Week Six Field Notes

Week Six Field Notes

Tornadoes

Notes from the Coach's Clipboard:

Hey Team.

Even though we fell short 12-10 to Auburn today, what a great effort!! We held them for a while, we lost some ground, and we made it up with a great half-inning that had the crowd on their feet!! Guys, great effort. I only threw my hat once, so there's nothing  wrong with this loss! Nothing that we could have done differently during our last at-bat could have prevented the outcome because we mercy-ed them. We had a couple monster hits/plays on our side as well.

First off, congrats to Colby for not only pitching two solid shut-out innings, but for having a big two run home run! Kudos goes to Joe Griffin's triple and RBI single, Nathan Wright's homer (even though he was out by technicality, it brought in the tying run in the top of the 6th!), Jack Ricci, Cameron Murphy and Jack Schneider for their bats too. Good job boys. Joe caught three solid innings and made great progress in his development. I'm proud of you son. Dominic pitched well as did Jack. We may have got some base runners on, but we were throwing strikes, keeping Auburn's bats moving, and fielding well. With a limited outfield, Andrew, Jack S and Cameron made some good stops and got the ball in quickly. I think I speak for everyone, but when I saw the size of that field and realized we were only going to have 2 outfielders, I thought it was going to be a massacre! But we held our own. In fact, it was Auburn's outfield chasing our monster hits!!!

All and all, we proved that all of these boys are ready for the next level of baseball. Everyone was swinging, everyone was moving, and everyone helped in this game in some way. Even though we were missing a couple instrumental players, we rose to the occasion and played as hard as we could. I'm real sad that this season is almost over as this is one of the most fun groups I've ever had the pleasure of coaching.

Practice this Friday and stay tuned for our weekend match times. Have a great week!!

Coach Joe

Blizzards

Dreary drizzles may have shortened the game against Auburn for the Blizzards this past Saturday, but not before they left their mark at the turf field of the Pappas Recreation Complex.   There were more runs scored than we could even take credit for due to the 5-run per inning limit.  The Sturbridge bats could not be quieted and a record 10-singles made it into the book before the bottom of the 5th.  A big bad GRAND SLAM was the definite highlight of the game!

The two-hour limit did not get the best of the Blizzards this past Sunday as they battled West Brookfield for another addition to the win column.  When the coach said he wanted everyone to make notable plays for the blog, the players listened in this nail biting five-inning match up.  Nick, Tyler, and Matt rocked the mound with a smattering of strike-outs throughout the game and Ryan and Joe let as few balls by as possible.  Key hits by Mason, Owen, and Benjamin kept the team alive and in the top of the fifth, Scooter slipped one by the first baseman to bring in the tying run before making his way around the bases with smart stealing and lightening speed to score the winning run of the game.  EDGE. OF. MY. SEAT.

Warriors

Under grey Saturday morning skies, the Warriors faced one of the best young pitchers in all of New England as they took to the field against Grafton.  Fans admired the smaller replica of one of the most beloved ball parks in the country and players felt the pain of strange angles as balls rolled into the corners beyond the warning track in front of Mini-Fenway's Green Monster.  It was a tough loss to a tough team with some tougher calls, but the kids remained highly competitive with stellar pitching, solid hitting, and prowess in the field.