here! We here at 5 Tool are very excited to announce that we have begun this weekly newsletter to improve our reach and communication to our players, parents, customers and fans. This blog-style newsletter page will allow us to put out daily and weekly posts detailing future training sessions, travel tournaments, merchandise opportunities as well as a week-in-review section that outlines everything that went down with 5 Tool over the past week! Scrolling down to the very bottom of the newsletter page will allow you to submit your email address to receive the newsletter via email whenever they are posted! Everything you need to know about the week that was with 5-Tool, straight to your inbox! Now, without further ado…

Current Events - 5 Tool Fall Ball is well underway! The Fall Ball league is made up of only 5 Tool players and coaches, featuring four 10U teams and six 13U teams. Teams and players were drafted by the coaches and play in a round-robin format until playoffs begin. Ranging from ages 9-13, fall ball has been a huge success so far with players and coaches fueling a compact, high-energy style of baseball on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Fall Playoffs start this upcoming weekend so be sure to be at Latrace field in Richmond for some action-packed youth baseball!

Fall Ball Standings:

13U 10U

  1. Los Azules 5-1 1. Angry Birds 5-0

  2. Black Sox 4-2 2. Golden Eagles 3-2

  3. Green Monsters 4-2 3. Parrots 1-4

  4. Big Red Machine 2-4 4. Penguinos 1-4

  5. Homestead Grays 2-4

  6. Fightin Phils 1-5

Winter Training - 5 Tool winter training registration is open! Every year 5 Tool runs our indoor training season out of The Ballyard at Sport Central and offers multiple different options of 1.5 and 2 hour sessions to be able to work with our coaches in small and large groups throughout the winter! We will be running training sessions for 11U (birth years 2012-2013), 13U (birth years 2010-2011) and 15U (birth years 2008-2009) with sessions running at different times on Sundays-Thursdays (see times/sessions below). Our focus during these winter training sessions is to help improve and further player’s hitting, fielding and pitching abilities while also keeping them in shape with basic strength & conditioning over the sluggish winter season! Unfortunately, our 11U winter training registration is completely full, but there are still spots available in certain timeslots for 13U and 15U so please scroll down for information on registration and contact info, we hope to see you at The Ballyard soon!

Available (Open) Timeslots

13U - Sundays 12:30-2:30

13U - Sundays 4:30-6:30

13U Private Hitting Sessions (included with purchase of Sunday sessions only) - Tuesdays 5-6pm & 6-7pm

Thursdays 5-6pm & 6-7pm

15U - Sundays 3:30-5pm

15U - Sundays 5-6:30pm

15U - Mondays 7-8:30pm

If you or your child wishes to register for 5 Tool Winter training, or simply want some more info on scheduling, pricing and details, please email 5toolwintertraining@gmail.com with any questions you have, and we will get back to you with information asap!

Merchandise & Gear - Merch orders coming soon! Jack and Matt are putting together gear order sheets to send out to parents and players so we can kickstart the ordering process for the winter and new year! Gear order sheets will become more accessible in the near future once we have finalized the items we want to release on the catalog, for now sit tight and get excited, more 5-Tool gear is coming your way! Have any merch ideas and styles that you want to see 5 Tool release? Golf Shirts? Socks? Toques? Leave a comment with your ideas below and we’ll check them out! If you have any pressing gear or merchandise inquiries, feel free to email 5toolgear@gmail.com with your questions!

Travel Tournaments - A staple favorite event in the 5 Tool universe, 5 Tool baseball runs tryouts throughout the year and takes selected teams to USSSA travel tournaments in Phoenix (March), San Diego (September) and Las Vegas (November) every year.

Ranging from ages 10U-13U, 5 Tool travel teams have had great success in 2022, winning the 12U tournament in Phoenix this March, as well as a 12U second-place finish in San Diego. Travel Tournaments are especially exciting for our players, as they get their first chance to play high level baseball in the United States and receive a brand-new jersey+hat combo that they get to keep after every tourney! Every tournament we create new jerseys and hats with the style based on a significant professional team from that city (eg Phoenix Suns). Tryouts for Phoenix in March 2023 have completed and the teams have been selected, so please keep an eye out for those announcements soon. But first, the 5 Tool gang heads to the Cranberry Classic over the (American… weird) Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 24th-27th!! Register your emails to our newsletter before the tournament so you can cheer on the kids and keep up to date with final scores and stats while the teams are down south!

Teams have been selected and will start training together soon, we are very excited and looking forward to travelling to Vegas for another succesful tournament but more importantly, return home with some new bling…

2, 3, 4… 5 TOOL!!!

Ahead on the Schedule -

  • Fall Ball is still fully underway, and playoffs begin soon! The final 13U round-robin games are this Wednesday, September 28th at 5:30, with 13U and 11U playoffs beginning Sunday, October 2nd.

  • Winter training spots are still available for registration! Stay warm and train with 5 Tool indoors over the winter months! Scroll up to the winter training section of the newsletter for more info. Tr

  • Merchandise order sheets coming soon! Keep your eye on the newsletter updates for more info…

  • Travel Tournament in Las Vegas, NV is coming up quick! Updates and tryout information for next year’s select team tryouts will be released in the coming months, as the Las Vegas 2022 and Phoenix 2023 teams have been finalized. The teams are ready to ROCK, Vegas style…

  • Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page and register your email to receive our newsletter straight to your inbox! Tell your parents! Tell your kids! Tell your coaches and fans! The 5 Tool Baseball Newsletter is HERE!!!

Newsletter Launch!

September 20, 2022 - 5 Tool Baseball Newsletter Launching Soon!

Welcome to 5 Tool Baseball’s first ever Newsletter! Visit this page for the latest on 5 Tool training, travel tournaments, upcoming events, merchandise as well as week-in-review posts and much more! An email subscription where you can sign up for newsletter notifications is in the works, the latest with 5-Tool, straight to your inbox! 5 Tool Baseball’s newsletter, launching soon!