'Front Door' Approach Leads 14-U Squad to Regionals

Facing its toughest competition to date, the 14-U Vienna Babe Ruth All-Star team has a good shot to make it far in this weekend's regional tournament in Greenville, N.C., said Coach Ed Cazenas.

Cazenas can only assume the competition is stiff, as the Babe Ruth Leagues Southeast Regional Tournament is filled with the best teams from the state tournaments, but he thinks his team has the ability to make adjustments to new teams and surroundings.

"Our team adjusts pretty well. Maybe the reason we lost our first game [in states] was because we were playing on a different field, but halfway through that game they started playing like they're used to," Cazenas said. "They came alive and throughout the rest of the state tournament we were that way. So I think getting down there as a team a day early, I think we'll be in great shape."

The tournament is filled with All-Star teams, which are formed using the best players — as voted on by the coaches — from the local leagues.

Vienna will play its first game in the Southeast Regional Tournament at 12:30 p.m. Thursday against New Bern, East North Carolina. Teams are competing for a berth into the Babe Ruth World Series.

Center fielder Zack Silverman, a rising freshman at Madison High School, said he sees his team going far because of their consistent offense, which mostly takes a "swing away" approach. The team motto is "Front Door," meaning get in the front door by scoring runs early.

"Offense is definitely a strength because we're able to put a couple runs on the board in almost every inning," Silverman said. "We don't usually have one big rally, we have multiple good rallies. We're good at putting hits together. Sometimes we use bunts to get runs, but most of the time we're just stringing together three or four hits to put up a couple runs."

Cazenas and Silverman agree the team's defense needs to come together a little better to compete at such a high level.

"We need to work on executing plays," Cazenas said. "You know, the kids need to know how to be involved in every play and know what to do with the ball when it comes."

In a couple of games, Vienna gave up some runs in late innings — mostly because of defense, not pitching — which could end up being more of a problem against tougher competition.

Regardless of the technical aspects of the game, Vienna has the mental strength to stay in the tournament.

Cazenas teaches team unity by placing importance on rooting for teammates no matter what's happening in the game.

"I am constantly reinforcing us rooting on our own team and our own players, and not to yell at other players or other teams," Cazenas said. "We're in there encouraging our players and our team whether they're at bat or on the field. They're good sports, and I appreciate that about them."

Silverman said his team has adopted Cazenas' attitude, which he recalls one time helped them overcome a three-run run deficit by scoring six runs in an inning to win the game.

"It's about staying positive," Silverman said. "Coach wants us to leave everything on the field, so if we make an error we just need to forget about it and focus on hitting. If we strike out, leave that at the plate and just focus on playing our positions."

Team Roster

Thomas Ale
Chris Anzilotti
Bradley Cazenas
Matthew Colwell
Joe Halligan
Spencer Hurst
Jack Maillett
Stephen Nugent
Zack Silverman
Jack Swart
Christian Tailor
Tristan Timblin
Michael Wagner

Coaches: Ed Cazenas, Jay Swart, Steve Nugent