Lake Forest 12U Teams Gain Cooperstown Experience

Lake Forest Baseball Associations 12U Blue and 12U Gold teams lived the dream during a June 23-29 trip to Cooperstown, NY - the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Playing in Cooperstown Dreams Park, Lake Forest competed in a field featuring 104 teams.

The 12 Blue Scouts entered the tourney as the highest rank team from Illinois and finished with a 2-4 record heading into bracketed play July 4 where teams were 'seeded' and single-elimination rounds began.

The 12 Blue team secured a pair of wins by defeating the Troy (Mich.) Bulldogs, 8-4, and the Kentucky Blaze, 5-2, to advance to play the 35th-ranked Louisiana Langinappe. In an 8-6 nail biter, the 12 Blue team fell fought until the end with Jack Kaptrosky smashing a hard line drive that was snagged by the shortstop, who doubled up a runner at second in the last inning. The final out was fly out to centerfield.

The 12 Gold Scouts faced the No. 1 and No. 5-ranked teams in their first two pool play games. In bracket play, Lake Forest fared better with a 7-6 win over Burnsville Thunder (Minn.) with Jack Brush crossing home plate on a passed ball in the bottom of the last inning. In the second bracket game against the 52nd-ranked CC Slammers (Colo.), Lake Forest lost 13-1.

The Cooperstown baseball experience began with Opening Ceremonies marching into Little Majors Stadium. The LFBA Scouts' names were announced in front of thousands of fans and then it was on to the Skills Competition where members from each of the teams competed in competitions such as "Road Runner" (fastest base runner), "King of Swat" (homerun derby) and "Around the Horn".

The 12 Blue roster included: Augy Cirame, Matthew Croisant, P.C. Daniel, John Deering, Max Giangiorgi, Jack Kaptrosky, Ryan Lee, Ryan Marquis, Parker Messner, Jack Mislinski, Jackson Thomas and Joey Williams. The team is coached by Matt Hansen and assistant Jake Hansen.

The 12 Gold roster included: Jack Brush, Ryan Durburg, Jack Galvin, Andrew Grabemann, Matthew Hill, Joey Pasquesi, Reny Pire, Joe Thomas, Brett Timmeney, Kyle Waggoner and Kyle Wix. The team is coached by Ashton Hughes and assistant Ed Loos.

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