16 teams from 11 states are represented at the National Team Championships North Carolina this week with players from even more. For some players, it was a simple car ride to arrive at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. For others, it was multiple flights and hours of travel to make it here.

The 2021 14U National Team Championships North Carolina features teams based out of Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas. Both coasts are represented well with California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia each having two teams in the field this week

The Roads Less Traveled

2,555 miles. That’s the distance between San Diego, California, and Cary, North Carolina, and it’s the farthest trek made by any team at the National Team Championships North Carolina for the week. San Diego SHOW made the trip to the National Training Complex from the Golden State. 

Gavin Fein from the SHOW had quite the journey to get here after a flight cancellation on Tuesday night.

“I was supposed to leave on Tuesday, but my flight got canceled, so I actually flew out yesterday into New York City,” he said. After the 5 AM flight to New York, he got into Raleigh-Durham just hours before the team’s first game. The jet lag didn’t seem to affect Fein too much though as the Temecula, California, native tossed four innings on Thursday morning, allowing just one run.

MVP Hustle, based out of Southern California, also made the cross-country voyage to play for gold. These teams will compete in tournaments all across the country, but this is one that’s starred on the calendar for them.

“This is a great event and we’re glad to be here,” Dullins Dodgers Head Coach Doug Robbins said.

Enzo Infelise and the Cangelosi Sparks also had an unorthodox trip to get here. The Illinois-based club played a tournament in Alabama last weekend and came straight to the Tar Heel state. Infelise made the seven-hour drive with his team, getting into town a few days early on Monday, and as the Chicago, Illinois, native put it, “It’s definitely worth it. We’re excited to be here and facing the best pitching in the country.”

Familiar Territory 

Not every team had to go airplane hopping to get here though, as both the Dirtbags and South Charlotte Panthers are both based right here in the Tar Heel state. But as the players say, a home field advantage doesn’t really exist in a situation like this.  

Playing in the area and at a USA Baseball event is not uncharted waters for everyone. Many of these teams have competed at the National Team Championships before, but this year does also bring a new crop of players.

Fein from the San Diego SHOW and others like him have previously played in the 10U and 11U Futures Invitational held right next door at Thomas Brooks Park. “To play in those tournaments and then get to come back and play on these bigger fields is exciting. It’s like a whole new atmosphere,” he said.

Others have made it even further and also had experience playing for Team USA. Jack McKernan with Texas Twelve, for example, previously played on the 2019 12U National Team and has some familiarity being around the complex.

But whether here for the first time or fifteenth, traveled minutes or hours, the goal remains the same: make the trip worth it.