Time to Gloat... My Nephew's the Best.

My nephew, Tony Fortier-Bensen batted .478 this season

I have one more post from my "Dailey Series," but this past weekend belongs to high school playoffs and my middle brother's son, Tony Fortier-Bensen, who has excelled in his senior year in baseball as well as academically. Tony batted .478 this season and actually went seven for seven and then, ten for ten during the regular season while anchoring the defense at shortstop.

Saturday afternoon, after winning their first playoff game against Barbe, H.S. by one run, Jesuit beat interstate rival Catholic High 3 to 2 and went on to beat the Lafayette Lions later that evening 5 to 4 to win the state 5AAA State Championship. It really was a thrilling series with a great team effort at the new Tulane stadium on a cool, breezy night. The Blue Jays won all their playoff games by only one run.

In my opinion, Tony Jr. should be voted Best High School Baseball Player in the New Orleans area, if not the entire state. Of course, having spent quite a few afternoons working with him on his skills and then, watching him play for over ten years, I guess I'm a touch bias.

Congrats, kid!

TJ... A chip off the ole' Chumps!

Congrats to my nephew, TJ, for making the 2010 All-District AllStars in his junior year. Tony worked hard to accomplish this. He began the baseball season on an off note, when the previous coach placed him in left field and wouldn't let him bat. His dad finally persuaded Tony to ask the coach if he could sit and talk w...ith him. When he coach obliged, Tony asked him if he could have a shot at playing his usual and best position of shortstop. The coach said no at first but then let him play for one game. He did so well, really showed the coach what he can do as a shortstop, so much so, that he switched the players for the rest of the season! He let Tony play his shortstop position and the sophomore that was playing shortstop played left field for the rest of the season! Tony also excelled throughout the season in his batting and has really grown as a player throughout the past year, so congratulations, dude!