Final Game #15 - June 12th

Our last game was a huge sucess...the players looked sharp and had fun. Overall I thought the Grizzlies hit great and fielded even better. It was a great way to end the season. Big thanks to Coach Mark and Coach Scott for stepping up and taking over since Coach Paul didn't have much of a voice that night. Our MVP for the last game was the GRIZZLIES team! A fitting way to cap our season. Also, THANK YOU to our team Mom, Joanne Law for all the work she put in this season including the end of year party, which was a lot of fun.

I'm extremely proud of the Grizzlies. We saw a lot of improvement in many areas, which made for a highly enjoyable season. I hope that everyone had as much fun as I did. Thanks for letting me coach your sons; it was a very memorable and successful season.

Here are some video clips from our last game; sorry I wasn't able to get one of every player:

Blake makes the play at 2nd

Brad's base hit

Jamison's base knock

JD & Spence get the out at 2B

Blake's double!

JD's hit down the 3B line

Spencer throws home

Game 14 - June 9th

So maybe after Saturday's out of this world performance, the Grizzlies were due to come back to earth just a little bit :-) We didn't exactly have the same energy this game. Talking to the coach before the game, most of their players were playing their second year of coach-pitch and I'm guessing that everyone noticed they were a much bigger team. So it is understandable that our boys may have been just a little overmatched. However, the other team could be full of 7 footers and it shouldn't affect the things we can control, like remembering to cover a base, backing up a teammate, or being down and ready on every pitch - and unfortunately the Grizzlies struggled with some of those things more than usual.

All that said, I was pleased that we started to at least somewhat turn it around towards the end, particularly in the field. A few nice plays included:

• Brad fielded a ball nicely at shortstop and hustled to 2nd base for the force out to finally get our first fielding out of the game.
• Toby reacted quickly to a ground ball when playing the pitcher's area and made a solid throw to JD at 1st base for another out.
• Spencer got his head in the game at 3rd base and made a couple different nice plays to record force outs.

Kudos to our 2 MVP's - Toby showed some nice hustle in the field and made the nice out mentioned above. On a day where we struggled hitting a little more than usual, Kyle was our most consistent at the plate.

Only 1 more game! The boys promised me lots of energy and hustle on Thursday night. I know it is summer and it is fun to be swimming and doing all kinds of other active things out in the sun all day, but if you can make Thursday a more mellow day before our game I think it will serve to have sharp and energized baseball players for our last hurrah. Let's end this season with a bang!

Game 13 - June 7th

I really can't think of any other way to say this...the Grizzlies absolutely RULED THE BASEBALL WORLD on Saturday! I think this was the game we've all been waiting for. It's impossible to summarize all the highlights, both with the bats and the gloves, but here's an attempt at some of them:

• The energy was amazing for the entire game. The Grizzlies were in the game for every pitch like never before.
• We again played 6 innings and I believe we got 3 outs in every one of them. It is difficult to come up with a Grizzlies player that didn't have a hand in getting at least one out over the course of the game. An incredible defensive effort!
• Congrats to our 3 MVPs! Blake had 3 very solid singles, was extrememly active playing the pitcher's area, and was alert in the outfield both fielding and backing up plays. Ethan played a head's up 3rd base getting 2 unassisted force outs at his base and was getting his bat on the ball. Finally, JD played a flawless 1st base and connected on some very solid hits, including a double. Way to go guys!
• Kyle and JD both had impressive doubles; Kyle drove the ball into left center field and JD laced a hard hit ball down the 3rd base line.
• Jamison was an animal in his first time playing 2nd base, contributing 3 force outs at his base and always remembered his assignments.
• Kyle and JD hooked up for several outs. Kyle pounced on everything in the pitcher's area and made some great throws and JD was a human vaccuum, even digging some balls out of the dirt.
• Spencer cleanly fielded a ball at shortstop and beat the lead runner to 2nd base for the out.
• Zack, playing 2nd Base, deftly moved to his right to field a hard hit grounder up the middle and got yet another force out at 2nd base.
• Toby had a couple of his hardest hits all year and was down and ready on every pitch.
• The entire team hit very well, but I have to point out Brad, Jamison and Kyle who were our 3 players that went FIVE for FIVE at the plate. Wow!

At our post game meeting, the players all committed to show that same energy in our last 2 games and finish the season strong. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Game 12 - June 6th

We accomplished something we haven't before at this game...we played 6 innings for the first time. It's great to see the game moving along at such a good pace. This is due to playing more "real" baseball like 3 strikes as an out and getting 3 outs in the field more often. But it is also due to the kids hustling on and off the field between innings, which is great to see.

The Grizzlies started off with a lot of energy and "bounce" this game and we batted through the lineup our first time out! As the game wore on, we seemed to lose a little bit of that energy and our timing seemed to be just a little bit off. However, there were some strong performances to point out:

• We had 2 MVPs! The first went to Brad, who always does a great job of being down and ready on every pitch. He went 4 for 4 at the plate, and ran the bases hard. Brad also made a couple unassisted outs at 1st Base later in the game. Way to go!
• The 2nd MVP went to Jamison. He did some things that really impressed the coaches: One was that he is probably the very fastest on the team getting down that 1st base line after hitting the ball. He never looks up and runs hard. Another is that while playing Right Field, he was always backing up throws or ground balls, an extremely important part of playing the outfield.

Games 10 & 11, May 29th & 31st

Well, we had 8 days between games due to the Memorial Day break and it may have affected the Grizzlies a little bit on Thursday night's game. We struggled to make defensive outs more than usual and our bats weren't as lively as we've seen the past. But there were still some positive things to note:

• Kudos to Spencer, the MVP of the game. Spence made a couple unassisted outs at 1st Base on ground balls and looked sharp! He showed a lot of hustle on the bases and had a couple nice singles.
• On a game where our hitting as a team struggled, Zack was 3 for 3 at the plate!
• We started the game with back-to-back-to-back doubles by Brad, JD, and Toby!

Today's game, our 11th, was a very rewarding game. We started a little slow with the bats again and through the first 2 innings we hadn't scored a run. We were making plays in the field, but falling just short of finishing the plays for outs. I thought it might be a long day for the Grizz. But then, I saw something very fun...the team starting showing some BIG hearts and turned the game around big time!

The 3rd innning we batted all the way through the lineup and had some amazing hits and great hustle on the basepaths. TJ started us out with a single and then Zack scorched one of his signature doubles down the 3rd base line! Then after Brad and Jamison kept the rally going with singles, JD smacked a double into left field. The inning finished out with more good hits by Kyle, Blake, Spencer and Ethan. Now that's what I call a breakthrough offensive performance!

Other great moments included:

• TJ, who took home the MVP award, made an incredible catch of a line drive while playing at the pitcher's area. He almost made another one at shortstop earlier and he was 3 for 3 at the dish. Stellar game!
• Kyle made a sharp play on a grounder off the pitcher's area and threw a bullet to JD at 1st base, who stretched out for the catch. Kyle was an animal playing pitcher today making good decisions and getting to ground balls very quickly.
• Toby did a great job cutting off a ball in the outfield and nearly got an out at 2nd base with a solid throw to TJ
• Zack cleanly fielded a ground ball down the 1st base line. He was smart enough to grab it before it went foul and tag the runner out.

I am sure there were other nice plays that I failed to mention above. I am really proud of the kids for keeping a positive attitude after our slow start and turning things around.

Schedule Changes

Please note the updated schedule for the rest of the year on the right side of this page. A few changes to be aware of:

- Our game originally scheduled for today, Saturday May 24th is cancelled due to Memorial Day weekend
- The practice orginally scheduled for June 2nd, will now take place on Tuesday, June 3rd, 6pm at the Rocky Top Grass area.
- We will have our 2nd Makeup Game on Monday, June 9th, 6pm at Rocky Top.

Let me know if you have any questions

Games 8 & 9, May 19th & 21st

In our makeup game on Monday night, the theme for the Grizzlies was hitting! I was very proud of the boys because this was the first game that we moved to 3 strikes as an out for the entire game and yet we had VERY FEW strikeouts! It was unfortunate that the other team didn't have enough players for an outfield because we could only take singles, despite that fact that a few of our batters got hits worthy of a double in a normal game. Those level swings and keeping their heads down on the ball are translating into more consistent batting for the Grizzlies.

• It was such a stellar game that we had 3 MVP's - congrats to Jamison (who hit safely in all his at bats and had a great attitude), Blake (who had a couple strong hits and was down and ready every pitch of the game in the infield), and Kyle (who deserved a couple doubles and always hustled on the basepaths)
• Spencer stole the show while playing 2B. He never forgot to cover his base and was there to make a couple great catches for outs - one from TJ at Shortstop and one from Kyle in Centerfield .
• TJ made a great play on a ball as catcher and wisely tagged out the runner who was heading home.

Wednesday night was fun game as we got through 5 INNINGS for the first time this year. Defense was the name of the game in this contest. Both teams made a lot of outs in the field, which was a fun brand of baseball to watch. Our bats started off a little more inconsistent and we had a few more strikeouts. But thank goodness we played that 5th inning because WOW, the Grizzlies bats came to life at the end of the game.

• Zack was the days MVP as he turned in 2 doubles (one that was rocketed down the 3rd base line!) and made 2 nice plays on balls hit to left field (one where he sacrificed his body by stopping a hard hit ball with his chest). A stellar performance!
• Brad was also en fuego in the field as he took a ground ball for an unassisted out at 1st base. Earlier, while playing 2nd, he scooped up a ground ball and threw to JD, who made an impressive catch at 1st base for the out.
• TJ played a solid shortstop, tagging a runner out that was trying to go to 3rd base and also taking a throw from JD at 2nd base for a force out.
• Ethan made a nice play on a grounder to 3rd and wisely got the force out at his base.
• Toby made some strong throws from the outfield and also got one of his best hits of the season