For older folks in Milwaukee, Spahn and Sain and two days of rain used to sound pretty good. Well, here in Magnolia we have yet to find our Spahn or Sain, but we seem to have the rain down. After a weeks delay for rain, MBC resumed tournament play on Saturday. Without Spahn or Sain in the lineup MBC went down 6-1.
Chris Luttinen pitched like Spahn. Chris went four innings and gave up three UNEARNED RUNS while allowing just two hits. The team’s lefty and franchise player Sam Deane came in for the final three innings and was not sharp early. Before Sam could turn around he had given up three runs. He quickly settled down and was his same old self blanking the Bombers for his final two innings.
The hitting frustrations continued. MBC had chances but could push but one run across against pitchers who should have received harder treatment.
Stuart Fairchild, Tino Peleti, Ryan Doerfler, and Kennan Heller all recorded hits for Magnolia.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Magnolia Falls to Rock Creek 7-3
MBC 13’s learned more lessons and lost another pre-season game 7-3. Walks and errors do add up and make games slip away. The good news is the bats started to show a glimmer, late in this game, showing signs that this team will turn it around soon.
Jimmy Sheldrup started for MBC and threw four fine innings. His first two batters reached on a hit and an error (and scored) but then Jimmy settled down and mowed for four innings.
Spencer Hogger entered to pitch in the fifth and was shown just what happens when you cannot throw strikes or get the ball down. Four hits and three walks later four runs were in and Spencer was running for cover. Nick Reeves came in to put the fire out and battled for the rest of the game and suffered some when his defense could just not seem to make the play to get off the field.
Hitting wise Andrew Kennedy was the star with a 3-3 night which included two doubles and 3 RBI. Mitchell Smith, Tino Peleti, Nick Reeves and Campbell Queen each added hits. Campbell Queen’s hit was a huge triple over the center fielders head and he made it all the way to second base.
Jimmy Sheldrup started for MBC and threw four fine innings. His first two batters reached on a hit and an error (and scored) but then Jimmy settled down and mowed for four innings.
Spencer Hogger entered to pitch in the fifth and was shown just what happens when you cannot throw strikes or get the ball down. Four hits and three walks later four runs were in and Spencer was running for cover. Nick Reeves came in to put the fire out and battled for the rest of the game and suffered some when his defense could just not seem to make the play to get off the field.
Hitting wise Andrew Kennedy was the star with a 3-3 night which included two doubles and 3 RBI. Mitchell Smith, Tino Peleti, Nick Reeves and Campbell Queen each added hits. Campbell Queen’s hit was a huge triple over the center fielders head and he made it all the way to second base.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Slow Start to Season; MBC Loses Opener
The Magnolia 13’s got a slow start out of the gate for the 2009 season, losing 3-0 in the tournament opener to the Brewers. In the first inning, with two outs MBC walked in two runs. Two infield errors in the second opened the door to another run. All the scoring in the game happened early, and MBC was not ready early.
From the third inning on, MBC found their gloves and the strike zone and redeemed themselves defensively. Things improved offensively as well, but the Brewers made the plays needed to keep MBC scoreless. Mitchell Smith tallied MBC’s lone hit, but Spencer Hogger, Tino Peleti, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Reeves and Jimmy Sheldrup all tagged balls that had some hope before landing in Brewers gloves.
It was a tale of fire and ice (though not as cold as we thought it would be) from the mound. Hard throwing Tino Peleiti threw 36 pitches in his two innings (18 for strikes) and, while the Brewers had difficulty putting the ball in play, his four walks and our two errors led to Brewer runs. Soft throwing Sam Deane threw 57 pitches (39 for strikes) and shut the Brewers down for five innings. Keeping the ball in play early in his counts and having solid defense behind him was his recipe for success. No plays were bigger than Stuart Fairchild’s barehanded grab and throw to get out of a jam in the third and Nick Reeves’ unassisted double play in the seventh.
From the third inning on, MBC found their gloves and the strike zone and redeemed themselves defensively. Things improved offensively as well, but the Brewers made the plays needed to keep MBC scoreless. Mitchell Smith tallied MBC’s lone hit, but Spencer Hogger, Tino Peleti, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Reeves and Jimmy Sheldrup all tagged balls that had some hope before landing in Brewers gloves.
It was a tale of fire and ice (though not as cold as we thought it would be) from the mound. Hard throwing Tino Peleiti threw 36 pitches in his two innings (18 for strikes) and, while the Brewers had difficulty putting the ball in play, his four walks and our two errors led to Brewer runs. Soft throwing Sam Deane threw 57 pitches (39 for strikes) and shut the Brewers down for five innings. Keeping the ball in play early in his counts and having solid defense behind him was his recipe for success. No plays were bigger than Stuart Fairchild’s barehanded grab and throw to get out of a jam in the third and Nick Reeves’ unassisted double play in the seventh.
Monday, March 2, 2009
First Action for MBC 13's
The Magnolia Baseball Club played their first game against a live opponent yesterday. It was an impressive performance for a team that had yet to see a field. MBC played the Stod’s team head up for nine innings and the final score was 4-4.
The results were the opposite of what I would have expected. After spending all winter hitting inside, defense was our strong suit and the hitting came up lacking. I guess there is a big difference between BP and having someone on the mound who WANTS to get us out. MBC pounded out seven hits, but struck out an unacceptable sixteen times! The good news is that if you had a bad day at the plate, you were not alone. My advice is to shake it off, it was our first time out, and we will get better.
I am reminded of a story an old friend of mine who was a college coach told me. He once traveled all the way to Ohio to watch a prospect play. In the only game he could watch, the boy struck out four times. The prospect was devastated and then perplexed when the coach offered him a scholarship. The coach told the boy that he had just seen the twelve best swings he had seen in ten years. Moral – Keep swinging, good things happen when we swing the bat.
Defensively MBC played very well. The gloves showed a lot of promise and both coaches were impressed by the hustle and effort displayed. Our pitchers threw strikes and the team backed them up, what more can we ask for?
The team showed great promise of team work. The talk was positive all day and teammates showed great support and appreciation for plays attempted and made. The best demonstration I heard all day of team work was from Ryan Doerfler. Nursing an injured leg, and limited in his ability to run and defensively contribute his primary contribution was warming up pitchers, not a pleasant task. I took pity on him around the sixth inning and offered to warm up the next pitcher. Ryan remarked that he preferred to do the job himself, he wanted to help the team.
And though it is early in the season, just want to put a shout out to all of those who either followed the game on the radio or after asking their son how did the game go and heard "OK, I guess" that there are still good seats available, as shown below.
The results were the opposite of what I would have expected. After spending all winter hitting inside, defense was our strong suit and the hitting came up lacking. I guess there is a big difference between BP and having someone on the mound who WANTS to get us out. MBC pounded out seven hits, but struck out an unacceptable sixteen times! The good news is that if you had a bad day at the plate, you were not alone. My advice is to shake it off, it was our first time out, and we will get better.
I am reminded of a story an old friend of mine who was a college coach told me. He once traveled all the way to Ohio to watch a prospect play. In the only game he could watch, the boy struck out four times. The prospect was devastated and then perplexed when the coach offered him a scholarship. The coach told the boy that he had just seen the twelve best swings he had seen in ten years. Moral – Keep swinging, good things happen when we swing the bat.
Defensively MBC played very well. The gloves showed a lot of promise and both coaches were impressed by the hustle and effort displayed. Our pitchers threw strikes and the team backed them up, what more can we ask for?
The team showed great promise of team work. The talk was positive all day and teammates showed great support and appreciation for plays attempted and made. The best demonstration I heard all day of team work was from Ryan Doerfler. Nursing an injured leg, and limited in his ability to run and defensively contribute his primary contribution was warming up pitchers, not a pleasant task. I took pity on him around the sixth inning and offered to warm up the next pitcher. Ryan remarked that he preferred to do the job himself, he wanted to help the team.
And though it is early in the season, just want to put a shout out to all of those who either followed the game on the radio or after asking their son how did the game go and heard "OK, I guess" that there are still good seats available, as shown below.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Gentleman, Start Your Engines
Oh Boy, Oh Boy we start again this Saturday at 4:00. Cannot wait to get back to it. Time to break out your bats and come out the Strike Zone and start getting in shape for baseball.
And one more thing..... Last night I caught a bit of a Mariners game on FSN. They replayed the 116th win. Start checking your FSN listings, I think in this downtime of sports they may start showing more old Mariner games on TV.
One thing I was really struck by last night in watching the old successful Mariners was the patience at the plate that "those" guys showed versus the hack at everything current Mariners.
And man oh man do I miss guys like Stan Javier and Mark MacLemore.
And one more thing..... Last night I caught a bit of a Mariners game on FSN. They replayed the 116th win. Start checking your FSN listings, I think in this downtime of sports they may start showing more old Mariner games on TV.
One thing I was really struck by last night in watching the old successful Mariners was the patience at the plate that "those" guys showed versus the hack at everything current Mariners.
And man oh man do I miss guys like Stan Javier and Mark MacLemore.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Possible Threat to Program
If you have heard the rumor, I am have to come clean and tell you the rumor is true!
Yes, Coach Cougan is contemplating abandoning the 13 year old team IF, and only IF Magnolia Baseball Club does recruit enough players to field a 1 and under year old team this year. This is only because his grandson Eli will be eligible for the team. Eli HAS signed up, but currently the roster is stuck at ONE player.
And yes, the answer to your other question is that I PULLED HIS PANTS UP LIKE THAT. After changing him I could not resist the chance to embarrass my daughter Kelsey and to embarass Eli by trying to make him look like a little old man!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Pitching Clinic
Jamie Moyer will be in town this weekend. He and Karen are coming up for the mandatory parent/player meeting 6:30 Sunday at the Magnolia Community Center.
As a bonus, Jamie will put on a pitching clinic on Saturday during our cage time at the Strike Zone. It will be for all of our teams 13-16, and will be fairly crowded (just a warning). At this time it looks like he will talk for about a half hour and then we will take turns on the bump, do some throwing and get a chance for some Jamie feedback.
Catchers - be ready to do some catching, gloves, mask and cup.
The clinic will span from 4:00 to 7:00.
Based on the crowd I have two warnings for you all.
#1 Parents - as cool as this sounds, there is probably no room for you to hang and listen. You can probably be in the room if you had planned on waiting, but the place will be teaming with kids.
#2 We might not have time to get all our guys to throw with Jamie instructing. We probably have time for 5 or 6 pitchers per team. Sorry, that is just the way it is.
Bring your ears, bring your questions and enjoy the experience. We will probably get some hitting in as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
