A 12U travel baseball team from Holtville will get a lifetime experience next week.
The TC Select team, based out of Holtville with members from Slapout, Wetumpka and Prattville, is headed to Cooperstown, New York.
The team will play in America’s Baseball Summer Camp, an 88-team tournament held at the Cooperstown Dream Park. Established in 1996, it is one of the best youth baseball tournaments in the country. Over 2,000 players, coaches and umpires from all over the country have participated in the tournament.
“The biggest thing is that many of these kids have never experienced anything outside of the tri-county area or the state of Alabama,” assistant coach Wade McDonald said. “This gives them an opportunity to go out and do something that’s very memorable and experience a week that they will probably never get to do again.”
The TC Select team consists of 12 players – Case Clay, Rawlins Tubbs, Brayden Wright, Chaise Crownover, Ty Paxton, Blake Duett, Bentley Lightsey, Easton Smith, Tallan Cramer, Jackson McDonald, Oliver Brown and Cooper Jackson.
The team has a record of 18-5 this spring and every member of the roster will be inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame. All players will also receive Cooperstown Dreams Park home and away jerseys, hats and warm-up sets (tournament shirt, long sleeve performance shirt and a batting jacket).
The players will stay in the Baseball Village for six nights and seven days, have a photo session with the CDP Photo Studio where they receive personalized baseball cards and play a minimum of six games.
“I think the coolest part is just the experience of going to Cooperstown and walking the Hall of Fame,” McDonald said. “Instead of just a family vacation, the kids are getting to play ball and do something they want to do away from home. They get to be in places where some of the greatest players have been.”
For many of the players, this will be the farthest away from home they’ve ever been.
Blake Duett, son of head coach Adam Duett, said the farthest he’s ever been away from home is Kentucky.
Rawlins Tubbs has also been to Kentucky, but went a little further when he and his family went to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska a few seasons ago. Neither have been to New York.
“I think it’s going to be really fun for the experience and just playing ball in front of a big crowd and getting to be on television,” Tubbs said. “Visiting the Hall of Fame is going to be pretty cool.”
The players will also have a chance to make a name for themselves while up there. Some of the biggest athletes in the world have played in Cooperstown in this tournament.
Just in last year’s World Series, 14 members of the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks attended this tournament. That includes two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager and Jacob DeGrom.
Other MLB stars such as Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber have also played.
“If you go up there and do something great, then all of a sudden people remember your name,” McDonald said. “A couple of years ago, Sonny DiChiara went up there and hit like 22 home runs during the tournament. Nobody knew who he was when he got there, but they did when he left. Now he’s playing professional baseball for the Angels.”
The accolades and accomplishments are great, but McDonald and the rest of the TC Select coaching staff just want their team to have fun and enjoy a week of playing baseball in one of the best youth tournaments in the country.
Knowing their team, they have no doubts they’ll have fun.
“All of these kids have been friends for a long time and they enjoy playing with each other,” McDonald said. “They play well together. Nobody on this team is selfish and that makes it fun as coaches. You have a bunch of kids who just want to compete and play and get better. This may be the experience of a lifetime for them.”
Fans can follow the team on Facebook at TC Select Baseball and watch the boys live in action with a link on the page. The team also has an active TikTok page “@tc_selectbaseball”
If anyone would like to help sponsor the team’s experience, their team Cash App is @tcsbaseball.
