Renegades 12u players and parents made the three hour trip down to Peoria for the Brad Wallin Memorial Tournament over the weekend of May 31st. The tournament is held in honor of a young man who tragically died of cancer and in keeping with tradition, the boys had their heads shaved to honor Brad. Veteran coach Tim Murphy had the boys prepared, and it showed in the opener, with the Gades defeating the Decatur Jr. Dawgs by a score of 7-1. The game featured not only excellent pitching, but a fantastic power display, with Mike M. hitting two home runs and driving in four runs.
The following day, the boys ran into a buzzsaw, dropping consecutive games to Jacksonville Lenz and Team Mizuno (ultimately, the winner of the entire tournament). The tournament ended there for the Renegades, but lessons far more valuable than baseball were learned and a good time was had by everyone involved, from parents to volunteers, to players.
