Houma baseball team to play tournament in Cooperstown, New York, at Baseball Hall of Fame
Fresh off a 12U state championship, a Houma baseball team will be heading to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, for a tournament over the Fourth of July.
"As a kid, going far for us would be going to Baton Rouge," said head coach Cody Arcement, a former Nicholls State pitcher who coaches his son, Reid. "I couldn't even imagine being one of these kids and going to New York to play a baseball game."
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The Cooperstown Dream Park tournament has been held for more than 25 years and features some of the top teams from across the country. Some of the biggest stars of Major League Baseball got their start in Cooperstown, including Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees.
"For these boys, Cooperstown is their pinnacle, their World Series," said assistant coach Blake Tabor, whose son, Christian, plays for the team.
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For the players, this tournament represents the culmination of years of dedication to the sport and a chance to represent their hometown on a national stage.
"It means a lot," said Christian Tabor. "With the amount of work I put in, I'm really proud of myself to be in this moment. I'm proud of our team's work."
The tournament gives the kids a chance to play in front of their friends and family who made the nearly 1,500-mile trip at one of the most historic sites in all of sports, something that is not lost on Blake and Christian.
"It really pulls at my heart strings now," said Blake. "Christian is my only son, and it's a dream come true for me personally to watch him. It's humbling. I'm extremely proud, and I can't wait to watch him live his dream out."
While Christian has his sights on playing college baseball in the future, that doesn't detract from the moment in front of him.
"It's so special," Christian said.
While some Dream Park alumni make it to the majors, and others like Christian plan to continue playing baseball in high school or college, others still enter the tournament to spend one last day at the yard with their friends.
"For some of them, this might be the highlight of their baseball career," said Arcement. "But at the very least, they're going to be all together for the week, so their friendships are going to grow."
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Houma baseball team to play tournament at Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
