Regionals: Opening Ceremonies and Skills Competition

The 2015 10U Southeast Regionals began Tuesday night in Glen Allen, Virginia. First, let's set the scene. The biggest hit so far of the regional is the return of the team van, complete with a mix tape CD burned by Coach Kevin. The future Grammy-winning mix is so diverse that it manages to include both Ice Ice Baby (to which Coach Regan actually asked, "What is this?" when the song began, almost costing her her selfie stick privileges) and the Wobble. Here's a look inside the van at one of the rare times it wasn't rocking back and forth:

Here's one little-known fact about the big 15-passenger vans: they have absolutely no room for baseball equipment bags. That means Coach Fred's truck has been converted into the equipment truck:

Tuesday night's events began with opening ceremonies, featuring lots of people who talked. Everyone seems very nice, and the Glen Allen facilities are incredible, although they could use a dome to alleviate the sweltering temperatures. Maybe in the next phase of renovations.

After the ceremonies, there were two separate skills competitions. Each coach chose two players from his team to compete in a race around the bases. Each player was timed individually. Here's Andrew, sporting the pink socks:

And then here's Gavin showing off his prize for winning first place in the entire event:

The next competition was a little complicated. It featured nine players on the field, one at each position. It was called around the horn, but featured multiple throws from the infield to the outfield and then back again, with every player touching the ball at least once, and most more than once. It put a very high premium on making clean throws and catches--any bobble by any player essentially eliminated that team. Here's the coaches (and future coaches) watching West Raleigh's round:

Each of the ten teams at the regional participated, and this photo probably tells you which team won:

Yep, 10U Blue took the win by a few hundredths of a second over the team from South Carolina that they will meet on the field tomorrow. Here's another shot:

The evening ended with Rita's Ice provided by the hosts. Note the parent-approved way the players either turned their jerseys inside out or took them off entirely. Asher Some nameless players had to be persuaded it wasn't a good idea to go shirtless on the first day of the regional.

West Raleigh plays the first game of pool competition on Wednesday at 12:30 against Mt. Pleasant, S.C.