** Guest Blogger **
Eric Hendrickson
Another year of Thunder baseball. This was our first year of 14U, which is full 90' bases and 60'6" pitching distance.
My coach in high school, Coach Griffith, helped out with our pitchers this year. He came to several practices and games. I was so grateful for his knowledge, and his energy and encouragement was extremely beneficial for our team. Thank you, Coach, for joining with me 30 years later to continue bringing the joy of baseball to today's youth.
Game #1 - Mon. May 18, 2026 - home vs. Douglass
2-1 didn't complete the first inning before the game was called due to weather
Silas played catcher, and was first up to bat in our line-up. He got a nice hit for a double and then stole his way around to score one run for our team before the game got called.
Game #1 RESCHEDULED to - June 9th
Douglass had a good pitcher (lefty) that shut us down. We scored 4 runs off the relief pitcher. Our play was a little lifeless, likely to hitting against a dominant pitcher. We lost 8-4. Silas caught the entire game. He had a line drive that went right to the second baseman for an out and walked.
I was able to get Isaac an inning of pitching and he did well.
Game #2 - Wed. May 20, 2026 - home vs. Wellington
Silas pitched 2-2/3 innings giving up 9 runs. We gave them 7 outs the first inning when they scored 4 runs so none of those were earned. The second inning he pitched well and the defense did well. The third inning was rough for pitching and defense. Silas struggled to throw strikes and I finally pulled him for Blayne when the score was 10-9. Blayne looked like the ace from early last year. It was good to see Silas's arm last almost 3 innings but it was obvious he has not pitched much this year (noticed he is shutting his eyes when pitching. Hard to throw a strike when you cannot see your target). At the plate, he walked twice and had a line drive double to left center. His swing looks good. Coach Griffith was at the game. We won 11-9.
Game #3 - Wed. May 27, 2026 - home vs. Rose Hill
Rose Hill needed to reschedule due to a low number of players.
RESCHEDULED to - June 2nd
I knew Rose Hill would be a pretty good team. They are a second year 14u team so they were tall and athletic. Landon started off giving up four runs. The teams body language wasn't great so I was pretty vocal. Even had some voice loss at the end of the game. Our first inning Silas started with a ground out to first and then Kevin struck out. I thought it might be a long night but the pitcher got wild and we also scored 4. Landon settled down the next two innings and only gave up 2 in the second and 0 in the 3rd. We scored 5 in the 2nd thanks to a great bases clearing triple by Kevin. Silas had a good second at bat with 6 foul balls. He ended up striking out but reached on a passed ball. We didn't play great but beat a good team.
Game #4 - Fri. May 29, 2026 - home vs. Derby Reds
Game #4 RESCHEDULED to - June 16th
Played a pretty good team tonight. Coach Griffith was at the game again tonight. Silas started off the game with a hard grounder that should have been in the hole between 3rd and 2nd base; however, the third baseman was playing about 30' off the line, so he made the play for an out. His second at bat was a hard ground ball right to the second baseman for an out. He caught very well tonight and Landon pitched very well. We won the game 4-1. We had a weather delay early in the game that postponed us about 30 minutes. We also had a few close calls in the field that went our team's way, which caused some grumbling from the other team's coaches and parents. I agreed with both calls made in the field.
Game #5 - Mon. June 1, 2026 - home vs. Haysville 2
Silas started off the game with a blooper between the 2nd baseman and the right fielder. For some reason he didn't run right away and was thrown out at first by the right fielder. He also had a hard line drive past the second baseman for a single and line drive to right center field for a double. I liked that he hit to the right side. Knova pitched a good first inning. Since we were up 12-0 in the second inning, I pitched Blayne. He did fine and Carson pitched a decent 3rd inning. Our bats were good tonight, and we made some good plays on defense with two double plays. Silas threw out a runner at 3rd on a great throw and great tag by Landon. We won 18-0. Next game should be a lot more competitive.
One of Silas's teachers and Cross-Country Coach came to watch the game tonight.
Game #6 - Wed. June 3, 2026 - away vs. Ark City
We played a good team tonight on a tough field. This was a grass field that was thick and long. We put the ball in play really well; however, the slow field allowed Ark City to field most of the balls and get outs. On our field, half of those would have been hits instead of outs. Blayne started ok but his velocity wasn't there. Found out his arm was hurting. Tried Carson the next inning and he walked the bases loaded. Knova relieved and did an excellent job for the rest of the game. Silas struck out, had a swinging bunt single, and a nice line drive double to right center. We were up 8-4 going into the last inning. Unfortunately, the 2nd time through the line up against Knova caused some hits and we didn't make some plays to get the last out. We gave up 5 and lost the game 9-8. I was happy with how we played. Silas caught the entire game and Blake from the other Haysville team filled in for Landon.
Game #7 - Mon. June 8, 2026 - away vs. Belle Plaine
Well, we just got plain beat tonight. Belle Plaine has a good team and some good pitchers. I pitched Carson and he didn't make it past the first inning. Blayne relieved him and did pretty well. We started off in the hole 6-0 at the first inning and never got any offensive momentum. We did have two innings with runners on 2nd and 3rd but didn't score. Isaac pitched the last inning and did an excellent job. Silas started the game with a line drive to center field, but it was right to the centerfielder who caught it. He also struck out. He played catcher and did a pretty good job on a really hot day. We lost 7-0.
Game #8 - Wed. June 10, 2026 - away vs. Derby
Silas pitched ok tonight. He threw strikes, but his velocity is not good this year. He pitched 2-1/3 innings and gave up two runs. Isaac relieved and gave up 6 runs. The other team's pitcher was not good, so it was a walk fest. We won the game 18-8. Silas took advantage of the few strikes he received and had two hard ground ball singles and a walk.
Game #9 - Mon. June 15, 2026 - home vs. Winfield
No pictures
Played a great game tonight, defensively, offensively, pitching, attitudes, effort, etc. Silas played catcher 1st inning and then shortstop. He started a 5-4-3 double play. Blayne pitched pretty well for 2-1/3 innings and Knova came in on a bases loaded jam and pitched great the rest of the game. He has become our best pitcher. Silas started the game with a long line drive double to left center and grounded out to the first baseman his second at bat. Coach Griffith was there tonight which was encouraging to the players and helpful to me. We won a close one 3-2. Will need to do well the last two regular season games to earn our way into the post season.
Game #10 - Wed. June 17, 2026 - away vs. Douglass
This was a very disappointing game. It was hot and players were complaining about it. Our fielding was not good. We were making contact at the plate, but they resulted in outs. Knova threw strikes, which resulted in a lot of balls being put into play. Unfortunately, we did not play good defense. Silas struggled at catcher. He did put the ball in play at the plate, but both were outs, a pop up to 2nd base and a ground ball to the shortstop. This was a rough end to the regular season.
End-Of-Season Tournament
- June 23rd - 6pm - in Belle Plaine (host) Thunder vs. Douglass
We played Douglass for the third time and similar to the last two times, we were beaten and the games were not close. We started the first inning by playing poor defense, which in reality gave them 6 outs. Thus, instead of giving them three outs and scoring 0 runs, they were given 6 outs due to poor defense which led to 4 runs. Similarly, we gave them 2 runs in the second inning because we didn't make plays. At the plate, we put the ball in play but for the most part it led to routine outs. Silas popped up to the pitcher and hit an easy ground ball to the pitcher. The only hit was by Isaac. Landon pitched a great game, but it takes more than a good pitching performance to win the game. We lost 7-0. After some self-reflection, I noticed that Douglass is much more disciplined than us. I think of myself as a disciplined coach, but reality says otherwise. I also realized that my heart was not in it this year, which I believe had a negative effect with the team. Next year is our last year to shine and I hope we shine bright.
As we did with all games, we started and ended our time in prayer.
As I have done in previous years, I treated the team to double scooped ice cream cones at Braum's a few days after our last game. It was short notice, so only half the team could make it. Go Thunder!
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