"Beach Blast" Tourney to Benefit Towny Townsend

I heard the same thing. Great idea, Towny deserves our help and support.
Beach Blast April 10-12 at various Beach District High Schools.
Can anyone post a schedule?

Towny Townsend is a great guy who has been through a difficult ordeal with throat cancer. Kind of ironic, Towny never was a smoker, chewer or drinker, which are all key contributors to throat cancer. If you talk to Towny, he will tell you that he has been blessed in his life and even through this disease he has found a silver lining in the face of a potentially terminal disease. Perhaps Coach T will see this thread and share a little of what he is doing these days.

the schedule can be found at http://www.olbaseball.com/BeachBlast.html -- the information is listed by team and by site if you want to check it out.

Thanks Guys for your kind words and support. Please forgive me if this Post is a little rambling but I'm really overwhelmed by the opinions expressed on this message board. It's hard to believe that just 7 months to the day I was in Norfolk General hospital unconscious after 2 days of surgery. I remained unconscious for another 14 days before awaking to see my wife in front of me with both thumbs up. We had pre-arranged that if I awoke that the left thumb meant that my voicebox had not been removed and the right meant that my mother who also was dieing of cancer was still alive. I was fortunate to be with her when she past even though I was incapable of speaking to her. In spite of these circumstances and with the help of so many baseball people I felt like the most blessed man on the face of the earth. Cancer does not define me but it helped motivate me to do some things that I probably never would of done without it. I got together with some boys that played for me and that I have known since they were little boys on the back fields of chesapeake....David Wright(Mets), Mike Cuddyer(Twins),Matt Smith (Rangers)and we have just completed a dvd on hitting and a invention that I've patented called the Towny Townsend hitting disc. Some of you have seen me use them over the years with my teams, camps and lessons. The neat thing is a portion of proceeds will go to 2 worthy causes. The David Wright foundation to battle M.S. and the American Cancer Societies Relay for Life to honor my mother and to whip cancer in my lifetime. I also am finishing up a book called "Dad let's play Catch." with out giving to much away it's about coaching your own children. I draw on personal experiences to make it informative and I hope funny. I did this to honor my father who is with my mother now and also to benefit cancer research. The dvd should be out in April and the book this summer. I have been the kick-off speaker for Relay for life in Norfolk and Virginia Beach and have joined the A.C.S. locally in helping great people from all walks of life get after Cancer. So guys life is so much like baseball, It's not a question if your life/game will ever hit bottom..it will...the question is how high and quick you'll bounce once you do that counts. Trust me when I say that all that everyone has done for me and my family with God's grace made lifting myself out of the dirt one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Thank you Gary Spedden(Ocean Lakes) with your desire to support the friends of Towny Townsend...money raised on my behalf has not just gone to my bills and therapy but also has benefited the Sidney Oman Cancer Treatment Center, The American Cancer Society,and families that have cancer in their lives. I have said it many times...."Baseball people are just the best people." Everyone of you validate that to me everyday. "I have survived to laugh at the odds and to live my life so well that death will tremble to take me." God bless you all.

Towny, I have read many meaninful posts on this site that have touched my heart. However, I don't think any have had such a powerful message as the one you have just shared. Please know that many people will continue to think of you and your family with prayers and support. Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts with all of us. God bless you and may you continue to touch many lives!

Coach T,
Thank You so much for sharing your life with so many people. You have always been and will continue to be a true inspiration to my family and me. We love you !!!

Wow, looks like 72 games held over a 3 day period, 18 teams, held at Cox, Tallwood, Ocean Lakes, Kempsville, PA, and Salem. Should provide for some great baseball. Lets be sure to support Towney and his deserving cause while rooting for your favorite team and players.

Coach T,

Thanks for your inspiration.

It took me a while to be able to respond to your post (had to let the tears dry). As usual your words are inspirational - at a time when our family really can use some hope and inspiration. You remain in our family's thoughts and prayers. I'm glad to see things going so well and all of the projects you're working on. Can't wait to see the book - hope it contains all your great advice to players, including the "rules" on flatulance?
Happy to see Chase doing so well, both on the field and in the classroom. All the best to you and your family.

Congrats to the local area teams and players that had a sucessfull Beach Blast Tourney. I believe Deep Creek was 4-0, Salem, 3-1, Kempsville 3-1, etc, etc.
The weather was great and I am sure the out-of- towners were able to enjoy beach, the sun, and great baseball. Thanks to all that came, it appeared to be a great success and thanks for supporting the cause.

Cox also went 4-0 with wins over Hanover, Lake Braddock, Hickory, and Churchland

We enjoyed the tourney. Very well run, very smooth, no bumps at all, and the weather cooperated.

James River went 3-1, beating Hickory (12-2), Churchland (14-9, we used a freshman JV pitcher) and Salem (7-4).

Unfortunately we blew a lead in the 7th vs. Princess Anne and missed our chance to go 4-0. Our pitcher had a no-hitter through 6 but his pitch count got up there (some walks and a slew of errors)and he had to come out after the 6th. PA came from behind to win it in the 7th, more mistakes by us, and we didn't even get an out. They found a way to win, 4-3 final score. I guess that's how a team gets to be state champs, eh?

Surprised to see lots of scouts in attendance. Hope you do it again next year, we enjoyed it!

P.S. to Chris Taylor:

Cox's mound is terrible! Quite a cliff behind the rubber. How hard would it be to fix that?

Coach Townsend,

Your post makes it easy to see why everyone feels the way they do about you. Glad your doing better.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
P.S. to Chris Taylor:

Cox's mound is terrible! Quite a cliff behind the rubber. How hard would it be to fix that?

I'm just a Dad, but will mention it to the coach. Don't think there have been any issues with it before, but who knows? BTW, I watched your game with Hickory and was very impressed with your team, especially Stadler. 5 or 6 shutout innings (and two HR's) against the Hawks on Monday and then I noticed he was the winning pitcher and hit another HR against Salem yesterday. Did he come back on one day rest and pitch the whole game against Salem? Lot of good young talent in the Richmond area.

Hey Towney, you have a PM

Stadler is a keeper for sure. He did not get the "W" vs. Salem because he only went 2 innings. Plus the game got tied up after he left and thus our other pitcher was the pitcher of record for certain. Stadler was going on one day's rest in the Salem game and did not have his best stuff; gave up 2 runs in the 2 innings after throwing shutout stuff on Monday. I'm not sure why he came out early; haven't heard if he was hurting. I wish they'd've taken him out an inning sooner on Monday so he'd've been more ready on Wed., but as it was our # 4 guy got the job done for us.

Stadler also hit his 4th HR in 4 games vs. Salem (2 on Monday, 1 on Tuesday, 1 on Wed). He got off to a slow start this year but is now smokin'! The power can surprise you because he's not the biggest guy out there, but lots of bat speed and a sweet lefty swing.

BTW, he's just a sophomore! As is our other main starter, who started vs. Princess Anne Tuesday a.m. We are looking forward to a good year and two more to come!

The mound at Cox did not bother Stadler because he starts his windup with a side step. Our other guys step back, so it's a good thing he was the pitcher on Monday. It would've driven our other guy nuts!