14U Baseball Has Officially Begun ⚾

Well, here we go again! Another baseball season has officially started, and this one already feels a little different. We have officially entered the 14U season, and with it comes a new team, a new organization, new schedules, and apparently even MORE baseball! Because obviously, we weren't spending enough time at baseball fields already! 😂

New Team, Familiar Faces

At the end of last season, we knew things were going to change. The team we had been with for several seasons came to an end as many of our coaches' sons aged out of youth baseball and moved on to high school ball. That was definitely bittersweet!

When you spend season after season with the same families, those people become part of your baseball family. You spend entire weekends together, travel together, celebrate together, lose together, eat way too much concession stand food together, and somehow survive it all!

Thankfully, this new chapter doesn't mean completely starting over. Our new team is made up of about half of the boys from last season, mixed with players from another team. We've actually played with or against almost every kid on the roster at some point, so there are plenty of familiar faces!

The biggest change is that we're now playing under an organization based in North Texas. And there's one tiny problem... We don't live in North Texas! 😂

When Baseball Practice Is Hours Away

Because of the distance, making weekly North Texas practices isn't realistic for us. We can make some weekend practices, but thankfully, our coaches understand the situation. When possible, our son can practice or play with another team closer to home. Getting actual game reps can take the place of missing a practice.

And wouldn't you know it? There's a team right here in East Texas in the same age group! So we're getting some practice time with them, AND instead of having an off weekend this weekend, we'll be playing in an East Texas Five Tool tournament with them. Because what else would we possibly do with a free weekend? Relax? Clean the house? Sleep in? Absolutely not. WE PLAY BASEBALL! 😂⚾

Our First Tournament of the 14U Season

Last weekend officially kicked off our season, but our coaches viewed it as more of a warm-up. There's a pretty big reason for that. Our previous team finished last season ranked high enough through Perfect Game to earn a bid to the Best of the West tournament. Because enough of the boys from that team were still eligible for 14U and moved together to our new team, we were able to carry that opportunity into this new chapter.

With Best of the West coming up quickly, our coaches wanted the boys to get back on the field first. So we entered a Five Tool Underclassman Showcase. And this wasn't exactly a normal 14U weekend!

Junior High Kids vs. High School Players 😳

We went into this event knowing our boys were going to be some of the youngest players there. Our kids are still in junior high! Many of the players across the field were freshmen and sophomores in high school. Nothing like starting 14U by saying: "Hey boys, welcome back! Now go play the big kids." 😂

It was also a wood-bat-only event, which added another challenge. Wood bats change the game! There's less room for error, and hitters really have to find the barrel. Our boys knew they were walking into tougher competition, faster pitching, older players, and a different style of tournament. And you know what? They didn't care! They went out there and PLAYED!

Three Games. Three Wins. 🔥

We played two games Saturday and one Sunday. And won all three! Even better, our team finished as one of the highest-scoring teams in our division. But the wins weren't actually what impressed me most. It was watching these boys walk onto the field without being intimidated by the age difference.

Some were already comfortable seeing that pitching velocity. For others, those first few pitches probably created a little bit of culture shock. But once they saw it? They adjusted! They stepped into the box. They competed. And they played baseball! As a parent, those are the moments that make you proud. Not because the scoreboard says you won, but because you watch your kid and his teammates face something uncomfortable and decide they're going to compete anyway. I was incredibly proud of every one of them!

My First Experience With Five Tool

This was also our first real experience with Five Tool, so naturally, I was comparing it to what we're used to with Perfect Game. There were definitely some differences. With Perfect Game showcases and events, we've become accustomed to things like player profiles, pitching velocity information, rankings, videos, and other player data.

Five Tool handled the video side differently at this event. They weren't simply recording an entire game. They were capturing individual moments from players throughout the games. At-bats. Pitching appearances. Big plays. Those clips were then connected to the player's profile. That was actually REALLY cool!

My son could pull up his profile and watch clips of his strikeouts. Then he could go back and watch his at-bats and hits. For players who want to review what they did well, see what they need to work on, or simply have clips from their games, that's a pretty neat feature!

And Parents... Let's Talk About Admission 💸

Here's something else that surprised me. We spent $20 on admission for the ENTIRE WEEKEND! That's it. Saturday was $10 for me and $10 for my husband. Sunday's game was played at a high school facility without the same amenities, so there wasn't an admission charge. Twenty dollars. For an entire baseball weekend!

Sports parents, you know why I'm mentioning this! 😂 When you've already paid tournament fees, team fees, gas, hotels, food, uniforms, equipment, and everything else that magically attaches itself to travel baseball, saving money at the gate feels like somebody handed you a winning lottery ticket!

Overall, I walked away from our first Five Tool experience impressed. Now I'm curious to see how a regular Five Tool tournament compares to this showcase format. And thankfully, I won't have to wait very long!

Next Stop: East Texas

This coming weekend, we'll be playing with the more local East Texas team in another Five Tool tournament. I'm really interested to see how this one works because it's expected to be a larger, more traditional tournament. I'm especially curious to see whether players receive the same individual video coverage and profile updates that we saw during the showcase. And yes, this tournament will have normal gate fees. My beautiful $20 weekend was fun while it lasted! 😂💸

I'll report back on how the two Five Tool experiences compare. But then... Things get REALLY interesting!

Best of the West Is Coming 🏆

The following weekend is the tournament we've been waiting for: Best of the West! Ten teams from across the country will come together in North Texas for an invite-only event. Later, there is also the Beast of the East, featuring teams from the eastern side of the country. Ultimately, teams can work toward earning opportunities connected with the Best of the Best event in 2027.

So this little "warm-up" tournament was just that. A warm-up. Now it's time to see what these boys can do. But there's another tiny situation happening that weekend...

Baseball Gods, PLEASE Give Us Early Games 😂🙏

We WON THE LOTTERY! No, not the kind where I can finally pay off every travel baseball expense we've accumulated. Possibly even better! 😂 We scored tickets to see the Savannah Bananas vs. Texas Tailgaters at Riders Field in Frisco! And I am ridiculously excited!

There's just one problem. It's the SAME Saturday as Best of the West. So I am officially sending one request into the baseball universe: PLEASE GIVE US EARLY GAMES! Because we've been here before. The last time we won a ticket lottery for the Party Animals Cosmic Takeover, baseball had other plans. We ended up traveling out of state for a tournament and had to give our tickets away. I cannot do that again! 😂

So if our boys could kindly play some beautiful early-morning baseball, win those games, and leave us enough time to race over to Frisco... That would be fantastic!

And Just Like That, 14U Is Underway

One tournament down. Another tournament this weekend. Best of the West after that. And somewhere in between, there will be practices, laundry, work, packing, unpacking, gas station stops, food runs, equipment scattered everywhere, and me trying to remember what city we're supposed to be in next. Welcome back to travel baseball! ⚾😂

But I wouldn't trade watching these boys grow, compete, and make these memories for anything. I'll be back after our East Texas Five Tool tournament to tell you how a regular Five Tool event compares to the showcase. Then we'll talk Best of the West, and hopefully, FINALLY, I'll have a Savannah Bananas vs. Texas Tailgaters story to tell too.

Surviving the Texas Heat ☀️🥵

And can we talk about the HEAT for a minute? Because Texas baseball in September apparently did not get the memo that fall is supposed to be coming! 😂 At this point, I don't just pack for a baseball tournament. I set up a small survival compound on the sidelines. My BrüMate hard cooler has quickly become one of my favorite tournament purchases because I can keep ice-cold water ready to go right from the built-in tank, while the basket inside keeps our snacks cold without everything floating around in melted ice.

Then there's my impossible-to-miss bright pink canopy, which will soon be pulling double duty with BallerMom2026 and 4Y Family Design advertising on it. 🩷 And because apparently, I've decided our baseball setup needs its own climate-control system, we have a portable mister that attaches right to the canopy. When you're sitting at a ballpark for hours in Texas heat, a little shade, cold water, cold snacks, and mist blowing under the canopy can feel downright luxurious! 😂

I'm slowly perfecting our tournament setup one ridiculously hot weekend at a time. At this rate, give me another season and I may have air conditioning in the bleachers! ⚾☀️💦

Don't Miss the Next Chapter 🩷

If you're raising a youth athlete, living out of tournament bags, planning your life around GameChanger notifications, or simply understand the beautiful chaos that comes with youth sports, subscribe to BallerMom2026. I'm sharing the real side of this life: tournaments, travel, costs, wins, losses, lessons, products that actually help, and those ridiculous sports-parent moments nobody understands unless they've lived them.

This 14U adventure is just getting started. And judging by the calendar... It's going to be one heck of a season! ⚾🩷 BallerMom2026.com