Cape American 10U baseball team wins city’s first state title, now headed to regional
A Cape Coral youth baseball team has made history and is on its way to competing for a national championship.
The Cape American 10U team is 9-0 in tournament play, and most recently took home a state championship and is on the way to play top teams at the Cal Ripken Baseball Southeast Regionals.
To get there, though, the team is seeking the help of the community to help cover costs to travel to the tournament site in Henrico, Virginia, in mid-July for its roster of 13.
Team manager/head coach Trevor Mackellar said the core of the team has come up together since they were 8, and have won districts each of those years. While they had come up short in state tournaments in the past, this year was a different story. Cape American is looking for the opportunity to test its mettle against eight of the best teams around the Southeast United States.
“It’s a really great group of boys,” Mackellar said. “A really great group of parents, and my assistant coaches are incredible as well. It’s the only way, especially in youth sports, to have a successful team like this.”
The team’s “battle cry” is “we, not me.”
Mackellar, a Mariner High School grad, said he’s taken lessons from previous coaches and has implemented those beliefs into the youth he leads today.
“No one player is bigger than the team. We all play for each other,” he said. “There are no selfish at-bats. We have team at-bats and play team baseball. All those little things that will translate into these young men being successful adults. That’s our main philosophy. We coach the player, and we teach baseball.”
Naturally, the team has performed quite impressively to reach this stage. The squad has outscored its opponents 99-19 over the nine games, and is backed by a stout pitching staff. Since district play has begun, the team ERA is 0.771, with 74 combined strikeouts to just 21 walks in 70 innings.
“We have an incurable pitching staff,” Mackellar said. “Our pitching and our defense keeps us in every single game.”
Mackellar said the offensive output has started to match the level of the team’s pitching and defense.
“Our bats finally work up,” he said. “We have some really incredibly talented young players. They’re smart kids with high baseball IQs. We feel we do things the right way, and things are starting to pay off.”
The team is looking to raise $1,000 per-player to cover expenses such as travel, fuel, lodging, meals and tournament costs.
Cape American is hoping the community will rally around the team to help them finish what they started.
Mackellar said he hopes people can think back and remember how it felt for them to be part of something big or exciting as a child, whether that be playing baseball, other sports, or any other life event.
“What makes this extra special is we are the very first team in the city of Cape Coral to ever win a Cal Ripken or Little League state title in baseball,” he said. “We try to give back to the community ourselves through different events, including an MLB ‘Pitch, Hit, and Run’ contest later this summer.
“Just rally around these young guys. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on a team on a roll like this, and to be able to take our group out of state and continue our run.”
Mackellar said he feels the team has a great shot to win the regional and move on to Cal Ripken Baseball World Series in Indiana.
The team is hosting a send-off party and fundraiser at its home field at Koza/Saladino Park, located at 301 S.W. 30th Terrace, Saturday, July 12, starting at 11 a.m.
The Cape American 10U roster is made up of Tyrus Mackellar, Hunter Morfis, Zayden Poklemba, Mason Goodison, Dariel Sam, Camden Lehman, Jacob Skocik, Brayden Macha, Jaks Wilkerson, Carter Giampi, Dominic Tuminello, Max Cardona and Amari Geary.
Assistant coaches include Cody Coffman, Ryan Poklemba and Aaron Geary.
There is a GoFundMe page set up for donations.