Reston National Looks Toward Opener in Southeastern Regional

In the week since Reston National has gone its separate ways. In all cases, though, every direction led towards baseball.

About half the team and two of the coaches traveled to a previously scheduled tournament in Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two players went on previously scheduled vacations but worked out on their own. The rest practiced in Reston.

The group reconvenes Thursday and opens play against South Carolina on Friday in Warner Robins, GA for the Southeastern Regionals. Manager Jeff Grammes says he is confident the 11- and 12-year-olds will pick up where they left off.

"The kids are in great baseball shape," he said.

It is mental shape that may be trickier as Grammes tries to balance their excitement and nerves about making it to the regionals- the first Reston team 13 years to do so. The 1998 Virginia State Champion team from Reston advanced to the Southeastern Regional semis that year.

"They all understand this is a big deal," said Grammes. "The message I am trying to give is that this is still a Little League game. It is not any different than playing in mid-April. You've got to hit, pitch and field the same way.

"In the bigger picture, they just really need to enjoy themselves," he said. "Win or lose, let's go out and have a blast."

Reston needs to win two of its three pool games (South Carolina Friday, Florida on Saturday and West Virginia on Sunday) to advance to the semifinals, Grammes said.

Reston Little League president Craig Sablosky says that making it to the regionals "is a great achievement for our league."

"Our all-star teams are competitive at both the 9-10 and Majors (11-12) level almost every year - but we must overcome high hurdles to get into the state tournament," he said.

"First we play in District 4, which is a very competitive district.  Secondly, for various technical reasons, we draw our all-star teams from a significantly smaller pool of candidates than do most of our competition.  We form an all-star team from three teams - or a pool of 36 players. "

Sablosky says Vienna and Great Falls form a team from 60 players, and Falls Church and Alexandria from 72 players.

"This success will increase the visibility of Reston Little League in the community and we hope will lead to more children playing baseball and the growth of our league," Sablosky said.

"Baseball, and Reston Little League in particular, are unmatched when it comes to building community and teaching sportsmanship in a fun yet competitive environment. Our team's success is a byproduct of the way we do things - not because All-Star success is a primary goal of the league."