** Guest Blogger **
Eric Hendrickson
Another year of Thunder baseball. I have been with some of these kids since T-ball. We are a second year 12u team so we entered the season with high expectations.
Game 1 - Tuesday, May 13th 7:45 vs. Haysville 3
We had a really good first game. Silas started the game off with a hard ground
ball down the third base line for a single.
The outfielder was hugging the line.
Silas also had a line drive single to left center for a single. Would have been a double but we had other
runners on base. He also had a HBP. Knova pitched 2 great innings and Carson
pitched 2 good innings. After the first
inning of slow bats, we really hit the ball well the rest of the game. Landon did really well at catcher as did
Silas. Silas also played shortstop. We won 12-3 in 4 innings.
Landon, one of our friends from church, joined our team this year. He has been a great addition to our team. Stacee and I are thankful for the friendship Silas shares with Landon.
Game 2 - Friday, May 16th 7:45 vs. Derby Braves
Ernie came to town attend Sarah's graduation festivities and was able to go to this baseball game with Paul, Sarah, and Stacee.
First impression, I thought the Derby team was
going to be good. They had a good
pre-game warm up and the coaches seemed polished. Unfortunately, they were not as good as I thought. Their pitchers threw strikes but were not
overpowering. Their hitters only managed
one hit into the field that went about 3’ and resulted in an out. Blayne pitched great for two innings and
Silas was impressive for an inning.
Isaac struggled for his inning but only gave up one run. Silas had a ground ball to shortstop that he
beat out. He had a pop-up to the pitcher
and a strikeout. He played two innings
of catcher, one at pitcher, and one at shortstop. Silas pitched with good velocity and
poise. He threw strike after
strike. I was really pleased with him.
Jax and her brother, Spencer, came to watch Silas play tonight too.
Game 3 - Tuesday, May 20th 7:45 vs. Haysville 1
This Haysville team is better than the other,
but it was not competitive. We scored
five runs in all three innings and they scored zero, so the game was ended 15-0
because we were up 15 runs after 3 innings. Blayne
pitched well but was not as dominant as usual.
Landon did really well in his one inning as did Silas. Silas is throwing hard with confidence. He also played well at catcher throwing out
two base runners at third. At the plate,
Silas had a hard ground ball to left center for a double and a hard line drive
to right center for a home run. The
level of competition in the league is not what it was last year and has been disappointing.
A few of the boys' middle school teachers came to watch them all play tonight. After the game 5 players posed for a picture with their Language Arts teacher... 3 boys from our team and 2 boys from the team we played against.
Jax and her brother, Spencer, came to watch Silas and his team play again tonight.
Game 4 - Thursday, May 22nd 6:00 vs. Rose Hill (cancelled)
Rescheduled to Thursday, June 19th
This ended up being the last game of the regular
season. The game started off with the
Rosehill coach getting ejected from the game for getting into a confrontation
with the umps. He was then told to leave
and wouldn’t, which resulted in the cops coming. Silas first at bat was an infield single
between SS and third. He also had a hard
ground ball to the pitcher and a weak ground ball to the pitcher. Both for outs, but both also scored the
runner from 3rd. Silas did
well at catching. The assistant Rosehill
coach said to me that he was impressed with the catcher. Blayne didn’t pitch well and is no longer our
ace. That title transferred to Knova who
came in and saved the game with his pitching.
We didn’t play great, but we were victorious 9-3.
Game 5 - Tuesday, May 27th 6:00 vs. Mulvane
Mulvane is usually a pretty good team. Unfortunately, they were not very
competitive. They pitched a left hander
the first 2 innings that threw strikes but not much velocity. The kid they pitched the 4th
inning had good velocity. He struck out
Silas looking (ball looked outside but was too close to not swing). Silas had an end of bat hit to the first base
side that took a tough bounce, which ended in a single. He had a hard line drive up the middle that
would have likely been a double or triple, but the shortstop was playing up the
middle and made the catch. Silas had
some close throw downs on stealers but didn’t get the out. Blayne, Knova, and Landon all pitched
well. Jude made a great catch in centerfield,
which saved a few runs. We hit pretty
well as a team and won 13-2.
Game 6 - Thursday, May 29th 7:45 vs. Haysville 3 (cancelled)
This team does not want to reschedule and will take a forfeit.
Game 7 - Tuesday, June 3rd 7:45 vs. Clearwater (cancelled)
Rescheduled to Monday, June 16th
Clearwater came into this game 6-2 and we were
7-1. Derby was 7-1-1. Thus, if we lost this game, we would move
from first to third place. Clearwater
pitched a really good pitcher. I had
Landon be the starting pitcher, which was his first time to start a game. Both pitchers were going great and I kept
Landon in through part of the 4th inning. The strike zone tightened and Landon
struggled that inning. We started the
inning up 4-2. Landon gave up two runs
to tie it. I brought in Silas and he
walked two batters resulting in a run.
Then, I brought Knova in. Bases
loaded, no outs, and we were losing by 1.
He pitched great, getting three outs without giving up a run. We went into the bottom half of the inning
down 1, so we needed one to tie and two to win the game. The bottom of the order was up and they all were
able to get on base safely. Jude, who
hasn’t hit all season, hit a hard ground ball to the outfield to tie the
game. Then, Silas got up and hit a hard
ground ball to center field that won the game.
I really liked that our good hitting beat their good pitching. Silas had a pop out to start the game but had
a good foul ball in that at bat. He then
had a soft line drive to right center for a single, a ground ball single to
right field, and the hard ground ball to center to win the game. Silas didn’t pitch poorly. He had borderline pitches called balls and I
thought Knova would be better to come in and throw strikes, which he did. As catcher, Silas threw out a runner at
second base and had another one at third, except the 3rd baseman
didn’t catch the ball. Assuming we win
against Rosehill to end the regular season, we will be the first seed in the
north and second seed overall in the upcoming league tournament.
Game 8 - Thursday, June 5th 6:00 vs. Derby Dodgers
We played in Derby, which are turf fields. Game started off well. Silas had a soft line drive to right field
for a single. We scored 3 in the first
inning and would have been more, but Carson didn’t touch home plate on his in
the park homerun. Thus, instead of a
run we got an out. Blayne was dominant
pitching the first inning. Silas was
alright the second inning of pitching.
He did give up two runs but missed an easy ground ball to him that would
have been 0 runs. Landon gave up a run
in the 3rd so we were in a pretty good position leading 7-3 in the
last inning. Carson struggled giving up
a few runs, but did get two outs. I
brought in Blayne to get the last out and instead he ended up giving up 3 runs
to lose the game. We had an opportunity
to leave with a tie game but we ended the game with an error. The kids took their foot off the gas, lost focus, and ended up losing the game.
Silas had a hard ground ball that the second baseman made a good play to
get him out, but it did score a run. He
also had a strikeout. He also did a good
job catching.
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******Southwest Boys Club Tournament******
*Game #1 Saturday, June 7th 1:30 pm*
Our first tournament game was
against the tournament team we scrimmaged at the start of the year. We started off the game with 5 runs. We then gave back five runs in the bottom of
the inning. We ended that inning with a
bad error that gave the other team two runs.
From then on, we played like we lost the game. Blayne struggled pitching and I left him in
too long. I brought Carson in, but the
damage was already done. We ended up
losing the game 10-7. This team ended up winning the championship for Pod 2. It
was a close game, but I was not happy with our play, specifically our attitude
and lack of effort.
Silas at bats: Ground out to first baseman and ground out to the shortsop
*Game #2 Saturday, June 7th 4:30 pm*
The second game was against a
really good team that ended up being the 2nd overall team in the tournament losing in the championship game by 1 run. We played really well,
especially Knova’s pitching. It was 3-0
until the last inning and the other team had a handful of “dinker” hits and we
also had some bad errors that led to giving up 4 runs. We ended up losing 7-0 but I was happy with
our play. Silas caught both games today and
did a good job.
Silas at bats: Ground out to
second baseman. Ball was hit hard and
second baseman made a great play. Line
drive single to left center.
*Game #3 Sunday, June 8th 1:45 pm*
We started out the game strong
with 5 runs (similar to game 1). I
pitched Nolan, who did an excellent job.
The runs weren't as easy the next three innings, but we ended up winning
the game 8-1. Silas was supposed to
pitch, but his arm was hurting. He split
time at catcher with Landon.
*Game #4 Sunday, June 8th 4:00 pm*
We made it to the championship
game for the lower pool bracket. I started
Blayne. It only took four batters to realize he didn’t have confidence so I put
Nolan in. Nolan had two innings
available and by the end he was out of gas.
We were down 9-2 at the end of 2 innings. Knova pitched two good innings and we ended
up losing the game 10-5. We ended up
receiving second place medals. Silas
split time catching with Landon and also played third base. At third he had a good tag on a caught
stealing. He was dragging at catcher and
I should have just played him in the field.
There are some things I learned as did the kids that will help us get
better. One thing that set other teams
apart from us was defense. We had too
many lost opportunities in the field, especially with pop flies.
Silas at bats: Silas had a swinging bunt single and a popout to the first basemen. Silas also hit a foul ball that went about 200 feet and hit a car.
Below, standing left to right, Owen, Landon, Coach Kyle, Blayne, Coach Eric, Silas, Knova, Carson, Isaac, Coach Spencer and kneeling, left to right, Nolan, Camden, Jude, and Maddox.
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Game 9 - Tuesday, June 10th 6:00 vs. Mulvane
We had a rematch against
Mulvane. I put Blayne on the mound
hoping that he would regain his confidence.
I am happy to say he did great and regained his confidence. He pitched two scoreless innings. Silas started the game with a week ground
ball to second. He started his swing too
early and dragged the bat through the zone to make contact resulting in slow
bat speed and a weak hit. He was hit by
pitch in his next two at bats (leg and back).
He played 3rd and catcher.
His arm is still bothering him so not sure how long before I pitch
him. We hit the ball really well
including a home run by Camden. It was a
great game and it appears the tournament was beneficial. Stacee wasn't at the game so I only got a few pictures from the dugout.
Game 10 - Thursday, June 12th 6:00 vs. Rose Hill
Silas started off the game with a
weak ground ball between 1st and 2nd that resulted in a
single. He keeps dragging his bat
through the zone, which results in weak hits.
I am fine with him doing this if he has two strikes, but he should be
swinging full power if there is less than two strikes. Silas pitched the first two innings and did
great. I believe he struck out 5 of the
six batters he faced. I was very pleased
with our pitching tonight. Isaac had a
scoreless inning and Carson gave up a run.
Silas also had a line drive that the shortstop jumped to catch. He also walked. Rosehill had some very slow pitchers that
threw strikes. We did not do a good job
of hitting the slow pitching. Rosehill
also played good defense, especially their shortstop. We won the game 10-1.
____________________________________________________
Silas hitting stats during the regular season (9 games):
12
of 22 with 10 singles, 1 double, and 1 homerun.
Has one walk, three HBP, one strikeouts, and nine outs in the field
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******End of Season Tournament in Belle Plaine******
*Game #1 Wednesday, June 25th 7:45 vs. Wellington*
I started off with a pregame speech about how rewarding this
season has been. Win or lose, seeing
players and a coach committing their lives to Christ was what made the season
so rewarding. Winning would just be
icing on the cake. It was a
well-received speech, and we were fired up to play. The pitcher for Wellington looked like he should be in 14u. This may have been
the best pitcher we have seen this year, including in the SWBC tournament. Silas started the game with a rocket line
drive to right field that went over the right fielder. He got a double on it and scored on a single
by Carson. Silas pitched the first two
innings. I could tell he was struggling
with arm fatigue/pain, but he powered through it and only gave up two
runs. Silas had a ground ball his next
at bat that looked like it was going to get into left field. The third basemen made a great play to get it
and then rifled to first to get Silas out.
Silas should have been able to beat out this throw though and I later
learned he watched the ball too long after he hit it. It was a good learning lesson. We were up 3-2 in the third inning when the
lights went out. Power was lost to the
field and part of the city. We ended up
postponing the game to the next night.
Play resumed at 5:45pm the next day. Knova made it interesting but got out of the inning with the score tied 3-3. We scored three in the bottom half of the inning which was just enough. The other team scored two for a final score of 6-5. We play Winfield at 8:15pm.
*Game #2 Thursday, June 26th vs. Winfield*The boys were ready to play.
Landon was ready to pitch. On the
flip side, the Winfield boys were ready to play and ready to pitch. Landon was throwing great, but the other team
was putting the ball in play.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make plays on defense. Instead, we made errors, especially throwing
errors. Things got heated between me and
one of the Winfield coaches after Silas had gotten hit in the back and head
with the ball on a pick off move by the pitcher. While
time was called and Silas was off the base, they threw over and tagged him
out. I was on the field walking back to
my position. The ump ended up allowing
Silas to stay on the base but some words were exchanged with Winfield’s coaches
and I. Thankfully, the coach and I shook
hands. I think it was good for the
players to see how to resolve conflict.
Silas did a good job of keeping our team motivated and pumped up (even
though at times it was a little much).
He also did a great job of catching and hitting. He had a hard ground ball between short and third
that resulted in an infield single. The
third baseman made a good attempt to throw out Silas. Silas also had a line drive to right center
for a triple and a soft line drive to center for a single. Winfield’s pitcher was good but our boys did
a good job of hitting him. Knova crushed
one to left center that rolled all the way to the fence for a triple (could
have been a homerun but I held him at third).
Camden followed that with a hard line drive to center field. I ended up pulling Landon and pitched Blayne,
which resulted in 3 walks in a row. I
then pulled Blayne to pitch Carson, which resulted in a walk and the 5th
run. Hindsight, I would have left Landon
in or pitched Knova who is good at those situations. It wasn’t my best night of coaching. We ended up losing the game 11-5. A few plays made in the field, and we likely
have a different result. The tournament and regular season was over, but our team will still have a tournament to play in at Southwest Boys Club in mid-July.
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****Heat Wave Classic Tournament - Southwest Boys Club****
*Game #1 Friday, July 11th 7:45 vs. the Canes*
We decided to participate in one last tournament to finish the season. This gave us a two extra weeks of practice after the completion of the HAC season. We played one of the two Friday evening games. I had planned on starting Silas for the first game. I knew he was fighting some arm fatigue prior to the game, but he said he was good to go. He made it through one inning and I brought in a reliever. Silas was the catcher the rest of the game. At the plate, Silas had a ground ball out at second base and a single. We played a competitive game but lost 8-6.
*Game #2 Saturday, July 12th 3:30 (pushed back to 5:15 due to rain and weather) vs. the Bullpups*
Our second game was on Saturday. Our game was moved to the turf fields at Genesis in Goddard due to the rain. Silas played third and shortstop. At the plate he had a pop out to 1st and a single. We played a really good game, but you wouldn't know it by the ending score of 15-2. We had bases loaded twice and didn't score.
*Game #3 Sunday, July 13th 8:30 am vs. the Saints
On Sunday, we played our games at West Urban. It was cool to be able to play our tournament games at three different complexes. We pitched Luke (a player from another team that I have coached previously in basketball). He was a great addition to our team and pitched really well. I played Silas at catcher. At the plate, Silas had a single and two ground outs. We were up 7-3 going into the last inning. I wanted to save an inning of pitching for Luke so I brought in a reliever. We ended up giving up 5 runs and needed to score 2 runs in the last inning to win. Luke walked and Silas hit a ground ball to move him over to 2nd. We had two outs and Carson hit a ground ball to third base. Carson beat the throw at first and Luke rounded third and headed for home. He barely beat the throw at home to score the tying run. I then stole Carson to second and Landon hit a hard ball to right field to score the winning run. We had an exciting walkoff win.
*Game #4 Sunday, July 13th vs. the Pirates
Our final game of the tournament was not our best game. It was evident that the team was ready to be done. I was able to get Blayne, Carson, and Isaac an opportunity to pitch. Silas had two singles and played catcher, center field, and third. We ended up losing 13-2.
We went into this season with high expectations. We thought we would go undefeated in league. We ended up 9-1. We thought we would win the league tournament and ended up losing in semi finals. We wanted to compete in a tournament and did so in two tournaments. We didn't achieve all that we thought we would, but it was a successful season, not only on the field, but also in life. Our focus on teaching Biblical leadership and prayer was well received and we ended up having three kids and a coach make the best decision of their life, to become followers of Christ. This was the best season ever!
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