Spring Training - 1/3

We left Orange County early Thursday morning and settled in for what was a remarkably comfortable drive to Phoenix. We got in town with plenty of time to get checked in, unpack a bit and stretch. After a quick gathering to get some new jerseys for the weekend we were off for game 1. It is a good thing that the first game did not mean anything, because the boys sure played that way. With only nine of them making the trip we would need everyone to be focused and playing well. We had no reserves, we were playing with what we had. Well, in game 1 we had nothing. No concentration, no hitting, no progress. It looked like our first game in months. Frustrating, but a real relief that it would have no bearing on our seeding later on. To be fair, we did start an eight year old and then threw a boy who does not pitch, ever. However, the bats took the game off.

Game 2 was against a team from Calgary, Alberta. We were curious how they had been practicing over the winter. The answer is, they had not. I think, and after speaking with some of the parents I believe, that the boys were making the journey to have some fun, thaw out, see some MLB Spring Training, and maybe get an inning or two of baseball in. They were in no danger of winning the tournament, and they knew it. This was a Little League team that not been on a field for months. The good news is that our boys started to hit. Often. Hitting is contagious and we were starting to see production everywhere. Even Rabbit only had one swing where he failed to make contact. He was now 0-11 but looking better. After the games we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next days games. We had split on day one, mercy win, mercy loss, and were looking forward to better results on Friday.