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

Game 7 - May 17th

I hope everyone is excited that we finally seem to be getting weather more suitable for baseball! 10 days between games is not good for any baseball team and the Grizzlies looked like it may have affected them just a little bit in the field, especially in the 1st inning. But the bats sure looked good! A few highlights:

• Congratulations TJ for taking home the game's MVP award! TJ displayed some very nice fielding at Shortstop, knocking down some hard hit balls and making strong throws to 1st base. He also had 2 sharply hit singles. I was also proud of him for making good in game adjustments. In the first inning he forgot to cover his base the first time, but after being reminded of that, he never forgot again. Great game!
• Other impressive outs were made by Brad, who gobbled up a ground ball at 1st base and Kyle, who fielded a ball at shortstop and wisely tagged out the runner going to 3rd base.
• We've been working more on hitting mechanics, particularly #1 - level swings and #2 - keeping your head down on the ball. It looks like this is starting to pay off as the bats looked solid. Brad clobbered another double and Zack had 2 hard hits that made the outfield. And Kudos to Toby who hit safely in all 4 of his at bats, the only Grizzly to accomplish that feat.

Here are some pictures from the game:

Game 6 - May 6th

OK, I'm quite sure I have not been more pleased with our team this year! You may or may not know that out of 11 Coach-Pitch division teams, we are the VERY youngest team in average age. On Tuesday, we played the same team that we played last game - that happens to be one of the older teams (their coach tells me that this is the 2nd year of Coach-Pitch for most of their players). Well, in the top of the 1st inning, our Grizzlies' bats were somewhat quiet and we didn't get any runs across the plate. Conversely, our opponent hit through the lineup and scored several runs. Things were looking a little bleak. But then...the Mighty Grizzlies came to life! I don't know what happened between the 1st and 2nd inning but wow did we look great the rest of the game and gave an older and bigger team all they could handle! Here are a few of Coach Paul's observations of the game:

• One thing I loved seeing was that several players did an outstanding job of applying some pre-game hitting drills in their in-game at bats. Over our last couple games I had noticed a few of our hitters were not swinging level at the plate and this was affecting their ability to make consistent contact with the ball. So we worked on more level swings with the hitting stick during warm up. Everyone did better during the game, but Big Kudos go especially to Jamison, Ethan, and Blake for making great adjustments in their swings. It paid off as I thought those 3 all got their most solid hit of the season this game.
• Speaking of hitting, give it up for the game's MVP, Brad! Brad hit the ball hard all 3 times including a very memorable double. Even better, Brad was down and ready on every pitch for the 3rd straight game. He's been our leader in this area. Congrats on a great game!
• More hitting highlights (sensing a theme, here?) included Zack and TJ, who also smacked doubles into the outfield, and Kyle and JD who hit the ball hard all 3 times at the plate.
• On to the fielding: Compliments to Zack and JD for making one of the season's more impressive outs. Zack popped off the pitcher's area to field a ground ball on the 3rd base side and made a rather long throw to JD, who stretched out from 1st base to catch the ball just before it hit the dirt. Wow!
• Later in the game Kyle (at SS) and Zack (at 2B) teamed up for a handful of force outs at 2nd base. They got these outs because #1, they were down and ready every pitch and #2, they knew what they were going to do if the ball came to them and they knew where to go if it didn't. Man, baseball is FUN when it's played the right way!

Game 5 - May 3rd

Today's game contained a big adjustment for the Grizzlies. As of April 27th, we are moving towards 3 strikes as an out (instead of 6 hittable pitches) in the Coach-Pitch division. It is definitely a little tougher, but it's important to keep in mind that the major goal of the Coach-Pitch division is to prepare the kids to play real baseball rules. With one of our practices snowed out this week, we didn't get as much time as I would have liked to work with the kids on understanding to only swing when the pitch is a strike. We will work more on that. But with that said, I thought the majority of the Grizzlies showed good discipline at the plate and didn't swing at balls out of the strike zone. Nice job! Moving to 3 strikes as an out will be a bit of a progression - today you may have noticed that we just did it the 1st time through the batting order and then switched back to 6 hittable pitches. But even when we do that, we will not be as liberal as we have up to this point and if the batter swings and misses, that will count as one of the 6 even if the pitch wasn't in the strike zone. Practice hitting at home...if you need to borrow a bat and a couple balls don't hesitate to ask! Let me know if you have any questions on this change.

On to the game....Congratulations to the day's MVP, Ethan! He hit safely 2 times, including the 1st at bat when we were counting 3 strikes as an out. While playing 3rd base, Ethan made a great play on a ground ball and wisely got the force out at his base. Way to be, #6!

Other highlights:

• With the bases loaded, TJ pounced on a short ground ball near the pitcher's area and quickly threw home to JD who made a nice catch for the force out at the plate
• Brad played a terrific 1st base - he fielded a hard hit ground ball and got the out at first. Later, he made a couple nice catches on throws that arrived just barely too late for the out.
• Kyle showed why it's important to be "in the game" even when playing the outfield when he picked up a fly ball off one hop and got a nice force out at 2nd base.
• The Grizzlies just keep getting better and better at being down and ready on every pitch. The players that I noticed were down and ready every pitch were Blake, Brad and Toby. There may have been others...the coaches will continue to watch for this!