One could describe Team North Carolina-DeMarini’s path to success as unconventional. As a travel team that has only been in existence for five years, Coach Eric Sobocinski’s team faces an uphill battle in every tournament they participate in. If you add in the fact that they are a predominately 14u team playing in 15u tournaments, their recent 2015 Coastal Regional championship victory seems extremely improbable.

Their path to two consecutive national championship berths began with Sobocinski and Jim Palermo, who both played baseball at the college and minor league levels. They hoped to share their knowledge of the game with their kids, so Sobocinski and Palermo laid the groundwork for a new non-profit travel team originally known as the Blue Sox in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When they created the team, they were aware of the historically competitive travel programs that surrounded them such as the Canes, Dirtbags, Drillers, and Diamond Devils. While most people would want to model themselves after said organizations, Coach Sobocinski strove to be different.

“They [Big travel teams] were designed to win big tournaments and championships, then turn around and recruit kids to be in their program,” said Sobocinski. “We wanted to build a travel program unlike any of the programs that were out there.”

The two coaches believed that instead of recruiting kids from to be in the program, it would be best to develop the talent they had within their region. So when Perfect Game designed the Super25 concept, Coach Sobocinski was very pleased. “This [Super25] is about picking guys from a certain area, not necessarily about having a team, cutting all those kids, and recruiting kids from the rest of the country to compete in an event. When I heard of this, I said, ‘This is awesome. This is exactly the way it should be.’"

However, the Super25 brought new challenges for the young team. While the majority of the kids on the roster had birthdays after the cut-off date in May, a few of the kids were born before said date which caused the team to qualify for the 9u tournament, even though many of the kids were technically in the 8u age bracket. Fast forward a few years, and they are still stuck in age bracket limbo. “We didn’t do it on purpose,” said Sobocinski. “It was just the way our team was designed from the beginning."

They ultimately grew as a team from their unique situation, but their biggest learning experience was yet to come. In 2014, the team qualified for the PG Super25 13u National Championship in Dallas, which would mark their first time competing against the big travel teams from around the nation such as the Houston Banditos and LIDS Indiana Bulls-Black. It was a daunting task, but Sobocinski’s squad was up for the challenge. The team ultimately struggled, but their experience in Dallas made them stronger.

“We were a travel program that had only been in existence for 4 years and I think the kids wondered what it would feel like playing against travel programs that have been around for a long time. Going back this year, we know exactly the kind of talent to expect, and it’ll be easier for us to deal with that.”

Fresh off of a Coastal Regional victory and their second consecutive national championship berth, Team North Carolina-DeMarini is oozing with confidence. They have played excellent baseball regardless of what age group they are in, and based on the comments of Coach Sobocinski, they don’t seem too worried about the big programs this year.

“We’re not afraid of the big names. We’re happy to play with the big names. We respect people for what they do on the field, not because they’re from a certain program."

While their quick journey from a start-up travel team to national championship contender has been improbable, one thing is for sure: Come July 30^th, expect Team North Carolina-DeMarini to be on the field in Emerson, Georgia competing for the 15u National Championship.