Jim Parque, President of Big League Edge Baseball from the state of Washington, is coming down to The Clubhouse on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 to hold an independent tryout for his internationally sanctioned teams of USA Baseball.  These teams will travel to the Dominican Republic in August to play in one of Latin America's biggest baseball tournaments, competing against Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, and more.  This will be one of many tryouts throughout the western states, all free if you are serious about going.  For more info, please click HERE.

9:00am-10:30am    11-13 year olds tryout (free)

3:00pm-4:30pm      14-18 year olds tryout (free)

Our 2011-12 Total Player Prep Program is beginning in December and will run through February.  Hard 90's talented instructors, like K.C. Royals farmhand Tyler Graham (pictured to the right) will be there focusing on quality repetitions and you will work out with young players that have an incredible work ethic.  All workouts are weatherproof, scheduled indoors at our 10,000 sq. ft. Clubhouse in El Dorado Hills (unless otherwise notified).  For more information, simply CLICK HERE to get dates and times.  Ages 7-18 are encouraged to come and prepare for their spring season!  YOU CAN JOIN ANYTIME!  You can call during business hours at (916) 365-4977 for more information.

NEXT WINTER WORKOUTS - INDOORS

NO OPEN HITTING HITTING THIS WEEKEND

14-18's    5:30pm-8:00pm        THE CLUBHOUSE

Saturday, Feb. 4 

14-18's    12:30pm-3:00pm      THE CLUBHOUSE

7-9's    5:30pm-8:00pm             THE CLUBHOUSE

13's    5:30pm-8:00pm               THE CLUBHOUSE

Thursday, Feb. 9 

10-11's    5:30pm-8:00pm         THE CLUBHOUSE

"Losing a game is heartbreaking, losing your sense of excellence or worth is a tragedy." 

- The late great Joe Paterno

EXPANDED WINTER OPEN HITTING HOURS:

at THE CLUBHOUSE (for full members)

Note: Always off on holidays and H-90 tournament weekends.

Ages 7-9:       Wed. 4-6PM  AND  Sat. 4-6PM

Ages 10-11:   Tues. 4-6PM  AND  Sat. 4-6PM

Age 12:           Thurs. 4-6PM  AND  Sat. 4-6PM

Ages 13-18:   Fri. 6-8PM AND Sun. 5-7PM 

H-90's annual trip to Southern California brought a mixed bag of success (and weather!) to all our teams over the MLK weekend of January 14-16.  The Legacy Premier 9's went 1-3 and just missed the playoffs, finding that playing "stacked" teams is quite a challenge.  The Power Premier 10's had a very tough draw and went 0-4 in pool play, hanging in there with some tough teams but did not play their best baseball.  The Cycle Premier 11's also got blanked in pool play with the same scenario, hanging in there but not able to put it together enough.  The Heat Premier 12's went 1-3 and also missed the playoffs, committing errors at the wrong time but had some tight games still.  The Heat 12's got blanked in the win column as they made some mistakes in the field ending up costing them some games.  The Heat Red 12's saved their best for last but still lost a tight playoff game to the Yaks, but showed improvement with each contest.  The Pastime Premier 13's went 1-3 with their bats very silent over the weekend, usually one of their strengths.  The Pastime 13's went 0-3 with inconsistant pool play and lost their playoff game to the Web Gems.  The Pastime Red saved their best but came up short in a wild playoff game by the score of 16-15.  The older teams fared much better with the Phenom Premier 14's going 2-1-1 in pool play but lost to the eventual champions (Black Sox) in the semi-finals.  The Slam Premier 16's went 3-1 in pool play and won their semi-final game to get to the Championship tilt, where they stumbled finally.  The Cycle 11's ventured to Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale and played well at times but came up empty in the win column.  Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.

Hard 90 Baseball is celebrating it's 6th anniversary this month and it's amazing all the college acceptances, quality teams and championships that have been achieved in such a brief amount of time.  It's also amazing that it's done with no "cherry-picking", i.e. outside players simply to win.  Once in a while for a long tournament on a long trip, extra pitching comes along.  This past weekend was a perfect example with three of our teams taking the titles at the Super Series Qualifier in Woodland, held December 17-18.  The Power Premier 10's went a perfect 4-0, but saved their best effort for last.  Facing their tough rival the NorCal Devil Dawgs in the championship game, they clawed and scratched back from a 10 run deficit to pull out a 16-15 gutsy win.  The Cycle Premier 11's scored 60 runs in going a perfect 4-0, ousting the pesky Nevada Gunslingers 10-6 in their championship tilt.  The Pastime Premier 13's kept their winning ways rolling also with a perfect 4-0 record, beating a talented Nor Cal Thunder team by a score of 6-1 to take the crown.  The Heat 12's went 1-1 in pool play but lost in the semi-finals by a score of 10-8.  The Pastime 13's played very well at times going 2-2 in the All-World Winter Championships at Freedom Park.  Also there were the Pastime Red 13's, who played well also going 1-3 in losing a few close battles.  The Slam Premier 16's pounced on everyone to get to the Championship game at McAuliffe fields, only to be thwarted in a 2-1 pitchers' duel against tough Beasts Baseball.  Our Legacy Premier 9's, Cycle 11's, Heat Premier 12's, Heat Red 12's, and Phenom 14u teams all either scrimmaged or practiced, taking advantage of the great baseball weather this time of the year!  Congrats again to all our teams, who continually play the game with ultimate respect.

The Legacy Premier 9u team definitely has a lot of spunk but they also have a lot of talent.  Their bats were booming as they took the championship in the All World Winter Wipeout in Vacaville over the weekend of December 3-4, outscoring their opponents by a score of 73 to 11 in 5 games.  Actually the championship game was a classic, pulling out a 3-2 victory over the Vacaville Bulldogs.  The Pastime Premier 13u team were missing a couple of their talented squad members due to a basketball injury and a  big s_ _ _ _ r game, but they still played great fundamental baseball together and took the 'ship at the Super Series Winter Qualifier at Mather.  Our Power Premier 10's played "UP" and were competitive, going 1-3.  The Cycle Premier 11's were on a down cycle (pun intended) at Mather losing two tight games on Saturday and layed an egg in their semi-final game.  The Cycle 11's played much better in Vacaville, but also lost a couple of very close games and pulled out a nice win in the tournament. The Heat Premier 12's at Mather were looking good on Saturday, going 2-0 and earning a coveted #1 seed for Sunday only to lose 5-2 in the semi-finals to a talented and well-coached Nor Cal Bears team.  The Heat 12's, also in Mather, lost two more close games on Saturday and missed the playoffs for the first time in a long while.  They came out swinging the bats with conviction on Sunday to salvage the weekend.  The Heat Red were in Vacaville and were blanked although played well at times.  The Pastime 13's went 1-3 in Vacaville and were disappointed they did not play more steady baseball, giving up a big inning in a few of their games.  The Pastime Red 13's played in Vacaville the same way, going 1-3 and gave up some runs on defense with some good play in between.  The Phenom 14's, also in Vacaville, had pitching problems but scored enough runs to win games even though they came up with one tie and dropped three other games.  The older teams held a fast-paced longer scrimmage on Sunday.  All in all, the weekend is best summed up by the saying "sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield."  All of the teams got tested out on the road.     

The Heat 12u's recently went a perfect 4-0 at Hank's Bombers Classic tournament held on November 18-19.  The team pitched very well as a group with some stellar defense and timely hitting added throughout the weekend.  They edged Davis Wolfpack in the Championship tilt by a score of 3-2 in a real nail-biter.  Congratulations to this fun and talented group of players and thanks to Hank's Bombers coaches and staff for putting on such a great event!