Minnesota Blizzard Baseball

Awards: Awards: Voted 2021 Blue gLove by his teammates on 13U BLACK

Parents: Mark & Tanya (Mark, a true baseball mind that continues to give back to the game. He is a coach that isn’t going to sugar coat things and tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. He coached Blizzard 16U Black last year and transitioned to 14U Black this year. Outside of Blizzard Mark coaches the Buffalo JV and Legion teams. He promotes JV in such a positive manner which is rare these days as everyone knows that Varsity programs typically get all of the publicity. If you get a chance follow @WestMaw9211 on twitter. He keeps his post all about the kids, funny and 100% truthful (if they play bad he will say it, if 1 aspect of the game was good he will let you know). We missed having him at the games last year for Riley’s team but this year with him coaching 14U and his son being on Blue he gets to see him play more and gets to interact with the parents. Tanya (pronounced Tan-ya, not Ton-ya), FYI I made this mistake a lot (probably just me but thought I would throw it out there). As Mark was coaching the other team and would stay at hotels different than the players we usually were graced with her presence (even if only bringing Riley over to swim for a little bit). She is super fun and has some of the same sarcasm I see in Riley. Andrea and I would sit by her at a lot of the games behind home plate. During the game she can be rather reserved but she is more than happy to engage in pleasant conversation.

History: Great player and a ton of fun away from the field. Riley is as blunt as it gets when it comes to telling you what he thinks about anything but he also knows how to get locked in for a game while keeping it fun away from the diamond. He comes at you with a tall stance from the left side. He drives the ball where its pitched, in the rare circumstance he gets an inside pitch he will drive it pull side. Has power to all parts of the field and decent speed to get the extra base hits. Riley sat in the top of the order all of last year hitting 2 thru 4 on black but this year he has proven to hold down the leadoff spot for blue. Besides the pop with his bat, Riley received the Blue gLove award last year for his play in centerfield. He covered the gaps well and was great at reading the runners in getting outfield assists. On the mound Riley utilizes an upper 60’s fastball and a curveball to keep hitters off balance. He has started the opening game of the past three tournaments for Blue with his best outing this past tournament against MN SWAT in a revenge game (Blue is 12-1, only loss to SWAT). Riley pitched 5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs and 5 strikeouts while only throwing 64 pitches. This past summer Riley filled in for a tournament in the cities and again in Slumpbusters in Omaha where we got to spend time with him at the World Series in the 95 degree heat (he kept things fun and interesting the entire time)! If you get the chance to spend time with Riley you won’t regret it, great kid and one heck of a baseball player in all facets of the game (he has to be sharp and do the little things otherwise he will get an earful from his dad).

Fun Fact: In the event you didn’t know Riley is a jokester that you have to needle when the opportunity presents itself and he is a ladies man. At a recent stay at the house Andrea and I kept trying to figure out what he was saying when he constantly threw “NO CAP” at us. I guess we are too old to know the lingo now days. In Arizona in January it was impressive to see Riley not only have his girlfriend at the game but he was also photographed with the GCU cheer leaders (fortunate for him I don’t have that picture, but I know his dad does).