Today I'm sitting in a hotel room in Midland, Michigan, waiting out the rain during the American Legion National Regional Tournament. Day 1 was yesterday, and we defeated the Moline (IL) Legion team by a score of 4-1 with Andrew Wood on the mound to put us in the winner's bracket and assure that we play at least two more games.
Our M.O. yesterday was similar to what got us through the State Tournament last weekend undefeated. Offensively, we again got key hits with runners on base. As a matter of fact, after the Moline left handed pitcher threw a perfect first four innings, we erupted with all four of our runs and all six of our hits in the bottom of the fifth. I don't know the specific statistics from our last couple of weeks, but it seems like most of our runs have been scored by getting hits with two outs and runners on base. Credit goes to our hitters, who have obviously been thriving in those situations.
On the mound, Wood did what most of our pitchers have been doing lately. He gave up only four hits, one of which was a home run. Due to rainy weather, the tournament committee made adjustments yesterday and decided to use two fields and play 7-inning games rather than 9-inning games. We ended up playing at Bullock Creek High School, where only the short porch in left field prevented our left fielder Marcell Grayer from having room to catch it. As was the case last week, again our defense was great!
Andrew threw 84 pitches, which meant he averaged 12 pitches per inning, the exact average he had in game one of the State Tournament last week. He threw his fastball and changeup for strikes, and only needed about a half dozen breaking balls to basically own the State Champions from Illinois, who came into the game with a 43-6 record.
As for today, I've got no problem with waiting out the weather. I'm pretty certain that the weather is out of our control, so when the time comes, we can head out to the field and try to win our next game to advance further in the winner's bracket. The Olympics are on television and I have my Kindle, Galaxy II cell phone, and laptop to chill with.
In the meantime, hopefully the players are relaxing and continuing to visualize being successful on the field. They have played their best at the most important time of the season. I can't ask for anything more from them!!!
Our M.O. yesterday was similar to what got us through the State Tournament last weekend undefeated. Offensively, we again got key hits with runners on base. As a matter of fact, after the Moline left handed pitcher threw a perfect first four innings, we erupted with all four of our runs and all six of our hits in the bottom of the fifth. I don't know the specific statistics from our last couple of weeks, but it seems like most of our runs have been scored by getting hits with two outs and runners on base. Credit goes to our hitters, who have obviously been thriving in those situations.
On the mound, Wood did what most of our pitchers have been doing lately. He gave up only four hits, one of which was a home run. Due to rainy weather, the tournament committee made adjustments yesterday and decided to use two fields and play 7-inning games rather than 9-inning games. We ended up playing at Bullock Creek High School, where only the short porch in left field prevented our left fielder Marcell Grayer from having room to catch it. As was the case last week, again our defense was great!
Andrew threw 84 pitches, which meant he averaged 12 pitches per inning, the exact average he had in game one of the State Tournament last week. He threw his fastball and changeup for strikes, and only needed about a half dozen breaking balls to basically own the State Champions from Illinois, who came into the game with a 43-6 record.
As for today, I've got no problem with waiting out the weather. I'm pretty certain that the weather is out of our control, so when the time comes, we can head out to the field and try to win our next game to advance further in the winner's bracket. The Olympics are on television and I have my Kindle, Galaxy II cell phone, and laptop to chill with.
In the meantime, hopefully the players are relaxing and continuing to visualize being successful on the field. They have played their best at the most important time of the season. I can't ask for anything more from them!!!
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