PACE — The Pace Area Recreational Association has so many programs and seasons for children that it is hard to keep track of. One thing is for certain, they do like to produce winners, like the Adiktiv 7-year-old and under travel baseball team sponsored by Adiktiv Sports in Milton.
The 7-year-old and under team traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and won the 873 Express Tournament. Cal Ripken, a Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, and his brother Bill run the tournaments.
"This is the first time the business has sponsored a team," said Adiktiv owner and founder Mike Westfall.
By all indications, he said he would probably sponsor them again next year.
According to assistant Coach Hayden "Boomer" McCullers, "these boys can play."
"Our regular record here for the year was 26-5," McCullers said. "We also played eight tournaments this year and took first place in all of them except one. That was an 8-year-old tournament where we took second.
"Of the 10 teams that played at Pigeon Forge, Adiktiv played five games,” McCullers added. "Four of them were called for the mercy run rule and one game they played to the end winning that one also. We have a good group of kids and parents."
Members of the Pace Area Recreational Association, also known as PARA, stay with the same sports program as they go through the public school system. They start as Patriots from first grade all the way through graduation if they do not move out of the area. Once they reach high school, they play with their respective high school teams.
Head softball Coach Enrique Eligio at Pace refers to the PARA programs as feeder programs.
"Most successful programs around our area have these types of programs," Eligio said.
Eligio said he cannot wait to start next year’s season when he will get to coach some of these players from the feeder team himself.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: The boys of summer