Sunday brought a first, I believe; it was the first time we played two baseball games in one day. Yes, a day-night double header if you may. Let’s play two!
Did I say how much fun I’m having coaching again? To get a double dose of that in one day… ah yes, and it was a beautiful day for baseball, although it did get a little chilly late in the 2nd game. How did we do? Well, the first game we played a really, really solid ball game. Our pitchers threw strikes. Our defense made plays. We got some timely hits. The game wasn’t without drama though. They loaded the bases in the last inning with 2 outs. Wow… we played such a great game, and here we were… in position to lose it in the final inning. One of their best kids was up at the plate. He hits a fly ball to right field. Remember, we’re still in the 11-12 year old league, and… if I had to guess, most kids that are put in RF aren’t your best fielders. Well, it’s not so different for us, however… this kid made a huge catch for us in an earlier game this season. Plus, he had already made 2 plays THIS game: he caught a fly ball and then he dropped another, recovered quickly, and threw a guy out at 2nd; he did let one go through his legs for an extra base, but 2 for 3… I’ll take it. So this fly ball hung up there, with the game hanging in the balance… we had seen him make this play before, and… he made it again! A big 6-4 W to start off our Sunday. The win moved our record to 3-3 for the season; we had an opportunity to get above 500 in the night cap.
Did I say how much fun the kids are having? Well, before the 2nd game of the day got underway, the kids used the eye black to decorate each others’ faces. One kid had a goatee, another had a Rollie Fingers mustache, and another looked like the Ultimate Warrior; I love it. Yeah, these kids aren’t feeling a whole lot of pressure, and that’s good. Again, winning is important, no doubt, but… it’s NOT the most important thing right now. So, the game began and our pitcher struck out the side; we were on our way… or so I thought. Yeah, our pitcher ran into a whole lot of trouble in the 2nd inning; he only gave up 2 runs, but his pitch count was through the roof; I had to pull him. Our next couple pitchers… not so great; not so bad as far as getting hit hard… they didn’t. They just couldn’t throw strikes; next thing you know, we were down 10-4. Thankfully, our 4th pitcher of the day, my son came in and held it right there, getting the last 4 outs without allowing a run. It set us up for a comeback, but… we came up a bit short. 10-7 was the final score, but we didn’t give up. I told them, and I believe this, if we were able to get another inning in, we may have come back and won; it wasn’t in the cards. 3-4 on the season.
My son didn’t have the greatest of days at the plate; he struggled a bit today. But, he made some really nice plays in the field, he caught a few innings, and he pitched really well, so overall, a positive day. I’m going to need all of our pitchers next weekend, when, because of the early rain outs, we’ll be playing 4 games in 3 days. Unfortunately, 2 of our best pitches are still out; fortunately, we have a ton of kids who have pitched. We’ll be OK. After next weekend, we’ll only have 1 more regular season game to go before the playoffs. This is getting good…
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