The Cass River 10U Crawdads will be representing the Michigan Midwest in the AABC Willie Mays World Series in Rockford, IL July 31st – August 5th after finishing the regular season with a 60-2 record, including a 13-0 record in the Greater Thumb Baseball League. The Crawdads will also be competing in the USSSA World Series this weekend in Canton, Ohio. Here are the Crawdads! (First row, left to right): Konner Blackmer, Treyon Grigg, Andrew Zuniga, Cotton Whitney, Carter Short. (Second row, left to right): Braden Herbert, Dayne Reif, Colton Hopp, Cole Lindow, Travis Brenner. (Back row, left to right): Coaches Craig Hollenbaugh, and Jason Herbert.
By: Mike Gallagher
Sports Writer
FRANKENMUTH — The 2015 season has been one to remember for the members of the Cass River Crawdads 10u travel baseball team. The Crawdads, located in Frankenmuth, just finished the regular season with an incredible 60-2 record.
Now Cass River gets to prepare for two very big honors.
The Crawdads will be competing in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) World Series this week, in Canton, Michigan, starting this Thursday. On July 31st, the Crawdads will take part in the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) Willie Mays World Series, in Rockford, Illinois.
The USSSA, headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, is the world’s largest multi-sport athletic organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, and Soccer.
The AABC is the largest amateur baseball organization in the United States for players above junior baseball age and the only amateur baseball program, which provides progressive and continuous organized competition – sub teens through adults. It is coordinated with other programs through USA Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. Founded in 1935, it is now composed of the following regions: East Central, North Atlantic, North Central, Puerto Rico, Southeast, South Plains, and West.
Both of the tournaments are among the toughest, and most prestigious in the nation.
“It’s amazing that we can take these local kids, and compete at the national level,” said Crawdads coach Craig Hollenbaugh. “We played some bigger local tournaments this year, and the kids were beating the Major teams, the AAA, and AA with ease They got through those games, and we moved them to tougher and tougher tournaments, and then we threw our hat into the USSSA, which is probably the toughest level of tournament play you are going to get.”
Cass River, a team made up of players from Frankenmuth, Vassar, Millington, Bridgeport, Aubrun, and Fenton, plays in the Greater Flint Baseball League against teams from Flint, New Lothrop, Saginaw, adn Grand Blanc. The Crawdads finished in first place in the GFBL this season with a 13-0 record. Cass River outscored their league opponents 147-62.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we expect this,” said Hollenbaugh. “We can’t believe the teams they face, and the adversity they face, and get through it. As coaches, every week all you can say is ‘wow’.”
The Crawdads might make it look easy when they take the field, but that is just because of all of the hard work that they have put in for coaches Jason Herbert, and Hollenbaugh.
“We coach hard,” Hollenbaugh said. “They are coached harder than they probably will be in their entire life, but they respond to it. They put the work in, and love the game, and us as coaches have helped them to understand the game, and now most of the players could run the team.”
The Crawdads are picking up the intensity now as World Series time approaches, but are still having lots of fun.
“These kids will work,” said Hollenbaugh. “Right now thaty are putting in three hour a day practices, where they will hit anywhere from 200-800 balls in the hitting cages, and the pitchers are doing bullpen sessions, so they are constantly working to achieve success.”
“When we get done at a tournament, and we get ready to hand out the trophies, it’s funny because they will be with the team that we just beat, and they’re out playing baseball with them again. They can’t get enough.”
To wrap up their regular season, Cass River went to a tournament this past weekend in Mt. Clemens . The Crawdads finished the tournament 5-0, including comeback wins in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals game. In the finals against the Motor City Hit Dogs, Cole Lindow delivered a no-hitter for the Crawdads, striking out six batters.
According to coach Hollenbaugh there are two big reasons for the Crawdad’s success this year.
“The success of a travel baseball team when you have this much talent is the parents,” commented Hollenbaugh. “Kids are easy to coach, it’s the parents that are sometimes the problem. Our parents do everything together. We live and breathe as a baseball family.”
“I think what makes them most successful is that they are the best of buddies. They never throw each other under the bus, they pick each other up when they are down, and there are no weak links on the team.”
The Crawdads will enter the USSSA and AABC tournaments with a chance to make history as well. In the history of the USSSA World Series, no team has won a three-peat of tournaments. Cass River has already won a tournament this past weekend, and if they win the USSSA and AABC tournaments, they will be the first ever to do so.
“They’re excited, but they don’t show a lot of emotion,” Hollenbaugh said. “Their motto is ‘win this day’, and they’ve done that consistently this season. The World Series to them is just like going to work. It’s a huge honor, but to them it’s just ‘let’s go play baseball’.”
Mike Gallagher is a sports writer for the Advertiser, and can be reached at sports@tcadvertiser.com