** Guest Blogger **
Eric Hendrickson
We moved up to 12u baseball this year. We have five new kids on our team but return the core players from last year.
Front row (left to right): Deacon, Maddox, Arnez (all three new), Camden
Second Row: Jude, Silas, James (new), Isaac
Third Row: Blayne, Owen, Knova, Carson (new)
Back Row: Coach Spencer, me, and Coach Kyle
Game One Home vs. Mulvane 1 - Thursday, May 16th - 6 pm
The game started out shaky. We gave up 3 runs. Silas started the game with a weak grounder
to first and the other two kids struck out.
We got back on track and won a good game 8-6. Silas was a rock star at catcher and on the
bases. He had a line drive over the
shortstops head that he turned into a hustle double. He threw out two base stealers and would have
gotten another if we would have caught the ball. Defense was suspect. Missed (3) easy pop flys and a couple easy
ground balls. All in all, I was pleased
with the performance and nice to start with a win. Blayne also pitched great, and we swung the
bat aggressively, just wish we would have made more contact with those swings.
Some of us went to Freddy's for ice cream after the game.
Game Two Home vs. Rose Hill 1 - Friday, May 17th - 7:45 pm
We started off the first inning
pretty solid, giving up one run. It
should have been zero, but we missed catching a soft liner to second base. Silas hit a hard grounder but was right to
the second basemen. He also had a soft
liner single to right center. We made a
few outs in the field but for the most part played poor defense. The kids are standing around too much and not
doing their secondary roles of their defensive position like backing up
throws. I got a bad attitude, coach
Spencer blew up on me, and overall, it was a pretty toxic game. I tried to right the ship, but it was too
late. We had a good third inning scoring
3 and should have scored more the second inning but ran into a double
play. We lost 4-11 but we didn’t get to
finish the fourth inning. Thus, we would
have likely scored 5 runs and been 9-11.
I apologized to the team at Saturday’s practice and coach Spencer and I
talked after the game. Silas was solid
but not great behind the plate. Rose
Hill is a good team.
Game Three Home vs. Haysville 1 - Tuesday, May 21st - 6 pm
This was a game I thought we would
win easily. Silas started off with a
hard grounder up the middle that was a double with two throwing errors for a
homerun. We ended up scoring 2. Silas pitched and did pretty well. He pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up 5. It easily could have been two if we had
played better defense. I pitched Knova
the last 1 2/3 innings and he did well.
Silas also had a bloop single to right center. It was 8-6 into the 4th inning,
which was the last inning. We ended the
game with a strikeout and base stealing tag out at home. Played some kids in spots they don’t normally
play thinking this would be an easy win.
Couple guys didn’t slide leading to outs and team lacked enthusiasm
majorly influenced by the attitudes of the three coach's sons. I was much more encouraging this game.
Pretty good looking swing, Silas.
Shouldn't have swung at this pitch at eye level, but he had a hard hit.
Overall, the pitching form is pretty good except some habits he didn't break from last year: Not pulling with his glove, throwing hand position, and closing eyes. Not sure how to break him from these habits.
Ernie and Popee were Silas's superfans for this game along with Sarah, Justin, and Phoebe.
Game Four Home vs. Mulvane 2 - Thursday, May 23rd - 6 pm
Mulvane 2 was winless but had lost close games. We have been winning
close games. We kept that narrative
going tonight winning 10-9. The umps
strike zone was extremely small. If the
zone had been bigger, we would have won more convincingly. Blayne was throwing well, just not right down
the middle at the waist. Silas played
catcher and did well. He threw out a
runner and would have had another if caught.
His arm was hurting though, and he likely won’t pitch much this
year. He also got a couple runners out
at home. He had a ground ball single up
the middle where he got to third and a ground ball single past the
shortstop. He is playing good baseball. The overall attitude was better, and some kids
are shining like Camden and Maddox.
Game Five Home vs. Haysville 3 - Tuesday, May 28th - 7:45 pm
The Haysville 3 pitcher came out
on fire striking out our first three batters and then Blayne gave up 5 runs the first inning. We scored 3 the next
inning but then gave up 5 again in the 2nd inning. We were down 10-6 and I put in Knova to pitch
the third inning. We had bases loaded
but got out of it with a double play. We
then scored 5 to go ahead 11-10 in the last inning. We ended up giving up two runs and lost. Blayne didn’t look very good (small zone with
new ump) and Knova looked pretty good.
He is best coming in for relief.
The kids weren’t fired up again at the start of the game (may have been
the dominant pitcher the first inning).
Silas had a hard line drive to center for a triple. He did a good job catching except needs to
stop turning his head and backhanding.
Needs to keep head down and slide in front of the ball. We lost 12-11. Our fielding has not been very good.
Another good-looking swing Silas.
Below, superfans of this game, Lindsee and Will.
Game Six Away vs. Mulvane 2 - Thursday, May 30th - 6 pm
Rainout - rescheduled to Wednesday, June 19th
Rainout AGAIN. Mulvane would not reschedule - resulted in a forfeit for Mulvane and a win for us.
Game Seven Away vs. Derby 1 - Tuesday, June 4th - 6 pm
Stacee couldn't make it to the game because she was at Sarah and Phoebe's basketball games in Goddard. These pictures are from Isaac's mom, Kristen.
Derby has nice fields and this was our first time to ever play on turf. We started off the game hitting
the ball and scored 5 runs without getting an out. We didn’t walk either. All the runs were due to hits. Silas had a ground ball single to left
field. Blayne pitched two strong
innings. The umpire had a big strike
zone. I brought Knova in the third
inning so we could use Blayne on Thursday.
Knova also pitched well. We were
only up 8-4 in the fifth inning but scored 2 runs to make the score 10-4 and to
win the game because time was up. Silas
also had an infield single on a ground ball to the shortstop. He had some passed balls at catcher but
overall played pretty well. Pitching and
hitting was good but our defense was shaky.
Game Eight Home vs. Derby 2 - Thursday, June 6th - 6 pm
We played the other Derby team in Haysville.
Similar to our last game, we started off the game strong
getting 5 runs with hits (not walks). Silas
had a soft line drive to left center for a single the first inning. He also had a ground ball single to left
center. We were up 8-5 at the end of 3
innings. We allowed Derby to tie it up
in the top of the 4th inning.
I left Isaac in too long but thankfully Blayne came in and struck out
the next two batters. Isaac overall
pitched a good game. Carson walked in
the bottom of the 4th inning and was able to get home on a passed
ball to win the game. We made a few
plays in the field and no major hiccups in the field. Silas was throwing to the bases really well
and had a runner thrown out at second, but Maddox missed the catch. Hitting was pretty good too. All in all, we played a pretty good game
against a pretty good team and it's always nice to beat Derby.
Game Nine Away vs. Rose Hill 2 - Tuesday, June 11th - 6 pm
The picture of this game was from Kristen again. Stacee couldn't be there due to the girls' basketball games.
This was probably our best played
game. I told the team they have started
strong the past few games and we needed to continue. We started strong and kept going strong
through the end of the game. In the
first inning, we scored 5 runs without recording an out. The umpires strike zone was the smallest so
far this season, which was frustrating, but both teams came to hit the
ball. Silas had a hard ground ball to
left center that scored Arnez. He also
had a hard line drive to right center with the bases loaded. He would call it a grand slam. I would call it a triple and advancing home
on an overthrow. He also played pretty
well at catcher on a hot day. We scored
five runs each inning and held the other team to 9 runs total winning
15-9. Rosehill 2 had only lost one game
this season. Silas, Camden, and Carson
each had two hits. Blayne and James also
had nice hits.
Game Ten Home vs. Haysville 1 - Thursday, June 13th - 7:45 pm
We have played and won a lot of
close games and we kept that narrative going tonight. We were tied 5 to 5 at the end of the
first. I pulled Isaac without recording
an out in the first inning. His
fundamentals were off. Silas had a walk
his first at bat and a high pop fly out to second base his second at bat. It was 11-7 going into the last inning. The other team had almost scored 5 runs the
prior inning but after talking with the umps, the other coach, and the
scorekeeper, they did not allow the fifth run because the player was tagged out
before the 5th run touched home plate. This was key for us because now we could win
with our last at bat. Arnez struck out,
Silas popped out, so we were down to one remaining out with no one on
base. Camden struck out but made it to
first on a passed ball by the catcher.
Knova struck out but made it to first on a passed ball. Owen struck out but made it to first on a
passed ball. So now we have bases loaded
without getting a walk or a hit. Carson
walked in a run. James had a single that
scored a run. We are down two and Isaac
hit a hard ground ball to center. The
ball got passed the centerfielder which allowed all the runners to score. We won the game 12-11. Learning lesson is don’t quit until the final
out. Overall, our pitching was not good
(ump didn’t help with the small strike zone).
Silas was good behind the plate.
Our hitting was alright.
Tournament - Monday, June 24th
We were the 2nd seed in
the north playing the 3rd seed in the south. We got down 5-0 due to poor pitching and a missed
opportunity for a double play. We hit
the ball well in our half of the inning to tie the game 5-5. Silas hit a hard line drive down the third
base line for a triple and reached home on throwing error. Knova hit the hardest ball of the season for
a home run. Knova pitched the next two
innings and did alright. Silas pitched
the 4th inning. He did a
great job! Too bad our catcher didn’t
put forth the effort needed during this inning. He had a
passed third strike and made little effort to stop balls that required some
effort to catch. We were down four going
into our last at bat. We had (3) HBP in
a row and were able to score 3 runs.
With bases loaded and 2 outs, down 1, we had a strikeout to lose the
game. We ended the season 8-3. We were missing Blayne, Jude, and Arnez and
had one other that wasn’t putting forth his best effort. We won a lot of close games this season so
it's fitting we lost a close one. I was
microphoned and videoed during the game as part of my videoed testimony.
