by Michael Seale
And Vlachos, now an offensive lineman for the University of Alabama, still remembers that day with perfect clarity.
"I hit a homerun in my first at bat," Vlachos recalls. "It was the first and only homerun hit in the league that year. It went over the left field fence. I was extremely excited until I came up for my 2nd at bat and hit another over the center field fence."
Not only were the coaches, parents and umpires in that game curious about what would happen in Vlachos' third at-bat, but apparently, so were many more people at the complex. "At this point I guess the news was stretching all over the complex because for my third at bat people from all the other fields came over and lined the fence and watched," Vlachos recalls. "I was very nervous when I saw what I felt was a huge crowd watching my final at bat, but sure enough with my adrenaline running high I hit a third homer run way over the trees in left field. It was a memory that I will never forget."
Vlachos said his time spent playing sports in Mountain Brook Athletics produced some of his finest sports memories, as his three-homer game obviously indicates. Vlachos went on to star in football for the Spartans, being chosen as a Class 6A All-State selection and a Super All-State team member by The Birmingham News and was selected to play in the 2006 Alabama North-South All-Star game, playing every snap in the contest. And all of those achievements started with MBA.
"I've got many great memories from my time in mt brook athletics. I played baseball football and basketball every year and began each year the first sport was offered," Vlachos said. "No question my time in little league developed my passion for the game and nothing was more exciting to me than waking up on Saturday and going to Crestline to play football."
He said he developed long-lasting memories and great relationships while playing sports in Mountain Brook. "I remember in 6th grade I played for the Raiders and my coach was Burke Moncus and Franco Ford. They were fantastic at breaking everything down for us and they knew what it took to be successful at that age. I played offensive tackle and defensive end and we went undefeated beating the Broncos in the Super Bowl. Coach Moncus and I have kept in touch ever since, and we still get together and go hunting several weekends a year during deer season."
He recalls fondly that MBA gave him the chance to play sports he loved with his friends and classmates. "What I enjoyed most about MBA was just the oppurtunity to compete at that age. It was very organized and fun. And I feel it is very beneficial to people as athletes being able to start so early. Many people I play with in college didn't get to start playing until 7th grade and sometimes even high school. Most of my fondest memories came from my childhood participating in MBA and the great advice I got from all the different coaches I had."