Scrimmage No. 3

(From April 24)

Hey Saints,

First, please plan on being at Snowden Field at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow for practice. We're going to start expanding our practice time to 90 minutes. That's about the limit for this age, so we won't go any later than that.

So practice at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Snowden Field. We'll wrap up by 10 a.m.

Second, I'm proud of the boys for really sticking with it during the scrimmage. It was a tough day for the good guys as the bats went silent and the ball took some wicked hops in the field.

Having said that, we still managed to generate some field gems and wood work:

• There's nothing like setting the tone for the game with a lead-off long ball, which is what Zach did when he stepped up to the plate and crushed one down the first base line, showing great speed around the bases for a home run (even losing his hard hat between second and third). Excellent work.

• Berent deserves some special kudos as he broke out of a semi-slump for a clean double to centerfield. And had it not been for his boneheaded third base coach (yours truly) falling asleep at the switch, he would have been credited with a ribbie to boot. We'll get that runner home next time Berent!

• And a hat tip to Whit who has been mired in an awful slump lately, but he is keeping his emotions in check and still legging out foul balls and making great hustle plays in the field. He made a couple of nice scoops at 1B and alertly tagged a runner out on a fly ball. Hang in there! The hits will come eventually.

• Brian showed flashes of Mike Schmidt at 3B with a gun of an arm -- he fielded a ball that bounced off the pitcher and gunned it to 1B, just missing the putout.

• Our outfield had trouble with a few balls hit their way, but they all did a great job of quickly recovering and hitting the cutoff men. Likewise, our SS and 2B did a great job of recognizing the play, rushing to the aid of their teammates and making the relay throw back to 2B.

It's all coming together, studs. Kudos to all of you.

Get baseball ready and let's have a great practice tomorrow.

See you at 8:30,
James