Young Traveling Team Finds Strength On the Road

For some kids, little league baseball just isn't enough.

A traveling team in Annapolis forged by Coach Gary Gallant is testing their skill and growing as players while touring the East Coast.  And while life on the road can be tough to balance, it's proven to be a unifying force for both the players and their families.

The PAL Astros are a group of 8- and 9-year-old boys from all across Annapolis. The disparate group of youngsters who without the team likely wouldn't have become such good friends, due to the segregation of school districts and the brevity of traditional little league matches.

This season the team drove between Annapolis and New Jersey, Virginia, Aberdeen, Elkridge, Germantown and Mt. Airy. During these treks, the team played against the best of the best from across the mid-Atlantic region.

"Travel baseball is not for every family, or for every kid," Gallant said. "These are kids who have a really deep interest in the sport and a strong desire to get better. That's what unites them."

The team is the youngest in the league, and finished the season with a 5-3 record, which Gallant said they're very proud of for being mostly 8-year-olds playing games against kids up to 2 years older than them.

The team has traveled hundreds of miles to games—spending weekends out of town with the family, often to face teams that outclassed them. But at the end of the day, win or lose, they're gaining momentum from a unique bond shared only by travel teams.

The time together also makes the team work better as a unit, said Dino Visioni, whose son is in his second  year on the team.

"Traveling gives them an opportunity to get closer," Visioni said. "Driving state to state every weekend, they develop a closer bond than a traditional team would, and they become a better team."

Travel can be quite a toll for the family members shuttling their sons around the coast. Spending weekend nights in hotels, prepping for busy weekends often filled with four games, plus practice. But there's a silver lining to all that time on the road, said team parent Harold Daughterty.

"Despite all of that, really it's just nice to get out as a family," he said. "We try to get the whole family out on each trip."

Kathleen Liedy, of Hillsmere, serves as the team mom—one of six parents who help organize the team's itenerary as they travel across the East Coast.

"You spend a lot of time together," Liedy said. "And that can lead to some good chemistry—which you have to have to keep things working."

Developing that chemistry on the field is a new experience for Annapolis youth at this age, Gallant said. There wasn't a travel team of this caliber for the age group before the PAL Astros formed in 2011.

"I wanted to give them the opportunity to play at the highest possible level," he said.

The time together also makes the team work better as a unit, said Dino Visioni, whose son is in his second  year on the team.

"Traveling gives them an opportunity to get closer," Visioni said. "Driving state to state every weekend, they develop a closer bond than a traditional team would, and they become a better team."

"I'm really proud of all these guys," he said.