It's rare that we play into November but the previous weekend's games were rained out the fields were too wet on Saturday to play. It was a beautiful, fall Sunday afternoon, though, and I was grateful to get the play the season finale for the Junior Dodgers (Joe) and the Dodgers (J.P.).
The Junior Dodgers played first, at 1 p.m., vs. the Red Cobras (Hi, August!), a team we had split with earlier in the fall season. The pitching machine was dialed up a bit and the boys on both teams had a difficult time hitting. Early on, the score was tied 1-1, then the Junior Dodgers took a 2-1 lead and later, a 5-1 lead.
The play, or plays, of the day, came mid-game when I had Bennett at pitcher and Joe at first base. Bennett made a fairly routine play on a ground ball for the first out, throwing the ball to Joe at first in time to get the runner. A couple of Red Cobras scratched out hits, then one boy struck out for the second out. With two runners on base, the next batter ripped a ground ball up the middle. Bennett reacted instantly, backhanded the ball cleanly, and threw a strike to Joe at first base for the third out.
It was a bang-bang play and for a split second, everyone sat in stunned silence. Then, our fans, coaches and players erupted in cheers as the Junior Dodgers ran off the field to bat. I stormed out of the dugout and Bennett greeted me with a huge smile on his face as I picked him up and hugged him. It was a helluva play!
Although the Red Cobras rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the last inning, the Junior Dodgers held on to win 5-3. The boys made must enough routine defensive plays and had just enough hitting to win the game. George, one of my personal projects the past year or so, had three hits. Andrew, filling in because we were short on players, and Trey, had triples to the outfield. Big, big hits. A fitting end to the fall season for the Junior Dodgers.
The Dodgers played our longtime rival, the Dirtbags, in the 3 p.m. game after the team we really wanted - Pennington's team - couldn't get enough players to play us. We've had the Dirtbags number as of late. The boys followed up a 13-1 win over the Dirtbags Tuesday night (in a game the I missed b/c I was stuck mediating a case) with a 12-4 win that was never in doubt.
Although I thought about pitching some boys who don't normally pitch, I decided a win would be important to the team so I started our horse, Porter. He pitched well over three innings and gave up only a single run as we pulled away. Timely hits, walks and a lot of stolen bases led to the Dodgers taking a big lead early and coasting home.
In the lasts inning, I brought in Ethan to pitch. He'd been asking to pitch and he deserved a shot. When he's on he's unhittable but when he's struggling with his control, anything can happen. It's usually feast or famine when he's on the mound. Still, I wanted him to get the experience of being out there because he's got real talent and just needs to learn to manage his emotions. He's got unrivaled competitiveness but is so hard on himself when he struggles the slightest bit. Great, great kid.
I caught J.P., which I knew would be a challenge for him because Ethan can be a bit wild when hit pitches.
After an early strikeout, Ethan's control wavered and he walked a few batters and allowed a run or two on wild pitches. J.P. did reasonably well, but struggled a bit with balls in the dirt, allowing them to get past him and roll to the backstop. Nothing some repetitions at catcher won't correct because he really can play back there, I think. I've said it before but one of the things I'm proudest of when it comes to J.P. and baseball is his versatility. He field at least 3 grounders flawlessly at shortstop early in the game and threw the batters out at first, then was competent at catcher.
The Dirtbags did what the Dirtbags do when the scored a couple of runs. Their players started chanting, quietly at first, then louder and louder. Although I think that stuff is bush league, I had to laugh when they started humming the Jeopardy theme song when I walked to the mound to settle Ethan down. Settle down he did and he struck a batter out for the last out with the bases loaded. A good moment for him.
Overall, again, the Dodgers played very solid defensively. I've seen so much improvement there. we had timely hitting and there's a lot of room for improvement, for sure. But he defense has been outstanding as the fall season progressed.
A great way to end the fall season - wins against rivals of the Junior Dodgers and the Dodgers - and two teams' worth of happy boys on a beautiful fall afternoon.
Baseball is life. All the rest is just details.
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