Sunday, November 23, 2008

Mercy, Mercy.

As mentioned previously, Rabbit was starting our semi-final game. With all 6 innings available he was scheduled to go as far as needed. He chose the economic route.

The very first batter (we were home, so in the field first) grounded back to the pitcher. He totally vapor locked and neither tagged the runner nor threw the ball to first. One pitch, runner on first, E1. No worries. He picked the kid off on his first throw over. I believe the word I am looking for is bamboozled. Next batter again taps to pitcher. Again Rabbit cannot find the handle. Two pitches, runner on first. And again, he picks the kid off. The coach was stunned. The poor runner had no idea what just happened. Next batter singles sharply. He never took a lead of more than 1 step. Every pitch Rabbit made to the plate the coach was screaming "back" to his runner. It was amusing. It was also the last runner the opposition got all day. A 3 pitch strike out ended the inning. 9 pitches, 3 outs.

In his first at bat Rabbit struck out looking at a pitch most of us felt was up and out. Oh well. In the second inning they went 1-2-3 in only 11 pitches. We broke the game open in our half of the inning scoring 9 times, including an RBI infield single by Rabbit. 10-0 after 2. Another 1-2-3 inning in the third (only 6 pitches this time) and two more scored by us in the bottom of the third led to a 12-0 mercy win. The boys carried the momentum from yesterday through to today. They were a force. Rabbit pitched a one-hit shutout over 3 innings on 26 pitches. That was the effort he had needed for a while now. He retired 9 of 10, including the final 7 in a row. What a tremendous boost.

Then they went to lunch.

In the championship game we played 2 1/2 innings of solid, decent ball. Then the wheels fell off. After making 4 errors in the first 3 games of the tourney (including Rabbit's back-to-back errors to open game 3) we had 7 errors in the third inning alone. Rabbit was responsible for 3 more today, including 2 on the same play. The boys were tired and behind, and just gave up. After such a dominant performance it was a let down, but fairly understandable. After his double error inning Rabbit was due up third. The first two kids were retired quietly and Rabbit watched ball 1 go by. He said he heard a voice from the other teams stands say to just throw strikes, that he would not swing. Bad advice. Once again, he destroyed a ball. I got a good look at the CF number as he walloped a triple on the way to scoring for the second time that game. Alas, the damage was done. And even when he came in for mop up he was throwing strikes, but the defense which had been so sharp was unable to cleanly field balls. A 16-6 final put them out of their misery.

It was a down ending to an amazing set of games. For the first time ever this team won 3 games in a weekend. Also this was the first tourney that I can recall winning by a mercy margin twice, much less three times. I am excited to see their confidence grow and watch them build from here. It was a great weekend for 3 1/2 games. We will gladly focus on that!

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Saturday, November 22, 2008

And for at least one day, they played baseball

An odd title, but by far the most accurate phrase to describe what I saw today.

This morning we returned to the area of our first tournament, Moreno Valley. It was at that tournament that we made it into the finals and Anthony helped to showcase his love of playing 1B. Through some fluke of scheduling our first game was not until 3PM! This was amazing, we could sleep in, have a nice morning then go to a tourney. No more 6AM for me. No sir!

When we arrived at the complex we were able to watch one of our future opponents win a game. They looked good, but we have played better historically. I checked at the host table and saw that the team we would be playing first had been the victim of a "Mercy" rule in their first game. You can never judge a team by their first result, so we were cautious in our hopes. When the other team scored first we were concerned, but it was only one run. We then ran off 13 unanswered runs before finishing the game as 14-2 victors ourselves. Rabbit struck out first, then walked, both on full counts. He is firmly cemented at 1B now, and played every out there today. He also stole a few and came around to score. The usual.

Game 2 was to determine if we were either the 1, 2 or 3 seed. This was very important. The one seed would play at 1PM, and if victorious, then again at 3PM. The 2 seed would play at 11AM, and if victorious, again in the championship at 3PM. The third seed would play at 9AM (ensuring a 7AM departure, blech) then if a winner there, 1PM, and if successful 3PM. A lot was on the line, not the least of which was my ability to sleep in a tad.

Rabbit again was at first and batting 5th. The first three innings were amazing. Both teams were making plays, throwing strikes and very focused on the game. We were luckily able to string together some runs and start to build a lead. It was a while before we noticed that we were still shutting them out in the 4th inning. By then Rabbit was 2-2 with 2 runs and some amazing plays at first. The usual stretches, getting to balls that he should not have been able to get to and acting as a captain in the infield. The communication was excellent and everyone was sharp. The result was a decisive 9-1 win and securing of the 2 seed.

Back to the title for a second. These kids are 10. For 7 innings today (the length of both games figuring the mercy shortages) they played like pros. They all focused and executed with amazing precision and dedication. 2 errors in 7 innings. 4 walks allowed. Getting lead runners. Make good throws to the correct base. They were a joy to watch. They played way above their level. Their maturity and dedication was amazing. I have paid money before to see much worse baseball than I saw today. Hopefully they remember this and play as well tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, Rabbit gets the ball for the semi-final. All he needs is outs. He is ready, and due, for a great outing. Hopefully the team can continue on this path. It is fun to see what is happening to this group right now. However, as we know too well, one bad day erases months of progress. We will keep our fingers crossed.

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Sunday, November 2, 2008

A single game on Sunday

The earlier reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.

A one game friendly matchup with the Lake Forest Dodgers had us heading South at 7:30 am the day after a Halloween party. Again, never let it be said that I do not love my son. Even with "Fall Back" it was plenty early.

Rabbit started at first and was hitting third. We were visitors so he got up early, with a runner on third and one out. Second pitch he hit a perfect ground ball to the 1B for the easy sacrifice RBI. He looked comfortable at the plate, much better than last few times up. In the field he made his usual strong showing, another error-free game. Most importantly the communication between the fielders was excellent. At one point they actually turned a great play when Rabbit fielded the ball and the 2B had come over to cover. Very slick for a group of 10 year olds.

Second AB and Rabbit was down 1-2. The second strike was a swing so horrible he stepped out of the box and shook his head. He was not watching the ball, not rocking his weight, and not ready to hit. Whatever he shook loose on that swing paid off. The next pitch he drilled. Hard. Like adios senor pelota. The best sight a hitter can see is the center fielder's number. And it was getting smaller. 2 run home run, his first HR with Blue Wave. A great feeling and well deserved high 5s from his teammates. In his third at bat he walked on 5 pitches. At 3-0 the pitcher made a mistake that Rabbit fouled off into the parking lot. The next pitch missed the plate by more than a foot.

After that walk he stole second and came around on a triple to score his second run to go with three batted in. A great confidence boost after a rough outing last time. The team struggled though and made it close before winning 10-9. It was a good win and a great effort.

On the way home we talked about how it was nice for Rabbit to be the one to pick up his friends and help them out. Lately he has felt like he had not been helping the team as much as he would have liked to. It was finally his turn to help out with the bat.

Speaking of bats, got him a wood 30" bat for the cages. It is much heavier than his travel team bat. He swears he is ready to become a cage rat and swing until he breaks it. At $12 a pop, I am OK with that. Next step is finding a bat for Little League next year, and then see about a new OF glove.

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