Third Staight Tourney Loss

The 5:30 game against the Cumming Force started out well. Howie was the starting pitcher and Will the catcher. The leadoff batter double to right and took third on a nifty 3-1 putout. The next batter hit a grounder that Howie knocked down. The runner charged home, but Howie was able to deliver the ball home in time for Will to tag out the sliding runner. Then second-baseman Jared reached across his body to make a remarkable catch of a line drive, for the third out.

Jeremy led off the bottom of the first with a walk, stole second, took third on a groundout, and scored on an error. Sixteen more Wildcat batters would reach base, and eleven would be stranded.

Defensively Will’s second inning was even better. With one out the batter let himself be hit, and later took off on a stel of second. Will quickly threw down, but the ball sailed over to the right-field side of the bag. But the throw arrived so early that shortstop Audie continued across the bag and reached out, made the catch, and ran into the runner, while at the same time tagging him out.

After four more batters reached, a pitch popped out of Will’s mitt and bounced behind the right-handed batter. The runner on first took off for second. Will raced over and scooped up the ball, thinking only a perfect throw would get the runner. His throw to Michael was on the money, and the same magnanimous umpire called him out.

This ended the inning, but the Force had gone ahead 3 – 1. This turned out to be the final score, as neither team was able to plate a runner in the next 5-1/2 innings. The Force had eleven more batters reach, and they stranded a total of seven for the game.

Will reached base all three times. He singled to right in the first. Down 0 – 2 in the fourth he popped a slightly high pitch into short leftfield. The shortstop went back and called for it, but he was not able to make the catch, as the ball fell out of his reach. He walked in the sixth.

Will had one more defensive highlight up his sleeve. With runners on first and second and no out, the second straight batter bunted. Pitcher Chris ranged far to his right, near the foul line, picked the ball up and fired the batter out to Nick at first. Nick then noticed the lead runner had rounded third and was slowly trotting home. Nick ran at the runner with the ball still in his glove. The runner had thought the ball had gone past third! As the runner neared home, Nick tossed to Will at the plate. The runner retreated toward third, but Will made a smart play, charging at the runner at full speed, finally diving to tag out the runner…and knocking him down at the same time. This completed the double play.

Uke

Will is big into Facebook these days, in addition to guitar hero.

See that picture of Uecker in the SI article on the Brewers? Didn’t realize he was in such good shape…must be a prank.

adidas EX-4.0

Stumbled across these shoes Monday and threw them in the trunk. Will was playing kickball in his brand new New Balance shoes, so I told him to look in my trunk. Joel thought they looked cool, paired with his kaiki shorts.

He's worn them to practice tonight and last night, and they look good. Will's not one to jump on the latest brand...he's not an Under Armour fan at all.

They're perfect for him...the synthetic leather doesn't get dirty.

If a tree falls in the forest...

A huge tree in the backyard fell Monday. It was one of several trees growing on the steep bank leading down to the creek. Ceil and Anna heard it fall. The tree fell across the creek, of course, and is basically more in my neighbor's yard than ours. It seemed relatively healthy, and it didn't seem to have been a victim of the drought, where soil around the roots may have eroded.

When we moved in 13 years ago there was only one tree across the creek. Now there are three in our yard, plus another in my neighbor's. When it warms up I'll have more clearing out to do down in the creek...I like to keep it relatively debris-free, a twice a year job.

Tuesday

Ceil isn’t a big fan of MarriedLife. We have small group Friday, but Will probably has a game. We don’t mind missing his games, and a teammate lives just around the corner, but we still feel a little guilty at leaving him alone. He doesn’t mind, but we enjoy watching him play.

Ceil’s parents had paid for A & M’s Veritas from Jan – May. We’ve paid for registration and books for next year…without any promise of help.

Our new, young, busy small group leaders are pregnant. Old leader Lee’s family switched to Johnson Ferry…and they were the ones that knew the new leaders the best. Us and another couple go to NP, and 2 other couples go to JF. Seems like we’re splitting up in the fall, but I don’t know exactly how.

3rd of 3: The Pistol

Is that not Jerry West playing D?

Sunday & Monday

Anna's class danced the call to worship at both services at Eastside Baptist. We attended the 9:15 service, and Ceil & Anna stayed until after the dance in the 11:00. Ceil's folks hit the road, and I took the boys out just after them, trying to beat the P.F.Chang's crowd. We barely did, and were actually seated five minutes before the girls arrived. Lunch went well.

Finally had time to watch the Braves in the afternoon, and they were rained out. Ceil went to Dekalb Farmer's Market, and I helped M with his Lewis & Clark book.

After work tonight I went to pick up Will at Living Science. Played kickball with Willis, Joel, Andrew, Russ, Pierce, and others. The Flight basketball boys are played June 1st before the WNBA Spirit game.

Ernie mentioned Lang the other night...did you hear?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwParJoeQkc

A Long Saturday

Saturday: Up at 5:30 to take Will to his ride to Tenneessee, then back home to clean up a bit.

Anna had a doubleheader dance recital, but most of her dances were in the afternoon show.

Matthew walked and scored twice, once walking with the bags full. I made a fool out of myself, hollering that a member of the gung-ho Devil Rays missed third. Tracy actually appealed it, but Jay signalled safe. I gave my umpire friend a hard time. After the third out was recorded on the next pitch, he confessed he was watching runers touch home. I confessed that the third-baseman had been been standing on the base, blocking the runner's path.

M & I stopped by Chick-fil-A with my parents. I was able to stay for the entire 2 pm recital, which was above average. Suuny F also did a fine job in several dances, but I didn't see her parents.

Afterwards I slipped out and ran back up to downtown Woodstock to retreive Will. They finally won, besting a team from Chattanooga. Josiah, Isaac, and David chided Will, and all the boys had napped on the return trip. Thinking Ceil would bring her parents, I husted Will over to his Wildcats game, despite his begrudgement.

After losing game one, Will arrived during the second inning of game two. They promptly batted around. Angry, Will drove the first pitch over the shortstop's head. The hit bounded through the gap to the wall in left-center, and Will cruised around to third...driving in the two base-runners. He plated short one inning and caught the next, tagging out a runner at the plate for the third out...preserving a ten-run lead, thus ending the game.

We again ate at O'Charley's, and a waiter remembered our group from the previous night. I napped in the car while the others shopped Target.

More Engel Photos

Chattanooga Game Two: Similar Result

Friday I took off work and drove Will back to Chattanooga for the Lions next game. The opponent turned out to be the mighty Gwinnett Barons, last year’s home school national champions. Josiah George was the only available pitcher, and he fared poorly, walking eight.

The Lions were unable to muster much offense, with only five runners reaching base. Josiah’s triple was the only hit. Twice Lion runners reached third and tried to score on ground balls, but both times with a huge lead the Barons opted to get the runner out at home, preserving the shutout.

Will played centerfield, making a nice running catch of a line drive. Later he ran down a line drive hit deep in the gap, to hold the batter to a double.

At the plate he hit a sharp grounder the second-baseman was unable to handle, and later popped out.

Also on Thursday...

Thursday afternoon Anna had her regular ballet session, while Matthew’s Rockies had a game at six. He had his most productive offensive game of the year. Down two-strikes in the count with a runner on third, Matthew fouled off a pitch before hitting a sharp grounder. The first-baseman made a nice stop, and barely beat Matthew to the bag for the out…but the runner was able to score from third.

Matthew notched another RBI in the next inning, when he walked with the bases loaded. He took second on a fielder’s choice and third on Stephen’s single, before scoring on Grace’s inside-the-park grand slam. In the fifth Matthew led off the inning with a walk and took second on a wild pitch. He scored from second on Grace’s single to right.

With Coach Tracy unable to make the game, the Rockies won in a route, easily besting the Pirates 17 – 6.

Wildcats Batter

One Day, Two States, Two Games

Ben dropped Will off at Harrrison Park in East Cobb, just in time for his 7 pm Wildcats game, meaning Will was able to play in two ballgames in one day, in two different states. Blessed Trinity took advantage of some timely hits and a few favorable non-calls from umpires to win the game.

Will played another good game, throwing out three baserunners while catching. He picked off a runner at second for the second time this season, threw out a runner trying to swipe third. Later with runners on first and third, Will threw out the runner trying to steal second.

At the plate Will reached base, then stole second and third. Later he hit a line drive up the middle, just to the right-field side of second. Unfortunately the second-baseman was playing out of position, and he was able to make the catch.

Wildcats Catcher

Historic Venue, One Hitter

Will’s NCA Lions played in Chattanooga’s old Engel Stadium this week. Built in 1929, the old stadium played host to New York Yankees exhibitions, Negro League games, and years of Lookouts seasons.

Thursday’s game was played during intermittent drizzles, and with several Lions teammates unable to make the trip due to end of the school year exams, the team was able to field three regular starters, who had to play unfamiliar positions.

The regular centerfielder James had to play shortstop, and his twin brother Josiah, usually the third-baseman, had to catch. The rest of the team included three semi-regulars, and three young players who had barely left the bench all year.

Will was the only pitcher of the nine, and under the circumstances, he pitched a gem of a game. Friday I copied down the scorebook of the game, and discovered he pitched four no-hit innings before allowing a sole safety in the fifth inning. Without his best stuff, he pitched three scoreless innings and did not allow an earned run.

The Lions committed four ill-timed errors, that extended innings. Still, Will struck out five batters.

Will had rode to the game with Ben Hoffer, and on the way they spied an aromatic BBQ place, and after the game they stopped for a bite. The place was a run-down cinder block hut in a not-so-nice part of downtown Chattanooga…a place few sensible people would dare go.

Engel Stadium, Chattanooga

Will is playing three games in this Chattanooga ballpark:

Historic Engel Stadium is the former home of the Chattanooga Lookouts. The stadium opened in 1930 and saw its last Lookout game played in 1999. The dimensions are enormous as the stadium is 325 down the left line, 318 feet down the right field line, and an incredible 471 in dead center, which was the longest in professional baseball history. A new fence was added to shorten the distance in centerfield.
Hall of Famers that played at Engel Stadium: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Satchel Paige, and Harmon Killibrew who is the only player who hit it over the 471 foot centerfield fence.

The Yankees played an exhibition game, and occasional Negro league games were played here.

Work

Things sure have changed at work. Mike, Vikki, Melody, Maureen, and long-time temp Nichole have quit or moved on. All worked on EZGo. I took over for Mike, but no one took over for me! We have two new people, including Darryl. Randy is real busy too…it’s not the good old days, but our sales are up. Sue, Damon, Matt, and Eric moved over to TMP to handle the Imperial Bus account. Brad works in our office now, and he’s a great guy.

We’re going to Destin in June and Myrtle Beach in July…looks like we’ll put off Washington DC for another year. My son played baseball in Huntsville in April, and this weekend plays in Chattanooga, so that should be a fun trip.

weekend recap

Here’s a recap of the last few days…

Friday…dentist in the AM, haircut at lunch, left at 5 pm. Almost bought a Frank Thomas ChiSox jersey, and did get a pair of white Chuck Taylors. Took Anna & Matthew to McDonalds, dropped Anna off, then took Matthew to BP, then to small group. Got to shoot baskets for a while, as the older CPA just got a nice backboard.

From there I left early and drove to Canton for Will’s game. Bad directions, very frustrating. Will was sick, and had been hit and was sore from all the diving he does. The whole team played poorly and they lost to a clearly inferior team. Will walked was HBP again, this time in the back. The lighting was poor, and he failed to catch a high pop in short left-center. Wouldn’t have been so bad had he not been goofing off.

Saturday…some housework and errands in the morning…I quickly washed the van in the rain. Ceil had to go down near the airport to a home school book fair…she sold almost $300.00 in books. From there she drove north of Woodstock to Will’s science fair. Luckily Will’s DH was cancelled, but Matthew got to play.

Matthew walked and scored. Just as he came up to bat a second time the opposition called time and brought in their best pitcher. M had some good cuts, but struck out. Playing second, he fielded a grounder and almost threw out the batter at first…it had been a slow roller and M was playing back, so the batter beat it out. The Rockies played well with only 9 players…barely losing to one of the best teams. Coach Tracy has let every player pitch now, and the game might’ve been different had Joshua not allowed 5 runs the inning he pitched.

That evening I took Ceil clothes shopping, to the Buckhead Abbadabbas and Perimeter Mall. She dislikes clothes shopping, but Sunday afternoon managed to find several items.

Sunday after church Ceil and Anna went off shopping. Will wrote a paper, and all afternoon Matthew wanted me to pitch tennis balls to him. All told he hit over 100 balls, be it with a tennis racquet. I was firing them in there. Got to see a little of the Hawks, as well as good chunks of the Sat and Sun Braves games…more MLB than I’d seen all season.

For some reason Mondays are always frustrating here at work. Had a 2.5 hour meeting on Tuesday’s trip to Augusta.

Pistol Pic 2 of 3

Dig the stripes...many reproductions of this uni don't have both sets. The Hawks wore three sets...white, green, and blue.

Thursday

Wild about Smoltz, now Hampton hurting again…though Hampton’s earlier comments did not inspire much hope.

Will got sick, coughing etc…hadn’t slept much the last 2 nights. Yesterday’s doubleheader was against arch-rival Crown, who fared better in last week’s tourney. Will played well but his Lions didn’t, losing both games. He said he had “a few” singles. Got home after 5 pm to take a shower, before returning back to Sandy Plains Harrison Park for the Wildcats game.

They only had nine again, against a great Milton team. I was running late because of month end. In the first Will went back on a pop into short left-center, and made a sliding catch just before colliding with Audie, the center-fielder. Will limped badly the rest of the game. With the bases loaded, the hard-throwing pitcher hit Will near the shoulder, so he was in poor shape. He made a two-out diving catch of a line drive at short to end a rally, and drove in a run with a deep sac fly.

The Wildcats were ahead 4 – 2 with two out, bases-loaded and nearing the time limit, before this really big “14-year old” hit a grand slam to win the game. Will went to bed when we got home, bypassing American Idol, and didn’t emerge until after 10 this morning. Luckily today’s doubleheader was cancelled.

Because I’ve been working so hard (but really because my boss wants to butter me up to give me more work), I get to take Ceil out for a nice dinner. I know she’ll want to go to Canoe.