Memorable break
Great Bridge put in the miles to win tournament in SC
First-year Great Bridge coach Shaun Todd has huge expectations for the Wildcats’ baseball program this season.
Knowing what the Wildcats will face this season, he decided to take his players to the Hanahan Invitational Tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, to test them.
“Great Bridge had not been on a spring trip in quite some time,” he said. “The expectation was just to compete. I really wanted the guys to kind of see how good that they could be. We, as a staff, really believe that this group is really talented and really good. And for them to see that going down there and playing against the level of competition we did, that was the expectation.”
The Wildcats did more than just compete as they beat teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia to win the Hatfield Division.
Traveling nearly 500 miles, one would think the Wildcats might face an unfamiliar opponent, but they met Southeastern District rival Western Branch and beat the Bruins 9-5 in their division’s championship game.
“It speaks volumes to how good the baseball is in this area,” Todd said. “I think we were fortunate to go down there and play Western Branch in the finals because it does show how good the baseball is in this area. And good baseball travels, and it traveled this week. And it was good to see.”
Western Branch coach Roland Wright agreed.
“We’ve always said our baseball around here is pretty good,” he said. “It was really good to see all of our 757 teams down there and how we stack up against other teams in other states. This is just a testament again to where 757 baseball is.”
Wright said spring trips help with team bonding and also test players in an unfamiliar environment, which he hopes will help come playoff time.
The trip also was special for Western Branch because the Bruins helped Wright achieve his 300th career win. He got to celebrate it with his twin sons, Jacob and Joshua.
“What was really cool was that I got to win it with the twins, and Jacob caught the last out on a fly ball. So it was pretty cool,” said Wright, who received numerous text messages from former players and the baseball community to congratulate him. “But it’s not about me. I’ve just been fortunate to coach in a program that has a culture the kids really believe in and to have talent to win games. The kids were more excited than I was.”
Other teams from Hampton Roads at the tournament included Greenbrier Christian, Hickory, First Colonial and Oscar Smith.
Greenbrier Christian (8-1) lost in the championship game of the Steadman Division.
“The competition is always good at the HIT tournament in Charleston,” Gators coach Patrick Nichols said. “We played three really strong teams last week, and I’m really proud of the way that my boys competed against the best that South Carolina has to offer.”
Now the teams return to Hampton Roads to finish the season.
Todd hopes this is just the beginning for the Wildcats’ winning ways.
“We expect to compete every night, and we know how tough the competition is here in our area,” said Todd, whose team improved to 7-0. “Jumping from (Class 4 to 5), we know it’s going to be a battle and a fight every night just to be able to make the tournament. We wanted to prove ourselves that we can compete on this level, and the guys did a fantastic job of doing that.”