Early mornings in San Clemente

We had 11 boys confirmed for a three day tournament in San Clemente over the Labor Day weekend. You might think that playing by the beach would be nice and cool. Nope. Steed Park is tucked away in the hills in the really hot part of town. No worries, all of our games were scheduled to be over by noon anyway.

The first day was another frustrating mess of missed opportunities. The team did not capitalize and then seemed to give in during the later innings. In the first game Rabbit started at first and made all 3 outs in the inning. His first AB was a ground out to second. We talked about being more aggressive at the plate. When he came up the second time it was bases loaded and no outs. He was able to get an RBI, but it was on a fielder's choice. He is working on his power and is looking better at the plate.

Rabbit started game 2 and pitched very well. As per the usual he went two innings, 1 earned, 2 k's and left with the lead. Most importantly he had no walks. In fact, he struck out a batter with a change up that was just plain nasty. He was dealing. At the plate he was walked on 5 pitches the first time up and struck out in his second trip. He was at a 3-1 count and got called for a strike on a pitch that was 8" inside. After that call he was hacking at anything. In the field he played more excellent 1B including a great play on a foul pop that was hit right into the sun. Rod Stilanovich would be proud (see No Excuses, Part 3). The team played better, but still it was mental errors that lead to being "mercied" twice. In the second game they walked 8 batters, and all 8 came around to score

That night we went to the OC Flyers game and had a chance to relax before Sunday's game.

Sunday's game was just what the team needed. The pitching was dominant, the hitting was timely and the baserunning was focused. The team coasted to an easy 13-3 mercy win. Rabbit had a real nice two-strike double over the third baseman's head later coming around to score. In his second AB he struck out again, but only after fouling a few off. It was a good win and the type of performance the kids deserved for playing so well.

We had to play Monday at 8am, that meant leaving our house at 6:30. In the morning. Yipes!

This was now single elimination and Rabbit was given the ball. He went 1-2-3 in the first and was effective, but not sharp. In his first AB he grounded out 4-3 on a pretty well hit ball. In the second inning of pitching he got the first batter, then totally lost control. He got hit hard, then walked a batter, then the opposing team called time while he was in his wind up. Rabbit was flustered and gave up for a few hitters. During that 4 batter stretch three got on base and two scored. He walked 2 that inning and went full count to a batter who never took the bat off his shoulder before finally striking him out. The defense shares partial responsibility by allowing 5 outs that inning. However, they were following the lead of their starter. Overall it was only 4 runs, but they were down 4-1 in an elimination game.

Huge kudos to the team and the coaches for not quitting. The game stayed 4-1 until the 5th when we pushed one more across. In Rabbit's second AB he popped up to the pitcher on the first pitch. He was trying to make something happen, but will learn about pitch selection over time. They scrapped together one more run in the sixth but still lost 4-3. The team showed a lot of heart and deserved a better fate. It is frustrating, to be sure, but these types of losses will help the team get better.

The team is better today than they were three weeks ago, that is for certain. They have now played 7 games together and I expect that 7 more games will make them a force to be reckoned with.

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It is the first day of school...

Finally! Rabbit started fifth grade this morning after a great summer of laziness, baseball, bar-b-cue and general good times. This has been a pretty normal week, BP with Blue Wave on Monday, hitting lesson (last one for a few months) on Tuesday, conditioning workout with Blue Wave on Wednesday and a tournament this weekend in San Clemente. Tonight, as a special bonus, Rabbit is the bat boy for the OC Flyers game against the Long Beach Armada. He will be in the dugout with Darrel Evans, Gary Carter and all the players. What a cool experience.

The Blue Wave 10U team is starting to gel a little bit. Rabbit is fitting in nicely and has several friends on the squad. We have a minimum of four games this weekend so I am looking forward to watching them play together more. I figure this group will need a few more tournaments before they are real competitive, but progress is clearly being made.

I mentioned earlier that Rabbit has finished with private hitting instruction for a bit. His grandmother got him some pitching lessons for his birthday. We are going to focus on that through the end of October and then go back to hitting once a month and pitching once a month. It gets very pricey, but the results are dramatic. Plus, part of me wants him to just blow everyone away at Little League tryouts this coming March.

Happy Anniversary to us!

As seems to happen from time to time we spent another weekend revolving entirely around baseball. Friday night we went to the Flyers game, Saturday Rabbit had a Blue Wave tournament and played two games, then a Flyers Double Header, and the continuation of the tournament on Sunday. Sunday also happens to be our twelfth wedding anniversary. A lot going on to be sure.

Game one of the tourney and Rabbit was handed the ball to start us off. This was a bit of a surprise but he took it in stride and pitched well. Coach likes to keep the innings low early on so it was no surprise when he came out after two innings pitched. In that time he had 4 strikeouts, all ground balls, no walks allowed and one earned run. In his only AB he was hit by the first pitch and came around to score after a few steals. Sadly, the game got away and was a lopsided loss.

Game two meant some time at first, but also some bench time. We had been told that Rabbit was going to get some pine to rest up since he would start the first elimination game on Sunday. When he played he did well and had no errors, went 1 for 1 and was walked on 5 pitches. Scored 2 runs and drove in one. Not bad.

Sunday morning was game 3. Another early morning. Rabbit started and kept getting ground balls, but we had a tough time getting a handle on them. He struggled a bit, but ended up surrendering 3 in the first. In the bottom of the first he got an RBI on a fielders choice grounder as part of a five run rally. He then struck out the side in the second on 11 pitches and gave up an unearned run in the third. Then, the fourth happened. The wheels fell off, and the entire team participated. Four runs came across, but they were lucky it was only four. Many mental lapses and poor fielding cost them the lead. They struggled and scrapped the rest of the way, but ended up losing in the first round 11-9. Rabbit went 2-3 with 2 RBI and another run scored. Overall in 4 innings he had 3 earned, 6 strikeouts and one walk. A very solid performance.

It is frustrating to watch the team make some of these errors at this stage. But we need to remember that the boys are all 9 or 10 years old. Rabbit played well and we all have high hopes for the future of this group. There is incredible talent out there with this team, we just need to be sure that we are learning from these tournaments.

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Summer draws to a close

We have a tourney next weekend that will be played with wood bats. That should be fun and help even out some of the power gaps between the kids. Monday is BP with Blue Wave, Tuesday hitting lesson, Wednesday night conditioning and then the games on Saturday and Sunday.

We bought season seats with the Orange County Flyers for next year and get the rest of this year included. As part of the package Rabbit gets to be a bat boy at one of the later games. I hope the schedules work out for that, that would be a lot of fun for him. School starts in a few weeks (August 28th I believe) so we are starting to wind it all down. We have had a blast and are looking forward to the fall.

Rabbit's team is now the 10yo team and they will play together for the next 4-7 months. Next sumer he may play up again if they need the help. It is a good group of kids and I am excited to watch them grow together. Rabbit's hitting is amazingly better thanks to Coach Jason and he will start some pitching lessons after school starts. We will do series of 6 lessons hitting over a two month period, then a few weeks off before 6 pitching lessons over 2 months. We will decide again in January if we want to do more private lessons. They are very valuable, but not cheap.

Now I can say I have seen it all

Just got back from Hanford, CA (near Fresno) where we went Friday night to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies game. If I am doing the math correctly I have now seen every level of baseball played competitively in the US. So far this year I have seen:

Youth Rec League - Santa Ana North West Little League T-Ball, Coach Pitch, Minor B, Minor A, Major, Junior, Senior and All-Star.
Travel Ball - CCYB, USSSA and USTBA tournaments
High School - Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran
College - Cal State Fullerton
Independent League - Orange County Fliers
Single A - Savannah Sand Gnats
Double A - Jacksonville Suns
Triple A - Fresno Grizzlies
MLB - Los Angeles Dodgers

If I missed anything let me know.

Back to practice this week for Rabbit. Monday is hitting and Friday will be a conditioning practice. We may do some mound work on Wednesday depending on my work schedule. It has been a nice two weeks off but Rabbit seems ready to get goin again. Next tournament is the 16th and 17th.

Wow - downtime!

We had a good practice last night and ended a fun week. Rabbit is now at "Grandma Camp" with his cousin. That means 6 days with no kid! Except for having everyone over for dinner on Sunday, Dodger game and his birthday party on Monday and throwing on Tuesday. For his birthday we got him a new backpack style gear bag that is quite roomy. It will be much easier on his shoulders.

Our next practice is on Monday the fourth and then we do not have a game until the 16th and 17th. I know Rabbit will enjoy the break and I hope he has a good time being a 10 year old spaz. We are off to my brother's house next weekend for 3 days of pool time. The 10s team is playing this week in a CCYB tournament and we wish them well. For now though it nice to have a respite.

One for three

Well, we finally got a chance to play at the Big League Dreams parks this past weekend. This was originally scheduled as a 9U tourney, but we ended up playing in 10U. There were 9 9yo and 3 10yo if I remember correctly. The first two games were against 9U teams though so we felt like we might have a good showing after back-to-back disappointing tournaments. Well, so much for that idea.

The boys were not ready to play. It must be summer. We took about 4 innings to get into the game and lost a game that was extremely winnable. Rabbit sat the first inning, then came in to play 1st base. He never left the field, or 1st base, after that. He played the next14 innings at first. He looked great and made the plays he needed to. Sinking liners, pop-ups, long stretches, flips to the cover man, a good set of games for him. The one thing he does need to work on is receiving pick-off attempts. He misplayed 2 of those that led to runners advancing.

Rabbit also hit well on day 1. Two infield singles and two RBIs helped ease some of the sting. He struck out once and flew out once to go 2-4 on the day. The second game was a mess. There was a moment in the third inning when you could watch the entire team give up. It was frustrating to watch them quit caring. I imagine all of the boys heard about it on the way home, after they heard about it from the coach. They needed to be better on Sunday. We had no chance of getting to the finals, but this level of play was simply unacceptable. We talked with Rabbit about acting as a leader, keeping his teammates in the game, encouraging the pitcher and basically not allowing the team to quit. He took it to heart.

Sunday morning the boys warmed up with a spring in their step. They looked like a different team entirely. We were the home team and did not allow a hit or run in the first inning. A first! We then came back in the bottom of the inning and put up a 6 spot. Rabbit laced a single over second to drive in his third run of the tourney. Back on 1B he made the plays he needed to and did a great job helping everyone stay focused. It was an entirely different team out there. The boys were all talking, encouraging, congratulating and helping in any way they could. At one point we retired 8 straight opposing batters. The SS had some amazing plays and the pitchers were on their games. It was fun to watch. We ended up winning 11-7 in a game that never really got close. It was a good win and everyone felt much better.

Since Rabbit did not pitch this tournament I took him to the park to throw once we got home. He threw 72 pitches under a "simulated game" format. He was a mess early, but settled in nicely and popped 50-51. he then wanted to run, shag flies, take throws at 1B and hit. We had to drag him off the field to go to Grandma's for dinner.

We ended the weekend on a high note which we needed. Tonight is hitting and then practice Wednesday and Friday. We have passed on the CCYB World Series tourney due to being out of town so our next tournament appears to be August 9-10.


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