Hello Buddy Baseball Fans,
It has been a great season, definitely our hottest season to date. It always goes by so quickly. We capped off the season with 288 people at our end of season party at Pin Chasers.
Thanks to all of our buddies, coaches, volunteers and sponsors for their support in making the season a success.
Special thanks to Cyclones Coach Jeff Walters for over seven years of coaching Buddy Baseball. He recently accepted a new position in Orlando and will be moving there soon. We appreciate his help over all of these years.
We will need more buddies for the spring season. If you know of someone who would like to be a buddy, have them sign up. The next season will start on Saturday, February 23, 2019 and go until April 6, 2019. Registration is now open on our website
Have a nice Thanksgiving and a great holiday season.
Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director
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We had a great time at the party with bowling, the balloon artists, a face painter and our "Instant Strike Challenges." The first person to get a strike when we announced our Instant Strike Challenge received a free Chick Fil A sandwich from the Temple Terrace restaurant and a free game of bowling. Thanks to Pin Chasers and Busch Gardens for donating prizes to our raffle. Thanks to all the volunteers to make sure everything ran smoothly.
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Next season will start on 2/23/2019 and end on 4/6/2019.
The Meet and Greet will be on Saturday, 2/16/2019.
The registration deadline is Monday,1/7/2019 at 6:00 pm
We may be limiting the number of players to register, so sign up now.
Below is the link to register.
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We had an excellent turnout for our 8th Annual Buddy Run on November 4th. It was a huge success! Our Buddy Baseball family really represented with players, buddies, coaches and parents running and volunteering. Congratulations to Buddy Baseball parents Kevin Webb and Doug Rohrer finishing first and third overall. Buddy Kade Lefort finished sixth overall and first in his age division. Coach Sarah Knodle finished first her age division.
Great job to all the runners and volunteers! Thanks to Suncoast Credit Union for your title sponsorship!
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Player Spotlight
Sophia
Sepulveda
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Sophia Sepulveda
Sophia is 18 years old and attends Focus Academy. She loves to dance and seeing movies like Beauty and the Beast and Moana. If Sophia had a $1000, she would buy tons of sharpies, crayons and coloring books. Her favorite thing about summer is spending time in the pool. Sophia's favorite musical artist is Spanish Artist - Prince Royce.
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Buddy Spotlight - Caleb Evans
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Caleb Evans
Caleb will 16 years old in December and is a sophomore at Middleton High School in the Computer Game Design Magnet Program. His favorite food is cheeseburgers and is favorite restaurant is Steak 'n Shake. Caleb's favorite subject in school is lunch. His favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.
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Rookie Spotlight
Maggie Johnson
and Nate
Hirshfeld
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Maggie Johnson and Nate Hirshfeld
Buddy Maggie Johnson and Player Nate Hirshfeld are both rookies in the league. Maggie is 15 years old and is a sophomore at Tampa Catholic. She has two dogs, loves to travel and is a huge music fan. If she had a $1000, she would buy a plane ticket to Japan. She has even put a power point presentation on why her family should take a trip to Japan. When Maggie grows up, she wants to be a movie set designer.
This was also Nate's first season with Buddy Baseball. Nate is 18 years old and attends Wiregrass Ranch. He has a great sense of humor, loves musicals, music and cartoons. His favorite food is grilled cheese and his favorite subject in school is Science. If Nate was famous, it would be for playing the oboe.
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Coach Spotlight - Justin Bishop
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Justin Bishop
Justin and his wife Kelly were both born and raised in Tampa, lived in the same neighborhood as kids and didn't meet until they were adults. They have been married 13 years. They have a 10 year old son, Brody, who plays on the Rockets. Justin and Kelly own a flooring business called Puzzle Piece Flooring that they have owned and operated since 2014. Justin loves to fish, not shaving, woodworking, animals and he collects watches and coins.
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Volunteer Spotlight -
Ground Crew
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Grounds Crew
We can't have a Buddy Baseball season without our fabulous Grounds Crew volunteers. They help with the set up and breakdown of the fields. Pictured: Darren Morgan, Kenny Eastman, Steve Gerstein and Mo Battino. Not pictured: Milt Orkin, Glenn Yancey and Steve Friedman.
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Parent Spotlight
Lisa and John Mezzei
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Lisa and John Mezzei
Lisa and John, have been married for 18 years. They have a nearly 15 year old daughter Michaela who enjoys dance and weightlifting. Matthew is 12 years old and has been playing Buddy Baseball for 8 seasons (go Sharks!). He enjoys gymnastics and ninja class.
A passionate Notre Dame fan, John grew up in the Temple Terrace area and works in Human Resources for Busch Gardens. Originally from San Diego, Lisa moved to Tampa in high school. She homeschools Matthew and serves as Vice Executive Director for the Down Syndrome Association of Tampa Bay.
Favorite Buddy Baseball memories include the end of season bashes, the game Matthew played with Tampa Bay Rays players, Jake Odorizzi and Cory Dickerson for our 100th Saturday of Buddy Baseball. Also, hitting the first pitch coach Patrick threw to him for a "home run." Matthew loved joining Russ as an ambassador for Buddy Baseball on a morning television segment.
They tell everyone they know how much they love our organization and encourage them to come watch "at least one game" for the best hour of their week.
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Sponsor Spotlight
Jason L. Fox, Esq.
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Jason Fox Esquire. Bichler, Oliver, Longo, & Fox, PLLC
Jason represents first responders around the State of Florida with work related disability issues. "Protecting Those That Protect and Serve" Thank you for your support and the work that you do.
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Amazon Smile
When shopping on line this holiday season. Consider using Amazon Smile. A portion of the the sale will be donated back to Buddy Baseball, no extra cost to you. Just use
https://smile.amazon.com/
selecting Buddy Baseball as the organization that you are supporting the next time you are shopping on Amazon. Thanks.
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Until next time... PLAY BALL!!
Russ Oberbroeckling
Executive Director
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Spotlights
Spring 2019 Registration
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