http://youtu.be/t24On6Aq4bg

After spending the entire spring season alternating between outfield and third base for the Katy Tigers where he was not called upon to pitch after the regular season started, Matthew is in the process of ironing out the rust and getting his arm back in shape, as he will most assuredly be called upon to pitch during the Allen Baseball Summer season, and might even make an appearance or two for the Katy High School Summer team.

We aren't sure exactly what his defensive role will be as the future looms ahead; although, we are pretty sure that his ability at the plate will definitely keep him on the radar. 

Matthew feels comfortable and shows a well above average ability to play third base and any one of the outfield positions.  He can also play any of the other infield positions.  His arm is above average and he has had some success as a pitcher; although, that position tends to cause players to be pigeon-holed to where the bat can be taken out of their hand at the high school varsity level and above. 

We feel like his bat is too dominant for that to happen, so I guess that it is safe to say that the future is yet to be determined.

18U Tournament Weekend

http://youtu.be/dQM-Q7H5nJ0

Matthew's team did not have anything scheduled for the weekend, so instead of letting him sit around twiddling his thumbs, Coach Skip invited him to come out and spend the weekend with the 18U Allen Baseball team. 

He was able to get into a few of the early games as a pinch runner before being called upon to pitch in the final game with the score 1 to 0 in our favor, no outs and one man on base.  He was able to finish the inning giving up one earned and one unearned run.  We ended up winning the game 3 to 2.

As Requested:

This was written at the end of the Fall season last year as all of the boys were involved in High School try outs throughout the Houston area:

Baseball

The end of January with the cool Winter weather showing signs of improvement brings certain memories to people.  As for myself, I am always given to fantasies of baseball.  The slightly uncomfortable, yet euphoric feeling of throwing  the ball back and forth with an ever increasing intensity as you slowly distance yourself from your partner, ever increasing your efforts, watching the steam as you exhale warm air from your lungs as it is introduced to the cool morning air as the muscle and tendons in your throwing arm loosen and become acclimated to the stress required to throw harder and harder in an effort to show others around you that, hey, I'm strong than you, I can throw harder than you, I am special.

The end of January brings the stress and excitement that can only be experienced with the impending spectacle of Texas High School Baseball tryouts.  A time when the thousands of Freshmen throughout the state contemplate showing up on Friday afternoon when all of the other students are heading home after a long week of school work, to put their baseball skills on display in hopes of securing one of the coveted spots on their high school baseball team.

Of the many who think that they have what it takes to make it to one of the final teams, only about one in four will actually make it through the cuts, and only about 60 to 70 percent of them will play regularly throughout the spring high school season.  Yet, they will go straight to the ballpark right after school on Friday and compete until 7 or 8pm, go home and sleep a few hours before showing back up for a long grueling day of workouts on Saturday that are designed to separate the weaker players from the ones who have been dedicated for years in order to be successful on this particular weekend, thus making the coaches inevitable decisions a little easier.  

At the end of the weekend, after all of the hard work that has been put in, and all of the data and film has been reviewed, the coaches have to determine who will make it through the first cut, which is usually posted for all to see on Monday morning.

Even those boys who have worked in high level baseball programs throughout the entire Fall and Winter off season have to go home and spend the rest of an extremely stressful weekend wondering if they performed well enough to grab the attention of one or more of the coaches.  Did they run fast enough, throw hard enough, swing the bat well enough or even display the proper attitude that would impress the coaching staff, making them believe that you are that kid...  The one that they want to dedicate their time, talents and efforts to attempting to turn you into a real college, or possibly even professional prospect.

It is a difficult thing to watch one of your own children have to deal with this level of stress for probably the first time in their life.  Walking around the house with an uncharacteristically surly, quick tempered demeanor, with an obvious fear in his eyes that you have never seen before.  Watching him struggle to sleep, while trying to hide the fact that the longer the wait, the more fear and anxiety emanates from his voice as he goes through his every day activities.  

The first cut is devastating to the 40 or so boys that are unceremoniously removed from the program on Monday, given the standard speech attempting to inspire them to continue working hard so that they can come back next year.  

You feel their pain, but underneath your stoically calm exterior, you are incredibly relieved that your son will live to fight another day.  You know in your own mind that his talent level is on the upper end of the spectrum and on the level with the best players on display, but there is always that reservation that something could go wrong, that there could be some type of unseen forces at work that could derail his hard work after he has gotten so close to achieving this goal, allthewhile knowing that this in only the first step in a long term goal toward which he has been working unceasingly for the past few years to conquer. 

He has worked incredibly hard by pushing himself past all of the others around him and has outdistanced each and everyone who he has been pitted against simply due to his tenacity, hard work and raw talent.  You know in your heart that to fall short at this point would be totally devastating and could cause irreparable damage to his confidence and spirit, so you worry and lose sleep over it, regardless of how much you try to think about something else in order to take your mind off of it or convince yourself that there is nothing to worry about.  

As for now, we continue to wait, hoping that he will show up after school with good news.   And wait...  And wait... And wait...

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Summer League Batting Practice

http://youtu.be/0XA2M2aGX3Y

The Summer Allen Baseball season is officially kicked off with the second consecutive weekend of batting practice which consisted of four (Friday and Saturday of each weekend) different four hour sessions, which gave each of the players the opportunity to get in upwards of three hundred swings on each day.  THis proves to be great for muscle memory, strength, confidence and of course blisters and callouses. 

Matthew has been added to their 16U Navy team, which will be coached directly by Skip Allen and is comprized of some pretty awesome tallent at the 16 and below age group. THis is shaping up to be a very exciting and busy summer season.  We should be able to get a couple of good travel tournaments in which will double as a family vacation.  (Detroit and Orlando are distinct possibilities)...  

As another school year swiftly comes to an end, we, the parents, as well as Matthew, the player are looking forward to another busy Summer baseball season.  As is usually the case, we know that we should be careful what we ask for because we have become so involved in baseball that we never have any real time for vacations or personal time that don't involve baseball.

It looks as though he will be a part of the Katy high School summer baseball program as well as the Allen Baseball Club Summer program which will require at least 6 to 8 hours of weekly practice sessions, weekend tournaments that could require up to 5 or 6 games per weekend and a weekly double-header for the high school.

You would think that this sort of rigorous schedule would probably cause most kids to eventually go through some sort of burn-out, which I have always half-heartedly expected; although, after several years of year-round baseball, Matthew has not even come close to getting tired of it.  Believe me, I initiate conversation at least once per year and give him the opportunity to let me know if he is having any of these type of feelings.

When he was 12 years old and expressed an interest in playing select baseball and working more and more in the off season, I told him that I would support him 100 percent as long as he worked hard and proved to me that this was something that he really wanted to do.  I also told him that if he ever decided to stop, that I would support that decision also.  So far, he has never backed up from the hard work and has never shown any sign of wanting to do anything else.  He is extremely motivated and goal oriented, which is more than I could ever say about myself when it came to baseball.

COACH SKIP ALLEN

COACH MATT COULSON, SKIP ALLEN & JEFF ALLEN

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS TOURNAMENT 

IN ORLANDO FLORIDA 

December 26 through December 31, 2012

May 13, 2013

The first weekend of practice involving two consecutive days of 4 hours of practice are officially in the books.

  A large group of 15 through 18 year old boys gathered at The Oaks batting cages for the exciting opening weekend of The Allen Baseball Summer Season.  All were excited to get started with the hard work required to belong to one of the best Nationally ranked programs in the South.

All of the program veterans as well as many new faces listened intently to one of Coach Skip Allen's patented 30 minute speeches that is designed to motivate as well as inspire each and every one of them to become the best that they can possibly be.  It is as gratifying to me to see all of the exhausted, sweaty faces of the new guys walk away from his speeches with a big grin on their faces as it is to see Skip greet each of his program veterans with a hug when he sees them.

This program is not all "Cake and Ice Cream", as it requires a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to be a part of it.  Trust me, the ones who don't make the grade and/or don't stay with the program for one reason or another, simply don't want to work hard.  As rewarding as this program is, you have to put in the work to reap the rewards.

All of the coaching staff, from Coach Skip Allen, to Coach Jeff Allen, Coach Matthew Coulson and Coach Cody Stewart are dedicated baseball men who love the game and love working with kids who are motivated and willing to set and achieve goals in life as well as the great game of Baseball.

After a somewhat stressful Spring season with the Katy High School Sophomore team, where Matthew played the entire season as the starting right fielder and ended the season with close to a .400 batting average, we are excited to start another season with the Allen Baseball Club.

The Allen Club is a Nationally competitive program for High School athletes that is designed to prepare them for College level baseball, giving the opportunities to showcase their talents in front of many College coaches and scouts.

This blog is created to follow the upcoming baseball exploits of Matthew Chilton, recording both triumphs and failures as he continues to pursue his goal to play College Baseball.
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Matthew has played at every level in the Nations program and been very successful over the years; although we have had some issues finding coaches that he has the proper chemistry with.
After traveling to the Nations 14U World Series in Colorado last year where Matthew pitched 2 one-hitters and hit well over .500 for the tournament, we decided that it w time for him to look for some more challenging opportunities.  After many conversations, Internet searches and phone conversations, we made contact with Skip Allen with the Allen Baseball Club.  I had several long conversations with him before I ever introduced Matthew to him and his program.

We attended two rigorous four-hour practice sessions on consecutive days at the beginning of last Fall's baseball season as a tryout, where Matthew decided that he found exactly what he was looking for.

The Allen Baseball program has proven to be by far the best program that we have ever been involved with.  Everyone is treated like they are part of his family.  There is absolutely no favoritism, that I have been able to see, as all are recognized for hard work and improvement and any who slack-off are chastised and inspired to work harder, just as any good father would treat his own son.
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I will be posting personal statistics, as well as photos and information about fellow team mates and team activity throughout the season and beyond.