9U Blue Sox Have Successful Spring And Summer

This summer marked a dramatic improvement for the up-and-coming Lake Shore 9U Blue Sox.

The team improved its win total by a whopping 14 games in going 22-16 on the season. The roster of Cooper Barnes, Ryan Doggett, Dominic Drain, Ryan Jubb, Carson Kelm, Garrett Michalak, Jace Milnes, Greg Miteff, Nicolas Pellegrini, Eric Permisohn, Evan Schmitt and Austin Velenovsky was playing its second season together. The Blue Sox finished the year on a 12-5 run in its final 17 games and had solid performances at a handful of tournaments.

Lake Shore finished as runners-up at both the Lake Shore Boys of Summer Tournament in June and the Future Stars Dawg Days of Summer in Hershey, Pennsylvania in mid-July.

The team was also the No. 1 seed going into the final day of the Lake Shore Dirt and Diamonds Tournament in May before the tournament finals were rained out.

Head coach Jason Pellegrini said the team made big strides in their intangibles and team cohesion in 2018.

“I am extremely happy with the way the boys gelled together as a team this year,” said Pellegrini, who coached the team with assistants Tom Barnes, Mike Drain, Jason Jubb, Wayne Jubb, Jason Schmitt and Gus Velenovsky. “This group felt much more like a family than a team and the boys thrived because of it. They all wanted to do their best for their brothers on the team. There were several games this season when our team was down and battled back. We didn’t win every one of those games, but the kids never gave up. I could not be more proud of this team and the heart they showed all year long.”