The 12U Raiders just became the latest Plant City-based baseball team to spend a week in New York for the annual Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament.
This year’s Raiders team made it to the tournament’s third round last week, finishing with a 4-4 record overall. The Raiders went 3-3 in “regular season” play, winning three out of their final four games to enter tournament play with a first-round bye. Plant City beat the Davis Bulldogs of Utah, 4-3, in the tournament’s second round but were eliminated by Upstate Baseball Academy of South Carolina, 10-4, on June 12.
Though the Raiders didn’t win the championship, it was still a fun, memorable week for the boys. It was their first time playing in the tournament (many have attended in the past as spectators when their older brothers played there), which led to a new experience. They traded pins with other teams from all over the country, toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and beat their parents, 11-7, with help from their siblings in a wiffle ball game at the end of the trip. It was also notable for Logan Teeden, Josh Machado and Cooper Cowan, who all hit their first home runs in Cooperstown.
“Really just being with the kids and families, spending that time together, that week of baseball was a great time to see everybody make memories together,” coach Billy Teeden said. “That’s what I’ll remember most, for sure.”
The tournament wrapped up the 12U Raiders’ season. The boys are now getting ready for all-star play at the Little League level and will represent Plant City in Haines City as tournament play begins.