State Championships: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006
Top 5 National Rankings: 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014 - National Champions: 2007, 2020, 2021


Americus Travelers Baseball Club
2005 15 and Under Roster (Number Order)

NUMBER PLAYER POSITION SCHOOL
2 Paxton Hanson Utility / Right Hand Pitcher Americus-Sumter County
4 Chad Crook Catcher / Right Hand Pitcher Schley County
6 Will Webb Shortstop / Right Hand Pitcher Southland Academy
8 Michael Swain Shortstop / Second Base / Right Hand Pitcher Tri-County High
9 Adam Fussell Catcher Southland Academy
10 Fuller Timmerman Second Base / Right Hand Pitcher Southland Academy
11 Sean Kobs Outfield Southland Academy
13 Colby Britt Utility / Right Hand Pitcher Schley County
14 Jess Alexander Third Base / First Base / Right Hand Pitcher Southland Academy
15 Chandler Holloway First Base / Designated Hitter / Right Hand Pitcher Southland Academy
16 Caleb Cochran Outfield / Left Hand Pitcher Americus-Sumter County
19 Will Gordon Catcher / Third Base Americus-Sumter County

2005 15 and Under Final Stats

PLAYER AVERAGE RUNS SCORED RBI
Fuller Timmerman .395 24 14
Caleb Cochran .392 19 20
Michael Swain .386 28 22
Will Webb .384 21 18
Will Gordon .365 17 16
Chandler Holloway .358 20 19
Paxton Hanson .358 18 12
Sean Kobs .286 15 9
Adam Fussell .228 6 5
Jess Alexander .218 11 6
Chad Crook .200 16 7

Americus Travelers Baseball Club
2015 15U Coaches Roster
COACH
Head Coach: Tim Estes
Assistant Coach: Chip Langston
Assistant Coach: Stephen Gordon


2005 15 and Under Summer Baseball Schedule


DATE(S) OPPONENT # GAMES TIME LOCATION
May 21 Senior Travelers Two Americus - Bell Stadium
May 24 Americus Avalanche 14 and Under One 6:00 p.m. Americus - Bell Stadium
May 25 Blakely Post 11 JV Two (5 Innings) 5:00 p.m. Southwest Georgia Academy - Damascus
May 27 Albany Post 30-B (Post 30 Memorial Day Tournament) One 5:00 p.m. Paul Eames Complex - Albany, Georgia (Field 1)
May 28 Albany A's (Post 30 Memorial Day Tournament) One 9:00 Paul Eames Complex - Albany, Georgia (Field 2)
May 28 Troy, Alabama One 7:00 Paul Eames Complex - Albany, Georgia (Field 2)
May 31 Valdosta High School JV Two (7 Innings) 5:00 p.m. Americus - Bell Stadium
June 3 Lenoir City, North Carolina (Mossy Creek Baseball Classic) One 5:45 p.m. Jefferson City, Tennessee
June 4 Sevier County, Tennessee (Mossy Creek Baseball Classic) One 1:10 p.m. Jefferson City, Tennessee
June 4 Carolina Gators "A" (Mossy Creek Baseball Classic) One 5:45 p.m. Jefferson City, Tennessee
June 5 Carolina Gators "B" (Mossy Creek Baseball Classic) One 10:30 a.m. Jefferson City, Tennessee
June 5 Seymour, Indiana (Mossy Creek Baseball Classic) One 1:10 p.m. Jefferson City, Tennessee
June 7 Westwood Academy - Varsity 2 (7 Innings) 6:00 p.m. Americus - Bell Stadium
June 17 Blakely Post 11 JV 1 (7 Inning) 6:00 p.m. Americus - Bell Stadium
June 21 Valdosta High School JV Two (7 Innings) 5:00 p.m. Valdosta High
June 28 - July 3 Cocoa Expo International Tournament Cocoa, Florida
July 8 Albany Post 30-B Two (7 Innings) 6:00 p.m. Americus - Bell Stadium

Recaps Section


May 21 - Senior Travelers

The 15U Travelers opened the season with a stunning victory over the 17U Travelers by the score of 8 - 5. The Junior squad got gutsy pitching from all five hurlers. Jess Alexander threw two scoreless innings to start, striking out three and walking one. Caleb Cochran pitched the 3rd & 4th giving up two runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked one. Chandler Holloway stepped onto the Thomas Bell mound to pitch the 5th, 6th & 7th innings. He allowed one run on three hits, struck out one and walked one. Paxton Hanson struggled in his one inning of work but managed to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 8th. Hanson struck out two and walked two. Chad Crook finished things on the mound in the 9th inning with one strike out and one walk.

Offensively, the junior Travs piled up nine hits and capitalized on several Senior team errors. Paxton Hanson had the hot bat for the day going 3 - 5 with a triple and two singles. Sean Kobs added a couple of hits including a single and a triple. Will Webb, Will Gordon, Caleb Cochran and Jess Alexander each had a hit. The junior team scored six runs in the top half of the first inning and added two more in the 8th to make the final score 8 - 5.

Coach Estes Comments: " Our kids prepared well throughout Training Camp and it showed in the way we played today. I was very pleased with our pitching efforts. Some of our pitchers struggled a bit but managed to work their way out of it. We hit the ball better than I expected us to but need to get a little more aggressive. We struck out too many times and need to make the defense make plays on us. Defensively, we didn't commit an error which was great. We had a couple of balls that I thought our outfield could've gotten to, that we let fall in for hits, but I can't criticize much in such a stellar defensive performance. While we've worked hard for several days, our Senior team hasn't had the opportunity to practice very much. Once Danny and his guys have played a few games together, they will once again be a strong team to contend with. There's no question that they have a bunch of talent on their team. I'm proud of the way we played and the way our kids handled themselves after the game. This was a big win for us and part of our program is teaching our players how to win with class and dignity and I think we did just that."


May 24 - Americus Avalanche

The Americus Travelers 15U team defeated the Georgia Avalanche 10 - 1 at Thomas Bell Stadium. Michael Swain was the winning pitcher going three innings, striking out four. He allowed one run on three hits. Will Webb worked two innings and allowed no runs, no hits and struck out one. Fuller Timmerman finished on the mound throwing two innings striking out three and walking only one Avalanche hitter.

Offensively the Travs were led by Caleb Cochran who went 2 - 2 with a pair of RBI. Chandler Holloway and Jess Alexander each added two hits. Paxton Hanson, Will Gordon, Fuller Timmerman, and Will Webb had one hit each.

Coach Estes comments: " We got sloppy on defense tonight commiting five errors. We hit the ball well and finally executed the squeeze play and the bottom line is a win is a win is a win ... no matter how ugly it looks. Our pitching staff continues to shine. All three guys tonight threw the baseball extremely well. We've got two tough ones in Blakely tommorrow so we'll need to be more intense and play better baseball."


May 25 - Blakely Post 11 Junior Varsity

The 15U Travelers swept a double header from Blakely Post 11 in Damascus, Georgia last night.
Game 1: Travelers 10 Blakely Post 11 3
Game 2: Travelers 6 Blakely Post 11 0

Jess Alexander was the winning pitcher in game 1. Jess is now (2-0) on the season Chandler Holloway came in to close the game and did a super job on the mound. The Travelers pounded out 15 hits in game 1 to storm past the Blakely bunch.

Paxton Hanson was the winning pitcher in game 2. He pitched all four innings before the game was called official because of darkness. The Travelers bats were hot again as they mustered 7 hits in their three at bats.

Coach Estes Comments: " We hit the baseball extremely well tonight. Our pitchers continue to throw the ball with authority and are hitting their spots. Defensively we had a couple of problems in the outfield but other than that, we played pretty good. The kids had much better intensity throughout the two games. I really like the way Coach Langston has our pitchers throwing their off speed stuff for strikes. So far, all of our staff has looked good. We'll have to elevate our game even more this weekend as we enter the Memorial Day tournament but we're moving in the right direction."


May 27/28 - Post 30 Memorial Day Tournament

The Travelers junior squad finished the post 30 Memorial Day tournament with a 2-1-1 record earning them a 3rd place finish. In game 1, Michael Swain went the distance on the mound as Americus defeated Post 30-B 9-5. In game 2 on Saturday morning, the Travelers held a 7-2 lead over the Albany A's going into the sixth inning. Caleb Cochran had pitched an excellent game. Seeing he was getting tired, the relief was called in and things slowly fell apart. The A's scored six runs on four errors and two wild pitches in the sixth inning to take an 8-7 lead going into the 7th. In the top of the seventh inning, a leadoff hit was followed by a sacrifice bunt and another hit to tie the game. The runner then moved to third on a passed ball and Chad Crook squeezed home Will Webb to give the Travelers a 9-8 lead heading to the bottom of the 7th inning. Albany scored once in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game at 9 each and it was called because of the time limit.

In game 3: Troy Alabama scored six times in the first inning to take an 8-2 win over the junior Travelers. Most observers of the game were amazed that our coaching staff stayed in the baseball game due to the plate umpires anticks. Tournament officials later apologized to the team for employing an umpire that no-one associated with the tournament knew (he was a new marine from Ohio, who claimed to be a former pro official). Coaches Estes and Langston questioned several calls throughout the first four innings before deciding to just sit back and let it go. The jr. Travs had 9 hits (Troy had 10) but due to the big 1st inning, Americus just couldn't recover.

In the 3rd place game on Sunday, Americus defeated Early County by a score of 8-2. Jess Alexander went the distance on the mound running his record to 3-0. Americus compiled 10 hits and committed only one error.

Coach Estes comments: "I'm really pleased with the way we're hitting the ball as a team. Our kids are understanding what to look for and buying into the concept of hitting a pitch because we want to hit it and not because we have to hit it. Our pitchers again looked good all weekend and should only get stronger. We executed the little things pretty good, we bunted well, we squeezed in what should have been a winning run, we're hitting behind runners like we're supposed to do, we're running the bases aggressively and smart. I'm really happy with where we're at at this point. I would say we're ahead of the curve.

As for the bogus official we had on Saturday night, all I can say is WOW! I don't know how a guy like that can get to call in a tournament of this caliber but when you're hard up for officials, you just hope the guy is legitimate and this one wasn't! When I realized he was blatantly sticking it to us, my only choices were to live with it or get ejected. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to be with the team on Sunday so I needed Chip to stay in the ball game so he could coach on Sunday, that's the only thing that kept him around. I hope it was a lesson to all of our kids that sometimes life isn't fair and you've just got to live with it. Paxton did a fantastic job of keeping his emotions under control and saving the rest of our pitchers arms. Overall, it was a positive weekend and we're getting better."


May 31 - Valdosta High Junior Varsity

The Americus Travelers 15U team split a double header with Valdosta High School at Bell Stadium on Tuesday. In game one, Valdosta out hit the Travelers 6 - 2 en route to a 3-0 win. Will Webb took the loss on the mound going four innings and Chad Crook came on to finish the game. Michael Swain and Fuller Timmerman had the only Travelers hits.

In game 2, the Travelers trailed 5 - 2 going into the final inning. In that last inning, Michael Swain led off the inning with a triple to the right center field gap, Fuller Timmerman and Chandler Holloway drew back to back walks to load the bases, Will Webb singled to cut the lead to 5-3. Coach Estes called for the suicide squeeze and Will Gordon did so plating Timmerman to make it 5-4 with no outs and he was also safe at 1st. Trailing by one run, Sean Kobs stepped to the dish and hit a double to score Holloway and Webb and give the Travelers a 6-5 come from behind victory. Timmerman pitched all but the final inning. Swain came on to strike out all three Wildcat hitters in the last frame.

Coach Estes comments: "We looked tired and sluggish in game one and Valdosta just outplayed us. Will Webb and Chad Crook pitched well enough to keep us in the game but we just couldn't get anything going offensively. In game two, I thought Fuller threw the ball well and settled into a groove. We really only brought Swain in for the last inning to give him a tune up going into the tournament this weekend and he looked great! We put together a spectacular last inning, Swain hit the snot out of the ball all night. We executed the squeeze and then Kobs delivered the big hit to win it. If we'll play TEAM, TRAVELERS baseball like we did in the last inning tonight, we'll have alot of success this summer."


June 3-5 - Mossy Creek Baseball Classic

The Americus Travelers 15u team finished the Mossy Creek Classic with a record of 2-2-1 over the weekend. Lenoir City defeated the Travelers 10-8 in the opener. Americus outhit their opponent 18-7 but couldn't manage to get enough runs across the plate. In game 2: The Travelers tied the local Sevier County team 2-2. On Saturday evening, Americus defeated the Carolina Gators 8-3. Sunday Morning the Travelers came out swinging and blasted the Gators 12-1 in five innings. In the final game of the tournament, the Seymour Eagles defeated Americus 4-1 behind two 2 run home runs. The Junior Travs are now 10-4-2 overall on the young season.

Coach Estes Comments: " We got better this weekend. I was proud of the way we pitched and we hit the ball extremely well. We made a few bonehead plays defensively but we're learning from our mistakes. I definitely believe we're on the right track. It was a fun trip. Our parents were great, supportive and helpful. We enjoyed some time together away from the field. We even got to take in a Tennessee Smokies game which was a blast! Our kids are better understanding what Travelers baseball is about and I'm excited about the rest of our season. Coach Langston has our pitchers hitting their spots and has been a huge help. Coach Gordon is working with hitters every time I turn around and I think our staff, our team and our parents are all on the same page right now."


June 7 - Westwood Academy

The 15u Travelers swept a double header from Westwood Camilla American Legion on Tuesday at Bell Stadium.

Game 1: Americus 8 Westwood Camilla 1
Winning Pitcher = Fuller Timmerman    Save = Chandler Holloway
Fuller Timmerman, Michael Swain, Chandler Holloway, and Adam Fussell each had two hits. Will Webb, Paxton Hanson, Will Gordon and Chad Crook all had 1 hit.

Game 2: Americus 9 Westwood Camilla 3
Winning Pitcher = Chad Crook
Hits: Will Webb and Will Gordon had two each. Michael Swain, Fuller Timmerman, Caleb Cochran, and Chandler Holloway each had one hit.

Coach Estes Comments: "We hit the ball really well again tonight. Fuller and Chandler both threw well in game one and Chad Crook looked great in game two. We made some baserunning mistakes but were able to hit our way around them. Our middle infield of Swain & Webb are getting more and more in sync and make a great tandem. It'll be nice to have a few days off and come back on Sunday and play an old friend in Casey Soliday"


June 17 - Blakely Post 11

The Americus Travelers 15u team, after a week off, came back on the field playing fundamental baseball on Friday night at Thomas Bell Stadium. Quality pitching, solid defense, timely hitting and the art of bunting propelled the Travelers to a 6-5 win over Blakely Post 11 to run their overall record to 13-4-2 on the season.

Michael Swain started on the hill for Americus and dominated for the first three innings. His control became shaky in the fourth and Caleb Cochran was brought in, in relief. Cochran finished the fourth inning and remained in the game through completion. The two Travelers pitchers combined to allow five runs on four hits, struck out 10 but walked 8 in the ball game.

Offensively, the junior Travelers played small ball and did it well. Leading the way at the plate were Will Gordon, Paxton Hanson and Sean Kobs with two hits each. Swain, Chandler Holloway, Will Webb and Chad Crook all had one hit as well. Fundamental baserunning and quality bunting resulted in three of the Travelers six runs. Sean Kobs was called on to execute the squeeze bunt on two occassions, doing it to perfection both times. He was safe on first base on both attempts as well. Throughout the game, the Travelers seemed to get on base via a hit or a walk, the following batter would bunt them over to second base, a hit or a ground ball to the right side would move runners over to third base and the runners would then score on hits, bunts or passed balls.

The Travelers now have the remainder of the weekend off and will travel to Valdosta High School for a double header on Tuesday and on Thursday will host the Senior Travelers in a single game at Georgia Southwestern State University.

Coach Estes Comments: " It was good for us to have a little time off and get some rest. We came out with good intensity tonight and played fundamental, Travelers baseball. I think our kids have grasp the concept of TEAM baseball and understand the direction we want to go as a baseball team"


June 21 - Valdosta High

Tuesday evening, the Americus Travelers 15u team split a double header, for the second time this season, with the Valdosta High Varsity Gold team. The two teams had matched up earlier in the season at Thomas Bell Stadium with Valdosta taking game one 3-0 and Americus winning game two 6-5.

On Tuesday, the two games were nearly mirror images of each other. In game one, the teams were tied 3-3 going into the sixth inning when Valdosta exploded for 7 hits in the inning to take an 8-3 win. Jess Alexander was the hard luck losing pitcher for Americus while Chandler Holloway came on in relief to throw 1 2/3 innings. Will Gordon lead Americus at the plate with 3 hits, Michael Swain, Fuller Timmerman, Alexander, Adam Fussell and Holloway each added hits.

In game two, the game was again tied at 3 each in the sixth but this time it was the Travelers exploding offensively with five consecutive hits to take an 8-3 lead. Americus would add an insurance run in the 7th inning to win the game 9-3. Paxton Hanson threw 6 1/3 innings of solid baseball but Coach Estes called on ace Caleb Cochran to close the game in the seventh. The junior Travs now have an overall record of 13-5-2 on the season heading into the Cocoa Expo Internationale Tournament next week.

" It was good for us to play a team the caliber of Valdosta High School" said Coach Estes " We tip our hats to them, they just flat beat us in game one and we didn't play that bad. I was proud of the way we bounced back to take game two and thought we showed some character by doing so. We had four pitchers that got some work in and all did well. We hit the ball extremely well tonight and played solid on the infield defensively. Our outfield was short tonight with a couple of guys at basketball camp so we looked shaky out there, but that was to be expected. We're getting better each week and that's the direction we want to continue to go in"


June 30 - Clarksville Athletics

The Americus Travelers 15u club got things off to a great start at the Cocoa Internationale Tournament on Wednesday by defeating the Clarksville Tennessee Athletics 10-0 in five innings. Caleb Cochran was the winning pitcher, throwing all five innings and limiting his tosses to only 71 pitches. Cochran struck out 8 walked 0 and gave up only two hits. The Travelers had seven hits with Will Webb leading the way with two. Fuller Timmerman, Caleb Cochran, Michael Swain, Sean Kobs and Paxton Hanson each had a hit.

Game 2 of the day was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday at 1:00. Tommorrow, Paxton Hanson will take to the mound as the Travs will face the Puerto Rico Indians at 8:00 AM. Michael Swain gets the baseball for the 1:00 PM game against the Brevard Florida Stars.

Coach Estes Comments on the Clarksville game: " Cochran was on today! He hit his spots and limited his pitches ... he was fantastic. Our team did a great job of getting up, they ran early this morning and when we got to the ball park, we were ready to play. We didn't make any physical or mental errors. It was classic Americus Travelers baseball and I couldn't be any more proud of the way we played. We've got two extremely tough games tommorrow so we're getting the kids in bed early and hopefully we can show up and play just as well in the morning"


June 30 - Puerto Rico Indians

The Americus Travelers 15u Baseball CLub took the Cocoa Expo by storm on Thursday morning by defeating the Puerto Rico Indians 6-4. Paxton Hanson was the winning pitcher going 4 2/3 innings, striking out 7 and walking 3. Americus used a four run first inning to propel their way to a 2-0 start in the Cocoa Expo Internationale Tournament. Fuller Timmerman singled to lead off the game, moved to second on a balk and Michael Swain delivered an RBI single. Caleb Cochran then singled in the right center gap pushing Swain over to third base. Cochran then stole second and Chandler Holloways single plated both Swain and Cochran for a 3-0 lead. Will Webb and Paxton Hanson had back to back singles through the middle and after one inning it was 4-0 Travelers. Two more insurance runs were picked up in the second inning as Timmerman and Swain both crossed the dish for Americus. Hanson allowed two Puerto Rico runs in the 2nd inning and two more in the fourth but Caleb Cochran came on in relief to put out the fire and preserve the Travelers win. Game two of the day was called off due to rain in the area. The Travelers are scheduled to play Freedom Farm Bahamas at 1:00 PM on Friday and the Orlando Hunters at 6:00 Pm in the Cocoa Stadium.

"Paxton struggled a bit today but managed to work through most of it" said Coach Tim Estes " We came out smoking the ball at the plate and really got them down early and hung on to win at the end" The Travelers 15u club is now 17-5-2 on the season entering Fridays play and is currently in the lead at the Cocoa Expo tournament. " Our intensity has been good, the kids are playing well together and we'll be ready to play whenever we are asked to play. The rain is somewhat frustrating, but the teams that handle adversity the best will win the tournament and we want to be that team". Estes said.


July 1 - Brevard Stars/Freedom Farm Baseball Club (Bahamas)

The Americus Travelers suffered their first loss in Cocoa at the hands of the defending champion Brevard Stars by a score of 11-1. Michael Swain took the loss on the mound for his first loss of the season. Americus could only manage four hits on the night as Brevard simply blistered the baseball. " That was the best team we had played all year" said Estes " They were very good and a classy bunch. I hope we can get to that level over the next year or so"

The Travelers bounced back to defeat the Freedom Farm Baseball Club from the Bahamas 11-0 Jess Alexander was the winning pitcher and each player in the line-up had at least one hit. The Travs will face off against the Orlando Hunters on Saturday for the chance to play for the Cocoa Internationale Championship on Sunday.

Coach Estes comments: " Jess completely dominated today and we hit the baseball extremely well. They were not the caliber of team we are used to playing but good teams put their opponents away and we did just that. I look forward to the opportunity in front of us tommorrow to make it to the championship."


July 2 - Orlando Hunters/Freedom Farm (Bahamas)

The Americus Travelers advanced to Championship Sunday of the Cocoa Expo Internationale with an impressive 3-2 victory over the Orlando Hunters on Saturday. Michael Swain was the winning pitcher striking out 8 and walking only 1.

The Travelers also had to complete their game with Freedom Farm baseball from Nassau Grand Bahamas which was suspended due to rain from Friday with the Travs ahead 11-0. On Saturday, Freedom Farm would score a run in the bottom of the fourth but Americus would tack on four more in the bottom half of the inning to win 15-1.

The Travelers finish pool play at 4 - 1 and will be the #2 seed in championship play on Sunday

Sunday's Schedule:

9:00 #1 seed Brevard Stars vs. #4 seed Puerto Rico Indians
9:00 #2 seed Americus Travelers vs. #3 seed Orlando Hunters

12:00 Championship
12:00 Consolation game

Coach Estes Quotes: " Our kids have really played well down here this week. We have beaten some good teams and all of the work that we've put in this summer is paying off. Michael Swain was absolutely incredible today on the mound against Orlando. He had that "eye of the Tiger" mentality and went after their hitters. We are proud to be representing Americus on this level and look forward to the challenge of playing for the title on Sunday."


July 3 - Orlando Hunters/Brevard Stars

Americus defeated Orlando, 8-4, but lost in the Championship Game to the Brevard Stars, 4-0. As a result, the Travelers emerged as the Runner Up in the Cocoa Expo International.

The following are comments from Coach Estes (posted July 4):

" I am so proud of the way our players played this week and represented Americus. We could've laid down against Orlando after getting down 4-0 early on but we had the guts and the character to fight our way back and win it late. What a super job by a fantastic group of kids. In the championship game, we played really well! I know the score (4-0) doesn't reflect that, but we really hit the ball well and they just made the plays. The Brevard Stars are a very good baseball team, they play the game like it is meant to be played and they have an awful lot of talent. Their coaches were good men who had total control of their players and while we hate to lose, when you get beat by a classy group of kids and coaches, it makes it bearable. I congratulate Brevard for a job well done! At the same time, don't take anything away from our kids. They proved to themselves, their opponents and the national baseball scene that Americus Travelers Baseball is back and has a bright future!

I want to especially thank Coach Langston for his work this week. It's great to have such a reliable guy on our staff. We also have the best group of parents and I'd like to thank them for their support of me, our staff, our program and our kids. It was a fun week and hopefully it will have prepared us for the National tournament in a couple of weeks."


July 22-24 - Gatorade/Hampton Inn National Classic @ Greenville, South Carolina

The Americus Travelers 15u Baseball team finished their 2005 season with a runner up trophy at the Gatorade/Hampton Inn Summer National Classic in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Travelers stunned the 16u South Carolina State Champs on Friday with a final score of 8-3. Caleb Cochran was the winning pitcher. Fuller Timmerman, Michael Swain, Cochran, Will Webb, and Sean Kobs each had a pair of hits. Will Gordon, Chandler Holloway and Jess Alexander each had a hit.

The Carolina bombers took game #2 by a score of 3-0. Michael Swain pitched a three hitter, but the Travelers couldn't manage to cross the plate. Fuller Timmerman was the only Americus player with multiple hits as he blasted a double and a single. Will Gordon and Will Webb both added singles.

Game #3: The South Carolina Express got their chance for a re-match, but Jess Alexander pitched his best game of the season. Alexander's strong performance, along with 11 more Americus hits, gave the Travelers a 6-3 win. Fuller Timmerman, Michael Swain, Will Gordon, and Will Webb all had a pair of singles. Caleb Cochran, Chandler Holloway, and Sean Kobs each added a hit. This win made the Travelers 2-1 in the tournament.

Championship Game: Americus faced a tough South Carolina Braves team from Columbia. Chad Crook pitched four strong innings, but spotty defense in the fourth and four errors led to a 10-0 win for the Braves. The Travelers were led at the plate by Caleb Cochran with two hits. Michael Swain, Will Webb and Chandler Holloway each had one hit. The Americus Travelers 15u finished their 2005 season with a record of 23-10-2.


The Season In Review - Coach Tim Estes

"To say that I'm proud of these young men would be the understatement of the season. Coach Langston and myself have had the good fortune of coaching (teaching) a very special group of players. They were like a sponge and really tried to learn and understand what we were trying to pass along to them. Before I get too far, let me first thank the parents of these players for their monetary investment, their time commitment and their support of me and my staff. I appreciate your trust in me and hope that you feel like what we've done this summer has been worth your time and money. We must also thank a great business community who has financially backed our program from the beginning. We absolutely could not do what we do without them. To our fans...and yes, we have built a great fan base - Thanks more than you'll ever know! To look up in the stands and see a couple hundred people is incredible for the players and our coaching staff as well.

Let me say in looking back on our season that these young men represented Americus and the Travelers program with class. Our philosophy goes beyond the x's and o's of the game - we want to play the game the way it was meant to be played and these kids did just that! We never had a single problem with a player backtalking a coach, complaining about playing time - nothing! Coach Langston and I tried to be fair at all times and in every decision do what was best for our team. To watch these guys put into the games what they had been taught at practice was an absolute joy. We played more good teams than had ones this season. We didn't lose a single game that we should have won - we did let one get away from us that ended in a tie, but we won every game that we should've won. We also beat a lot of teams that were more talented than we were. Our final record of 23-10-2 is one that I'm very proud of. When you think about a team with coachable players, supportive parents, good coaches, and a community that is behind them, I hope you think of us.

I must also say a special thanks to Chip Langston and Stephen Gordon. Chip and I have battled against each other for many years. It was so good to be in the same dugout this year. I think we made a great team. I always respected his opinions and most of the time went with his suggestions. He worked hard and cared about every player on this team. Coach Gordon was with us for most of the season and took a load off of us by keeping our books, getting the kids stretched, working with our hitters. His contributions were greatly appreciated.

We are already making plans for next season. There are a few places we can strengthen our team. We need to add a couple of arms to our pitching staff. It's so important to have a minimum of four quality starters. If those guys can also give us a strong bat - that's icing on the cake. We plan to affiliate with a National organization or two - most likely USSSA and AAU. If we can routinely send a quality pitcher to the mound and have eight or nine guys in the line-up that hit over .300, we'll be tough to beat next summer.

Let me close by saying that I appreciate my wife and kids allowing me to do this each summer. Tammie, Lexie and Ashleigh have enjoyed their time with the Travelers. Hope, Walker and Caroline Langston have become good friends, and I thank you for sharing Chip. To Jeff and Felicia Alexander, who have managed our budget this year - your contributions to our program are beyond words, and to be able to call you friends is an honor. To all of you parents, thanks so much for your sacrifice, your good demeanor and your trust. I can't wait to do it all over again next summer, only on a bigger scale. Finally, to our webmaster, Ken "Moose" Harrill - your work to make sure that everyone who loves the Travelers can follow us is most appreciated. We have built a massive following, and you are a big reason why.

The Travelers are a family - we have laughed together, cried together, won together and lost together, and through it all, we have built Americus Travelers Baseball back into a National power. I am honored to be your coach.