Well we did not whimper out of the tournament, which very easily could have been expected. Instead we won a game to stay alive and then played one of the better teams to a one run loss in their last at bat - all with only 9 players.

The game we won was a defensive gem for us. We made absolutely ZERO costly errors (in fact I can only remember even one play that may have even been ruled as an error). And we needed that defense as we sputtered and popped our way to 8 runs. God was smiling on us that game as we had a few VERY nice plays in the field as well as some nice plays that were a little lucky too.

Our final game, our final inning we broke out for 10 runs to give ourselves a 6 run cushion for the home team's last at bat. It would not hold up. I think we used all our luck in the first game because we couldn't get anything to go right for us in their last at bat. However, I think we all took satisfaction in the fact that we actually played pretty well and had a lot of fun doing it.

Many thanks to Hope Lutheran #1 for letting us pick up a player to make a 9 man team in game 2 and huge thanks to Clinton for playing with us (and hitting a home run!).

More than likely we will sit out the upcoming season and try to pick up again in the Fall. If you have not paid your fees for this season, PLEASE get your money to Coach or to the church - $38 per person if you can manage it.

Two games in a row, we come out blazing and then fade.

Last night, we scored 6 runs in the first inning only to get 2 more the rest of the game. We had last at bat and were down by 2 and could not push across any runs to help our cause.

Then tonight, in the first game of the tournament, we scored 5 runs in the first inning and only scored 3 the rest of the way. The game went into extra innings as we had to score 2 in our final at bat to tie the game. In the extra frame the other team scored 2 and we could only muster 1 and thus we became the first team to lose to those guys all year. Our defense was not much better when it mattered. Even with our pathetic offensive performance, we should have won the game if only we had played solid defense in the later innings.

Such is life for us these days.

Let the record show that Coach John pitched well enough to keep us in the game in our first contest tonight. We ended up losing the game, mostly because of poor defense - too many errors. We didn't necessarily smoke the ball offensively, but neither did the other team. We basically "gave" it to them with bad defense.

Let the record also show that in game 2 tonight we had our best game in terms of batting average and on base percentage. As a team we smacked the ball to the tune of a .600 batting average. We scored 14 runs which turned out to be enough for a tie. We went into the bottom of the ninth ahead by 2. They got their two, we got 3 outs and were very happy to take a tie against one of the better teams.

We have one more game next Monday night and then the tournament begins. I hope to have the tournament schedule posted as soon as possible.

REMINDER - IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID YOUR LEAGUE FEES YET, PLEASE DO THAT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Thanks.