West University Little League

Great to have another win, and stay alive in the tournament.  While we struggled during the game, we stayed focused and finished it strong.

Recognition for tonight’s game:

BEST PLAY:  Michael, with a big double in the final inning to drive in the winning run – way to go!  Also, to Gunnar for his 4^th over-the-fence home run!  Other good plays – George with a big and critical catch of a fly ball in center field, and to Gunnar and Alex for combining to field an infield hit and make a force-out at home plate,

BEST EFFORT:  Jack, for hustling in left and center fields, backing up 3^rd base and second base.  Also to Alex and George for pitching critical strikeouts when we really needed them.

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP:  Jacob, for pitching through a tough start and finding his rhythm.

GO RIVER BANDITS!!

Way to Go River Bandits!! 

Great game by the whole team today.  Almost no errors, good hitting and quality at-bats by everyone.

Recognition goes to:

BEST PLAY goes to both Jacob and George.  Jacob, for the great catch in centerfield for the 3^rd out that prevented several Bulls runs, and George, for the big hit to right-center field that scored 2 runs and extended our lead.  Other great plays include Nick at catcher, recovering a passed ball and throwing to George (pitcher) who was covering home and made the tag on the runner stealing home.

BEST EFFORT goes to Cameron, with 2 big singles, and to Jack and Michael for solid hits that were unfortunately caught but fired up the team and advanced runners.  Also, Alex, for solid plays at first base to make several close outs, and to Jacob and Nick for sure and fast throws to 1B for the outs.

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP …. Well, the whole team is so united and supportive of each other, it’s getting harder to single anyone out for this one.

What a heartbreaker.  Despite the final score, we played a great game – good solid defense.  We fought back from a 7-1 score and were one hit away from a win.  Lots of reasons to be proud.

Recognition for some great play tonight:

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP: Shared by Juho and Gray, who continued to root the team on and build spirits during our rally and after.

BEST PLAY: Cameron, for several solid defensive plays at 2B and LF, putting out runners at 1B and keeping runners from advancing.  Also, lots of good backing-up by outfielders, especially Michael, Cameron, Juho, Gray, and Jack.  Also, great defensive plays to get the lead runner out – Gunnar (P) to Nick (C) at home plate to keep a run from scoring, and Alex (1B) to Gunnar (SS) to get a runner at 2B.

BEST EFFORT:  Gunnar – for taking 3 hit-by-pitches at the plate and staying strong in the game, following up a painful hit by pitching a very solid inning; and George, taking the mound to close out the game with 3 strikeouts, no walks, and no runs.

The game last night did not go as I had hoped.  The intention was to give the boys an opportunity to pitch and play different positions, but I did not anticipate that we would lose focus on the game in the manner that we did.  This is my fault as manager.

Now, we will re-focus the team on the tournament.  It’s time to buckle down and become the team that we were during most of the season.

I do want to recognize a few good things that we saw during the game:

Cameron May – pitched over 50% strikes including 2 strikeouts in his first game on the mound.  Cameron also fielded well at SS and LF.

George pitched only 5 pitches but 4 were strikes, and he recorded one strikeout.  George also caught very well, looked great behind the plate.

Michael pitched for the first time and recorded a strikeout.

Juho and Jack had the opportunity to pitch a bit, and learned how difficult it is to handle the pressure of the mound.

Jack and Alex each had good hits to the outfield.

GO RIVER BANDITS!

Way to go River Bandits!

Lots of energy and solid offense was needed to overcome 8 errors and 7 walks last night, but we did it!  Congratulations team on clinching 1^st place!

Special recognition goes to:

BEST EFFORT:  Gray Watson, first game back from the disabled list, makes 2 critical stops at 3B to keep runners from advancing and a strong throw in from left field.

BEST PLAY: 3 players and two plays share the award, with plenty of runners up: Nick Cerasuolo and George Bunge combine with a Catcher-to-3B tag out in the 4^th inning to prevent a critical run from scoring – and Jack Watson pounds a triple in the second inning, and scores twice in the 2^nd and 4^th on wild pitches.  Runners up include solid hitting by Jacob (a double and 2 singles), Cameron (double and a single), and George (TWO doubles and a single).  Alex’s pitching kept us going through most of the game, including a tough ice-cream-cone catch of a pop fly off the back of the mound.

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP: the WHOLE TEAM!! for staying focused, coming from behind, and overcoming obstacles to clinch the best record in AAA!

We were taught a lesson last night, with a tough 6-0 loss.  Hopefully we can learn a thing or two to take into our game on Wednesday.  We play the Bees on Wednesday at 7:45 at Braes Field (McGovern campus). 

Recognition from last night’s game:

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP: Juho Kim.  Juho got some bad bat-sting from fouling a ball off of the inside of his bat, but insisted he was OK to continue his at-bat.  He smacked the very next pitch hard for a solid single to right field.

BEST EFFORT: Gunnar (P) and Nick (C) combining to almost tag out a runner coming home in the 1^st inning. 

BEST PLAY: Jack Watson’s big hit to right field in the 3^rd inning; also, Alex (1B) and George (3B) combining to make a double play in the 1^st inning by catching a runner off base – good awareness by both players.  Runners’ up: Cameron, with a big single to RF in the 2^nd inning; George, with a force out at 2B in the 4^th inning (good awareness again), and Jack, with a text-book centerfield play in the 4^th inning to keep a big-hitting batter on 1B.

Congratulations Bandits on beating the mighty Express…

Amazing performance by Gunnar – 2 hit over the fence, and a couple of very solid innings on the mound.

Recognition goes to:

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP:  We struggled offensively as a team last night, with several players recording multiple strike outs.  Recognition goes to those players who were able to shake it off and perform well on defense. 

BEST EFFORT goes to Juho Kim, who was able to turn a walk into a run by taking 2B, 3B, and then Home on passed balls.  Also saw great baserunning from Cameron and Jack – Cameron sliding into home under the tag, and Jack manufacturing a run after finding himself stuck between 3B and Home – way to take advantage of the confusion!

BEST PLAY goes to Gunnar Gregg, hitting not one but TWO home runs, over the centerfield fence!  I believe Gunnar is the only AAA player to hit over the fence this season, recording 3 so far (but more to come…)  Gunnar also pitched a great two inning.  Runners up include Jacob, who pitched a solid 2 innings giving up no earned runs, to Jack catching a big pop fly in centerfield which prevented at least 2 runs, and to George making a 3B-to-1B put-out look easy, and for making a smart force-out at 3B.

Congratulations on last night’s win!

Recognition to:

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP goes to Michael Kaplan, for keeping a positive attitude in the dugout and in the field after having a tough night at the plate.  Recognition also to Juho, for continuing to keep the team fired up in the dugout.

BEST EFFORT goes to Jacob Tulek for aggressive base running in the 1^st inning, trying to turn a solid double into a triple and almost making it.  Runners up include Jack and Juho, both making solid outfield plays which kept runners on 1B after two big hits; to George for pitching – George started pitching the third inning with a walk, then held on for a strikeout; and Alex, for coming in to a high pressure situation at the bottom of the 6^th to pitch for the final out of the game, with 2 runners on base.

BEST PLAY goes to Cameron May and Gunnar Gregg, both hitting triples which turned into multiple-run home runs, putting us into the lead each time.  Runner up to Jacob, who pitched a great first two innings, recording 5 K’s and no walks.

Very good pitching last night – all 4 of our pitchers threw over 60% strikes, and as a team we threw 11 strike outs and only gave up 2 walks.

GO RIVER BANDITS!!

Recognition for last night’s performances:

BEST SPORTSMANSHIP goes to Gray Watson, for coming to the game and supporting the team from the dugout, even with an injured wrist.  Shared with Juho Kim, who is always energetic, loud, and positive in the dugout.  Lots of great noise and positive spirit!

BEST EFFORT goes to Juho Kim, hitting a single in the second inning – way to go!  Runners up: Nick Cerasuolo at catcher, chasing down a passed ball to keep a runner on 3B from scoring; and a combo of Gunnar (catcher), Alex (pitcher), and Geoge (1B) for attempting, and almost making, a double play in the 5^th inning where Gunnar called the play out from catcher, Alex made the catch and quick throw to 1B, and George was ready and stretched out on the base and made the catch.

BEST PLAY goes to George Bunge for clever baserunning – in the 2^nd inning, George led off of 2B when a grounder went to the Express’ short stop, forcing the SS to hold the ball rather than throw down the baserunner approaching 1B.  This allowed Juho to make it to 1B and George remained safe at 2B.  Runners up: George’s throw from 3B to 1B in the 1^st inning for our 3^rd out of the inning; Michael’s great lunging catch of a line drive in the 4^th inning; Nick’s perfect slide into 2B in the 4^th inning, barely beating the tag.

GO RIVER BANDITS!