I am coaching Sarah's 14u softball team again this year. We kept the Velocity name but changed to a royal blue color. Below we took team pictures. Three girls were not there. I am excited about this bunch of girls and to be playing outside of Haysville this year (last year we only played Haysville teams due to Covid. This year there are no Covid restrictions).
Back row, left to right, Coach Adam, Bailey, Jax, Sarah, and Coach Eric. Middle row, Saydie, Maddie, Marnette, and Coach Kaitlyn. Front row, Lauren, Mercedez, and Lilia. Not pictured: Aleigha, Kenna, and Abigail
Game one vs. South Haven - May 18th rescheduled to June 7th
What should have been our first game of the season was actually our 5th game of the year. This was a rematch with the team we just beat in extra innings.
I have been stressing to the girls that we must start the game with energy. We have been starting the games flat.
Sarah started the first two innings and pitched very well.
Sarah's first at bat was a line drive single to center field. She also walked.
We were up 6-0 after the second inning. I put Jax in for the third inning and we had a bad inning defensively giving up 5 runs. I brought Sarah back into pitch the 4th and 5th innings. She continued her dominant performance.
Sarah played hard and a slide into third base made a big hole in the knee of her pants. Sarah did have a ground ball hit to her the one inning she played shortstop but the first baseman errored when catching her throw. We ended up winning the game 10-5 in 4.5 innings. The girls came ready to play today and will need to play equally as well for tomorrow's rematch against Conway Springs.
Game two vs. Conway Springs - May 20th
The first game of the year was against a very good Conway Springs team.
Sarah pitched a great game. Unfortunately, the defense didn't put forth their best effort.
Sarah was not throwing her hardest. When she does, the ball really moves around and would be extremely hard to hit. I am hoping she gets the confidence in upcoming games to really let it go.
At the plate, Sarah was hit with the pitch on the left elbow (left a nice bruise) and struck out.
We were up 5-3 in the last inning. Our defense gave the other team 6 outs (3 errors) helping them score 3 runs. We ended up losing the game 6-5. Overall, our pitching and catchers played well. The defense was suspect and our hitting and baserunning was decent. The biggest concern I voiced to the girls was they didn't come ready to play. Hope to turn that around for next game.
Game three vs. Oxford - May 25th
It has been a very rainy start to the baseball/softball season. We were able to fit in a game between rains when we played Oxford in Haysville.
Sarah pitched the first three innings giving up 4 runs (only 2 were earned) as again our defense didn't play well. Sarah has been pitching well but she is still holding back some. Hopefully, she will gain the confidence to really let it go.
At the plate Sarah had a swinging bunt for a single and a few walks.
Since we were up 13-4, I brought in Jax to pitch the fourth inning. This was her first time to ever pitch and she did a pretty good job. We won the game 13-7 in 3.5 innings.
Game four vs. Belle Plaine - May 27th rescheduled June 23rd
This was a rescheduled game that ended up being our 11th game of the season. The girls were ready to play from start to finish tonight. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and energy.
Sarah pitched one inning and looked great striking out two and not letting anyone get to base. At the plate she had a walk, hit by pitch, and a hard line drive double to left center. She played third for an inning and right field for an inning. She caught a pop fly in right field.
Popee and Nanee were able to come to the game. They got to watch a dominant performance by our team winning 18-6 in four innings. I got to play some girls in the infield that don't normally get the opportunity to play infield. It was good to see Mercedez make a play at shortstop.
Game five vs. Haysville 2 - June 1st
Haysville 2 is a young team. About 1/2 the girls should be in 12u, but moved up to 14u. Thus, we went in knowing this game may not be too competitive.
We started off with a five run first inning. Sarah hit a ground ball up the middle. Unfortunately, the second basemen was playing up the middle. She was out at first but scored a run. Overall, the girls did a good job of hitting.
Sarah pitched a scoreless first inning.
Sarah played shortstop the next inning and Jax pitched. After we hit in the 3rd inning, we were up 13-4. I sat three of our normal starters (Sarah being one of them) and put some girls in positions they haven't gotten to play yet this year. Sarah walked her next at bats. Bailey pitched the third inning (her first time pitching in a game in two years), which was our last inning. We won 12-9. The game was not near as close as the final score showed.
Game six vs. South Haven - June 3rd
I had heard that South Haven was not very good and had told the girls I was expecting a non competitive game. I soon found out that my assumptions were incorrect.
As we have in previous games, we started out flat.
Sarah hit the ball well tonight. She hit a hard line drive to left field that rolled to the fence. I sent her home and found out the shortstop has a good and accurate arm resulting in Sarah getting thrown out at home. Later in the game, she had another hard line drive to the left field fence. This time I gave her the stop sign at third base, which she did not follow. The catcher, who is a very good catcher (we did not attempt to steal as this girl could throw darts to second base from her knees), did not catch the ball or Sarah would have been thrown out again. She also was hit by a pitch and walked.
Jax pitched a great game and I replaced her with Sarah in the last inning. We were up by two runs and there were runners on 2nd and 3rd base. Sarah did give up the lead and we went to extra innings. We scored 4 in the last inning and the other team only scored two. We ended up winning 12-10. I apologized afterwards to the girls for my preparing them for a team I figured would not be competitive. I applauded Jax for a well pitched first game of her career. I was happy the girls got excited as the game neared completion, but we must get better at starting games with energy. Game seven vs. Conway Springs - June 8th
Our rematch against Conway Springs didn't come with the excitement I had hoped it would. As has been the case this entire season, the girls started out the game with a lack of enthusiasm. Despite starting flat, the game was close for 3 innings.
Conway Springs started their pitcher that was untouchable for us the first game. We did a very good job of making contact on this good, fast pitcher. Unfortunately, the hits didn't find holes and the other team made few errors. Sarah had a walk, strikeout, and a single.
Sarah pitched a great game against a good hitting team. She gave up zero walks in 5 innings. The other team did hit the ball and unfortunately our defense was not good.
We started out the game with 2 runs in the first inning and would have had more if not for a bad out call by the ump (in the umps defense, my girl should have slid into the base). After 3 innings, we were down 2-5. All of the 5 runs were unearned. We also could have had more runs as we had bases loaded in both the 2nd and 3rd innings and did not score. Our team basically gave up after the third inning giving up 10 runs in inning 4 and 5. I have never been more disappointed in a softball team, specifically in their lack of effort and enthusiasm. It is frustrating for the girls on the team that give their all to win to watch the other half show a lack of desire. I was very vocal about my displeasure (both during the game and after). This was a game where pent up frustration was let out. We shall see if my stern talking to the girls will motivate them to play or make them less disinterested.
Game eight vs. Winfield - June 10th
It was a hot one this evening. I addressed the team regarding our lack of effort and bad attitude with the last game. I believe it was well received. I also talked with some girls individually and believe that was also well received. Our attitude and energy were better tonight.
Sarah pitched the first 3 innings and pitched well. Jax came in for the last inning (4) and did very well.
Sarah had a line single to center field and a fly ball double down the left field line. She also walked.
Super Fan, Grandma Sharon, was in attendance. She also volunteered to be the score/book keeper. It is funny when I ask for volunteers that no one wants to make eye contact with me. She actually wanted to do it. She is good at it because she did it for years for my brothers and I.
We won 14-5.
Game nine vs. Haysville 3 - June 15th
We had our first game against the Haysville 3 team tonight. We had scrimmaged them prior to the season starting, so we knew what to expect. They were playing a girl that previously played on my team years ago that moved on to play on a tournament team. By rule, she should not be allowed to play because she is not a member of a HAC team, but I didn't make issue of it as I like the additional competition.
Sarah had a pop fly caught by the center fielder. She also had a walk, ground ball to second that she beat the throw to first for a single, and a ground ball single to left field.
Sarah pitched two scoreless innings.
Sarah's friend, Kenna, played catcher tonight and her friend, Jax, pitched the final 2 innings.
Sarah's friend, Wyatt, has been to most of the games. He is off to visit his dad in Indiana so this was his last game of the season to watch. He and I have had fun driving to and from games. Our singing makes Sarah laugh and annoys her.
Grandma Sharon was able to make it to this game also. We won 16-8 in 4 innings.
Game ten vs. Haysville 2 - June 17th
We played the young Haysville team. Knowing it wouldn't be a competitive game, I played the girls in several different positions. Sarah pitched two scoreless innings. She threw her first change up of the year, which should have been a strikeout. She also played right field for an inning (she has never played outfield and asked me which side of the field she was to go) and 3rd base. At the plate, she was hit by a pitch, looping liner to left field for a single, and hard ground ball to the second basemen for a single.
Game eleven vs. Winfield - June 22nd
We played Winfield tonight in Winfield. Winfield is one of the top 5 teams in the league.
We started out scoring 4 runs and then giving up 5 in the bottom 1/2 of the inning. The girls came out flat with little energy. I in turn began voicing my frustration at them.
Sarah had 3 hard hit ground balls tonight. She was able get singles on two of them by beating out the throw to first. The other went for a homerun. Sarah also was great at fielding. She dove and caught a short popup. She also caught a line drive and fielded some ground balls for outs at first. She is a good all around player, but I believe she is best at fielding.
Sarah along with the entire team was lethargic the first two innings. We dug a deep hole being down 8-4 after two innings. Thankfully, Sarah had a great third and fourth innings of pitching. She threw a few change ups that made the other team's batters look silly. The fourth inning, Sarah came up to bat with the bases loaded and the score 8-7. She hit a hard ground ball past the 3rd baseman that took a bad hop on the left fielder. It made its way out to near the fence for an in the park homerun (Sarah's run didn't count because it was the 6th run of the inning). Sarah shutdown the Winfield hitters in the fourth inning and the game was called due to time limit. On the pitcher below, I had called time to buy some time. It was just enough to put us to the time limit.
We won 10-9. I told the girls after the game that they need to start the game the way they were during the fourth inning (cheering and excited). I said I don't want to yell at them but I instead want to cheer with them. It has been a maddening year in regard to being excited during the games. We squeaked by with the win and moved to 8-2.
Game twelve vs. Haysville 3 - June 24th
Sarah pitched two innings, giving up 4 runs. She hit a hard line drive to left center field for a triple, had a pop up in the infield that was misplayed for a double, and a hard line drive single to left center.
We won 11-9. The game was closer than it should have been. We struggled with intensity until the last inning. We ended the season 10-2 with the two losses being to Conway Springs and close wins over South Haven, Winfield, and Haysville 3.
Tournament Games - July 8th
The league tournament was to be played prior to July 4th, but rain delayed it to July 8th. We were the #2 seed and had a first round bye. We won our semi-final game due to a forfeit by the #3 seeded Oxford team.
Sarah pitched well as she has all season. I wish the ump would have called an accurate strike zone.
It was a disappointing loss to Conway Springs, the third time this season. We did have fun after the game handing out our 2nd place medals.
I had a good group of girls this year. Unfortunately, all but Sarah, Kenna, Aleigha, Lilia, and Mercedez age out this year. Thus, I will only have 5 returning players next season.
Sarah played very well this year. She was the heart and soul of our team. Her pitching, hitting, and defense helped us win many games this season. She is such a competitor and a gamer. I wish I had a team full of Sarahs. I hope to watch her playing highschool ball next year and coaching her in her last year of rec ball.
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