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Club Profile: Turnin2 16U Pezzoni/Robeson Looks To Improve On 2018 Success

The Turnin2 16U team which had a Top 10 and Top 20 at two of the summer club National Championships.

The Turnin2 program based out of Michigan has had some national success including the 16U team finishing 7th last summer in the USA Softball JO Cup and 18th in the Triple Crown Nationals.

Ron Pezzoni, found of Turnin2.

Despite losing three standouts who have moved up to the 18U National team—second baseman Leah Munson (2019, Toledo), outfielder AJ Militello (2019, Utah) and pitcher Liv Warrington (2019, Detroit)–the Turnin2 16U National team coached by Ron Pezzoni and Rodney Robeson has some significant talent coming back and has picked up some impressive newcomers.

The team will travel to several top national events this summer including Triple Crown Nationals, the JO Cup and Colorado Fireworks.

Coach Rodney Robeson

“These events are locked, loaded and paid for,” says Coach Robeson.

Highlighting this year’s squad will be a strong 2021 group and a nice blend overall of team athleticism and speed, especially in the outfield.

“These kids play with a lot of confidence, are fierce and selfless competitors and are team players,” adds Robeson. “They are a joy to coach.”

*****

When did the team/program start?
The program was started back in 2012 by Ron Pezzoni and Rodney Robeson came on board in 2013 as Co-Owner and Director of Softball.

Where are you based and where do your athletes come from?
We are based out of Brighton, Michigan. We have athletes that come from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Most of them come from within two to three hours of our facility which is located in Brighton.

What was the purpose of creating the team? Was it to showcase players, win titles, develop skills?
The club was started primarily to help develop skills and showcase players while playing the BEST competition possible.

What have been some of your successes in terms of winning or placing at events?
Our program has had tremendous amount success in regards to winning and competing for Championships. We had teams finish in the top 10 in ASA Nationals. Last year our 16u team finished Top 7 in the USA Softball JO Cup and 18th at Triple Crown Nationals.

What, in you opinion, makes the organization unique?
Our program and our leaders are laser-focused on the 3 R’s: Respect, Responsibility and Represent. We put a huge emphasis on developing both our players and our coaches. This past year we started to implement a training program that is consistent from the 8u level all the way through our 18U level. We call it teaching to the T2 handbook.

All our players are tested for athleticism by ODM (On Deck Measurements) and we hope to take that data to help develop our players through objective data versus subjective data. We have also started to implement Blast Motion training throughout the program. We are working toward more non-parent coaches and establishing a “consistent” coaching base for our National teams. We expect to have a National team represented every year at the major National tournaments from 14u – 18u.

We have been blessed with a pipeline of high impact instructors that are former D1 athletes from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Currently McKenzie Long, a former Michigan State standout, works with our athletes. McKenzie has just come on board to be the Director of Training for our program.

Amanda Chidester, the longtime USA Softball team member, is helping out the Turnin2 organization this year.

Other high level instructors include Amanda Chidester (USA Softball Player & University of Michigan grad) along with Adam Arbour (a former assistant at the University of Alabama ), who are on contract to run winter rover training programs with all our teams.

In addition we have Jenn Newman who handles the majority of our T2 Pitching Academy. Jenn is a certified Denny Tincher instructor. Sara Dreisenga (a former Michigan pitcher) also offers pitching lessons at the Turnin2 Training Center.

What’s your softball background and how did you get to the point of leading the team?
Coach Pezzoni and I have been coaching travel softball for over 10 years. We joined forces back in 2013 to help teach kids how to play the game the right way, build confidence and help kids get to the next level.

There are certain aspects of softball that you have to master in order to have success on the field and we just felt that there was a huge need in our area to teach kids the basic fundamentals and show them the path to get there. It takes lots of hard work!

We both have backgrounds in baseball and quite honestly there really isn’t a lot of difference between the two sports other than softball is played at a much quicker pace. I’ve always been an ALL IN or nothing person so when we started to grow Turnin2 there was no turning back for me. We’ve all been pushing hard and competing to help our T2 kids reach their goals of playing collegiately.

We’ve had a lot of success in a short period of time because we have surrounded ourselves with great people and great softball players. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point but, ultimately, we believe if we continue to focus on taking care of the development and performing at a high level on the softball field everything else will fall into place. Control what you can control and let the rest go!

How many teams are there in the organization overall?
We fluctuate between 12 – 16 teams annually.

Has there been a key moment or defining experience in the team’s history?
The Turnin2 16U Pezzoni/Robeson team is a mix of 2020’s and 2021’s. I wouldn’t say there has been a defining moment per say with this team. It’s been about making hard choices within our organization and guiding/placing our kids to play on teams where they are surrounded with like-minded ambition and skill set. Not always easy to do because this tends to disrupt some of the entitlement mentality that we see in sports. These kids are all very gifted, especially the 2021 kids. They just play and have fun and compete!

They have high expectations for themselves and the team. This team has been able to turn a lot of heads and show people they belong on the national stage and are worthy of the national rankings. The team had a lot of success last summer at Triple Crown Nationals and JO Cup. We are excited to return to both events this summer along with a trip to compete at Triple Crown Fireworks in Colorado.

What do you think are the strengths of the team?
Without a doubt the Pezzoni/Robeson National team is very athletic team with a good balance of power and speed. This team is going to put a lot of pressure on their opponents. We have mix of high D1 players and we think several of these girls have a chance to play and contribute in the Power 5 conferences.

If there is one thing you would say that separates you from other club programs, what would it be?
We put a huge emphasis on doing the little things better than our opponents. We put a lot of focus on the basic fundamentals. We feel like we can control our own destiny to some degree because we own and operate the Turnin2 Training Center which gives us total control of the programs and training we want to focus on.

We aren’t getting bumped by other sports during peak training time and our T2 coaches know we are ALL IN on softball and we have their best interest and their players best interest at all times!! Our goal is to have a consistent training program from 8 years old all the way up to the high school ages. Most clubs in our area don’t have the manpower or control of the facilities they train out of to sustain a long-term college program. We are here to stay and we are putting succession plans in place for when it’s time for Ron and I to step away.

The Turnin2 organization has ties to the West Coast, correct?
Something interesting about our club is that the inspiration for Turnin2 Michigan started from a personal relationship between Ron Pezzoni and Brian Turang. Brian Turang and Ron Pezzoni both played minor league baseball together in the Seattle Mariners organization.

Brian Turang founded Turnin2 in Southern California and Ron being from Michigan decided to start Turnin2 in Michigan. Brian’s daughter played for Turnin2 California and went on to star at the University of Oklahoma for Patty Gasso. Her Turnin2 travel teammates included Lauren Sweet, a former University of Michigan standout catcher, along with Jackie Sweet who played at the University of Utah. We were fortunate enough to have Lauren Sweet coach and give lessons out of the Turnin2 Training Center after she graduated. She has since relocated back to California.

*****

Here’s a player-by-player look at Turning2 16U Pezzoni/Robeson with quotes from Coach Rodney Robeson… 


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