The Dodgers are in first, Rabbit's LL team has won 6 of 8 and is now in first and Blue Wave played two great games this weekend. After 8 days off it has been full speed ahead. I am exhausted, slightly sunburned and pretty happy.
Little League keeps rolling. Rabbit is hitting fairly well right now. He did end up playing 2B this past game for a few innings due to a preponderance of lefties and only 9 boys showing for the game. The deeper we get into the season the more convinced I become that this is our last year. Things are going well and yet we are still frustrated. I (semi)-secretly hope that we have an early exit from city tournament and we have made the decision to not participate in All Stars if invited. Blue Wave is his home for baseball for the remainder of the year. We are probably about 30 or so days away from being done with LL.
Blue Wave played this weekend against a "majors" level team. It was nice to play 10U vs 10U for the first time in a while. We have about 6 or 7 new players trying out and some inexperience led us to allowing some runs early on. However, we re-focused, made some good plays and finished game 1 losing 8-3. This was a well played game and showed glimpses of quality. Rabbit went 2-2 with a walk while batting third. He looked strong.
Rabbit started game 2 and left the ball up a few times allowing 2 runs on the first. In the second he kept getting ground balls but errors proved very costly. As the group plays together more this will become less and less of an issue. After his two innings he had allowed 5 (2 earned) and left trailing 5-3. Then the wheels fell off. We had difficulty finding outs, and the strike zone, for our later pitchers. The game degenerated and mercifully ended at 13-21. Rabbit got some time in RF and misplayed two balls to him, but made a nice grab on the third. It can be painful to watch, but the best way to improve is by doing. Of the first 10 balls to RF I would expect him to play 3-4 well. Of the next ten, he should play 7-8 well, and so on.
I am honestly ready for a break. The six-days-a-week is taking its toll. Rabbit needs to see his swing doctor, but we simply do not have a free day each week. Oh well, school is winding down, LL will be over soon and in the next few months I will be complaining about how boring the summer is.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Spring Break!
We are smack dab in the middle of spring break. Depending on if we got to practice tonight we may have as much as 8 days off in a row! While I relish the break, it comes at a bad time as Rabbit is playing very well right now.
Saturday he got the start with the LL team and was dominant from the first batter. He pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, no walks and 6 K's on only 47 pitches. He also laced a textbook single over the 2B head. After starting LL 0-12~ish he is now 3 for his last 5. We finally got a chance to play with Blue Wave again on Sunday. The coach kept the 10U together to play the second game of a double header against an 11U team. We played well and really looked sharp. Rabbit played 1B and LF. Since this was the first time in a game for many players the coach was moving kids around. We had some pitchers look great, and one or two who will do better next time. At the end we lost by three. The 10U had a closer game than the 11U!
Saturday night was spent watching Fullerton play UCI with Rabbit and two of his friends. There is something truly captivating to me about a ballpark. It felt odd being in the bleachers since our Flyers seats are front row, but it was a great time regardless. The Dodgers beat Jake Peavy opening day and I am in heaven. It is a great time of year. Even if the Dodgers did lose last night. Sigh.
Saturday he got the start with the LL team and was dominant from the first batter. He pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, no walks and 6 K's on only 47 pitches. He also laced a textbook single over the 2B head. After starting LL 0-12~ish he is now 3 for his last 5. We finally got a chance to play with Blue Wave again on Sunday. The coach kept the 10U together to play the second game of a double header against an 11U team. We played well and really looked sharp. Rabbit played 1B and LF. Since this was the first time in a game for many players the coach was moving kids around. We had some pitchers look great, and one or two who will do better next time. At the end we lost by three. The 10U had a closer game than the 11U!
Saturday night was spent watching Fullerton play UCI with Rabbit and two of his friends. There is something truly captivating to me about a ballpark. It felt odd being in the bleachers since our Flyers seats are front row, but it was a great time regardless. The Dodgers beat Jake Peavy opening day and I am in heaven. It is a great time of year. Even if the Dodgers did lose last night. Sigh.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
OK, we made it this far
Little League is bumping along. The boys have won two of three and are now 3-5. My frustrations grow however with the inconsistency of play, coaching and officiating. I knew this was going to be an issue going in and have no one to blame. However, we are now playing ball six days a week. I just wish were more satisfied with the results. Rabbit is playing well, and most impressively hitting again. He has not pitched as frequently or as many pitches lately. That is a real positive. Also, after Saturday we do not have another LL game for 2 weeks. We are ready for a break.
I think my real frustration lies in the dichotomy of LL versus travel. The attitude, of both the players and the parents, is so markedly different. Understand that in both teams everyone wants to improve. All the players are trying and the parents are supportive. However, there is a large difference in commitment level between the teams. We had tried to approach LL as a "social" activity with little or no stress about quality of play. Rabbit, however, knows only one way to play this game. He is sometimes having difficulty remembering how much fun he is supposed to be having. This is frustrating because even after getting "mercied" 3 games in a row on Blue Wave he always had a smile and something positive to say.
Blue Wave has been frustratingly quiet. A few rainouts and last minute cancellations mean we have not played with them in nearly a month. We have one game with them this Sunday against a team we had previously beat by 20. It will be a good opportunity to build some team confidence and try out the new players on the squad. It is fun to see Rabbit as a "veteran" on this team. His quality of play is up now that he has stopped growing as much. He again looks comfortable in all aspects of the game.
As loathe as I am to say it publicly, I think a week or two off will do us all some good. MLB starts Sunday (without the Reds, Bud Selig and ESPN deserve their own circle of hell) and we will spend Saturday night watching Fullerton play UC Irvine. A few nights of having dinner as a family and thinking about something different will help tremendously.
I think my real frustration lies in the dichotomy of LL versus travel. The attitude, of both the players and the parents, is so markedly different. Understand that in both teams everyone wants to improve. All the players are trying and the parents are supportive. However, there is a large difference in commitment level between the teams. We had tried to approach LL as a "social" activity with little or no stress about quality of play. Rabbit, however, knows only one way to play this game. He is sometimes having difficulty remembering how much fun he is supposed to be having. This is frustrating because even after getting "mercied" 3 games in a row on Blue Wave he always had a smile and something positive to say.
Blue Wave has been frustratingly quiet. A few rainouts and last minute cancellations mean we have not played with them in nearly a month. We have one game with them this Sunday against a team we had previously beat by 20. It will be a good opportunity to build some team confidence and try out the new players on the squad. It is fun to see Rabbit as a "veteran" on this team. His quality of play is up now that he has stopped growing as much. He again looks comfortable in all aspects of the game.
As loathe as I am to say it publicly, I think a week or two off will do us all some good. MLB starts Sunday (without the Reds, Bud Selig and ESPN deserve their own circle of hell) and we will spend Saturday night watching Fullerton play UC Irvine. A few nights of having dinner as a family and thinking about something different will help tremendously.
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