Slumping

Baseball can be a cruel game.  Maybe the cruelest, when you're slumping at the plate.  Unfortunately, that's where both of my boys find themselves as their school baseball seasons wind down.

For Joe, it's been a lost year.  Completely.  Coaching has been, for the most part, non-existent.  The talent level on the team is marginal, which is not a surprise.  It's USN, after all.  They're so thin at pitcher that as a 6th grader, Joe has been pitching regularly against 8th graders.  The boys have not improved from the beginning of the season to now which, to me, is the clearest indicator that the coaching is subpar.

Yesterday, USN lost 21 - 0 to MBA's A team.  Joe played catcher, a position he hasn't played in over two years.  How did Joe do?  Not well but I was as proud of him as I've ever been because he fought and battled under adverse conditions.  He was tough and he was a leader.  

Nico - whom I coached for years - pitched a disastrous couple of innings.  Nico is not a pitcher.  He hasn't pitched and he doesn't pitch.  Still, I was proud of Nico, too, because he didn't give up.  He fought and battled, just like Joe.  

At the plate, Joe was completely overmatched, as were most of his teammates.  He struck out against a heavyset left hander throwing BB's for MBA.  Legitimate pitcher.  Probably the toughest U'SN has faced all season.  Honestly, I think the kid could pitch for JP's junior varsity MBA team.  

JP's team beat Ensworth - finally - 15 - 4, after losing the first two games for the series.  Tuesday, the boys lost a heartbreaker, 8 - 9.  After falling behind 0 - 9, they rallied in the last couple of innings and had bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th with two out.  Their last batter flew out to the left fielder, Tom Courtney (Children's House), to end the game.  

Yesterday, JP was hitless.  The first at bat, he struck out after looking at three called strikes, which is unusual for him.  The next at bat, he grounded out to second base with runners in scoring position.  In his third at bat, he struck out again.  He's slumping late, which is difficult fo him.  I know he wants to finish this season on a high note.  I want that for him desperately, too.  Not for me but for him.  

JP made a couple of plays in center field, though, and threw out a runner at third base.  I'm hoping his defense, base running, and leadership keep him in the lineup as the regular season winds down next week and through the tournament.  

After his game, I took Joe to Blue Moon Waterfront Grill at Rock Harbor Marina.  It's been many years, literally, since I've been there.  I was shocked at how different the restaurant and bar looked when Joe and I walked in until the hostess pointed out that the old restaurant and bar flooded, then washed away in the flood in 2010.  15 years + since I've been to Blue Moon?  Wow.

Joe and I had a nice early dinner on the water, eating out and talking.  As always, Joe was a good hang.  

When we got home, JP was packing for a lock-in at Cathedral on West End Avenue, the Catholic church in which Jude and I were married.  

These boys and this life.