APRIL 30, 2007 - OPENING DAY - Dodgers (6) at Braves (5) - DODGERS WIN!

The opening day jitters were less than we anticipated as we were able to manufacture runs and come away with a win. Matt. Jeremy, and Elijah all went for 2 innings a piece on the mound. The word for the day seemed to be “Balk!” Coming from the younger leagues where there was no leading off the balks were not that common. Having to pitch from the stretch is a new aspect to the game and it will take a few more games to finally rid us of the balk bug.

Julian hit the first pitch to open our season.

BASES LOADED - I have to give our team a lot of credit when the Braves had the bases loaded and they were just about to break the game wide open when we came back and held them for either two or three consecutive outs and held them scoreless for the inning. You could see the pressure on Jeremy’s shoulders as he did his best to pitch his way out of the inning. At-A-Boy Jeremy!

These bases loaded situations are frustrating for the coaches who can only look on, and yet quite rewarding when we watch these young men make the great plays that shut down their opponents. Hopefully our fans in the stands realized that there was never really a big hit for the other team. Our outfielders were great today. And while every ball was not caught, the outfielders kept after them and chased them down and fielded them beautifully.

BIG HITS - Matt gets the award this week for having the biggest hits. Before the game Coach Chuck had the impression that Matt was to hit clean-up today and it paid off. At-A-Boy Matt!

TO THE BACKSTOP - As a proud father I must comment on the improvement of my son Adam behind the plate. Last Saturday we went to the local ballfield and he donned the gear and had me throw over 200 wild pitches to him. The long winter months had softened his reflexes a bit. Then he took his glove off and had me throw another 100 pitches into the dirt in front of him while he used just his shin guards, chest protector, and face mask to stop the wild pitches. Their is nothing intuitive about putting your body in harms way. Today, during the game, it was very evident that our practice was paying off. As the season progresses there will be fewer and fewer wild pitches, but for now it is a free for all behind the plate. At-A-Boy Adam!

SUNGLASSES - Playing right field is tough in the afternoon sun at the Orem City Center. Nathaniel did a great job of fielding a deep ball hit over his head and into the sun. And even though he lost it for a moment he quickly picked it up again and chased it down. We don’t expect our players to catch every ball, but we have high expectations that they will chase it down and get it back into the infield. At-A-Boy Nathaniel!

GAME WINNING RBI - Brian came to the plate in the top of the 6th inning and drove the ball hard scoring our go ahead run. I don’t know if he realizes how important that hit was. Without it we would not have taken the lead and may not have pulled off the win. At-A-Boy Brian!

GAME BALL - Today’s game ball was awarded by Coach Chuck to Elijah. I don’t know if it was for his outstanding catch running from shortstop to shallow center field, or the outstanding final two innings of pitching. Overall Elijah had a great game and he deserved the game ball.

IN SUMMARY - Today’s win was a team victory. Every player contributed and we are learning that each of our players is valuable to our team. Both as a coach and as a father I am really looking forward to this coming Friday night’s game.