Victoria Day Weekend

Lucas's baseball team had another big win tonight, and Lucas had his best batting performance to date. In his first at-bat, he got 4 balls, which usually means a walk at the pro level, but in their league, after 4 balls, they hit off a tee.

Lucas has hit off the tee at least once before, and it was a relatively soft hit into the infield, which I think got him a single. I was expecting more of the same tonight when--CRACK!--he knocked it well into the outfield. The end result was his first double. Woohoo!

His second at-bat wasn't quite as impressive, but he popped up and it dropped between the pitcher and catcher. At first, I thought it was a foul ball, as did all the kids, but then the coaches started screaming at him to run (and the opposing coaches shouting for their kids to throw the ball to first). Lucas was able to outrun the throw and got his second hit of the game, a single.

So 2-for-2 on the night. Not a bad showing!

Last weekend (May 21-23) was Victoria Day weekend in Canada, and we kept pretty busy. On Sunday, we were invited to go fishing with some friends on their boat. It was a really fun time, made all the better that we had some success. I caught a crappie (worst name ever for something you can eat) and a sunfish while Lucas caught a bass. Ed, the owner of the boat, caught a pike, which was cool since I'd never seen one in the wild (i.e., outside of an aquarium). The bass was out of season so Lucas had to throw it back in--or rather I did, since he wouldn't touch it--and we didn't keep the sunfish, but Ed kept the crappie and pike for eating. Here's a few pictures from that experience.

In addition to that, on Sunday, we went downtown for the annual Tulip Festival. Here's a few pictures from that.

While going through my pictures last night, I realized I need to finish posting the vacation ones from last year since we're closing in on the one year mark. I have been updating with other stuff so not everything is behind, but the vacation-related stuff is just woeful. So I'll get on that posthaste!

A New Position

A couple of things to note about the Padres game tonight. They had their first loss of the season, losing big to one of the other undefeated teams. It looked worse than it actually was though since Lucas's coach let kids who haven't pitched before try out the position. If the regular pitchers had been in there, it probably would have been a bit closer.

Speaking of that, Lucas pitched in the first inning, and he did a really good job for his first time on the mound. He faced 3 batters: one of them hit the ball but got thrown out at first, and the other two got 4 balls and hit off the tee, but they were also thrown out. So technically, he threw a no-hitter! :) Despite the walks, he did have at least one strike against all 3 batters so it was a good start. He's pretty accurate when we play catch, so I think if he works at it, he could definitely be a pitcher more often. If he wants to. He also had a nice hit off the tee in his one at-bat, but unfortunately, it was caught by the second baseman.

I would have liked to have gotten more pictures, or even a video of him pitching, but I wasn't sure if that would stress him out so I tried to stay out of his field of vision. I did get a couple of pictures of him warming up before the game so you can look at these and pretend there was a batter there. :)

And here's his at-bat. I am usually the first base coach so I was able to get a better than normal angle for this shot.

Baseball Photos

The Padres had their closest game of the season last night, winning 12-10. I wasn't even sure they had won until I saw the official score posted to the website this morning. It was the first time they didn't score 5 runs in an inning (which automatically ends the inning) and the first time the other team DID score 5 against them. Lucas had 3 at-bats with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Despite that, I was happy with his performance since he struck out swinging and not just watching strikes fly by. So he wasn't scared of the ball like in the previous 2 games.

As promised, here are some pictures. First off, here's the top part of his uniform. I may have said it before, but I'm really impressed with their uniforms. In hockey, everyone has the same Blazers jersey, and then the kids pick a name that typically has nothing to do with the Blazers. Here, they have a team identity right off the bat. I realize hockey jerseys are considerably more expensive than baseball ones, but still, that's just styling right there.

Here's a couple of him out in right field between pitches.

And finally, a couple at bat. This is the first year where the kids do the pitching as opposed to a coach. If a pitcher throws 4 balls, rather than getting a walk, the batter hits off the tee. That way, the kids get both hitting and fielding practice, regardless of the pitcher's skill (or lack thereof).

All of these photos were taken with my iPhone at one of the first practice/exhibition games. Hence their not being all that close up or clear. I plan to bring the Nikon to a game soon so once I do, you'll see some better photos.

Enjoy, and have a good weekend!

Baseball and Hockey Updates

It turns out the trade between the Gold and Teal teams in 4 on 4 hockey worked out for everyone. If you recall, I said Teal (Lucas's new team) would be playing the same teams this week as Gold (his old team) played last week so it would be a good comparison of the teams. First up was Purple, who they tied last week 2-2. This week, a 7-1 win! Woohoo! A win, finally! Then they played Silver, who destroyed Gold 16-0 last week. Teal avenged that loss with a 6-5 win, which should have been 6-4, but the scorekeeper made a mistake since they thought a goal went in when it didn't. Either way, I'll take that win!

As for Gold, they finally got in the win column in their first game and only lost the second game by one goal. I was happy to see them do so well since they were a good group of kids that just needed a "star" player to match up against the other teams who already had high-level players.

On the completely opposite side of the coin, Lucas's baseball team continued their early season domination last night with an 11-2 win. It looked like it was going to be a closer game than the first one since the other team's first pitcher was fantastic, preventing any runs from the Padres. However, I think pitchers have to rotate after 2 innings and once he was out, our big hitters took over. According to the standings, the Padres are in first place since of the four 2 win teams, they have the biggest run differential (+24 with the next closest team at +13).

Lucas had one highlight and some definite lowlights during the game though. For the former, on his third at-bat, he got his first official hit, a single. He'd been on base before, due to walks, but this was his first "legitimate" time on base. As for the lowlights, he cried THREE times during the game. Once after his first at-bat, a strikeout; the second was when he got hit by his own teammate's ball while running from 2nd to 3rd (which resulted in him being out), and the third was after he scored at home (this was after his hit). That last one was apparently because he was so happy he got a hit that he was overcome with emotion.

I think a big part of it was that Marilu was at the game. He doesn't usually act that way around me, but when she's around, he tends to be a momma's boy. I've already told him Tom Hanks's wise advice from "A League of Their Own" ("There's no crying in baseball!") so hopefully he'll be better next game. Also, we went up to the park and practiced his hitting for well over an hour earlier tonight so that should give him an extra boost of confidence at the very least.

Because of quirky scheduling, the next hockey game isn't until next Saturday (the 28th), but he'll be back on the baseball field tomorrow night. I promise to have some baseball pictures up by this weekend.

Ch-ch-changes

This is my second post of the day so if you missed the one about Lucas's first baseball game, keep scrolling down after you finish reading this one.

Just wanted to give you a quick update on hockey since there have been a couple of big changes today. First off, Lucas's team FINALLY didn't lose a game. After losing their first game of the day by a huge margin (16-0?), they managed to tie their next game 2-2. Woohoo! A 0-9-1 record!

The big news, however, is that we just received an email that Lucas has been traded to the Teal team, which was undefeated as of last week. His friend Matthew is also going to Teal, which is a good thing since he was the top scorer for Gold (around 10 out of their 13 goals). Hopefully, Teal isn't giving up all of their best players for them. :)

Interestingly, Teal's next 2 games are against the teams Gold played today so we'll be able to tell immediately whether the change is an improvement or not. That'll be Monday so I'll let you know how it goes.

Play Ball!

Lucas's baseball team, the Padres, had their first game yesterday. The final score was something like 18-2 or 22-2, in favor of the Padres, so I'd say it went well. I'd like to say Lucas was a big part of the win, but as he's one of the youngest players and still learning the game, his contribution wasn't huge.

Lucas had three at-bats, starting with a strikeout and followed by 2 walks. He was visibly nervous at his first at-bat, not swinging at all, but he did swing in his next at-bats so there was some improvement. He didn't have too many fielding opportunities, thanks in large part to the pitchers. The Padres first pitcher, who was in innings 1 and 2, had 5 strikeouts!

For most of the positions, the kids get rotated, at least at the beginning of the season. If I remember right, Lucas played LF, CF, and 2B, and sat out one inning (they have more than 9 players). He had one play at second where he was a little lost, but in the last inning, when he was in center field, he stopped a grounder, and threw it to second before the runner got there. It would have been an out, but the 2B didn't realize he had to tag the other kid out. Oh well, they're all learning!

Most importantly, he had a fun time and can't wait for his next game so that's all that really matters. I didn't get any pictures since I was asked to be the first base coach, but I asked Andrea (Zach's mom) to take some photos for me. Hopefully, I'll get those from her soon since I know she takes great shots.

Until next time...