Practice #6

Griggs field was home to the highest population density in the state last night. There were two games (T-ball and 10U Baseball), our practice, and Isabel’s parent/child T-ball practice coinciding.

So the two games got the real fields and we were relegated to some outfield grass. This required some creative coaching. We just played catch for 10 minutes while I grasped for inspiration. Then I had an idea. Then, Ben and I discussed the merits of him crossing the street unsupervised to run home and grab a recycling bin. He conviced me he could, safely.

What I had in mind was something I remembered from the Tom Emanski’s Defensive Drills Video TV commercial. It showed a bunch of little leaguers making perfect throws from the outfield in to a trash can at home plate.

• ESPN on Tom Emanski
• Wikipedia on Tom Emanski

Newsletter #5

Check it out at: Griggs 8U Baseball Newsletter #5 PDF

• Another game cancelled
• How to play whiffle ball!

Newsletter #4

Check it out at: Griggs 8U Baseball Newsletter #4 PDF

Game #1 Merriam Park Yankees @ Griggs

Our first game was great. The kids were on the ball and really swinging the bat!

We now officially have 19 players—that’s outrageous, and only one didn’t show up  last night. Imagine 18 fielders (without a catcher). We had at least 2 players at every position.

By the numbers

We scored 6 runs on 11 hits with 3 walks. That’s a .733 team batting average! We had 2 fly outs and 2 thrown out at first. All the hits were singles except Maria’s double to end the game (she’s signed up and officially on the team).

In the field we made a lot of nice plays (I didn’t score for the other team), including a double play. The double play was a fly out to our left fielder (well, one of our left fielders) Caleb who threw it to Ben covering second to double off the runner. I was very impressed. Unfortunately in the bottom of the inning, they got a triple play similarly. It was the first game and we haven’t covered base running and tagging up, so we let the kids stay on the bases once they went back.

Thursday we’ll split the team up at practice and work on running the bases in some tiny baseball [see glossary].

Newsletter #3

Check it out at: Griggs 8U Baseball Newsletter #3 PDF

Practice #4

I beaned a couple kids; threw behind a couple; and added 3 more players tonight—Caleb, Austin, and Cecilia. 18 players is about 8 too many. That’s very hard to manage.

We got the league rules tonight. There aren’t many.

I find it very hard to pitch at about half speed to small people. Every time I threw behind a kid though, he’d actually hit it. My best pitching of the night was to Noah and he’s one of the smaller ones. I blame tonight’s pitching on a combination of a dry contact lens, low blood sugar, and never having a good arm.

Eek!

» Perils Of Coach-Pitch Youth Baseball

Maybe I shouldn’t have clicked this link!

Practice #3

Swing batter batter, swing!

I accelerated our hitting training after finding out we have our first game in one week. I still don’t have the rules yet, but I assume we’ll go with the tee ball-like approach of every hit is a single; bat through the order; get the ball in to first on each play.

Everybody made it except Harrison, Maria, and Keenan. Michaela disappeared after the first ten minutes though.

My pitching is as bad as ever. I think I hit every kid with a whiffle ball during the first round of batting practice, but I only hit two kids with the real balls during the second round. The balls are soft, and I wasn’t throwing hard. Actually, if I was throwing harder, I wouldn’t hit anybody.

We have a few crazy swings to straighten out. We need to get Courtney’s hair out of her eyes, and we need about half the kids to get angry and swing harder.

We added a sixteenth player, Tatum. She’s the other coach’s daughter. That’s a lot of kids. We’ll be better off if a handful miss each time.

We can claim at least one success though. Everyone knows which way to run to first now!

Newsletter #2

Check it out at: Griggs 8U Baseball Newsletter #2 PDF

Positions on the field

Practice #2

Bigger turnout tonight—let’s see how I do remembering names…

• Eva
• Wyatt
• Keenan
• Jalen
• Courtney
• Maria
• Isaac
• Noah
• Michaela

+ everyone from Tuesday made it…

• DeAundre
• Ben
• Harrison
• Madison
• Rossiti
• Dryden

The Coach

I’m remembering all those names without ever having seen a roster. Reports of someone grumbling about not getting to run the bases. Tiny baseball is a bit more chaotic with 14. 12 would be ideal. Ben was TOO helpful tonight. So was Isaac—must keep an eye on those two. Most likely our best hitters will be DeAundre, Ben, Rossiti, Eva, Harrison, and Keenan. All except DeAundre will need a lot of practice. DeAundre is the kid who in flag football last year, after the coach spent forever in the huddle detailing the play, lined up at wide receiver and turned to the sideline and said “Dad, the ball is coming to me this play!” The entire West Minnehaha defense then shifted to cover him. Would have been a good time for the QB to call an option.

For tonight’s practice I broke out my k/a Japanese baseball jersey from 1991 Duluth Ragstock that has NEVER fit.