JUNE 16, 2007 - Saturday - Mariners vs. Dodgers - Windsor - Dodgers Win 8-7

What a hard fought battle in the early morning hot summer heat. The Windsor ballfield is a true dust bowl featuring a moundless infield that always provides for interesting pitching and plays at the plate. The fact that the softball rubber is about 8 feet closer to home makes the pitches arrive faster, the throws to pick off at second longer, and the wild pitch plays at the plate more exciting.

The worst position to play on Saturday morning was definitely the catcher, due to the heat and dust. Adam carried out the duties in all but the last inning where Eli dawned the green armor for the final defensive stand that ended with the Mariner's tying run on third trying to score home on a pop fly over Brain's head at first. Looking almost safe from my perspective, I was very relieved when the ump looked at Eli's glove at home and called the runner out.... What a relief!!!

Coach Chuck brought donuts and juice for all of those who arrived at the early 8:30 hour. This was a very nice touch and a great way to start off our Saturday morning of fun. I think it does a lot of good to arrive early and enjoy one another's company.

I have been very impressed with the constant play of Zach, Nathaniel, and Aaron throughout the season. They always show up quietly enthusiastic and ready to play. Nathaniel hussled in the pre-game outfield fly practice put on by Aaron's father. I think that practice drill really helps our outfielders effectiveness as they were ready to go from the first pitch of the ballgame.

While the outfielders were catching fly balls, I took the infielders to the fence and we threw hard balls at them to get their reflexes going and to get them loose at the waist to bend and catch the ground balls. This is a drill that is very demanding and requires a lot of concentration on their part. Zach is always fun to watch as he giggles when they get through. Adam always comes away filthy from diving. Aaron always comes away looking as clean as when he started, never having missed a ball.

The wins have been kept to just three so far this year, but the last half of the season has been really competitive. In each game we have been able to find lots of hard effort by our players and they should be commended for keeping their spirits high.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Nate played a mean 3rd base.

OUT OF THE PARK - In a game filled with deep shots, Nathan came through with another home run. He has been the only Dodger to go over the fence this year, he came up with his second homer Saturday. Unlike the first home run that was a super high fly ball that just cleared the fence, this one was a power shot. It exploded off the bat in a line drive that cleared the fence by at least 30 feet in dramatic fashion. That boy has got some power and that ball didn't stand a chance.

As a side note, in talking with the Mariner coach it turns out that the pitcher who gave up the home run is a best friend of Nate as well as son of the coach. Before the game they both had been talking trash about one striking the other out and the other hitting him out of the park. I guess that we know who won that battle. The Mariner coach promised that Nate would now be cut off from any food at his house for the rest of the summer.

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JULIAN SCORES - I am going to have to review the scorebook to figure it out, but everytime I turned around Julian was on base. I have come to love watching his quiet way of doing all the right things. He has become really smart running the bases this season and he is so small that the other teams often underestimate his quickness. It was great to look at him at third base and say "Julian, we need you to score. On a past ball there should be no hesitation.... Score!"

Jeremy recovers after the game

COLLISION THREE - The most dramatic collision of the day came as a pop fly was hit to shallow left field. At shortstop, Aaron called for the ball as he ran backwards. Meanwhile Jeremy drew a bead on the ball from Left field and it was evident that neither was going to drop the ball and neither realized the other was coming. Aaron being the shorter of the two hit the top right side of his skull directly into the left jaw of Jeremy. As the collision took place it was secondary that the ball stayed in Jeremy's glove as the immediate thoughts were for the safety of our two players.

Aaron & Dad before the game

I sprinted from the dugout to left field only to find Aaron collapsed on the grass while Jeremy was holding the side of his mouth and spitting blood. Jeremy's braces had done a bad job of dicing the inside of his mouth and the swelling was immediate and the blood flowed. Aaron gave that look of "To the Bat cave" (Old Snickers commercial), being in a hazy daze. Surprisingly he came back to reality and did not want to be removed from the game. Jeremy spit out some blood and slapped his hand in his glove and let me know that he was ready to go. We really dodged a bullet on that play and the umpire took a few moments to explain to the boys what they should do in the future when it comes to calling out for the ball. This was a class act on the part of the umpire..... Maybe that is how we derived our name as the Dodgers... We dodge the bullets!!!

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