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Sometimes a simple benching will go a long way. After Tuesday’s game when I ripped the team about their attitude, I vowed there was going to be changes on Wednesday. Sure enough, it was time to send a message to the team that attitude issues were just not going to be tolerated anymore. In fact, I went so far as to tell the team that if they act up or throw the bats again, I’m reporting them to Mr. Bell because I’m sick of it.
As a mix of a sulking attitude and looking lost at the plate – more of the later than the former – Wednesday was a perfect time to bench Dale. Hands down, when you evaluate every player on the team, in terms of how easy it comes for him, Dale is most likely the best player on the team. When he wasn’t in the lineup for Wednesday’s game, I think the team actually saw that they were focusing more on each puzzle piece than the completed thing.
The way they responded against Woodbury on Wednesday – especially after the whole Dylan incident when we could have just unraveled – was remarkable. It was a complete 360° turn around from Tuesday.
I wasn’t going to go on Joseph Stalin on them on Wednesday and be like, “You missed the ball, OK you’re out. You struck out, OK you’re out.” For those of you familiar with high school basketball, I wasn’t going to go all Vinny from ND-Fairfield on them. Granted I was distracted, but I wanted to keep the mood around the team rather light so that they could get back to having fun.
I told the team from the start of the season that I wanted to focus on pitching and defense this year. Well, in the last two games, that’s exactly what was on display. Starting with Wednesday against Woodbury, Adam – pitching all of one inning for us in any game so far – ended up pitching six innings of two earned-run baseball on 108 pitches in an eventual 10-5 victory. It was exactly what we needed at the time because we honestly had no other pitcher available.
Adam just has it in him that he never wants to disappoint. No matter if I put him at catcher, third, shortstop, pitcher or the outfield, he always gets the job done. He could have let his current struggles at the plate distract him on the mound on Wednesday, but that’s just not Adam.
Capitalizing on the momentum from the day before, Chris started on the mound on Thursday – also against Woodbury – and matched Adam’s pitching performance to a T. He gave up one run in five innings on 83 pitches, but more importantly, had just two walks in our 9-1 victory. It hasn’t been an easy ride for Chris so far this season on the mound, but in the last two games he showed why he can be a number one pitcher. He has a vicious curveball that kept the Woodbury hitters off balance all day on Thursday. Watching him fool the Woodbury hitters time and time again was like watching a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus act.
As we go forward in this season, Chris is going to need to be a big part of what we need on the mound. This was a huge confident booster for him. Even when he struggled earlier in the season I reminded him that he wasn’t getting shelled by any team. The reason they were scoring on him was because of walks. Sure enough, the last six innings he has pitched have yielded only two walks. It’s no coincidence that now when he’s starting to issue less walks, he’s dominating. Chris’s only complaint yesterday was he wanted to keep going, but 83 pitches was more than sufficient, even though I knew he could have kept going.
Because of the team’s performance the last two days, we were able to get everyone involved in the action. Matty G. started at second base on Wednesday, played all game and collected a hit and RBI to go along with a walk and solid defense. He even pitched two shut-out innings on Thursday!
Tommy made his debut at catcher and did awesome. The backstop at Great Oak is so huge that if you hit a foul ball behind you, you need to hit it home run distance in order to reach the backstop fence. Tommy – his first time on the big diamond at catcher – caught the last four innings on Wednesday and did a great job of blocking the ball and throwing down to second. He even caught a foul pop which is even harder at our field because of the enormous backstop. Add in the fact that he had an RBI and also caught two innings on Thursday and he’s only in sixth grade!
Cole started on Wednesday and grounded out in his only at bat. However, on Thursday, there was a very high flyball hit to Cole in right field that was moving in the wind but Cole caught it, certainly not an easy play. The kid is fearless at the dish and makes it hard to keep his bat out of the lineup. There isn’t a pitch he can’t hit!
Alex has started at EH the past two games and has done nothing but hit and/or get on base. Alex is very baseball smart. Other than making occasional mistakes on 0-2 pitchers and getting too much of the plate, he understands the game. We had a runner on third with two outs on Thursday and I wanted Alex to steal. Alex, who has absolutely zero speed, didn’t end up stealing because he didn’t see the sign (thanks Coach Mark), and when he came in after the inning I go, “You know what I wanted you to do, right? He said, “Yeah, I was planning to get in a run-down so the run could score but I never got the sign.” That’s a kid who understands the game.
As for the regulars, Dale didn’t play at all on Wednesday but batted in the nine hole on Thursday and had two well-hit balls. Matty M. and Preston continue to rake, especially Preston, whose only outs seem to be hit 280 feet. Dan has been our most consistent player all season and hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down. He is absolutely ripping the ball, unleashing vicious hits up the middle. Mike, even with his achy back, is starting to hit bombs as well and factor that in with his amazing defense. Gunnar has moved to the lead-off sport and has thrived. It seems like everything Jeff does is done quietly because of who he bats between but all he does is put the ball in play and do good things. Timmy is struggling right now, but showed signs of life on Thursday.
We got the heavy hitters come Monday and Tuesday – Rochambeau part two and then rival Seymour. It’s time to bring it,
-Matt-
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