Going to Colorado for Jr. Sparkler tomorrow, will be in Northern Coloradoo for 8 days.. Team is playing in the 14U Power Pool and we have some tough games in pool play. But the weather will be alot more tolerable than what it here, just like Amy said its Ridiculous in AZ...
Good grief. I don't know what got into the girls this weekend, but they just seemed to be sleepwalking out there. Fielding errors, throwing errors, strange bounces, ball after ball squirting through to the fence, etc. They went 2-1 in 1 run games against three weak teams. They went 0-2 against the two decent teams they faced (0-15 and 1-9). A -22 run differential I think? It was hard to watch as a parent, it must have been even harder as a player. At the risk of being a big ole meanie, at least I hope it bothered them and made them want to do better. It was one of those weekends to be forgotten.
And when I had to leave for the restroom at one point, I returned to be told that my DD had had an inside the park home run (or more likely scored on a double or triple with errors). :-D Everything was quite wet. Apparently the ball went all the way to the fence in left, slipped around out there and she just kept trucking. Started to trip rounding third but managed to keep on her feet and ended up coming all the way in and happily bouncing up and down on home plate. So sad I missed it.
I do have the luxury of a whole day to catch up on laundry now. I hope everyone else's weekend has gone better!
My DD's team is headed to the State Championship tournament in Lancaster, CA. Our team will be missing our starting SS/backup catcher and a good bat. It also puts a wrench into how we rotate positions when switching pitchers. It's my understanding that a lot of teams bring in the best talent from other teams in their league (or even the other teams in the District) to fill up a max. 17-player roster. Our little league doesn't have other teams 8U to draw from, and we don't have uniforms for anyone else, so we'll be going with the 11-player team we have. Besides, these girls have a bond and a chemistry that we don't really want to disturb. Even if we're headed home after 2 games at States, these girls have done better than anyone could have imagined this year.
Eric, best of luck. Though I'm not sure I'd wish a trip to Lancaster on anyone. Driving through there a couple of times was enough for me.
We'll be down 3 players this weekend but should be a fun time anyway with no girls on the bench and weather is expected to be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than last week! Just hope our team, my DD included, doesn't have the bean ball working, I swear we lead our tournament in hit baters last week.
Thanks, Lou. Of all the nice places to play ball in So Cal, who in the hell picked Lancaster as the location for the State tournament??!! The weather is supposed to be in the mid-90's, which is downright cool for Lancaster in July. 30-40 mph winds are expected, however.
Good luck to your girls. Throw strikes!!
As for HBPs, my daughter leads her team. Not as a pitcher, though.