Game 6 - Tigers

First off I want to say how impressed I was with Ian Hanf. He took a throw to the eye in warm-ups that had his eye swollen half shut before the game. With constant ice for about 15 minutes his eye started to look much better and sure enough he told me that he wanted to play. I just think its cool to see someone who loves to play as much as Ian. Way to go kid!!

Trevor had another good pitching performance working his way out of a bases loaded 1st inning jam. The Tigers can hit the ball really well, so inevitably they will score some runs. The Tigers did score runs, but not as many as the last time we played them. Roberto, William and Grant also contributed to pitching us through a long, hot four-inning game. Our defense did make more plays this game. Mason made a great catch on a pop-up and also made a couple of nice pick-ups on ground balls at 3rd base. Trevor and Roberto both made nice pickups at first base. Our outfield play has really improved with Sean, Ian and Josh all making good hustle plays on balls hit deep to the outfield. Joe and Ben combined for a really sweet 6-3 put-out in the fourth on a well hit ball. We are still not at top form on ground balls (butts down, gloves on the ground) and our throws are not always accurate (use a hop step and follow through toward your target).

Our hitting was miserable this game. The Tigers only faced 13 Red Sox batters, just one over the minimum for four innings. That means we were not hitting at all. I will take the majority of blame for pitching terrible for the second consecutive game. If we have anyone, and I mean anyone, who thinks they can put the ball over to these kids, please help me out. Having said that, we may need to take drastic measures to improve our hitting. I'm thinking a Red-Sox only session at the batting cages or a special batting practice session. I'll figure something out and get back to you all with my ideas. We have to find a way to get more hitters to the plate during the game. Not only for run production, but just for a morale booster for our kids who are going to have the lowest number of at-bats for the season unless things change.

The last comment I have is about our team attitude. 99 percent of the time I really think our team comes ready to play and together, create a positive team atmosphere. I'm afraid as the season gets longer and days get hotter that we may struggle to maintain this enthusiasm. I heard several comments from players in Saturday's game (which was over 80 degrees) that they did not want to play. This really bothers me, only because I know of how many other kids really want to play. If players are struggling to find enthusiasm for baseball because of something related to our team, please let me know. If we need to bring a 5-gallon jug of ice-water we will make it happen. I will do anything I can to get these kids excited about baseball, I believe that is part of my job. I do my best to keep playing time equal, if kids deep down don't want to play, please let me know so I can free up time for those that do. More importantly, please come talk to me so we can find a way to get the kids motivated to play the game.

We have the A's on Tuesday night. We hit pretty well the last time we played this team and I know we can compete well against them. I look forward to good night of baseball on Tuesday. See you then.