Seven Innings: Jose Tunon GA Power Demarini Gold ’00
The Georgia Power Demarini Gold ‘00 team will be one of the top 16U teams in Georgia this summer, if not one of the best in the southeast region. Their 2016 season ended with a 13th place finish (of 92) at the ASA/USA Nationals in College Station, Texas. This season the Power will focus in on the Triple Crown Nationals in Austin, Texas and the PGF Nationals in Huntington Beach, California this summer. Coach Jose Tunon’s team is built around balance and includes several top prospects from the state of Georgia. Coach Tunon has the luxury of having three Georgia High School Players of the Year Award winners in three different classes out of the seven for Georgia High School softball: Hannah George – P (2018, North Carolina), Taylor Cates – 2B (2018, Kennesaw State), and Brianna Stubbs – OF (2019, North Carolina).
Coach Tunon recently had a conversation with FPN’s Brandon Pannell
Brandon Pannell: What coaches have been influences in your life and why or how?
Jose Tunon: In the Fastpitch world, Coach Ernie Yarbrough has been a big influence in my eight-year coaching career. Coach Ernie is one of the founders of the Atlanta Vipers organization as well as Georgia Academy Power, his motto has always been “do it for the girls” and it has turned into my personal and organizational goal. If the activity doesn’t help one of our players improve as a person or player, we probably should regroup and go another direction.
Brandon Pannell: How has coaching affected your life?
Jose Tunon: Coaching has really helped me impact the lives of our players by providing an opportunity to obtain financial assistance for a college education. Never in my wildest dreams had I envisioned impacting 14 young ladies lives and helping them obtain a college education.
Brandon Pannell: What is your coaching philosophy?
Jose Tunon: I believe in building a good fundamental foundation with my players that they can continue adding on skills as they mature in the game. I love to practice and try to find players who also love being in the dirt and can build a great rapport with their teammates in practice.
Brandon Pannell: Describe your off-season program for your team or organization?
Jose Tunon: We are ever conscious of the overuse injuries in our sport and try to give the girls 10-12 weeks off from throwing or hitting to prevent injuries. We focus on weekly agility and strength training and always mix in yoga and pilates to keep their muscles limber and stretched. We focus on community service events during the winter months as well to keep our ladies grounded as they are so blessed to play this wonderful game at such a high level.
Brandon Pannell: Describe the organization of a typical practice.
Jose Tunon: Our goal is to have a rigorous practice with multiple stations and demonstrating skills required to improve at their specific positions in a team environment. We work on team skills during weekday practices and the girls focus on their position specific practice with their specialty coaches on their own, for example, pitchers, catchers, and hitting with their hitting instructors when we are not practicing as a team. College coaches have the luxury of having practice every day where travel coaches have a limited amount of time with players for practice during the week.
Brandon Pannell: What are your coaching goals?
Jose Tunon: My personal coaching goal is to help elevate the Georgia Academy Power name nationally into a recognizable brand representing well-coached players on competitive teams that play the game the right way.
Brandon Pannell: What has been your most important accomplishment as a coach?
Jose Tunon: The most important accomplishment as a coach has been helping our players secure college scholarships to continue their goal of playing softball at the next level. Being there from the early days with these young ladies and watching them achieve life changing goals provides a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Brandon Pannell: How do you score runs in softball?
Jose Tunon: Coming from a baseball mindset, I have changed thinking on how to score runs. The proximity of the bases compared to baseball really drives the utilization of the short game in softball. With the most athletic players reaching first base in less than 2.8 seconds, the pressure on the defense is enormous and as a coach, you really have to find players that can create havoc on the defense. Slappers are a big part of the game and set the stage for the power hitters in our lineup.
Brandon Pannell: Offensive philosophy?
Jose Tunon: Our philosophy is to blend both speed and power into the lineup and on the bench to best fit the game situation. We are blessed with 5 players who can run under 2.9 seconds to first base and can come into games and place pressure on the defense. We also have players who have power and can change the game with one swing of the bat, love the balance we have and it’s all due to the hard work our ladies have put into preparing for the season.
Brandon Pannell: How do you deal with multiple sports athletes missing practices for other sporting events?
Jose Tunon: I have changed my feelings about multi-sport athletes over the years, the girls need to use other muscles in other sports to remain well-rounded athletes and prevent overuse injuries. Our ladies have worked very hard through their softball career and playing another sport is not going to prevent them from improving in softball. As I often say, “they are not going to forget how to hit and field grounders” if they take a couple months off to play another sport. College coaches prefer multisport players because they learn how to win in different disciplines and makes them better competitors.
Brandon Pannell: Is there anything unique about the team or a player?
Jose Tunon: We are a unique club in that the girls truly care about each other. As much as they love the game and love to be on the field, they are taught that the team comes first and our coaching decisions revolve around what is best for the team. At the same time, we will ensure that we put each player in a position where they can succeed, knowing and teaching that they won’t always be able to do so. Our coaching staff teaches the game through life lessons, understanding that there is a lot more to each of these young ladies than their ability to play softball. We require them all to put in a certain amount of hours of community service to ensure they are well rounded when it is time for them to move on to their next step in life.
Brandon Pannell: What is your team’s motto:
Jose Tunon: Grow the Player, Advance the Organization, Promote the Sport, Get into the GAP
