The Tune Squad is more than just a travel baseball team. They’re a family and a community. They celebrate wins in life and on the field. They pick each other up through the losses and the tough times. The Tune Squad has a love-hate relationship like any other family, but even through all the bumps in the road, they still care for one another.
“Just like any other family, we argue,” head coach Bryant “Blue” Taylor said. “but at the end of the day, we all still come together as one.”
Being a part of such a different family has made an impact on not just the coaches and the team manager but also on the players themselves. The players have developed a sense of community as well as a place where they belong and can be themselves.
“It helps all of us come together and have a second family away from home,” starting catcher and pitcher Jayden Walker said.
The Tune Squad isn’t a normal baseball team. They’re a travel team that fundraises for everything. All of the players pay nothing to join and nothing for uniforms or tournaments. The players just focus on the game and do what they love.
“For a lot of them this is their last chance to play baseball,” Team Manager Shawna Clough said. “We started this team because a lot of kids came forward. Seeing them happy to be out here doing what they love makes me happy.”
Every team has their wins and losses, yet each team celebrates and handles them differently. The Tune Squad has a team ritual, win or lose, the team will go out to eat and celebrate their time together because it’s not about the game itself; it’s about the experiences they made along the way.
“A win is a win, a loss is a loss, as long as we’re doing us, that’s all that matters,” senior team captain Elijah Best said.
The Tune Squad is full of different personalities mashed together, but they all fit together like puzzle pieces. Fellow teammates and head coach Blue agree that senior outfielder Austin Robinson lights up the field with his personality and smile. They also say he takes on the “mom” role of the team and has the nickname, Mr. Hollywood. To complement the “mom” role on the team, the same players say teammate Jayden Walker takes on the “dad” role, always looking out for the other players and guiding them through the season.
They have many great memories together as a team on and off the field. Multiple players said their favorite memory is playing at JMU, but one player said his favorite memory goes beyond the JMU field and into a hotel during the tournament trip.
“[Senior right fielder Bradley Guriddi] slept in an empty bathtub and we put water in the tub with him,” left fielder Cameron “Cam” Ward said.
The team really values brotherhood and being together as a team. At the end of every game, they say different chants to keep the hype up. They always leave the field with a bang.
“Tune Squad on top!” junior first baseman and pitcher Mason Jackson said.
