Last practice: Off to Richmond

Wait a second: didn't we just start? It sure seems like it, but Tuesday night marked 8U's final practice on Nowell Field. Wednesday brings a trip to Varina (helpful tip: it's Vuh-rye-nuh, not Varina as in Fuquay-Varina) for the southeast regionals.

Because it was the last practice on the field many of these boys have been playing on for three years, Coach Sean arranged for a few special features. First, he planned an impressive thunderstorm/lightning show that caused a roughly 15-minute delay while Coach Bruce plotted the standard deviation of the storm path. Then the team broke into stations; outfielders made some sweet diving plays while the infielders hit, and then the infielders took a round of infield while the outfielders hit.

After stations, it was time for the true highlight of practice: each player had been asked to come to practice knowing the one thing they wished they had done on Nowell Field but had never gotten to do in a game. Ben wanted to make a diving catch (he did it, of course). Several players wanted to rob home runs--they did, while scaling the fence Spiderman-style. Numerous players wanted to hit a home run and/or grand slam. This is a shot of Eli elevating and celebrating:

Now, if you will look closely at that photo--beyond the picture-perfect swing--you will notice something unusual in the background. That's where Coach Sean is fulfilling his media obligations. It is extremely challenging to keep him away from the camera, because he is always seeking the limelight. Eventually, Mandy Mitchell from WRAL had to explain to Coach Sean that this was really about the kids and that her camera only had about six hours worth of space on the hard drive.

That's when we brought in the true media relations expert:

Mason was able to clean up a few of Coach Sean's mistakes and clear up some of the confusion the coach had caused. 

The answer to the very popular question of when the story (which is focused on Creed Sellers from Laurinburg) will air is...we don't know. It will be at least a week, probably because Mandy will be spending most of her time fielding calls from Coach "Jim Mora" Sean asking if she needs him to come into the studio for any follow-up interviews.

West Raleigh 8U will travel to Richmond on Wednesday, and will open pool play on Thursday at noon.