last post.....

I don't see it as possible to have year end get together where we can get everybody there. And with a 10 player team, even missing a couple makes a big difference. So I will just make my closing speech/comments in blog form.

I'm gonna go back to the draft first. I downplayed it in my house, around Vicki and Jerald, but I was pumped about the draft we had. Here is what I expected, a 10-4 finish, in 2nd place behind the Braves. I didn't want to publicly predict 10-4, because that is pretty lofty, but I thought we had it in us. And we did better. (and I thought the Braves would mow everybody down with their two ace pitchers)

The reason I liked our draft, is because we got, what I thought, were 5 of the top 9 available kids in the draft. Of course coaches all have different opinions. But when it is draft time, coaches from all teams get together and rank the kids. And for what I thought were the top 9 available in the Roland-Story draft, we ended up with 5. That meant the other 4, were split between the other 4 R-S teams. I was shocked. Apparently the other coaches had different ideas. Doesn't mean I am right, but it worked for me. And as an aside, I don't rank kids just on baseball ability, it is also on personality, and how good looking their mom is.

As usual it was cold in the spring, and we didn't get as much practice as we coaches wanted, but the guys seemed to step up pretty well. We started off with a rough stretch of 3 games in 4 days, and managed to come out of that with a 2-1 record.

Beating the Braves 2-0 was probably my favorite regular season game of the year. Love those pitchers duels. Even tho we won, our win over the Pirates was my least favorite. We walked our way to an 11 run win. Not many exciting hits, and it wasn't a competitive game.

In the post season, I really liked our tie breaker win over the Braves. It was really exciting to see Mickey come on at the end of the year, and dominate out on the mound. Of course, the last game against the Royals was pretty special too. Cody showed you don't have to throw hard. You just need to throw strikes, and have good defense.

And to that, I obviously don't know everyone's stats, but we only walked the opponents 51 times all year in our 18 games. I'm sure nobody can touch that. As a comparison, we got walked or beaned 122 times. So our pitchers prevented 71 extra base runners that the opponents gave us.

And about 10 of our walks came in our sub 55 degree days or rain, which makes it really hard to throw strikes. Our pitchers did a great job. Seven guys took the hill for us, ranging from CJs 97 pitches to Jerald's 554. CJ's totals were also helped by his 4 pitch inning against the Twins. That was awesome.

With those walks, and some hits, we got on base a lot. The lowest on base percentage on the team was .396. That is pretty good. My favorite hit was Jerald's bomb at the Carousel. But it was nice to see everybody get their cracks in. Mickey really hit some hard shots, and Cody had the shortest ones, as he did a good job with bunting this year. Grant's slap hit, after the fake bunt, against the Cardinals to get us the win was another one of my favorites.

You got my favorite wins, here are a few more of my favorites
Best walk off win--Jerald's HR in Roland against the Royals, big comeback in the 7th inning
Weird win--we 10 runned the Twins, but they only struck out once. Grant and CJ pitched, they hit the ball, we fielded it. Perfect.
Best play--championship game---Dylan to Grant to Jerald to get the guy who had just hit a base hit, and got him sleeping at 1st
Key catches--Cody in LF against the Braves, and Will with 2 catches in CF against the Yankees in the semis (while the game was still in doubt)

I'd also like to give a little thought on each of the players, so here ya go

Will was the most improved player from day 1 to day last. He really worked on stopping this dipping, and he then started to hit the ball. He went 3 for 3 against the Yankees, and I really think he has the sweetest stroke on the team, when he does it right. He is also one of the best on the team for catching a ball coming at him, and that is why he did a good job at 1b and CF.

Spencer got drafted by us because he could catch, and he did a great job at that. When you don't give up passed ball, and you can keep runners from stealing, it is a great advantage for your pitchers. He also had a great attitude, and was free swinging at the bat, finishing 2nd on the team in number of base hits, and also had the 2nd fewest walks.

Cody also was drafted because he could catch. Turns out he could pitch too, retiring the last 12 batters he faced in the championship game. His good attitude and versatility earned him a spot on the all star team. It was neat to see him grinning the entire last inning of that championship game--he knew he had it in the bag.

Matt was my mystery man this year. First time in the NSCLL at age 12. He was a little raw on baseball knowledge, but certainly had the physical ability. Not quite all star material this year, but if he sticks with it, I think his ability will really help him in the future. I'm not sure if he had more hits or words this year, it was about the same-around 10. I was really happy with how he was able to give us some innings on the mound.

Jerald breathes baseball, and it shows. I really like his focus and the desire to do the right thing on the field. He was often our coach on the field. He had a good year with the bat, and really carried us through the early and middle parts of the season with his pitching.

Dylan was another mystery man to me. I didn't know him, but he was drafted on the recommendation of Kent and Paul. Hands down, he did the best job on the team of backing up the throws from the catcher to the pitcher. That is one of the little things that 99% of the time does nothing for you. But that 1% can be a game saver. It showed he had his head in the game, and that is important to me. He didn't always have the best time at the plate, but he had no quit, and was up there taking his hacks. I like that too.

CJ quietly went about his business and did a very good job with his batting. He did his part by having a high on base percentage, allowing the sluggers behind him to knock him in. CJ is not flashy, but was solid with his defense, and always was solid with his teammates. He was always one of the first to provide support, if somebody had a bad at bat or play. In that regard, he was the rock of the team.

Zach is always Mr. Keepin' It Real. My favorite Zach story is before our 2nd Royals game. I was in our pregame meeting, trying to get everybody a little ramped up for baseball to go get those guys. I made some brilliant baseball point, and Zach says, "Wow, that is a really big garage door over there." For about 2 seconds I was mad, and then it just struck me as really funny, and it just got everybody loosened up as we had fun with that. It is a good reminder that LL baseball is not life or death, sometimes it is just to be out and having a good time with your buddies.

Mickey was King Carousel. He just dominated on the Story City pitching mound for some reason. Preseason I thought he could give me some good innings, but he really came on at the end with his pitching, and did it with very few walks (which in case you haven't noticed, drive me crazy). His bat got going too. I'm not going to pretend Mick is the greatest pitcher of all time, but the combination of above average speed and above average control is a recipe for success. He also warmed my heart, because I caught him at home practicing on a couple different occasions. (with the exception of time he was doing it with a Cubs hat on)

Grant is a great kid to have on the team for his versatility. Two years ago when I had him, he played every position for me. Don't know if he did this year, but he can pitch and play catcher, and does a super job on grounders and fly balls. You can play him anywhere. He also has a high on base percentage. I started the year with him at lead off, but he really seemed to have success hitting in between guys about twice his size. He really came thru at SS, with his catches when we were trying to put the Cardinals away in our opening round playoff game. He also really likes baseball, which gets him brownie points with me.

I also want to thank my coaching staff. They are quick to help with field maintenance and prep, and had a good relationship with the kids. Kent played a big role in the batting improvement of the guys. Paul got "stuck" in the dugout for the whole game, but fortunately that didn't drive him looney.

Also thanks to all of you that did concessions, or kept book, or umpired. It takes a lot of help to make a team go, and I was very happy with the volunteer spirit of our parent group. I do have to throw special kudos to Brad Waline. He did the plate for us for a couple games, bases on a couple more, and if not umpiring, he was keeping book or counting pitches. I do appreciate it.

I probably forgot something, if so, I'll add it in later. But in closing, this was a very special year. We had a great group of kids. Every one of them is very likable, and were an asset to the team. I can think of a play for every one of them, that was key to us getting a win--where they stepped up at crunch time, and made the play. And the key thing, they didn't drive me nuts. I had my occasional "I want to throttle him" for about 5 seconds, but considering they are 11 and 12 year old boys, that is pretty good.

We really only got to celebrate our success for about 5 minutes. So a virtual toast of root beer to the NSCLL Brewers

So thanks again for your support, and maybe we'll do it again in the future.