TEAM

Whether someone has an old injury that they are still recovering from or it's a recent one, our team is working through it. Most are jammed fingers and sore arms which are normal injuries for any baseball team. We have enough people on our roster to give people breaks when needed, and our pitching staff has been strong enough to help our bats when they weren't the strongest. We have indeed become a team, which is great to see. This being my first experience on a team of this caliber I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the teammates seem emotionless when someone other than themselves did well and only focus on their individual performance? Would they do the little things that real baseball fans notice? Would we all play with the same passion? Hell yes! It is pretty hard to get unlucky enough to get a couple hot heads on your team that think they are better than everyone else. Confidence is good, but only with a correct dose. Thats why our team hasn't had many problems. We all know what everyone is capable of, and we all know what it takes to be successfull. I am proud to be a part of this team, and I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. It has been a blast so far.

A break in the weather

The Navigator's and Baysox surely appreciated a little break from all the rain we have been getting recently. You couldn't tell that anyone was acting any different, but all the players were happy to see the sun. The conditions were perfect for us to set our feet beneath us once again. Our lead off hitter had a great night at the plate, which proved to help tremendously tonight. Not only did we hit the ball well, we used almost every part of the game tonight. We stole bases, sacrificed runners into scoring position, and had a solid pitching performance.

A great moment in tonight's game: Our lead off hitter (Tre Dennis) hit a single and proceeded to steal 2nd base. At this point all we needed was a sacrifice bunt to move him from 2nd base to third and then a semi deep fly ball to score him. Our second hitter in the line up couldn't get the bunt down and then popped up (1 out). Tre, taking advantage of lazy defense up the middle got a solid lead/jump and stole third, therefor "picking up" our second batter, and making it a little easier on our third hitter. Since the game was close pretty much the whole game the Baysox brought the infield in. Our 3rd batter proceeded to strike out, however with two outs our number 4 hitter kept his composure and smacked a double, keeping the inning alive. Now that's good baseball.

"Picking each other up" on the field and in the dugout is how teams bond, and gain trust in one another. If one person doesn't get a hit one at bat, then the next teammate will. If an infielder makes an error on a ball that's hit off their pitcher, they know they are going to make the next play. That's the mentality that teams need to have in order to have success. Like I have said before, it is tough to play a game that has so much failure involved, but that is why you have teammates.

Not enough hits in a row

It's tough sometimes to look at the box score and see a team winning even though they only had 1 more hit. Sometimes the winning team has less hits, this happends when a team does a number of things (draw more base on balls (Walk), steal more bases, sacrificed more runners into scoring position/home etc...). It is really hard to win a baseball game however when you don't score any runs at all. We had enough hits to put up a couple of runs, they just happened to come when there were no runners on base. It is also tough to continue pitching without the lead for the whole game. Your job is to try not to make the come back any harder for the offense, yet tonight the offense didn't produce anything. With the weather being the way it has been for the past few days no one is out of any game at any time. Your mentality going into a game has to be the same whether it is 90 degrees and sunny or 60 degrees and raining. This isn't always easy, sometimes you field a ground ball that is soaking wet, or you slip on the dirt when you are rounding a base! Yet you can't complain because both teams have to play on the same field.

Getting it done on the road

Playing on the road is always a challenge. A two hour bus ride, new scenery/field, and fans cheering for the other team. However there are still 3 bases, home plate, an infield/outfield, and a fence all around right? We had another solid pitching performance from our whole staff, and scoring a run in the 1st inning got our offense off to a good start.

Easy guide to rebound

After yesterday's loss with Gallo on the mound it was easy to determine why we didn't end up with a win. Our bat's simply didn't get it done. As the game progressed I watched our at bats a little closer. It didn't seem like we were swinging at bad pitches, or even making terrible contact. On the contrary we made the pitcher throw strikes and work the count, he just happened to win the battle this time, and that's baseball. Our head coach Jason Falcon said it best "We just needed to put up more runs", which is usually the case in a loss, however 1 run is rarely going to get you there. Our team has a little bit of everything when it comes to our strengths as an offense, speed, power, base running intelligence, and passion. We had a chance to break the game open early on, however I grounded into a double play which prevented us from taking the lead. I felt like I had let down the whole team, but I had to forget about it quick since Gallo was getting a lot of ground balls. There was no way I was going to field consistent if I thought about the lost opportunity. When failure comes individually it helps to use someone's success to pick you up. Focusing on any kind of positive helps bring your emotion to a healthy level, therefore you don't have the option of bringing down the whole team with your negative emotion. This isn't always achieved by yourself however, I still haven't mastered the art of self picking up, yet I'm close. Chris Kowalski picked me up yesterday by simply stating "Who cares?". That's the kind of teammates you need on a team to be successful. It's baseball, that's all that needs to be said sometimes when we lose. Lets win the next one!

Pitchers spotting up

Getting ahead early in the game was key tonight. The weather wasn't great, so the energy might not have been at a great level, but it was the same for the other team. Getting ahead by a couple of runs can suck the energy out of the opposing team, and that is exactly what we did. It also gave our pitching staff a good enough cushion to fall back on, especially when using wooden bats. In any wooden bat league you aren't going to score runs unless you have a lineup that can put the ball in play with some power behind it. Sometimes power isn't even the correct term, just solid contact on the sweet spot of the barrel will do it's justice. Especially when the velocity is in the high 80's and above. Our pitchers tonight didn't even allow much contact tonight, and when they did it was either a pop up or a ground ball. When this is the case it is tough to lose.

Season so far / random thought

When pitchers shut a team down early in a game it gives their position players a lot more confidence going to the plate. This is the main reason our team has been so successful so far. We are scoring enough runs to give our pitchers a fighting chance as well. Our bats are pretty solid throughout the entire lineup, even if half of the lineup is struggling we manage to string a couple hits together. Since this is summer ball we are all very relaxed as well. At this particular level it feels like no one has to prove too much to each other, it is at this point more of a test within. Can I be the player I want to be with enough work? Can I be more consistent? Can I play the game and have fun? Heck yes! Playing for the Navigator's has made me feel like a semi-professional baseball player, therefor making this experience the high point in my baseball career. The American dream for me was to play professional baseball, and I am basically getting the biggest taste I could ask for without actually being there. What more could I ask for?

It is tough to play a game that involves so much failure and luck at the same time. That's why sometimes you just have to tip your cap, smile, and move on. As an infielder, you can't do anything about what the pitcher does, or where the ball is hit. All you can do is play your position to the best of your ability. I have been guilty of getting mad when a pitcher has given up a hit on an 0-2 count or in a big situation, but after I have seen other players react to similar situations I have really straightened my act up. Like many sports, thinking "I hope I don't look like that when I play", or "I would never put up with that if I played with them" can really separate a team. The best advice I could give anyone is to always be positive, this game generates too many emotions why should you try to bring any other kind into play?