The Alpena 15U All-Star baseball team is preparing for the regional tournament which will begin today in Crown Point, Indiana.

After capturing a state championship, the team is completely focused on the next challenge they face and it’s the team is familiar with.

“This is by far our best shot to do something down there. We’ve had some success, but this group is very talented,” coach Jim DeRocher said. “We’re excited and deep at every position. I really like our chances and I think this will be the year that we’ll hopefully bring a regional title back here.”

This group has been playing together for the past six years and will enter another regional tournament this weekend with high hopes. DeRocher and Chris Limback have coached this group throughout the years during their baseball journey and have enjoyed plenty of success.

“We have coached every single kid on this team and this group has been together for a very long time. Outside of Babe Ruth ball, we do a lot of travel ball to get them ready while playing higher caliber tournaments to get them ready,” DeRocher said.

Much of the team is made up of kids who have spent the last several months playing JV baseball, travel ball and now all-stars, so the team has plenty of experience and have played in roughly 40 games up to this point.

Alpena will move up in age group and is expected to face good competition from several states over the weekend, but the team feels its travel schedule throughout the summer has prepared them for this point in the year.

“It’s been a blast to watch these kids grow up and progress not only as ball players, but as young men. They are a great group to coach and they love the game. I’m going to miss it when it’s over with that’s for sure, but we are excited for this weekend,” DeRocher said.

Two years ago, much of this group earned a No. 1 seed at the regional tournament, but suffered a tough break in the semifinal game. The team has been close and has had some success at regionals, so they know they are capable of doing something big.

The tournament begins today as Alpena faces Highland, Indiana at 9:30 a.m. and will later play at 2:30 p.m. against Scott County, Kentucky. The team will then play tomorrow at 5 p.m. against a team out of West Virginia. After the three games of pool play, the teams will be seeded based on results and Saturday will consist of single elimination games with the semifinal and finals being played on Sunday.

“If we can end up a top four seed, which we definitely believe is a realistic goal with some of the success we’ve had in the past, we will hopefully have one game on Saturday and take care of business. The goal coming in is to play six games, do our best and have fun,” DeRocher said.

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.