 Name: Joel De La Rosa
Job Title: Baseball Event Director Email: joel@triplecrownsports.com Family: Only child. Parents: Joel and Erin. Dad was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Mom was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Met in Colorado. Hometown: Greeley, CO College/Graduated: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (2018) Sports Background: Played baseball since I was 5. Proudest Moment: Was part of the first baseball team at UCCS in 2016 as an assistant until 2018. Humbling Defeat (humorous): The UCCS Baseball PA announcer was sick. I was a VERY late replacement to fill role (no prior PA experience) and was absolutely terrible in my attempt. Hobbies/Outside Interests: Snowboarding, golf, video games, and Chicago sports teams Favorite trip: Chicago/Wrigley Field How did you find or first become associated with Triple Crown?: Played in Triple Crown baseball tournaments as a kid, then umpired TC tournaments the last few years. What intrigues you the most about Triple Crown?: Organizing and executing the very same tournaments I was a part of when I was playing baseball growing up. Creating lifelong memories for youth baseball players.  We will spend some time in 2021 taking a closer look at many of the key clubs and teams that bring excitement and competition to Triple Crown’s Colorado Baseball division. Here’s a visit with Chris Taylor, co-owner of Elite Athletic (based in Golden) and 11u head coach.
Q: What are you most excited about for this team? A: This team enjoyed a tremendous amount of on-field success in 2020. We are returning a great core of kids with a few new additions, and I can’t wait to see how the team comes together. We were lucky enough to receive a few invites to national events, including Triple Crown’s Best of the West, and I am very excited to see how our team can compete against some of the top talent across the country. Q: What constitutes a successful season for you? A: At this age, it is all about growth and development. As the game gets faster and more complicated I want to see our kids grow with it. Smart work ethic, a will to compete, and leadership are staples of our team, and I want to see that continue to grow in all our players. Winning is a byproduct of those things, but ultimately my goal is to prepare them for whatever their next level of competition is. As long as we compete no matter the situation, I am happy with the season. Q: Would you call 2020 a success for your team and your program with all the challenges and hurdles you faced? A: For our team 2020 was definitely a success, both on the field and off. Our team chose to play up an age group for most of the summer and it really helped our kids grow as players. Being able to string together 26 straight wins also helps, but I was more proud of how our boys (and families) dealt with the ever-changing circumstances throughout the season. The kids worked hard on their own during the shutdown and were ready to get back to team activities as soon as we were allowed. We obviously would have like to play more games and travel but all-in-all it was successful. Q: What separates Elite Baseball from the other programs? A: Elite as an organization takes a player development approach with all our teams. Our focusing is on making sure we develop the player’s skills and by doing so that will result in success on the field for our teams. Danny Vais (my co-owner at Elite) and I take pride in being heavily involved with all of our teams, not just the ones that we personally coach. We know all the kids across the organization, not just a select few. Whether that is working with the kids directly in a training environment or supporting our coaches throughout the season, we want to make sure they have the tools for success. Q: What’s the team expectations this year? A: I expect our team to build on the success they had last year and continue to grow as players and leaders. I am sure our players will tell you they expect to win every time they step on the field, and that is great. We are very excited to, hopefully, get a chance to travel this year and test ourselves against some great competition. Q: What’s the best thing about the state of youth sports right now? A: For me, it continues to be the great life lessons that sports teach our kids. Hard work, leadership, dealing with failure, being part of a team, are all great skills that will translate into all aspects of life. Unfortunately, I think some of these things have fallen off in society in general and we have created environments for kids that don’t teach them how to fail or deal with adversity. Sports provide that for these kids, and I believe will set them up to be more successful later in life. The level of instruction is also at an all-time high in my opinion. The opportunities for these kids to train and compete at a high level is better than it has ever been. Q: What’s the worst thing about the state of youth sports right now? A: At times, I think people lose perspective on who youth sports are for. Parents and coaches make it more about themselves, and their ego and aspirations, instead of the kids. In the baseball world a lot of these kids won’t go on to be varsity players, and even fewer will have the opportunity to play in college. If we don’t cherish the time they play as a youth, it will be gone before we know it.  We will spend some time in 2021 taking a closer look at many of the key clubs and teams that bring excitement and competition to Triple Crown’s Colorado Baseball division. We start with the Thunder Academy, based in Broomfield, CO, and 12u head coach Shawn Williamson.
Q: What are you most excited about for this team? A: For the opportunity to compete locally and at a national level with the best teams in the country. We will play in eight TCS tournaments in 2021. Our first four event itinerary is composed of games in Phoenix, Mesquite, NV, Omaha and Park City, UT — we will finish the season at Cooperstown Dreams Park in New York. Q: What constitutes a successful season for you? A: Our ability to overcome adversity, our desire to learn from our mistakes and the continued development of our players. This takes anticipation, aggressiveness and autonomy. We anticipate the right move as the play is developing, we move with aggressiveness, confidence without hesitation — we support the autonomy of the player making the right decision. Q: Would you call 2020 a success for your team and your program with all the challenges and hurdles you faced? A: Yes, we had all our committed players return. Our Academy 11u Red team had to be willing to pivot to a different destination on a weekly basis. Despite the challenges, we played around 50 games without a single player contracting COVID-19. We always got our work in and our parents were very supportive. Q: What separates Thunder Academy from the other programs? A: Our professional instructors Darron Cox, Tom Dedin and Ty Giordano, along with our year around recently updated indoor facility. Thunder Academy has 16 cages with four full-length pitching mounds, a strength/agility area and weight room and our partnership with RedLine Athletics. When we started in 2009, our mission was defined as promoting good character, developing young players’ skills in a positive manner and preparing for high school baseball and beyond. Our partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance since 2011 has helped support the mission. We have implemented the “Culture Keepers” program to enhance our family’s experience. Q: What’s the team expectations this year? A: Expectations are to keep players safe and healthy while training and playing competitive tournaments in 2021. The coaches are focused on developing players and increasing the baseball acumen of our players and parents. Q: What’s the best thing about the state of youth sports right now? A: The countless additional opportunities players have in developing skills at a much earlier age than a decade ago. Thunder contracts with professional and college trained coaches to teach the technical, emotional, and mature side of baseball. We can use data, video, and conversation to help drive the right behaviors.  After nearly three months without sports, baseball returns to the Front Range of Colorado with the first weekend of the newly-formed Triple Crown Youth Baseball League.
Following Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment guidelines that strongly discourage extensive travel, Triple Crown directors have pivoted from tournament play to league play. Each weekend will focus on local, drive-radius teams, and will feature shortened game times for extended breaks between games. This will allow for cleaning protocols and spacing out teams as they enter and exit facilities. “We are excited to be playing ball again,” said Triple Crown Baseball event director Matt Reed. “Thank you to Larimer County and the City of Fort Collins for allowing us to get kids back on the diamond. Best of luck this weekend to all teams playing this weekend and we look forward to seeing your teams again.” The league will begin Saturday, June 13, with the tournament formerly known as Summer Slam and will include fifty-five teams from around the Fort Collins area. Triple Crown directors have targeted 10 total weekends for the league, concluding on Labor Day Weekend, September 5-7. Each weekend, teams will play four guaranteed games across two days. In lieu of a champion crowned each week, Triple Crown will connect the league through a points system. Teams have the option of playing in one or as many weekends as they can. “The sounds of the baseball game returning in Colorado will be just what America needs right now,” said Triple Crown CEO Keri King. “Sports has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. A special thank you to the Larimer County Health Department and the City of Fort Collins for this great opportunity to return to sports in a safe manner. Play Ball!” Should the prohibition on sports tournaments in Colorado come to end, Triple Crown is prepared to convert back to tournaments. The full schedule of the league is below: June 13-14 - Formerly known as Summer Slam June 27-28 - Formerly known as The Gapper July 3-5 - Formerly known as 4th of July CO State Tune-up July 10-12 - Formerly known as CO State Championships August 1-2 - Formerly known as Mile High Clash August 8-9 - Formerly known as Front Range Frenzy August 15-16 - Formerly known as Xtra Innings Classic August 22-23 - Formerly known as Dog Days Classic August 29-30 - Formerly known as CO Fall Championships September 5 -7 - Formerly known as Labor Day Slugfest  Coaches, With COVID-19 forcing us to cancel many of our spring and early summer Colorado Baseball events, we've been working hard to give you more options later in the summer and fall! Here is a list of the new events which will start up the weekend of June 27-28 and end September 5-7. Contact Robert, Matt or Brennen to get on the Who's Coming list!
Contact us with questions or to jump on the Who's Coming list for any event:
Robert Rios Call or Text: (970) 672-0510 Robert@triplecrownsports.com Matt Reed Call or Text: (970) 672-0502 Mattreed@triplecrownsports.com Brennen Flores Call or Text: (970) 672-0523 Brennen@triplecrownsports.com  Looking forward to baseball season in 2019? Then look ahead at the just-released schedule for the Colorado Baseball Series at Triple Crown Sports.
Starting with the March 9-10 Droughtbuster and extending through the July 12-14 Colorado State Championships, the professional staff at TC Colorado Baseball will be there every step to make sure teams and families have a rewarding spring/summer run. We’ve rolled prices back on multiple events, and there’s an Early Entry Discount available until Jan. 7, 2019. 2019 SCHEDULE And of course, baseball in Colorado is not complete without our two sessions of the World Series in Steamboat Springs – July 23-28 and July 30-Aug. 4. Through Dec. 1, Colorado teams can seize a 25% Early Entry Discount for these two events. We are excited to welcome Matt Reed to the Colorado Baseball Division. Matt comes to us from Florida where he spent 10 years coaching baseball at Webber International University; he spent the summer of 2018 busily working multiple TCS events to become more familiar with our systems and procedures. Matt also spent time at Webber as Event Manager, where he was in charge of all home sporting events. After his Webber days, Matt spent two years as the head baseball coach of the Colorado State University club team, leading them to a runner-up finish at the NCBA World Series. Prior to his coaching career, Matt played three seasons in the Minnesota Twins minor league system.  by Bradey King
The 13u Yard Dawgs stormed the field with confidence on a gloomy Sunday afternoon in Windsor, CO., at the Colorado State Championships. The team tallied just one loss in the tournament, which came from Friday’s pool play game against the Chargers. The Dawgs redeemed themselves by run-ruling the Chargers in bracket play and eventually fought their way to the title game where they succeeded in taking down the undefeated 5280 Tigers, 7-1. “Friday, the boys came out a little flat and frankly didn’t play that great. So we came back out yesterday and today with a better approach and mentality,” said head coach Jason Bates. While the Tigers seemed to have the initial advantage by being home team and having a perfect record, they had yet to play the Dawgs in the 2018 season. This presented a clean slate for the matchup and it was truly anybody’s game. An unusual start put the Dawgs on the board 1-0 in the first as the Tigers starting pitcher struggled to find the zone and hit four consecutive batters with wild pitches. “I thought it gave us a lot of momentum when all of us got on base right away,” said leadoff batter Dominick Cortez. More Tigers pitching struggles resulted in two free bases to start the second inning. Cortez stepped up to drive in a run and teammate Conner Boyd did the same as he found the 5-6 hole and extended the Dawgs lead, 3-0. The score remained that way until the fifth when Boyd crushed a leadoff double and quickly scored on a Tigers throwing error. The Dawgs offense scraped in a few more insurance runs in the sixth initially led by Finley Bates’ single. Bates was brought around to score on a hit from Braden Doumer and another single from Nathan Pitts put two ducks on the pond for Cortez. He was clutch once again and cleared the bases by smashing a triple to the right field fence. Cortez tallied three RBI in the game, scoring nearly half of the Dawgs total runs. “I knew that I had to do it for my team because I struggled yesterday. So I just had to come back today and show up for them,” said Cortez. The Dawgs had a comfortable 7-0 lead heading into the final two frames. The Tigers scored a run in a sixth inning rally but it wasn’t enough to catch the Dawgs. “The game plan going in was to get our starter Hunter Gotschall to four or five innings and see what happens from there. If he’s throwing strikes and on his game that always gives us a chance,” said coach Bates. Gotschall did his job on the mound, throwing an absolute gem for the Dawgs. He recorded eight strikeouts, allowing just two hits and held the Tigers scoreless through five full innings before closer Conner Boyd entered in the sixth. “First time through the order, I just worked ahead with my fastball and then second time through I worked in the off-speed and then worked them backwards,” said Gotschall. “The win feels real nice!”  Colorado Elite entered the 12u D1 title game of the Colorado State Championships with plenty of confidence and plenty of reasons why. Scoring 46 runs in pool play and claiming the No. 2 overall seed, Elite proceeded to cruise through the semifinal with another impressive double-digit victory over the CC Bruins, 12-2.
Sunday afternoon at the Ballpark in Erie, Elite faced the No. 1 seeded Colorado Burn. Though the Burn edged Elite’s effort in pool play, Elite walked away as champions, claiming the 12u D1 crown, 14-0. “We’ve worked really hard this season,” said head coach Marc Smith. “We set a goal for these boys to go undefeated in 12u play in the state of Colorado. This championship is the culmination of their hard work paying off.” Leadoff hitter Brooks Barber got right down to business in the opening frame. Barber singled to start off the inning, moved to second on a passed ball and would come around to score on an RBI single from Gavin Smith. Smith would later equal Barber’s scoring effort when Adam Smith brought both him and Matthew Casillas home to top off a three-run first inning. “This whole tournament has been a real team effort,” said Barber. “We’ve played great defense. Everyone in the lineup has contributed. Even when the top of the order isn’t hitting well, the guys in the bottom half seem to pick us up.” After his work at the dish, Casillas turned his focus to the mound. Though Burn would record a hit and a walk, those would be the only two batters that reached safely in Casillas’ body of work. The young right-hander completed three full innings, gave up just one hit, and struck out four. “My fastball was really on today,” said Casillas. “Early on, I knew I was getting it past them pretty easily. From there, it was just about hitting my spots.” In the top of the second inning, Elite put the pedal to the metal offensively. Ten of the 11 batters in the order came to the plate and by the time the dust settled five runs had scored. Elite saw RBI come from Will Garduno, Dominic Gamueda, Luke Garner, Gavin Smith and Brooks Barber. “Early in the game I was seeing a tone of fastballs,” Barber said. “As the game wore on, I began to see more and more off-speed pitches. It was just a matter of adjusting to what they were throwing at me.” With Casillas rolling on the hill, Elite went back to work in the third inning already leading 8-0. It was the same song, different inning as the boys from Parker plated another five runs, running away from Burn, 13-0. Elite added yet another run in the fourth inning before coach Smith turned to Luke Garner to seal up the championship. Though Garner didn’t have the sheer number of innings to work with as Casillas, his efforts weren’t dissimilar, recording two strikeouts, including the final swing and a miss to claim the 12u title, 14-0. “It feels amazing to be Colorado State Champions,” said Casillas. “We had each other’s backs all week long. We were loud in the dugout every time somebody made a good play or got hit. I don’t think we could have done this without each other.” Finishing at the top of the pack in the Triple Crown Colorado State Championships has been no strange feeling for Elite in the recent past. Their 2018 title is now the second of back-to-back championships. “We love playing in this tournament,” said coach Smith. “Not only have we had some recent success these last couple of years but it provides us with so many things. “It provides us with great experience going forward and we know by playing well that we’ll get to play in other elite tournaments like the Omaha SlumpBuster and the Triple Crown World Series.”  Thornton Storm Red were cruising through pool play in the 13u D2 division of the 2018 Triple Crown Colorado State Championships with double-digit wins over Thunder Bats and Gameday Elite. When the Storm dropped its first game to Slammers-5280, Storm Red needed a win over Diamond Club Navy to ensure themselves a spot in Sunday’s bracket play.
Trailing almost the entire contest, the Storm conjured up some late-game heroics to win in walk-off fashion, 7-6, locking in the No. 1 seed in the Gold Championship bracket. “These kids have battled hard all year long,” said head coach Jeremy Hirschfeld. “They’ve been down more than once this season and battled back. This is a tough group of kids and I’m so proud to be their coach.” Diamond Club struck the first blow, dialing up two runs on four hits in the top half of the first inning. Before things got out of hand, catcher Roman Padron worked hard to calm down starting pitcher Matthew Hirschfeld. “I try to keep it loose out there,” said Padron. “Even though we were down, I like to tell some jokes, make them laugh and then focus up on what we have to do.” As Padron instilled more and more confidence in pitcher Hirschfeld, the right-hander picked up steam, knocking down Diamond Club in order in the top of the second. The Storm began to chip away at the lead in the bottom half of the frame. Bryan Gutierrez began the effort with a single and would later score to bring Thornton within one, 2-1. “Their pitchers were really focused on the outer part of the plate,” said Gutierrez. “Once I stayed back and let them come to me, that’s when my hits started to come.” Diamond Club countered with two more runs in the third inning, stretching the lead to three, 4-1. The resilient Storm had yet another answer, however, bringing in a run on a Padron RBI single. Padron would strike again in the fifth inning. Still trailing 4-2, Padron found a gap through the middle for the second of his two RBI. He would finish the day 2-3 with an intentional walk. “I’m not going to lie, they threw it pretty hard,” Padron said. “I tried to be confident and tell myself that I could hit them.” After Diamond Club added another insurance run in the top of the sixth inning, Thornton was running out of time to mount a comeback. Gutierrez, along with Daniel Gomez and Dominic Chavez sparked a three-run inning, leapfrogging Diamond Club for the lead, 6-5. “We were always positive in the dugout,” said Padron. “We knew the longer we stayed in the game, the better chance we had at a comeback.” Tensions rose in the final frame when Diamond Club plated a game-tying sixth run. With the bottom of the order due up for Thornton, the Storm needed a special moment one last time. Nathanial McGill led off with a single, stole second and scampered to third on a Joshua McKee bunt single. With Padron earning a free pass to first, the bases were loaded with no one out and Ethan McCormick at the dish. As everyone at the Louisville Sports Complex rose to their feet, McCormick singled to left, ending the game, 7-6, and secured the Storm a spot in Sunday’s bracket play. “I never had a doubt,” said coach Hirschfeld. “These boys have the greatest optimism. Even when us coaches or parents seem to get in the way, they seem to come through.” Thornton awaits the winner of the TC Wolves and Windsor Wizards. Three more wins are all that separate the Storm and a 13u D2 Gold title. “We want to show everyone that we can play at this level,” said Gutierrez. “We’ve been working hard all summer long and this would be the perfect way to end our season.”  Nothing has come easy for the Colorado Steel in the 13u D2 division of the 2018 Triple Crown Colorado State Championships. The Steel’s route through pool play featured a 3-0 Gameday Grinders team, the 1-1-1 Parker Colts, a then-undefeated Slammers Wolverines squad and a fourth tough matchup against a Colorado Altitude team coming off a six-run victory.
Though the Steel held the lead in six of the seven innings against Altitude, they would settle for a second tie in pool play, 6-6. “We played in a ton of close games,” said head coach Kevin Ortiz. “I think we were good enough to win every game we played in. It was just the little things that got away from us.” Jonathan Gonzalez kicked the game versus the Altitude off with a single in the top of the first inning, sparking a three-run frame. Braxton Vail delivered one of the RBI on what was part of back-to-back-to-back hits for the Steel. “I tried to focus on what their pitchers were doing,” said Vail. “I was patient enough to find my pitch to hit and put it in play.” Lead in hand, the Steel turned to Isiah Martinez to keep it the game in their favor. Martinez, not the biggest athlete in terms of stature, relied heavily, and quite successfully, on his defense. “All of our pitchers put in some great work today,” Ortiz said. “Ethan didn’t try to do anything special and was a real team player for us.” Martinez masterfully crafted four innings, giving up just three runs and striking out two. The stellar Steel defense behind him combined for 10 putouts and turned a momentum-killing double play in the bottom of the fourth inning. Before Altitude squeaked a third run past Martinez in the bottom of the fourth, Vail came through with his second RBI in the top half of the inning to give his team a little insurance. Leading 3-2 and leading off the inning, Vail launched a towering home run to the opposite field in left, stretching Steel’s margin, 4-2. “I saw a fastball down the middle,” Vail said. “I couldn’t pass up that pitch.” The fifth and sixth frames were patrolled by middle reliever David Ortiz. After a quick fifth inning, Altitude struck with a two-run home run in the sixth, taking the lead, 5-4. In the final frame, the Steel’s bottom half of the order shined, garnering two hits, a trio of stolen bases and a lead-changing RBI from Isiah Martinez. With the lead recaptured, the Steel stood just three outs from its first victory of the tournament. Altitude was not about to a win slip away just yet, though. A pair of errors led to a run before Zach Mehess could record the final strikeout, ending the game, 6-6. Steel’s second tie leaves them with a 0-2-2 record in its four pool play games. “I’m proud of these boys,” said Ortiz. “They competed all summer long. The Colorado State Championships bring some of the best competition in the state and it can’t be overstated how valuable that experience is.” Without a win, Steel’s chances of making the championship bracket remain slim but the team is looking at the positives. “I just love coming out here and playing with my teammates,” said Vail. “Baseball is an amazing sport. Summer after summer, I get to come out here and play, win and get better with my friends.” |
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