Game #12 Flames vs Kittrell Diamondbacks

5/30/2008 Game Date

Well, we were caught up on our schedule for a brief moment, until game 11 was rained out. So, with game 11 delayed for a week, the Flames moved forward and prepared for their second game against the Kittrell Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks were Kittrell’s top ball club, and it would be interesting to see how the Flames have progressed in the rematch.

Inning 1
The Flames were visiting Kittrell, so we took the field first. Pearson and Noah both had good solid hits, however, the D’backs defense rose to the occassion, fielding Pearson’s hit and throwing him out at first, and then catching Noah’s fly ball to shallow right field. Chris managed our first hit of the game with a single, however, we’d leave him stranded with the next batter going down on strikes.

The D’backs had some solid offense, obtaining five runs before we closed the door on the inning with getting the third out. The D’backs pitching helped our cause, with two of the three outs coming from strike outs. The other out came from Noah catching a high fly ball.

Inning 2
The Flames were feeling good and ready to snap their offensive slump. Bubba started things off with a strong single. Tony followed up with a hit that sailed over the pitchers head and bounced up the middle into the outfield. Bubba had his running shoes on and scored from first base. With the D’backs scurrying for the ball after a bad throw towards third base, Tony advanced safely to second base with a double. Dylan hit a slow roller down the third baseline. Tony held up at second, and Dylan reached first safely. Faith came up and poked a ground ball towards shortstop. The shortstop had some trouble with it and by the time he recovered, Tony and Dylan advanced a base and Faith was safe with a single. With one out, Gray helped the cause with a sharp ground ball towards second base. The ball was fielded and Gray was tossed out, however, his sacrifice hit allowed Tony to rumble home for the score. That would be the last score of the inning for the Flames.

The D’backs continued to plague themselves with contact woes, as two more went down on strikes. In an attempt to start a trend, Noah once again made good on an opportunity to catch a fly ball, this one a difficult one that was falling into the no-man’s land between the pitcher, second, and first. The three outs came quickly, but a triple by the D’backs combined with a pair of singles was enough for them to manage another two runs.

Inning 3
Pearson started things off with a blast to deep left field. Pearson was trucking around the bases to end up safe at third with a triple. Noah followed up with a triple of his own, a smoking shot that reached the fence in left-center field. Pearson scored easily and the fans were going crazy. Chris drove Noah home with a single up the middle to keep thing going. Mike was doing his best to get a hit, fouling off several pitches. It came down to his last eligible pitch, and I threw him something horrendous. Mike struck out but didn’t hold it against me as he slapped me five on his way back to the dugout. Bubba moved Chris over to second with a single down the third baseline. Tony poked a shot right at the pitcher, and the sacrifice hit was good enough to move both Chris and Bubba into scoring position, although Tony was out himself. Unfortunately we’d leave Chris and Bubba stranded after a strikeout ended the inning.

The D’backs decided to make us work for our outs, which the Flames were more than up to the challenge for. The D’backs sent 10 batters up to the plate, but only showed five runs for their effort. The first out coming from a text-book outfield to home relay. Tony fielded the ball in center field, threw the ball to Chris who was set for the cut-off, who gunned it home to Bubba, and Bubba applied the tag on the runner, just a couple steps prior to home for the first out of the inning. The second out came from a D’back strikeout. The last out of the inning came with Mike making a nice play on a pop-fly that he caught at second base.

Inning 4
Time was our enemy, and if we were going to be able to force the game to go much longer, we needed a big inning. Faith worked to get things rolling with a triple that was hit to right field. With Faith ready to score, Madi came up to the plate and swung her bat with determination to let me know “throw it here coach”. I did my best and it seemed to work as Madi made contact and hit a hopping grounder towards the gap between third and shortstop. The shortstop for the D’backs showed good range and made the stop, however, it was enough to allow Faith to score, and Madi was standing safely at first with a single. Gray worked to keep things moving, with a hit up the middle. It was good enough for Gray to be safe at first, however, the second baseman made a play and was able to get Madi out as she was advancing. With one out, Josh stepped up to the plate a hit a pop-up that seemed to go straight up in the air. The D’backs pitcher made an amazing catch for the out, and was able to get a double-play by throwing the ball to first base as Gray was given the green light to advance due to the base coach thinking the ball uncatchable. A double-play and the inning and game came to a close.

Flames: 5 Diamondbacks: 12

Oddly enough that’s the same score as the first meeting between the teams…

Game Ball
Noah received the first game ball for his reliable hands in catching a pair of pop-flys, as well as his thunderous triple in the third inning.

Faith received the second game ball, for solid play in the field, and her lead-off triple in the forth inning – combined with her excitment at scoring her first run of the season.

Thanks
To Mike and David Lee for the help coaching the bases. To Dorothy for the help with the scorebook. To Brian for the help with the lineup and dugout duties.

Game #9 Lascassas Braves vs Flames

5/22/2008 Game Date

As happens during a season, rain outs threw our schedule into a little chaos. We managed to play game #10 on the season, before both game #5 and #9 were completed. With the make-up of this rescheduled game, however, it brought us current for the moment with our games on the season.

It was a hot day for our second match-up with the Braves. Our players seemed ready for the game, and they did an excellent job defensively – holding one of the most potent offenses in the league to only 15 runs. Unfortunately our offense seemed to fall out of rythm, and while I wish I could have claimed it was my pitching, I may have thrown my best pitches of the season. In the end though, we were unable to get anything started offensively, never having more than one runner on base at a time and we were held to no runs.

Game Highlights
The game wasn’t without it’s shining moments though. We did manage three hits in the game. All of them were singles – and they were hit by Pearson, Chris, and Bubba. Defensively we had both Faith and Mike put on a display on how to work at second base. Mike and Faith both played two innings each at second base, and each one was vital in one or more outs per each of those innings. Mike started the game at second, and in the first inning he caught a pop-fly, and fielded a ground ball cleanly and made the throw to Noah at first for an out. During the second inning, Mike fielded another ground ball close to the first base side, and made a little under-handed toss to Noah for an out. In both of those innings, the Braves other outs came from strikeouts.

In the third inning, Faith took over at second base. Chris fielded a hard grounder at short stop and made the throw to Faith at second base for a force out. Then it was Faith’s turn to field a ground ball who made the throw to Pearson who was now playing first base, for another out. In the last inning, Chris pulled down a pop-up at short stop, as did Mike who came up from centerfield to make one just behind second base. Faith then fielded a grounder and made another throw to Pearson at first base for the third and final out of the Braves inning.

Braves: 15 Flames: 0

Game Ball
Mike displayed an excellent glove and range in his movement around the field, proving to be an instrumental piece in holding the Braves in check.

Faith was in top form, being aware of where she needed to be while fielding second base. She did a great job of knocking down and fielding ground balls, and made her throws to first base count.

Thanks
To Perry and David Lee for the help on the base paths. To Dorothy for the work on the scorebook. To Brian for his work in the dugout and in keeping the batting order straight.

Game #5 Orioles vs Flames (Take 2)

5/18/2008 Game Date

The time finally came for the make-up game to be played for the one that was rained out. The make-up game came on a Sunday, in place of our normal practice slot. The mood was a little light, with more than a couple Flames making comments about being a little tired and hot. Still, they all agreed that they were looking to play and they took the field at the top of the first, determined to have fun.

Inning 1
The Orioles came out of the starting gate on fire. They managed to bat their maximum of 10 players, and they scored 8 of them, with our Flames getting the other 2 players out. The outs came from a nice play by Chris at shortstop, where he stopped a ground ball and tagged an advancing runner, and the other came from a stop by Mike at second base who then had a throw to Pearson at first base.

Isaac started things off for us with a single, which included some fine hustle to first. Chris drove Isaac in with a blast into the outfield, which ended with Chris standing safe at second with a double. Noah followed up with a single, with Chris advancing to third base. Mike hit a hard chopper, that the defense had a hard time handling. When the dust settled, Chris had scored, Mike was safe with a single, and Noah was standing safe at second. Bubba poked a shot into left field, and our runners were advancing. Noah was give the go sign to head for home, but the outfielder got the ball in quickly. Noah tried to save the play by making it back to thirdbase, however, the Orioles showed some good ball handling skills in passing the ball between players and them successfully tagging Noah for the second out of the inning. Josh was up next with runners on first and second, and ripped a line drive that made it to shallow center. Mike received the green light and as he was rounding third, the ball was on it’s way towards the cather. Mike must have seen the ball out of the corner of his eye, because his face took a stern look and his body tilted slightly forward in anticipation of the upcoming slide. The Orioles catcher fielded the throw on a bounce, and positioned himself in front of the plate just as Mike came barreling home and began his slide. There was a cloud of dust, a collision, and when everything settled the catcher had maintained his hold on the ball, and Mike was declared out. It was most impressive though seeing Mike’s teammates hoot and holler in appreciation for the close play at the plate, and Mike showed his scuffed flesh around as a badge of honor.

Inning 2
The Flames still high on their inning full of heart seemed to have a little extra step as they took the field. It showed in one of the highly sought after 1-2-3 innings. The lead runner had a hit into left-center, and the Orioles first base coach gave the runner the go ahead to try and take second. Tony fielded the ball in the outfield, and threw it in to Chris who was standing nearby second, where he was able to turn and make tag to get the runner out. After the next batter struck out, the Orioles final batter of the inning popped-up the ball with Chris catching cleanly it for the final out.

Tony tried to get things rolling with a ground ball back up the middle, yet the Orioles pitcher fielded the ball and made the throw to first for an out. Gray was more successful, with a hit that proved too difficult for the pitcher to handle, and Gray’s sheer determination getting him safe at first as he beat out the throw. Madi moved Gray over with a single that was hit down the third baseline. With two outs, runners on first and second, Isaac came to the plate. He asked me how many outs we had and I told him two…to which Isaac responded by his eyes getting as large as grapefruits. I told him it was okay and he needed to just focus on the ball. Isaac did manage to put the ball into play, however, it went right to the firstbase man, where he was able to field it and step on the bag to bring the inning to a close.

Inning 3
The Flames were still working hard and managed to keep the Orioles caged for another inning. With their lead-off batter standing at first base, the second batter hit a pop-fly, which Chris caught just in front of second base. The Orioles base runner made a mistake, and ran on the play, and before they could make it back to first base, Chris was able to make the tag for an unassisted double play. The following player managed a double, but the inning was brought to a close with the next batter hitting a line drive that went right to Chris at shortstop, where he reached out and made the grab for the final out.

Pearson led off the inning for us with a hit that bounced through the infield and out into the outfield. Pearson was safe at second with a double. Chris followed up with a single of his own, but Pearson was tagged out while attempt to move over to third. Noah had a single of his own, while Chris advanced to second. Mike had a sacrifice hit that moved Chris and Noah forward into scoring position. Bubba took advantage of the moves, with a single that brought home Chris and Noah. Josh ripped a single while Bubba moved to second. Unfortunately a bad pitch on my end resulted in a third strike and the end to our inning.

Inning 4
We had done an excellent job of holding the Orioles back, and closing the gap, until the Orioles seemed to say no more and displayed some real tough ball of their own. They managed to bring 10 batters to the plate, with six of them scoring. We managed our three outs, with Chris getting his second unassisted double play of the game, when he caught another pop-up and then tagged an Oriole who had decided to leave second base. Our last out of the inning came from a ball that was hit into left-center field. Tony positioned himself in front of the ball and made a good throw to Noah at third base. Noah took the throw and tagged an advancing runner for the third and final out.

Our final at bat didn’t go well at all. I was a jumble of nerves in wanting the kids to pull things out, and it affected my pitching, with Dylan and Madi only seeing one decent pitch to two bad pitches, and Gray tapped a pitch straight down to the first baseman where it was fielded cleanly for an out.

Orioles: 14 Flames: 4

Game Balls
Mike was recognized with the “Tough as Nails” ball. Mike showed determination in heading for home plate and made an excellent slide. The catcher blocked the plate and Mike ended up getting out, but the fire he displayed is a fine example of what makes him a member of the Lascassas Flames.

Chris received a game ball for his offensive and defensive prowess displayed in the game. Two unassisted double plays, a pair of hits and a pair of runs highlighted Chris’s role.

Tony received a game ball for solid defensive play in the outfield. Two outfield assists that led to outs that kept us in the game.

Thanks
To Perry and David Lee for the help on the base paths. To Frankie for filling in with the scorebook. To Brian for managing the choas of the dugout.

Game #10 Flames vs Leanna Indians

5/17/2008 Game Date

Our second rematch of the season came on rival territory on the ball field at Leanna. We would be playing against Leanna’s top team, the Indians. Our first game against the Indians ended up as a 21-6 contest. This game showed that our defense has come a long way as we managed three outs in every inning, and prevented them from sending their maximum of 10 batters an inning to the plate in all but one inning.

Before I get into the recap, the most impressive part of the game that took place off the field was the amazing work by Dorothy in the book keeping. I managed to leave both my primary and back-up score books in the wrong vehicle, so Dorothy tracked the entire game with hand written notes that were really impressive and a great help in maintaining the consisitency of information I’ve been able to pull on for these recaps, for the game balls, and for the player statistics that I’ll be publishing in the future.

Inning 1
Isaac started things off on a positive note with a solid hit and blazing speed to beat the throw to first base. Chris advanced Isaac with a sacrifice hit to the right side of the field. With two-outs Noah ripped a hit into left field for a double, which also allowed Isaac to score. Mike moved Noah over to third with a single of his own. With runners at the corners, Bubba drilled a shot into left field that was enough to bring home Noah, however Mike had to hold up at third. Bubba was safe at second with a double. We’d leave Mike and Bubba on base as a strike out closed out the top of the inning.

The Indians best inning for them was their first inning. It is the one inning they sent up their maximum of 10 batters, and the managed to score 7 runs, before we nailed down our third out. The first of their outs came from a strike out. The second was a hit to our shortstop, where Chris made a play and tagged the runner that was advancing from second. The last one came with a soft roller that Josh fielded at the pitchers mound. With the team trying to send their last hitter all the way around the bases, Josh simply positioned himself over by third, and made the tag when the runner advanced from second.

Inning 2
The second inning could have been missed if you blinked. Between both teams, only eight batters came up to the plate, four Flames and four Indians. Each team had one hit to three outs. Our hit game from a sharp grounder from Josh to lead things off. Unfortunately we left him stranded.

Much the same way, the Indians first batter landed herself a single. Then a strikeout, grounder to Pearson at first base, grounder to Josh who threw to Pearson for the out ended the inning.

Inning 3
Our third inning had flashes of potential, with Madi starting things off with a single. With one out on the score board, Pearson poked a double into left field. The Indians got the ball in quickly and prevented Madi from scoring. We’d leave our baserunners there as a ground out to first and a strike out brought our inning to a close.

The Indians bats were working in this inning. We still did a good job of shutting down anything major, but the Indians still managed to squeeze out five runs. One real nice play was a ball that Mike recovered while playing out in left-center. In trusting his arm he gunned the ball past the cut-off man electing instead to throw for home. Josh was playing a little short of home, and received the throw and successfully made a tag to catch the Indian trying to score. The Indians brought the rest of the inning to a close themselves with a pair of strike outs.

Inning 4
Our forth inning started off difficult, with some clean hit balls being gathered up and the Indians making nice defensive plays to make the outs. So, it was with two outs that Bubba came up to bat and with a mighty swing, caught only a piece the ball and it bounced a couple of times and landed just a few feet away from home plate, along the third base line. It seemed that everyone paused for a brief second as certainly the ball didn’t stop just inside the foul line – in fair territory. Then there was a flurry of action as Bubba raced for first base and the pitcher and catcher charged the ball. The end result was Bubba safe at first base, and our inning still alive. Tony followed up with a single to the left side of the field, that also moved Bubba up to second base. Josh came up and hit his second single of the game, scoring Bubba and moving Tony over to second base. We ended up leaving Tony and Josh stranded as our next batted grounded out to the first baseman for the last out in the top of the inning.

The Indians continued to play hard, and our Flames did their best to match the effort. Noah fielded a ground ball at first base and stepped on the bag for a force out. Mike was fielding second base, and successfully tracked down a high fly ball for an amazing catch that had both fans and teammates cheering. And Isaac tossed a ball to Chris who in turn threw it into Gray at home, where Gray was able to make the third and final out tagging the runner who was trying to score.

Inning 5
We found ourselves in a situation where we needed to score at least five runs in order to keep the game going and give ourselves a chance for a comeback. Alas it wasn’t meant to be, although there was a very impressive hit that deserves noting. With one out and nobody on, Dylan ripped a line drive that made its way past the second baseman, and into the outfield. Dylan ended up safe at second base with a double, and our only hit of the inning.

Flames: 3 Indians: 18

Game Ball
The first game ball that was awarded this evening went to Josh for a pair of hits, one which drove in a run, and nice fielding and throws from his position at pitcher.

The second game ball was provided to Mike for his great catch on a fly ball that was floating and required him to catch it on a run. An really impressive feat, and one that helped bring an inning to a close.

Thanks
To Perry and David Lee for the base coaching. To Dorothy with her amazing scorebook capabilities on a couple of sheets of paper. To Brian who started out assisting in the dugout, and to the parent who stepped in when Brian had to leave for another commitment half-way through the game.

Game #8 Lascassas Cardinals vs Flames

5/10/2008 Game Date

This game was going to be an interesting measure of how well the kids progressed, as it was a rematch of our first game of the season, where the Cardinals won 19-6. Games like this are always interesting in themselves, as half the team is pointing and waving at friends and classmates in the other dugout, a clear reminder that this is a game with a focus on fun and enjoyment for them.

Inning 1
The game opened with some outstanding defensive play that had parents, players, and even the umpires excited. The lead-off batter got on base with a single. He didn’t advance beyond first though, as the second batter hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that Chris fielded cleanly and tossed to Faith at second base for the out. The next batter hit the ball up the middle, where Chris showed his range at shortstop and made an impressive stop. Chris was close enough to second that he stepped on the bag, and got the force out for the second out of the game. The Cardinals then managed a couple runs before having their inning finished when their seventh batter hit a ground ball to Josh on the pitcher mound, who in turn made a good throw to Noah at first base.

Isaac got things rolling for us with an opening single. Isaac flashed his speed on the basepaths when he went from first base to scoring at home on the hit that Chris put out in right-center field, which ended with Chris at second with a double. Noah then moved Chris over to third base with a double that he hit into left field. Bubba hit a ground ball to the first base man, who stepped on the base for the out, however, Chris showed hustle as he raced home for the score, and Noah advanced to thirdbase. We ended up leaving Noah stranded at third base, with Tony making a nice hit, but one that the Cardinals shortstop played cleanly and fired to firstbase, just in time for the inning ending out.

Inning 2
The second inning was one of the quickest of the year. The Cardinals first batter of the inning managed to get on base with a single. The second batter struck out for the first out. Another single placed runners on first and second. A pop-up to short, was caught cleanly by Chris for the second out. In a rare display of control, none of the Cardinals base runners attempted to advance on the pop-up. The next batter hit a strong shot that went straight down the third base line, where it was fielded by Bubba. Bubba stepped on third to get the force out, and end the top of the inning – preventing the Cardinals from scoring any runs in the inning.

Our second inning went quickly as well, with a pair of strikeouts (I was really wild for some reason in my pitching to Madi and she never really had a fair chance in that at bat) and a grounder to the first base man for an out. Faith managed our only hit of the inning with a two-out single that she used hustle and determination on in beating out the throw.

Inning 3
The Cardinals rebounded from a couple of sub-par innings for them offensively, and just exploded with some of the most impressive hitting we’ve seen this year. The Cardinals sent up the maximum ten batters for an inning, and eight of them scored. We got the other two batters out, however, we had to go back four games since we’ve not obtained all three outs for an inning. The two outs though were nice plays. We juggled things around a bit, moving Bubba to catcher, and Gray to third base. The move worked well for us, with Gray making one of the outs at third base on a grounder that was hit to him and he applied a tag on an advancing runner. Our other out was obtained by Faith at second base, where she fielded a ground ball and beat the runner to second base for the force out.

It appeared briefly as though the offensive explosion by the Cardinals may have cooled the Flames fire. Dylan led the inning off with a single. Isaac followed with a pop-up that was caught and the Cardinals managed to double Dylan, as he took a few steps of the base before realizing the ball was caught. Pearson tried to keep things rolling with a two-out single. Chris popped-up a ball that was caught by the third baseman to end the inning, leaving one runner on base.

Inning 4
My beliefs that the Flames may have been cooling appeared to be more my interpretation, as they seemed to take the field with an extra bounce in their step. Of course that could have been because we juggled some more of the kids defensive locations, giving a couple of them opportunities to play in postions they never did previously. While some may not agree with such a move, the fact that the players were excited about the opportunities made it a sound choice. As luck would have it, it even turned out rather decent too. Our first out of the inning came when Noah fielded a ground ball at third base, and fired it across the diamond to Pearson at firstbase. Pearson then had the opportunity to field a ball hit his direction where he simply stepped on first for the force out. Gray adjusted well to his move to left center field and fielded a ground ball that he tossed in to Faith at second, where she held onto the throw for a force out that ended the top of the inning. The Cardinals did manage four runs, but the Flames didn’t give them freely.

Noah was our first batter and led off with a shot into the outfield that ended with him standing safely at second base with a double. Bubba came up next and hit a shot to deep right that brought Noah home and allowed Bubba to get his own double. Tony hit a sharp grounder to the third base side, which allowed him to reach first base safely. Bubba stood pat at second base, as the Cardinals third baseman held the ball to prevent Bubba from advancing. Josh hit his pitch back up the middle to the pitcher, who turned and fired to third base, opting to get Bubba out at third base instead of going for Josh. Gray then hit a bouncing ground ball that made it past the Cardinals second baseman. Tony turned on his wheels and scored, while Josh advanced to second. Faith had another hit that left her safe at first base, however, the hit went to the shortstop who managed to tag Josh as he was advancing to third. Our inning ended with a strike out and runners on first and second.

Inning 5
The Cardinals flexed some offensive muscle again, scoring six more runs, however, our players held fast and obtained three outs to finish off the inning properly. One of the Cardinals fell to a strike out for the first out. The other two outs came from a force out at third base by Noah on a ground ball that he fielded, and the final out came from a tag that Chris applied on an advancing runner on a ground ball that he fielded at shortstop.

Dylan started the inning off for us with a single that he bounced down the third baseline. Isaac followed up with a single of his own that advanced Dylan to second. Pearson smashed a bomb to straight away center, driving in both Dylan and Isaac and leaving Pearson standing safe at third base with a triple. Chris hit a ball up the middle into shallow center, scoring Pearson and leaving himself with a single. A couple of rough at bats latter, we had two-outs with Chris standing on first. Tony kept things alive with a ground ball between short and third that had him safe at first and allowed Chris to advance to second. Josh then hit a ball to the second base side, where Tony narrowly beat out a race to second, while Chris scored in the confusion. Gray laid down a strong grounder up the middle, but this time the Cardinals won the foot race to second, getting there just in time to get Josh out as he was advancing from first. A hard fought inning, that netted us an additional four runs.

Cardinals: 20 Flames: 8

Game Ball
Gray received this game ball. In addition to his hit in the forth that brought home a run, Gray flashed his skills at both third base and in left-center in contributing to two key outs.

Notes: Our first rematch of the season went well. While the Cardinals managed to score 1 more run than our initial meeting, we scored 3 more, and we were neck and neck with them the first couple of innings. Over all a positive sign of improvement for the team.

Thanks
To Perry and David Lee for the help coaching the bases. To Dorothy for the help with the score book. To Brian for the help with the batting order and dugout management.