LakePoint Sports has officially completed two weekends of baseball tournaments in 2024, with North Georgia players excited to resume playing at the complex.
New Fields?
During the winter, LakePoint Sports resurfaced their turf baseball fields. With two weekend tournaments in the books, some of the players have given their thoughts on the update.
“It looks so clean,” Beastmode Prospects 14U third baseman Braxton Brown said. “I haven’t been here since before they made the change, so it was weird when we first got here last week.”
Brown said that while he didn’t expect the change to be so noticeable, he appreciates it. His teammate Jakobb Mobley noticed something else.
“It does feel a little firm,” he said. “It isn’t too bad and I think it is because of it being new, but it’s just something that threw me off when we first got on the field”
Mobley also felt that the new field could slightly change the way the ball bounces on groundballs.
“It isn’t a huge difference but it does feel like it bounces more naturally,” he said. “I think it makes it a little easier to field grounders which could make it a little harder to score.”
Considering LakePoint has many tournaments with young baseball players, fielding being any easier can have a great affect on final scores.
Old Friends and New Enemies
LakePoint’s Georgia Dugout Club Tournament which wrapped up Saturday is known for bringing schools in metro Atlanta together to compete. Many of these teams are from different regions and divisions, meaning they would never have the chance to play otherwise.
North Cobb Christian School played East Paulding High School in their first game of the GDC Tournament. North Cobb’s pitcher Asher Sabom said he has some friends who play for East Paulding High School.
“Yeah it’s always cool to play a friend you only ever get to face when you play in the backyard,” he said. “Tyler’s really annoying when he beats me in something, so it adds a little extra to the game.”
He said Tyler Williams of East Paulding has gotten the best of him at times over the years when they play each other. Williams, he said, will never let him forget a time in which he came ahead. This time, Sabom and his team got the last laugh, when they beat East Paulding 6-4 in pool play.
“He may get his jokes in,” Sabom said. “But, I got him for the next couple of months now!”
Consistency is Key
Tournaments can be an unpredictable time for everyone involved. From the weather, to traffic and anything else that can go wrong when every event has at least ten teams and at least 15 players on each team.
LakePoint Sports has found a way to mitigate these issue. East Paulding senior infielder Sam Peterson appreciates the stability these tournaments provide.
“I feel like whenever we have a tournament here it goes well,” he said. “Obviously we might not play great or the weather messes us up, but things are almost always on time. LakePoint tournaments are pretty consistent and it definitely makes it easier to focus on the games.”
With the spring season fully underway, it will be important for this consistency to remain at a high level each week. The next tournament at LakePoint will be the Prep Baseball Report Season Opener on March 1.
