Scrimmage No. 4

(From April 30)

Hey studs,

Kudos on another very good scrimmage; a few more timely hits, a tad more leather work and just a touch of favor from the baseball gods and we would have put a crooked number in the left-hand column. Instead, we took one on the chin from a man named Charles, who slugged a triple, a home run, drove in three and scored twice. That was pretty much the difference.

Still, there was a lot to be proud of today. The top of our order really did some work with the lumber: Zach, Whit, T-Dog and Nino went 8 for 10 with all four runs scored.

Owen, still hobbled by that boot, went 2 for 2 with solid hits to centerfield (big thanks to Khalid for legging out those hits for Owen).

As a team, we went 11 for 24 (.458) with 10 Ks.

But keep in mind: We left the bases drunk in both the first and third innings. That's six runs just waiting for a little flare, a gork, a ground ball with eyes, just one more dying quail. We get one of those and it's a different ball game.

And another important point is that we only made two outs in the field -- 10 of our 12 outs were via the whiff. When we put the ball in play, good things happen.

So hang in there. Those cheap hits will come; and the solid rips will, too.

Our leather showed flashes of brilliance. Whit made a nice unassisted play at 1B to start the game; Nino robbed Jack Lakey of a double by catching a fly ball in rightfield; Whit and Zack put together a couple of web gems in the third with Whit firing a runner out from shortstop and Zach snagging a grounder at 1B for the unassisted putout; and T-Dog unveiled a "look-what-I-found" fly out at short in the fourth.

All that field work illustrates one thing: The Hubermen were putting the metal on the ball -- they went 15 of 27 (.556) with six Ks. But we made 6 putouts in the field. That is awesome glovework! Keep it up.

Great work by all of you. The coaches and parents are very proud of how well you are playing.

Now, get ready for practice this Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Snowden Field. We only have two more practices until the real deal on Tuesday. So get baseball ready!

Here's to hitting 'em where they ain't,
James