High School Softball and Little League 2011 Update
Between extra work hours and kids on three sports teams, I've had no time for weekly updates on their sports. Here's a brief update:
Austin (St. Athanasius Blue Jays)
The team of 12 is about evenly split between players with experience, and rookies. This has left the team at a disadvantage on the field. The team has not won a game yet, and lost 4. However, the last game showed a team that is coming together, so we appear to be doing better. Bad news: we lost one of our better players to a broken hand.
As for Austin, he's blowing everyone away. They made him a pitcher, which he'd never done before. In his last start on Thursday, he pitched 3 innings (the maximum allowed), and made 9 strikeouts. He then moved over to shortstop, where he made several impressive plays. Coach is really liking his performance.
Christina (St. Ephrem Giants)
Due to conflicts with her high school team schedule, she's only been able to play a few games with this team, basically the same girls she's played with since third grade. They are doing great, with a 4 win, 1 loss record. She's been playing second base, and also making some terrific plays. Some of her high school teammates were on an opposing team recently, and after watching her play second, and bat more than once in the game, they wanted to know why the high school coach has relegated her to backup right fielder - they all think she should get more playing time on the high school team. Christina told them that she doesn't know why the high school coach doesn't use her more, but suggested that they tell the coach how good she is (she's not good at blowing her own horn).
Christina (Bishop Kearney Tigers)
Despite Christina not getting much playing time, she has contributed what she can when she gets to bat (She also caught the only ball that has been hit to her in right field this season). Unfortunately, she has not kept as careful track of her hitting stats as we used to, and the league, apparently, does not keep records of player performance. As I've missed a few games, all I have to go on is the reports from other parents of how well she bats, and their questions about why she's not being played more.
In any event, the team is now undefeated through 8 games, having beat the usual top team yesterday by a score of 30-8. In that game, Christina had a single and a walk with an RBI, stole second, and scored a run. With this victory, they clinched first place in the Brooklyn division, and after two more games, will advance to the Brooklyn/Queens playoff tournament. Winner of that goes to the City Championships, and perhaps the State Finals.
Austin (St. Athanasius Blue Jays)
The team of 12 is about evenly split between players with experience, and rookies. This has left the team at a disadvantage on the field. The team has not won a game yet, and lost 4. However, the last game showed a team that is coming together, so we appear to be doing better. Bad news: we lost one of our better players to a broken hand.
As for Austin, he's blowing everyone away. They made him a pitcher, which he'd never done before. In his last start on Thursday, he pitched 3 innings (the maximum allowed), and made 9 strikeouts. He then moved over to shortstop, where he made several impressive plays. Coach is really liking his performance.
Christina (St. Ephrem Giants)
Due to conflicts with her high school team schedule, she's only been able to play a few games with this team, basically the same girls she's played with since third grade. They are doing great, with a 4 win, 1 loss record. She's been playing second base, and also making some terrific plays. Some of her high school teammates were on an opposing team recently, and after watching her play second, and bat more than once in the game, they wanted to know why the high school coach has relegated her to backup right fielder - they all think she should get more playing time on the high school team. Christina told them that she doesn't know why the high school coach doesn't use her more, but suggested that they tell the coach how good she is (she's not good at blowing her own horn).
Christina (Bishop Kearney Tigers)
Despite Christina not getting much playing time, she has contributed what she can when she gets to bat (She also caught the only ball that has been hit to her in right field this season). Unfortunately, she has not kept as careful track of her hitting stats as we used to, and the league, apparently, does not keep records of player performance. As I've missed a few games, all I have to go on is the reports from other parents of how well she bats, and their questions about why she's not being played more.
In any event, the team is now undefeated through 8 games, having beat the usual top team yesterday by a score of 30-8. In that game, Christina had a single and a walk with an RBI, stole second, and scored a run. With this victory, they clinched first place in the Brooklyn division, and after two more games, will advance to the Brooklyn/Queens playoff tournament. Winner of that goes to the City Championships, and perhaps the State Finals.