Sean’s Team Loses Tough Scrimmage
June 5, 2008
Sorry to do another post about Sean’s baseball team, but quite frankly, it occupies a lot of our time right now. You will get a break from it with the Alma Dolores International Dance Studio Summer Recital coming up this Friday and Saturday. Sean will miss one baseball game because of that and that doesn’t exactly excite me.
Anyways, yesterday Sean’s team had a scrimmage against a regional travel team from Southeast Arizona. These kids have to try out for games, pay the coach and play all over the state. I say it was a scrimmage but it was essentially played like any normal game except for a few exceptions.
- It was agreed to play 9 innings – our games usually end at 6 innings
- Pitchers were limited to 3 innings
- All players batted – not just those in the field
This was the most enjoyable game of the season to watch. The other kids were bigger than our and I think they could be 1 year older. It was obvious they were well coached and organized. I had said in a preview post about this game, I didn’t expect our team to fare to well.
Despite coming out on the short side of a 6-5 loss, I was wrong. It was a close game and our kids hung with them the entire way. In fact, we outplayed them and probably should have one if not for one sloppy inning in the field.
Through the first six innings, both sides chipped away at the plate and scored a run here and there. They were up on us 4 – 3. In the seventh, we got sloppy in the field and made several errors on quite easy plays. The errors allowed them to score 2 runs and take the lead 6 – 3.
They took that 6 – 3 lead into the bottom of the ninth when we started a rally. With one out, we had runners on 1st and 3rd base. Our batter hit a looper to right field. The right fielder charged the ball hoping to catch it but it bounced in front of him and got by him. The runners easily scored and the batter ran to the third as the ball was relayed back to the infield. The coach had a tough decision on whether to hold the runner at third or try to have him score. It would have been a very close play with a good throw.
With only one out, I think the coach did the right thing and held the batter at third. It turns out the throw home was a bit wild and he would have scored, but playing the percentages was the right call. Unfortunately, the new two kids struck out and we stranded the tying run on third base.
It’s amazing how enjoyable (and faster) a game can be when both sides throw strikes and swing the bat. In too many of our games, the other side can’t pitch well and doesn’t like to swing the bat. That makes for long games. We usually end up mercy ruling them.
Hats off to the kids for playing a very good game against a very tough team. While it officially was a scrimmage, I still count it as a loss which makes Sean’s teams’ recored 14 – 2 this season. This game will only help with the state tournament coming up at the end of the month.
Another Victory
June 3, 2008
Tonight was another baseball game for Sean’s team. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it. It’s only the second game this year I have missed. Still, the boys were victorious, pulling off another lopsided victory by the score of 16-2.
This win runs their record up to 14 – 1. They are supposed to have 2 games left, but have decided to add another game tomorrow night. This new game will be an extremely hard one for them to win. They are going to play an older, regional traveling team.
For Sean’s age group, the games are usually 6 innings with a 10 run mercy rule after 4 innings. Tomorrow, no matter what, the game will go 9 innings. It will definitely be a challenge for our team to put consistent pitching together for that length of game that they aren’t used to. The whole purpose of the game is to help get the kids ready for the state tournament.
Unfortunately, it looks like we will be out of town on vacation in Michigan at a family reunion during the start of the state tourney. Because Sean will miss the first two or three games, it looks like he will be ineligible to compete in the tourney. The team is upset too because he is there starting catcher and they could certainly use him.
Sean also had to miss the state tournament last year because of vacation plans. We purposely moved our vacation plans around this year so he could play, but the state move the start date of the tournament around too. It’s okay, he’s not too upset. He is more happy to be going to Michigan and getting to spend some time with his cousins and other family members he doesn’t get to see enough.
I will have a report on the game, but I am not too hopeful. Maybe the kids can surprise me tomorrow night.
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