Lamorinda Spartans Are the Number One 12U Team in the Country

by Steve Allen

When Rick Rider starting forming the Lamorinda Spartans back in 2010 for the start of the 12U season he had a goal in mind; to try and win a National Championship.  After playing nearly 80 games (69-10), and traveling 23,000 miles in 2013 (It’s 25,000 miles around the world), Travelball Select has named The Spartans the #1 team in the country. 

Lamorinda finished the 2013 season with Championships in 13 of the 16 tournaments they entered, all this while playing the most competitive schedule in the country. Of their 79 games, 34 of them were against teams ranked in the top 25 in the country, and 13 of those against teams in the top five.  In seven of their 13 championships they had to beat a top 10 team in the final game, and five of those wins came against top five teams.

The Spartans won two Norcal Super NIT’s, three TBS Super-Regionals (Norcal, Socal, and Las Vegas), the VTV Invitational in Santa Clarita, the Super Series World Series, the Pee Wee Reece World Series in Puerto Rico, and the TBS National Championships in Los Angeles.

Baseball is definitely a team sport, but along the Spartans year-long journey a few players really stood out and were recognized for their exceptional accomplishments.  On September 16th Travelball Select came out with their 2013 1st Team All-American Team and three of the best were selected.  Here are the three players and what TBS had to say about them.  

Javier Felix (possibly the best West Coast Player, and frontrunner for Player of the Year), Adrian Flores (amazing catcher who is mechanically solid with exceptional pop-time.  He is a top of the order type of hitter with good eye and bat control), and Xavier Carter (big game pitcher who effectively worked the strike zone. Is the #3 hole hitter that went gap to gap as well as yard).  Many others had incredible years to help the Spartans achieve this goal, but these three really stood out.

The 12 year old travel ball year is a very exciting one as the kids are still kids, yet play at a high enough level to make it an extremely great brand of baseball.  This year the Spartans bonded as a group both on and off the field.  Through hard work, incredible team chemistry, and basically a trip around the world, the Lamorinda Spartans helped Rick Rider achieve the goal he set 3 years ago finishing #1 in the country, and being named the TBS National Champions.