U8 baseball team preparing for tournaments

The Milford Junior Major League 8U Tournament team has completed two full weeks of practice. Although young in terms of experience, only two players return from last years squad, the practices have been crisp.
“The players are giving maximum effort and the coaching staff has been very happy with what they are seeing on the field,” manager Adam Stash said.
The team has been practicing Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 11 a.m. at Conklin Field. This is on top of their respective teams schedule of games and practices.
Whether it be outfield drills led by coach Steve Giambra and assisted by Matt Schoonmaker, infield drills with Stash, Steve Stevens and Duane Galligan, or batting practice with coaches David Rodriguez and Mike Wywoda, the team has been hard at work in preparation for the upcoming tournaments.
While it may be difficult to match last years 17-4 record, this years squad seems unfazed as evidenced by their spirited intra-squad scrimmages.
The talent was evident both at the plate and in the field.  When asked what a strength of this years team would be Stash said, “We have many talented fielders and that gives us many options in the field, we have solid gloves from top to bottom.
“The overall success of this team is going to come down to aggressive base running and how well the players hit. If we can drive the ball, there is a good chance we can play with most teams.”
The first test will be the 8th annual Carl Burdick Coach Pitch Tournament, to be held in Stratford the weekends of June 21-22 and 28-29.
The roster of Declan Wywoda, Jake Stash, Steven Witteman, Justin Gentallan, Ryan Grzywacz, Ryan Giambra, William LeCuyer, Luis Lozada, Jack Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Wrigley, Matthew Stevens, Andre Peterson, Matt Galligan and Ben Britto have high expectations and are looking forward to representing the Milford Junior Major League and the City of Milford.
The team and parents would also like to thank Russ Pietrini of Papa’s Pizza, as well as Dan Thornberg of Total Lawn Care and More LLC for their support.