East Cobb Tryouts

Friday I backed Will down on his workouts…only hit one bucket of balls, plus I hit him one bucket, and he threw about 30 pitches off the mound. He seemed to be more consistent and fundamentally sound on all three areas of the game. Afterward we met C, A, and M at Willies.

Housework Saturday AM, then left early for Will’s tryouts/clinic at East Cobb Baseball. The A-L group went from 9:30 to 1:30, and both Sat & Sun they kept them until 1:30. As they ran off the field, all the M-Z’s were running on, for the 1:30-5:30 tryout. Eighty players in each group, divided between all the positions. Will stuck to shortstop, as he had no catcher gear…there were actually fewer SS’s than most positions. I left, but Will made an error, and was put in the “not so good” group. I returned to watch the last 30 minutes…he made a couple more errors and hung his head, but he still looked better than most of the other infielders in his group. He said he should’ve gone over to work with the pitchers as well.

Missed meeting the coach he wanted to play for, Steve. I had talked to him Thursday and he was non-committal, saying only he would look at Will, that he most needed a catcher and pitchers. Did speak to another coach, an old friend who coveted Will to help rebuild his team from scratch. Will wanted to play for Steve, with some of his buddies (it would be one of the cheaper teams to play for).

Sunday before the tryout I met another good coach who had inquired about Will, who said he was impressed with Will. Now at least three former teammates have committed to other teams. Will said he hit well, mostly hard line drives, though he dropped a few more grounders. About the time Will finished hitting coach Steve called me, saying he was going to get Will on his team. Dozens of players won’t get selected for a team, essentially getting cut.

After the 9 AM service I took W and A home. We ate at Arbys, to make sure Will was fueled for the tryout. Last night Ceil cooked lasagna, as her parents had hit town for a few days.

Saturday I showed the kids VHS tapes of me at the Cubs fantasy camp, before I learned how to hit. Also Camp SPdL 1991…lots of shots of Lang as a HS junior, and Claire. Heard the Falcons lost, so I watched the last 2 minutes of the replay…I always liked Jason Hanson.