So Cal Sting: Welcome
Friday, August 1So Cal Sting Baseball is a competitive travel baseball team made up of players throughout the San Diego North County area. The goal of the Sting is to prepare each player to compete at the High School level. We teach not only baseball skills, but life and team skills as well. "There are great lessons to be learned when others depend on you. True winners understand that the path you take on your journey is far more important than the destination you arrive at"
Playground (from League of Their Own)
Sting beat Carlsbad JV team in RBV Invitational
After losing a tough game to the RBV JV team, the Sting bounced back and beat the Carlsbad JV squad 6-3. Tim Alvarez pitched a great game and got offensive support from Matt Eidam who doubled in two runs. Solid defense and pitching helped the Sting beat a tough Lancer team.
Wednesday, November 2
Sting to play in RBV Tournament
The road warriors get to play at home!!! The Sting was invited to play in the RBV Junior Varsity Tournament in Vista this coming weekend. This will be a tough test for the team as they will be playing up and facing some of the better HS squads in the area. Poway, RBV, Carlsbad and Murrietta have teams in the tournament. The Sting open up against RBV saturday at 8:00am
Sting go 2-2 in NBC Tournament in LA
The SC Sting ended up 2-2 on the weekend. Good enough for 2nd place in there pool. On saturday the Sting lost there opener to tournament champ Valley Blacksox from Lancaster. In the nightcap the Sting came back to beat the Commerce Yankees 6-3.
On sunday the Sting lost 6-1 to a tough Cal Cougar team, but again in the second game of the day, the Sting came out on top 11-4 against the OC Hawks. Outstanding pitching over the weekend featured Austin Pickard and Jason Lamb. Our defense was led by Jay McKinney and John Leal. The Sting turned 5 double plays over the weekend. The offense was led by Alex Clausen, Matt Eidam and Jay McKinney. Trevor Cuyno, Jordan Smith, John Leal, Tim Alvarez and Matt Goldman all contributed key hits.
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| Original Sting Team 2001-2002 |
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And the Sting is Created.........
The Original Sting team was created in 2001. Although some are gone, the core of the team (Tim Alvarez, John Leal, Matt Goldman, Jay McKinney, Alex Clausen, Derek Irwin) still remain. We had some great kids on this original team (Andy Buechler, Abel Quinlan, Matt Williams, Lance Thibideau, Ryan McDevitt). We will always consider them family. These and all the other Sting players we have had through the years contributed to our success on the field and off. Some of the highlights in this first year was our tournament in Las Vegas. The Sting played in the prestigious Las Vegas Baseball Academy Dessert Fall Classic in 2002 and 2003. Also, playing in the competitive Orange County Winter league helped us improve our game.
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| 2004 14U Sting Team |
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14 U Sting place second in Super Series National Qualifier
The Sting had a great showing in this 2004 tournament placing second and qualifying for the Winter Nationals in Peoria Az. This would be the last year for a special player on our team....Brandon Butler. Brandon was an original Sting player. He gave us his very best every time out. Brandon was stricken with a rare cancer in 2004. Although, Brandon has made a great recovery from his illness, he chose to focus on his first love, waterpolo. Brandon now plays on the Vista High Waterpolo team.
Unfortunately, in 2005 we lost Brandon's dad, Bob Butler. Bob was an avid supporter of the Sting organization and the Sting family misses him dearly.
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| 2004 Super Series National Qualifier-Runner Up |
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Little Sting Team is created..................and play in SuperSeries Nationals
In 2004 we created at 12U Sting team made up entirely from players from Vista National Little League. The amazing thing about this team is that they played at a very high level without recruiting players from other areas. In October 2004, the little Stingers placed second in the Winter National qualifier. In December of that year we took this team to the Winter Nationals in Peoria, Arizona where we competed against the best teams in the nation. A huge accomplishment for a few kids from one city and one Little League.
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| 2003 Sting places 3rd at Big League Dreams |
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New faces to the Sting
In late 2003 we added some new faces to our Sting family. We have always prided ourselves on not being a revolving door like many travel teams and organizations. When we select players for the team, we really are selecting families. Most importantly, we are selecting friends for life.
Jason Lamb and his dad Bryan Lamb came to us in 2003. Bryan has helped coach the Sting since 2003 and Jason has been our starting SS since then. Teaching life skills as well as baseball skills requires not only knowledge, but ethics. Bryan and Jason have certainly added both to our team.
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| 2003 Memorial Day Champions |
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Sting win 2003 Memorial Day Tournament
In May of 2003 the Sting won the Memorial Day Triple Crown Tournament. This was a very talented team. With strong pitching, defense and hitting, the 2003 Sting team could very well be the best Sting team ever. In 2003 The Sting won 1 tournament, won USSSA league, placed 2nd in two tournaments and 3rd in another. This was the first year for Matt Eidam on the team.
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| 2nd Place in Triple Crown Labor Day Tourney |
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Sting Place 2nd in 2003 Labor Day Triple Crown Tournament
Another outstanding tournament for the Sting in 2003. Placing second in the tough Triple Crown Labor Day tournament in San Diego. This team started to make a name for itself with the way they played on the field.
Monday, August 22
Sting Starting Final Season
The So Cal Sting have been together for 5 years as a team. This is the last year that this group will be playing together. With most all of our players now entering High School teams, we have met our goal of getting these players ready for high school baseball. It's been a wonderful ride. One that I will never forget. We have tried to make a positive impact on these young men's life. I know they have made an impact on ours.
Damian Leal
NEW ADDITIONS TO THIS YEARS TEAM:
Austin Pickard. Austin will pitch for the Sting. Austin is a freshman at RBV High School and is currently on the RBV football team.
Trevor Cuyno: Trevor will play infield for the Sting. Trevor is a freshman at Vista High School and is currently in the Vista Baseball Program
Jordan Smith: Jordan will play outfield for the Sting. Jordan is currently playing football for Vista HS and is also in the VHS Baseball program.
STILL GOING STRONG:
John Leal, Matt Goldman, Tim Alvarez, Alex Clausen. This is the heart and soul of our team. They were there for the first Sting game and will be there for the last game. Committment and dedication are two words that describe this group very well.
LONG TIME PLAYERS:
Matt Eidam, Abel Quinlan, Mark Smith, Jay McKinney, Jason Lamb and Kyle Byrnes: These players make up the core of the Sting team. 10 of our 13 players have been on the Sting for 3 years or more. Some have never played for any other travel team except the Sting.
PLEASE DON'T FORGET:
Jesse Heulitt, Andrew Avila, Jeff Heicht, Jeff Warne, Andy Buechler, Ryan McDevitt, Lance Thibideau, Matt (JR) Williams, Ross Johnson, Brandon Butler. These are some of the players that graced our uniform along the way. No matter who they play for or what they do in the future, we will always consider them part of the Sting Family.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Steve Alvarez, Bill Cross, Steve Goldman, Bryan Lamb, John Riley, Tom Casey. These are the men that have dedicated there time and efforts into making the Sting a first class organization. Without them we would not be here today.
MEETING OUR GOAL:
John Leal, Tim Alvarez, Kyle Byrnes, Alex Clausen, Trevor Cuyno, Jordan Smith. All these players are currently in the Vista HS baseball program and played high school ball this year.
Jay McKinney, Jason Lamb, Mark Smith, Austin Pickard. Currently attend Rancho Buena Vista HS and play on the Frosh team at RBV.
Matt Eidam, Ryan McDevitt, Matt Goldman and Matt Williams all play for La Costa Canyon HS. Matt Eidam played JV baseball this year.
Jeff Warne, Jeff Heicht and Abel Quinlan. Jeff Warne was a starter on this years JV team at RBV. Abel is a pitcher on the RBV JV team. Jeff Heicht is on the Fallbrook Frosh team.
Ross Johnson plays for San Dieguito HS.
Brandon Butler. Recovered from a rare cancer, Brandon has gone on to make the Vista Varsity waterpolo team as a freshman.
IT'S BEEN A GREAT RIDE...!!..!!..!!
Accomplishments
*Sting Win 2003 Memorial Day Triple Crown Tournament.
*Sting create new 12U team in 2004 and qualify for SuperSeries Winter Nationals in Peoria, Arizona. By placing second in the San Clemente Octoberfest Tournament, the Sting earn a trip to Peoria.
*Sting holds a free baseball clinic for Vista youth at VNLL in 2004. The SC STING provided the youth of Vista a chance to learn new baseball skills. The kids spent the day with current Sting players, coaches, High School players, college players and High School coaches learning fundamentals.....ALL FREE OF CHARGE. Lunch and tee shirts were also provided.
*Sting place second in 2003 San Diego Labor Day tournament.
*Sting place second in the 2004 SuperSeries Octoberfest Tournament (14U).
*12U Sting team attends 2004-2005 SuperSeries Winter Nationals in Peoria AZ. 64 of the top teams in the nation play a week long tournament.
*Sting win USSSA 2003 SD League.