Well......

Not much to say about that game. But I'll try. As you may know from previous blog posts, I hate walks. So Taylor walked a few guys to start the game, so I was a little frustrated at him. So I brought JD in, because we needed strikes. I've seen JD pitch this year and in years past. He is not over powering, but he is right around the plate. He got us out of the first, and then proceeded to walk the first two guys of the 2nd inning.

That was a little odd, but we needed strikes, so I thought maybe it wasn't JD's night, so I called on Jerald. I'm not saying this because he is my kid, but simply because I had him on the Brewers this year, and I have his stats. He faced 150 batters during the regular and tournament season, and walked 12. The kid is a strike machine, they might hit it, but he rarely walks anybody. In case you are not good at math, that means he walked 1 out of every 12 batters he faced this year. Tonite, he walked 2 of 4.

I'm no rocket scientist, but I was starting to detect a trend, and it wasn't in our favor. So I called on Ozzie. Ozzie is a lot like JD on the mound, and pretty much the same thing happened. I had Jason penciled in for relief tonite, so I just let him go, despite the many walks that ended up being surrendered. After awhile, things were completely out of hand, so I thought I would give Mason a whirl. Mason doesn't throw that hard, and thought maybe that would please our plate umpire. Mason seemed to have some success, so he got to finish it out for us.

So my apologies for all the mid-inning pitching changes, and making the game drag on. But I was trying to find somebody that could please the umpire. And if not, I was going to torture him by making the game drag on. Trust me, I have umpired 100s of ball games, and the last place I want to be is behind the plate in an 18-1 ballgame. And then, when a manager is still giving the take sign with a 18 run lead, I as an umpire am calling a strike on the pitch if it is anywhere in the same county.

Our defense was so-so tonite. But that is another reason I hate walks, is because the defense starts to get sleepy out there. For the most part, we made plays when presented with an opportunity.

Our batting was ok I guess. We got fooled by some curve balls. Most guys don't have much experience looking at those. And it showed.

So that is easy to let that one go. The guys were in pretty good spirits afterward, so I was glad to see that. We need to improve, but basically a shrug of the shoulders, and on to the next game is fine with me.

We are going to do a practice from 1 to 2:30 on Sunday. I AM BOLDING THIS TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT LEAVE ANY FUNCTION TO COME TO THIS PRACTICE. IT IS ONLY IF YOU ARE SITTING AROUND WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO. TOTALLY TOTALLY TOTALLY OPTIONAL. I am around on Sunday, so will be hanging out with anyone who shows up. Got it?

Next game is Monday in Zearing at 6PM. Be there by 5:15 if you can.

A guy was taking photos tonite. He handed the coaches a card. Apparently he sells photos or something like that. I know nothing about this, but FYI the address is www.marshallcountysun.com. Nothing on there for now, but again, passing this along as an FYI.

Speaking of photos, I hereby designate Monday as photo night. Win or lose, we will take postgame photos, assuming everybody is there. We will line the boys up, you can come out and take all the pics you want.

Have a great time celebrating Independence Day!