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   George Washington High's baseball team spent a week
in Florida. Assistant Jason "Jay" Welte filed day-by-day
reports on the Eagles' experiences. We thank Jay for this!!

These are arranged in order, March 19 to 24 . . .

MARCH 19
 Many of the GW Eagles are now pushing on their 21st hour of Sunday
March 19th. The team left Philadelphia in jackets and arrived in Orlando
to sun and shorts. The Eagles baseball team is spending their Spring
Training experience at the Caribbean Beach Resort in the Disney complex.
A stop by the pool in the afternoon was enjoyed by the team before we
were able to check into our rooms. For all but 3 players on the Eagles,
the walk into the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex was a wide
awakening. Sports galore everywhere you turned. As you enter the
complex, numerous multi-purpose fields can be seen, housing sports such
as baseball, softball and lacrosse. The complex also plays host to the
NFL Players challenge during their off-season.
   As opposed to other years, getting in the batting tunnel was not the
first time the Eagles had seen live pitching for the season. The 70
degree temperatures Philadelphia was teased with a week ago was a
pleasure for all baseball teams surrounding the Philadelphia area. After
the tunnel, it was off to the practice field for the Eagles. The fields
here in Florida are immaculate. Carpet-like grass allows the ball to
glide across the infield. No Philadelphia team experiences that luxury,
ever. The complex itself is amazing and really needs to be experienced
before anyone can actually grasp all of its features.
   As the sun set on the Eagles for March 19th, anticipation can be
felt for the much awaited arrival of their arch rivals, the Frankford
Pioneers. A Wednesday afternoon exhibition game will feature two of the
Philadelphia Public League's best.

MARCH 20
  Ninety degrees and sunny. Anyone jealous yet? I bet you are. The Disney
complex is busy with teams all over the place. Its' quite amazing to see
the second a game ends a field crew hits the diamond to prepare for the
next game. Starting from 7:30 am, games continue all day long through
the night. The Eagles of Washington took advantage of some time hitting
in a batting tunnel as well competing in their first exhibition game of
the season. Friendship Christian, a team from Tennessee, has begun their
season all ready and proved that in their play. The game played under
the lights showed why teams from the North come down for Spring
Training. It gives coaches the opportunity to take notes and break down
situations during full field practices. The very inexperienced team from
George Washington completed the day on Monday knowing that hard work
would be needed to improve on many skills. After the game this evening,
some Eagles players watched as Monsignor Bonner practiced on the
field adjacent to the game. That puts the count of Philadelphia area
teams up to 3 down here in Orlando this week, including the Frankford
Pioneers.

MARCH 21
  Six a.m. came quickly on this day, partly due to the fact that George
Washington was set to meet their arch rival this morning, the Frankford
Pioneers. It was a really great experience to see Coach Bob Peffle and
his Pioneers down here for the Training. It seems as though both Coach
Max Bilkins and Coach Peffle really have some work to do this year; both
seeming to have a young nucleus. These games are great opportunities for
the players to see live pitching before the season actually starts. When
you think about it, we are 6 days away from the start of the Public
League season. After the game, both rivals got together for some photos
to bring back to Philadelphia. Thanks goes out to Coach Pef, assistant
Juan Namnun and the Pioneer players.
  After the morning filled with baseball, the Eagles were given the
afternoon off to enjoy the surroundings of the Disney complex. Some
players decided to check out MGM Studios here in Disney. According to
Damien Wilmer, the Eagles rode the "Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster" 3
times. On the other hand, some players took advantage of another sunny
and 90-degree day by cooling off in Typhoon Lagoon. Even Coach Bilkins
rode a few water rides with newcomers to the team Tim & Stan. They all
came back alive. As the sun set on the day, the Eagles had their best
practice of the week so far, covering an immense amount of drills in a 2
hours practice. The time flew by and actually had some players like
Jared Schafer asking for more. It's off to bed tonight for the Eagles
with a trip to see the Phillies and Braves play here at Cracker Jack
stadium tomorrow afternoon @ 1pm. PS, the game will be nationally
televised on ESPN. Take a look for the BLUE & GOLD!

MARCH 22
  Good morning, Wednesday. May I also let you know that it is a nearly
perfect sunny and 82 today. I don't believe there is any better baseball
weather. After the traditional 6 a.m. wakeup call for Washington, it was
time to board the chartered buses to the Disney complex from our resort.
Yes, I said chartered bus. Luxury buses line up at our hotel awaiting
each team to take them over to their respective field. It gives you the
feeling that you are traveling the same way the pros do for Spring
Training games. Honestly, I do not remember which player asked Coach
Bilkins if we could take this bus to every game back home. Can you
imagine rolling up to GAMP in a luxury bus? I mean, at least we would
then be able to take I-95 to the field and it would not take nearly 90
minutes to arrive. Just a thought.
  On this morning, with Coach Bilkins filming each individual player
in the batting cage, I threw some batting practice. This helped out not
only the coaches, but also the players. With help from a laptop
computer, we are able to show guys what they are doing as contact is
being made with the baseball. There are many parts in the act of
swinging and as coaches we can examine each part to try and make
improvements.
  For the Eagles, it was off to see our own Phillies' exhibition
against the hometown Braves at Cracker Jack Stadium. All the big names
were playing for both sides. The small ballpark creates a unique setting
for the fans to get quite close to the action. Coach Blikins pointed out
how Chase Utley was taking warm-ups, highlighting that the Eagles do the
exact same drills. Let me just say: Ryan Howard. We have not even seen
the best of this guy yet. He crushed a homer in this game, exciting the
many Phillie fans in attendance. The game ended up being halted after
the 11th inning in a 4-4 tie. Ties in baseball? Eh, we saw one. Great
game, though.

MARCH 23
  This was the only day of the week that more cloud cover was shown as
opposed to sun. That did not distract the Eagles from Washington. Ask
newcomer Dan Engleberg if he likes his Mickey Mouse waffles. I know for
myself, this has to be the best week of eating breakfast for me all
year. I do not have to cook nor clean up after it! After eating, the
Eagles had a date with West End High School out of Alabama. Out of the 3
games played by Washington this was by far the most impressive. Corey
Seidman threw an incredible 4 innings picking up where former Eagle
captain and brother Eric Seidman left off. Corey looked extremely
relaxed on the mound, surpassing expectations on how many innings we
wanted each pitcher to throw. Mistakes were still made by the Eagles,
turning 3-out innings into 6 or 7. As the season goes on making the
plays you're supposed to make will be key to the winning for George
Washington. Let's just remember, this Alabama team played their first
official game on January 31st!! They easily have 2 months, if not more,
on all of us here in the Philadelphia area.
  As the game finished, Coach Bilkins expressed his sight on how the
Eagles had improved over the week. That is the reason for coming down
here, improving as the week goes on and getting a head start for the
start of the season. Again, there is still room for improvement but most
of the Eagles were understanding the fundamentals which were being
taught to them all week.
One of the most exciting moments for the players all week was taking
advantage of a 10pm-12am practice on this night. The team was split into
a Blue team and Gold team, headlining an intersquad scrimmage game.
Granted each team was missing a centerfielder, but this night made for
some exciting plays. I had to step in and help umpire after Ump Bilkins
completely blew a call on a ground ball hit by James Galen. He was out
by a mile!! Coach Bilkins called him safe! Coach, stick to coaching, no
umpiring.

MARCH 24
  Time flies by when you're having fun and while you're not in 30-degree
temperatures. The day was upon us to begin to pack and get set to
head home to Philadelphia. Florida was good to many of the guys,
bringing the true individual out in each. You really learn something
about a person after you live with them for a bit. A trip like this
creates memories that will last a lifetime. The ultimate goal in going
to Florida is enhance and improve your knowledge of the game. Ultimately
we want that to result in a District XII championship but if the guys
come out with a better understanding of baseball and can show that on
the field, the job was done correctly. A lot of credit needs to be given
to Coach Max Bilkins. He dedicates a lot of time to planning this trip.
 It does not happen overnight. Not mention completing the rest of
his duties at George Washington High School. If you ever have any
questions about the experience as a Coach, please contact coach Bilkins on
how to take advantage of going down for Spring Training. Let me also
thank the parents of the players at George Washington. Thank you for
supporting the program and helping out your young men attend this
incredible experience. As the plane left Orlando International Airport,
thoughts are now turned to Monday afternoon 3/27. The Public A division
begins the season, starting off with a huge matchup between the Vikings
of Northeast visiting the Eagles at Washington. This should be an
exciting season for all of the Public league. I look forward to my
continued work with Coach Bilkins, Coach Jim O'Hara and each of the
Eagles players. A special thank you goes out to Coach Bilkins for
including me on this trip. I love the experience and had a terrific time
getting to know many of the new faces on the varsity team. I look
forward to playing, I mean coaching, at DeVincent field come late May!
  Thoughts or comments?? Contact jwelte19@comcast.net.