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Buckmaster

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My team is ready to go. We play 2 games tomorrow and based on how we fare will seed us for positions on Sunday in the bracket.

If successful we could play 5 games this weekend.

Let the fun begin.
 
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brock ratcliff

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Yeah, we always started February 1. Now they don't start until February 19 and did very little once they did get rolling.
The varsity is loaded with kids that have played a lot of travel and legion ball, good players. Makes no difference since pitching has been completely overlooked. It's laughable to see the coach so frustrated and cussing, knowing their struggles are his fault for the most part. I think they have lost the last four games. Everyone has sore arms. Ha. What would you expect? Morons like this are the reason there are now pitch count rules.
 
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Buckmaster

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Today is a wrap....we won the first game 9-1. My son Brendan pitched the first 3 innings striking out 8, walking 2, and gave up a hit. He had 67 pitches and 39 were strikes...for a 58% strike ratio. He just turned 10 years old a couple weeks ago.

Game 2 we ran up against a buzz saw that chopped us off with a 13-2 loss.

We finished today as the #3 seed playing in tomorrow's tourney. I think we will win our first game tomorrow then face off against the "buzz saw" team again.

....just knocking off some rust...

Some mini-Me pics...(I'm TOO old to play; therefore...I Coach).
 

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Buckmaster

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....and we made it to the semi finals and lost as I had expected.

Game 1 we won 16-3. Brendan threw 11 pitches in the first inning, struck out the lead off batter, then batters 2 & 3 grounded out. 6 strikes/5 balls and complaints of a sore shoulder so he got the hook after the first. He did well this weekend throwing 4 innings of baseball, 9 strikeouts, 2 walks, and giving up one infield base hit.

Game 2 we ran into the buzz saw team that beat us yesterday. Today they threw out their "heat" pitching unit which intimated our bats. We lost 13-1.

Good practice for us in the early bird tourney.

Our regular season begins in about 10 days.
 

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brock ratcliff

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Mason's first HS season is in the books after taking a whoopin last night in the first round of tournament play.

They played Logan Elm, the fine school I graduated from in 1990. I was excited to see them play as the man that is coaching LE is a long-lost friend of mine. Actually, he was a fairly young teacher when I attended and his dad was my varsity coach. Scott did not want to coach baseball back in the day due to interfering with mushroom hunting. LOL He waited until late in life to have a family and now his son is playing varsity baseball so he decided to step in to help the program. His dad was the varsity coach at LE for over 30 years, his brother did the same at Westfall, and now Scott is at the helm at LE... fitting, if late.

I was excited as heck when I saw Vic, my coach, walk up to watch the game. He must be in his mid-80's now and is still in surprisingly good health. What a freaking joy to catch up with him! I left the conversation without making my way over to the dugout to speak with Scott. I didn't want to bug him before the game but his dad told him I was there and the next thing I know he is yelling for me from the dugout. I enjoyed chatting with him while standing in the enemy bunker. LOL. Needless to say, I returned to the Greenfield side of the field to be called a traitor, etc.

So we run two pitchers out through most of 5 innings. LE enjoys the batting practice while our bats are a little sluggish. 12-3, bases loaded, two outs. They make the call to run Mason out to the mound. Two pitches, kid pops up and we are out of the inning.

Bats remain silent on our side of the 5th. Top of the sixth, three pitches, K. Next batter, 0-2 count, pops out to second. Last batter, three pitches, K and out of the inning.
Bats again remain dead for Greenfield.
Top of the 7th, first two outs consist of another K and a groundout, I think. Third batter has a solid gapper to the right side, advances to third on a throwing error. Mason is called for a balk that was NOT a balk, (verified with my former coach), runner advances to home. Third out is acquired by K.
Bats again remain silent, we lose deservedly.

My former coach approached me after the game, his wife offering some of her famous cookies. He was impressed with young Mason's approach to pitching, and the fact that he had just issued so many K's to a team that had only had one prior to his entering the game. He was sharp last night, on point if you will, and if your team is gonna take a humiliating butt whooping, you might as well look great in front of your Dad's old HS coach and friends from his old stomping grounds. In fact, my old coach inquired if we'd ever thought about moving back home so Mason could play with LE. :)

Jesse; to the point we discussed this weekend, Scott said it drives him nuts, too, that today's kids could care less if they win or lose as long as they get to participate a little. It aint just in Greenfield and Washington County! Most of them just don't have the competitive desire!
 

Buckmaster

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Most of them just don't have the competitive desire!

Nope, maybe 1-2 per team. It's those video games. They didn't have them when I was growing up. We played baseball and other sports from daylight until dark all summer behind the fire station. Community pickup games. That's a thing of the past now....which I am thankful to have played a part of in my younger days.

Our team is now 3-0 in the regular season. My boy is putting up some lights out numbers that I'm a little too humble to share at this point in time. I'll post them up after he delutes them down a little. He's doing well.
 

brock ratcliff

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I made the mistake again of putting faith in local kids. I planned to take kids from our varsity and JV squads to play in the Hillsboro league (17u). Turns out the majority of them don't mind sucking and didn't want to work on their game during summer. I had 8 kids wanting to play so I didn't have enough.
I had bypassed travel ball for Mason in an effort to help out HS boys. It almost cost Mason a summer of baseball- I won't make that mistake again! I put him in at the last minute for the general draft in Hillsboro.
He's had two practices. I like his coach really well. 60 years old w 30 years of umpiring HS baseball. No nonsense kinda guy but has a good time at practice. Mason said he reminds him of me, which is of course good. Lol
So tonight was the first time he saw any of the kids pitch. Mason was the first to throw. He was on point. We have not wasted our down time since school ball and he is in the groove. His velocity is way up from what it was just a few weeks ago, change up drops a foot.... it's just a thing of beauty to watch, all of his pitches move a LOT. The coach caught 8-10 pitches, walked off the field and came directly to me to ask if I had contacted scouts He said "I've never seen a 14 year old kid with that kind of talent. You need to have him seen ". Lol. All I could say was, "I told ya he could pitch".
I don't see this team winning many games, but at least Mason will be playing with what seems like a good group of kids that want to play even if they aren't overly talented.
 

cotty16

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Brock, it is the same everywhere. Most kids do not want to commit to playing all summer anymore. I tell my players, "if you don't play this summer... don't come out next year." That is the only way I get them out there. Not everyone, but a lot. If the varsity has 13 kids, only 5 truly want to better themselves over the summer.

The growth of travel ball and the dying of the American Legion system has not helped either. With that said, I've joined the travel ranks this year and abandoned legion ball. I was diehard legion, but the system is decimated.

Both boys are playing for the 17u Pittsburgh Outlaws. We head to Johnson City, Tn in a few weeks. Then we go to the Worthington Wood Bat Classic in Columbus, Rocky Mt. NC, Jacksonville, Illinois, back to Columbus for the Ohio Elite, and Pittsburgh twice. It's gonna be busy but fun!

I wish I could see Mason pitch in person! Maybe sometime this summer our paths will cross at a tournament location. Or, better yet, he can come live with me the next 3 years!
 

brock ratcliff

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Get me the dates you play in Columbus. We will try to make it up for a game or two. If timing allows, that would be awesome. I wish we had pics of those three three throwing baseball down at Strouds to see how theyve all changed in the last few years!
What's most frustrating is knowing the majority of kids will never play beyond HS and they don't seize the opportunity while they have it. If I knew for a fact I only had two or three years left t fish, I wouldn't leave the lake for food or sleep. :)
 

brock ratcliff

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One Kid said he wanted to work. I told him not to be an idiot 'cause he'll have his entire life to be miserable at work. His mom was standing right there telling him the same thing! Nope, wants the work.... and he's one of them with some talent as a catcher. I know I could have helped him tremendously over the summer. He will be a junior next year, happy being average.
 
Getting caught up on everyone's baseball for the season.

My daughter ended her season with her team making it to the post season for NJCAA in their division. They won their first game and lost 2 after that to get bumped out. Was one of their best seasons to date I guess. She ended up with 2 team awards, one was best defensive player and the other was top hitter. She ended her season with a .520 batting average. Couldn't be more proud of her!

My son's team has been a bit of a disappointment this season. They didn't practice nearly as hard as years past and practice wasn't mandatory all the way up til the start of games. Just has made it tough for all of them to be on the same page and at 13U they should be by now. We had 3 tournaments we were signed up for and were notified about a week before the first one that it was cancelled and one of the other tourney's was cancelled as well. They mentioned finding others but have not pursued them at all. So we just have the league play and one tourney for this season. They've won one game out of 9 so far. I really think all of the returning players as well as my son have all gone backwards to some extent. Just not what we thought we would be seeing this time of the year.
 

brock ratcliff

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Bummer news about your son's team, Chuck. Baseball is like anything that's worth doing, if youre going to do it well, it takes work. Glad to hear your daughter has faired far better and had a good season.
 
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bowhunter1023

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Baseball in a different form entered my life (again) tonight. I ended my "retirement" from the adult league after 4 years off. Felt good to be back on the field. Defensively, I can still make a difference. But my bat will need some work. K'd my first AB after a couple good hacks, but whiffed on a curveball. Drove in the go-ahead run in the to of the 6th on a FC after beating out the DP attempt, so that was a positive. We have a real talented pitcher who is a head case and he imploded in the bottom of the inning, giving up 3 runs. We lost 4-2.

Sure missed the game that's for sure! The league has a much different feel now though. Average age when from mid-30s to mid-20s. Lots of good young ballplayers in the league now, so the competition is legit. Should be a fun season.
 

brock ratcliff

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I watched the second most pitcher dominated high school age baseball game I've ever seen tonight. The most impressive game was one I played in back in 1988. Tom Engle owned our team. No surprise there, he also owns even today the national record for consecutive no hitters in HS baseball-6. He pitched with the Mets until 1995 when his arm gave out.
My 14 year old has officially impressed the heck out of me. He's playing in this 17U league. Gave up 3 runs, all unearned, walked 1 and struck out 17 over 8 innings tonight. He threw 116 pitches over 8 innings, drove in the winning run and scored one Of the other runs. This was against the only undefeated team in the league.... I tell ya fellas, if the kid keeps maturing and getting stronger, he may well get old Toms 30 year old record in a few years.