The Coral Springs based 9U Florida Pokers Travel Baseball Organization has qualified to play in one of the country’s premier amateur baseball tournaments. The Pokers, due to their USSSA Super NIT Championship win over the Wellington Warriors 5-0 last weekend in Ft. Pierce, will play for a National Championship Aug 2-9 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in the USSSA Elite 32 World Series.
The Pokers went 4-1 (knocking off Team Combat from Merritt Island, PPO Bengals, Miramar Canes and the Wellington Warriors) in earning the berth to the World Series and will be South Florida’s only 9U travel team to participate in the EWS. The event brings many of the top teams from around the country to compete at the highest level of travel baseball. “This event is the travel baseball version of the Little League World Series” said Coach Lenny Roberts. “Our kids have really raised their level of play over the past 2 months especially our defensive play”.
The Pokers have gone 24 – 4 during this stretch and are currently 34-13. The World Series berth is the first in the storied program’s 19 year history. Once considered one of the top ten Amateur Baseball Programs in the country as an 18U team, the new version of Florida Pokers is quickly emerging to be in the same class. This team has been consistently playing for tournament championships (3 out of 4 so far this year) for the past 3 seasons including winning the 2008 Roberto Clemente Florida State Championship and advancing to the Southeast Regional in McDonough, Ga. With the USSSA Super NIT Championship win, South Florida Travel Ball News ranks The Florida Pokers as the #1 (9U) travel baseball team in South Florida with its’ May 20th rankings.
The Pokers have also been invited to play in the Florida Elite 8 in Altamonte Springs June 27-28. The Florida Pokers players come from Coconut Creek, Parkland, Coral Springs and Tamarac. This year’s roster includes: Riley Allison, Jarrett Hall, Jake Herskowitz, Andrew Jenner, Robert Joy, Shane Magrann, Luke Reidy, Caleb Roberts, Christian Scott and Earl Semper.
