Weekend at Joe's Place

Joe hit the sports trifecta this weekend.  Basketball Saturday morning, followed by a baseball scrimmage at Ensworth High School Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday, he played two Armada soccer games in the rain against the 2013 red and blue teams.

As Thomas was out of town, I coached Joe's basketball team in the 10 a.m. game at West End Middle School.  I love old school gyms and for sure, it's one of those.  For once, Joe's team - the Bucket Squad - had eight players, so we opened up playing full court, man-to-man, partly because I thought it would get the boys into the game early.  I think my plan worked for the most part, as the boys played with energy and emotion from the opening tip.

I've been on Joe to shoot the basketball more and to play offense with confidence.  He was more aggressive offensively in this game and scored eight points.  The highlight of the game, for me, was when Nash drew a charge in the second half.  That brought our bench to its feet, including coaches.  I loved it.  The other team was not very good, as indicated by the final score (40-13).  

Saturday afternoon, the rain held off for the most part, so Joe's HBC baseball team was able to get in a scrimmage at Ensworth High School.  Jude took Joe after his ICEE preparation class.  I left a little early to pick him up, so I was able to watch a couple of innings.  

The big field is tough for Joe and many of his teammates, which is to be expected.  Joe hit a ball hard the last time at bat and grounded into a double play.  As much as Joe loves baseball, he's got to get stronger iff he's going to keep playing in middle school and beyond.  That's especially true if he's going to be a smaller kid, which appears to be the case.  

Joe's attitude on the field is always great.  In baseball, as in basketball, he's the ultimate glue guy.  Encouraging his teammates, blocking for a pitcher warming up in right field during the game, hustling on and off the field.  In the end, though, he's got to produce at the plate and develop more arm strength.  That's the bottom line.   

Yesterday, Joe's Armada team played two scrimmage games at Father Ryan High School in near constant rain.  I drew the short straw, so to speak, and drove Joe there for the 11:45 a.m. start.  Actually, I was comfortable as I sat in my camping chair, rocking and listening to Widespread Panic, shielded from the rain by my giant golf umbrella.  I had jogging pants on and the rain jacket I bought last December in Portland, so I was good to go.  

The boys won both games handily, as they should have, since their opponents were a year younger.  It was fun watching Joe play in the field and handle the ball more, even at forward, since he's normally in goal.  It will be interesting to see how much Joe plays in the State League games this spring, when his team probably will go with one goalie.  He and Liam are fairly even in skills to my uneducated eye.  

I cherish these busy sports weekends with Joe, in part because I know they're so fleeting.  With middle school rapidly approaching, the days of running around all weekend to various recreational and club sporting events are numbered.  

It was a good weekend.  Youth sports, a lot of reading, college football, treadmill runs, and family time.

  Joe, at 8th & Roast, where we stopped for hot chocolate and coffee after he played two soccer games in the rain at Father Ryan High School Sunday afternoon.

State XC Meet 2024

The night before the cross country state championship at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville, TN, I taught class at Nashville School of Law.  When I arrived home after class, JP was gone for a walk.  After I changed clothes, I went outside and found him walking up our street.  I could tell he was wound pretty tightly, thinking about the race the next day, so I put my arm around him and we walked and talked for a few minutes.  

I searched for some fatherly words of wisdom, something profound, a nugget that might make a difference for him.  Although it's completely normal - part of it, as I often say - for JP to be keyed up before an important race, my paternal instincts are such that I want to carry that burden for him, and I can't.  And I shouldn't.  Why?  Because it's part of it.  

We talked for a while longer, then went inside together.  My message to him? 

Believe.

I gave him a hug and after a little while, he went to bed.  I didn't sleep very well and I'm guessing he didn't either.  

This cross country season has been different for him than last year, as it should be.  And next season will be different for JP than this year.  That's the beauty of being a high school cross country runner.  No two seasons are the same.  Not for him and not for the team.  

I got up early on race day, said goodbye to JP as he lay in his bed, and went to get coffee and stop by Village Dry Cleaners.  After a quick stop by the house, I left for Hendersonville with every intention of arriving well in advance of the 10:50 a.m. start of the race.  I sent JP a text, as I always do before a race, and told him how proud I was of him, how much I loved him, and to go get it.  

When I arrived at Sanders Ferry Park, I made note of the weather.  The rain - predicted earlier the week - had held off and the sky was an overcast, slate gray.  Although it was a little warm, it wasn't too humid and there was a slight breeze.  Not a perfect day to run but considering it could have been really sloppy, it was pretty damn good.  

I found JP at the MBA tent, fist bumped him, and told some of other runners good luck.  "Thanks, coach," a couple of them said.  That always makes me smile, even if it's said tongue in cheek.  Then, I left to walk the course, the only way I know how to deal with my nerves.  

On a hill inside the one mile mark, I found a bench underneath a tree.  I silently prayed.  I thought about how blessed Jude and I are to have the boys we have.  I also thought about how fortunate JP was to have the God given ability to train and compete at a high level.  I was nervous - really nervous, but so very thankful.

As I walked farther away from the starting line, I ran into a father and teacher at the Baylor School.  He had a son running in the race.  When I asked him if he knew my college friend and fraternity brother, Steve Bettis, who died in the early days of the pandemic from Covid-19, he broke into a smile and nodded.  We spent 10 minutes or so reminiscing about Steve and what a force of nature he was in every single circumstance.  His presence is missed by so many.

I also ran into a senior, Ward, from the McCallie School, who had run cross country for them on the junior varsity until this season.  Very nice and respectful young man.  He was very excited to see his classmate, Jack Bowen, run against the slight favorite, Keegan Smith, from Knoxville Catholic.  That promised to be quite a battle. 

I settled in a little before the one mile mark and waited, waited, waited until, suddenly, I heard the bank of the starter's pistol.  The runners were off!

I waited, impatiently, for the runners to make the turn and start up the hill toward where I was standing.  Finally, I saw the 4-wheeler headed toward me and behind it, the lead group of runners.  Keegan Smith, Jack Bowen, Jack Wallace.  And JP, running in a pack with them.  Wow, I thought.  Here we go. I yelled for JP, then ran across a field to get to another spot on the course.

At about the halfway point, JP was still hanging with the lead pack, along with a runner from Christian Brother, but he was slightly behind them.  Jack Wallace was running stride for stride with Keegan Smith and Jack Bowen.  To me - and I could be wrong - it didn't look like JP was running as comfortably as he normally does.  

When I saw the boys again past the two mile mark, it was turning into a two man race for the title, between Keegan Smith and Jack Bowen, as Jack Wallace ran just behind them.  JP had fallen back, along with the Christian Brothers' runner, and I noticed that a runner from Chattanooga Christian was closing on them, turning the race for fourth place into a three man battle.  JP looked like he was fighting it, to me, like he didn't feel great.  

As the leaders approached the finish line less than a mile later, Keegan Smith pulled ahead of Jack Bowen and won comfortably.  Jack Wallace finished in third, behind the leaders.  Very good race for him.  JP and the two other runners were in a dead heat with 25 yards left.  The Chattanooga Christian runner surged ahead and JP didn't have anything left in the tank.  The Christian Brothers' runner nipped him for fifth place, so JP finished in sixth place. 

All of the runners ahead of him were seniors and four of them, if not five, are running in college.  I know JP wanted to finish in fourth place but I was proud of him.  He gave it all he had, as a result of which he briefly collapsed in a heap after the race.  His hands were tingling and he was spent.  After I found him, we walked around for a bit and talked, my arm around him as he processed the race and came back to himself.  He was nauseous for a few minutes but felt better after he drank a little Gatorade.  

Interestingly, Knoxville Catholic and McCallie ended up in a tie with 62 points after JP's teammate, Gabe Guillamondegui, sprinted past a McCallie runner to capture ninth place.  That move by Gabe, who ran the best race I've seen him run and set a PR by a few seconds, dropped McCallie in the tie and, in the end, cost them another state title as Catholic's sixth place runner defeated McCallie's sixth place runner.  MBA finished in third place.   

JP had been fighting a cold for a week or so and my guess is that he was a little more winded than normal in a race like this.  Again, just a guess.

Did JP go out too fast in running with the leaders for the first half of the race?  Maybe.  But as Coach Russ said to me after the race, smiling, "sometimes you need to know."  He was proud of JP and, again, so was I.

Coach Russ's statement hit me right between the eyes because it says everything to me about cross country running at JP's level.  JP needed to know what it felt like to run with the best cross country runners in the state, seniors that are going to be running in college.   

Sometimes you need to know.

Jack Wallace.

My traditional post-race photo of JP and Gabe Guillamondegui.  Sophomore teammates and runners of many miles together with many more to come over the next two years.

JP, Jack Wallace, and Gabe Guillamondegui.  MBA was the only school with three runners in the top 10 at the state championship meet.  Jack (3), JP (6), and Gabe (9).  

The End of the Line

For the Dodgers' first practice, Jim White and I held court by the old backstop at Sevier Park.  I brought plastic bases.  JP and several other 4 and 5 year olds learned how to run to first base.  Although those boys didn't wear Dodgers jersey until the next season - we were the Red Sox - they marked the beginning of the Dodgers and started a run of WNSL baseball that would last for 12 years.

Yesterday, the curtain fell on the best 12 years of my life, as Joe's Dodgers split a doubleheader against the Moonshots on field 5 at Warner Park.  It was fitting, somehow, that ours were the only games begin played at Warner Park yesterday.  The concession stand was closed.  There were no other boys around. The parking lot was relatively empty.  No (cursed) flag football.  Just my guys - the WNSL Dodgers - and the Dom's Moonshots.

When I worked in minor league baseball for a couple of years after college, it occurred to me that nothing was more lonely, more forlorn, than Bill Meyer Stadium on the day after the Knoxville Blue Jays' season ended.  The players were gone.  The managers and coaches were packing up and saying goodbye.  All of the part-time staff from the spring and summer scattered into the offseason.  The stadium was empty as the early fall wind blew hot dog wrappers through the concourse.  

That's kind of what it felt like, to me, at Warner Park yesterday, because I knew it quite possibly was the end of the line for the Dodgers.  

It was fitting, too, that I coached game 1 - a surprising 14 - 6 win for the Dodgers - with JP.  He was on third and I was on first.  Spending so much time coaching with JP this fall has been beyond special to me.  To be on the baseball field with both of my sons, at the same time, is simply heaven on earth for me.  It really is.   

In game 2, Will Wright and Benton Wright arrived as JP left for the Predators' game.  Fitting, too, that I had one of my all time favorite players, Benton, coaching third base for me while Will ran the dugout and kept score on GameChanger, just as he has for what seems like one thousand games in the past. 

Will is my unsung assistant coaching hero, because running the dugout is no small task when the boys are young.  It's not easy to keep five and six year old boys - or even nine and 10 year old boys - focused on the game, ready to bat, etc.  It can be a thankless job and Will did it willingly and with so much love for as long as I coached.  In countless conversations outside the dugout over the years, during games, we talked about our boys, our parents, our work, our lives.  I treasure every one of those conversations.  

I'm not going to write too much about the games this morning, as I sit quietly outside Sump and sip my coffee.  

The Moonshots are good boys.  Older than us and a little cocky but that's okay.  It made it all the sweeter when we dough-popped them on game 1, particularly after they scored four runs on us in the bottom of the first inning.  The highlight of the game, by far, was Bennett Lusk pitching a complete game.  After the first inning, he figured out for maybe the first time ever that he didn't have to try to throw the ball by every hitter.  He didn't need to nibble, either, by trying to get strikes on the inside or outside corner.  He could just throw strikes, constantly, and let his fielders get guys out.  

That's exactly what he did, too.  As as result, he pitched a five inning complete game on a day when we were without two of our older, more experienced pitchers.  When Bennett asked me after the game how many pitches he had thrown, I told him "too many."  Still, I wanted him to have an opportunity to pitch a complete game because I thought it would give him confidence heading into the offseason and, later, spring baseball.  

Other than a couple of botched run downs, the boys played almost flawlessly in the field in game 1.  The outfielders caught several fly balls.  George and Paul hit the cutoff man perfectly a couple of times when balls were hit in the gap.  At second base, Ram threw a boy out trying to stretch a double into a triple after George hit him with a perfect cutoff.  We practice that, so it was gratifying to see the boys execute it in a game.  Ram also doubled a boy off first base after catching a pop fly headed to the outfield.  

George made a nice catch of a fly ball in right field, too, when he took a step back as the ball left the bat, located it, then comfortably took a few more steps back caught the ball over his right shoulder.  Again, first step back in the outfield, find the ball, adjust, catch it.  Just like we coach it.  I loved the play because George looked so comfortable making it. 

There weren't a lot of highlights in game 2 for the Dodgers.  The Moonshots played some of their older players, 14 year olds, and my 11 and 12 year olds weren't much of a match for them.  Their pitcher threw hard and we couldn't do much with him.  

Much to my surprise, Walker Hughey squared to bunt late in the game, having gotten the sign from Benton (coaching third base) because the third baseman was playing so far back.  A lefty, Walker laid down a perfect bunt that snaked down the third base line.  The pitcher make an outstanding play on the ball and threw Walker out by a couple of inches.  With almost any other pitcher, Walker beats that one out.  Just a tremendous effort on Walker's part to lay down a bunt against a pitcher throwing hard. 

The at bat of the day - maybe the season - came late in the game when Trey Glenn fouled off four or five two strike pitches , including a couple of curve balls, then laced a single into left center field.  It was our hardest hit ball of the day and it was against a legitimately good, hard throwing 14 year old pitcher.  I've had Trey as long as I've had any of the boys - since he was probably five years old - and he's one of my all time favorites, so seeing him have such a great at bat made me very, very proud.  

Trey's personality is infectious.  Always smiling.  Always happy to play baseball.  A great teammate and a great kid.

Game 2 never close and in the end, the Moonshots gonged the boys, and the game was stopped after the fourth inning because they were 10 + runs ahead of us.  Huck struggled a bit with his emotions but that's okay because he wants so badly to succeed.  Plus, he battled at catcher.  Huck also stole home on passed balls four times in two games and had no problem sliding, which was real progress for him from the beginning of the season.

Nico struggled and had a few mental lapses, which happens.  He was down after the game so I was glad I was driving him home with Joe and me in the Coach Phil Xpress.  We had some time to talk about the game and how important it is for him to play with confidence and not to be afraid to make a mistake.  

After the end of game 2, I the boys took a knee and gathered around me on the infield grass near first base.  I told them I was proud of them and that in those two games, we had seen a little bit of everything.  I reminded them of the lessons they had learned throughout the fall baseball season, on the practice field and during games.

I reminded them of the importance of competing, of persevering, of working hard, of failing and getting up to try again, of being good teammates, of never quitting and never giving up.  

The secret, I told them, is this - it's not about the baseball.  It's about life.  

It's never been about the baseball.  

Dodgers forever.

Coaching Joe's Dodgers with JP, this fall, has been one of my highlights of 12 years of coaching baseball.

The heart and soul of the Dodgers.  Back row (L-R):  Trey, George, Elias, Nico, Joe, Huck.  Front row

(L-R):  Paul, Walker, Bennett, and Ram.

Joe.  Always smiling on the baseball field. Always locked in.  Always enthusiastic.  Always a leader. 

Joe and Huck.  Huck is quite possibly the most enthusiastic, affectionate boy I've ever coached.

Three of the original Junior Dodgers.  Joe, Trey Glen, and Ram Chitale.  So may practice, so many game, so many memories.

The man that makes it all happen for WNSL baseball.  Roger Maness.

Roger Maness has put up with me for 12 years.  And, Roger, flag football is not a sport.

Dodgers forever.

USN Sixth Grade Soccer

It starting brewing last year, when Joe's fifth grade classmates took over the sixth grade soccer team late in the season and won the HVAC Div. II tournament at Franklin Road Academy.  For maybe the only time in the decade one or both of my boys have a attended University School Nashville, a coach recognized the importance of winning, in terms of morale and school pride, and played the best players.  In other words, they played to win, which is exceedingly rare at USN, at least in middle school sports.

Joe's class of boys - particularly his close friends - is different from others in the past at USN, including JP's.  More athletic.  More competitive.  More intense.  More physical.  More willing to mix it up with other teams.  All of the good things, in my mind.  These boys share traits that will help them succeed in life, long after their days on the athletic fields are over.  That's my guess, anyway.

I expected big things out of them on the soccer filed this fall, as sixth graders, and I haven't been disappointed.  USN is 4 - 0 on the season and, if memory serves, they only have give up two goals.  Joe is playing middle back on defense, rather than goalie, which is good for him and for the team.  It allows him time and space to work on his foot skills and his leadership is readily visible as he sets the defense, encourages his teammates, and moves the ball.  

Tuesday afternoon, in an away game at Ensworth, they dominated the second half and won 4 - 1, clinching a first round bye in the Div. I tournament at the end of the season.  It was a big win for the boys in large part because Ensworth is not a school that USN normally beats, in any sport.  It's refreshing for the boys - and their parents - to play a sport at a high level and defeat schools that place a much high emphasis on athletics.  Competing, and winning, breeds confidence and school pride.  It's contagious.  I saw it last year and I'm seeing it again this year.  

The Ensworth coach yelled at his players after the game, proof positive that he didn't anticipate or like losing to USN.  That made the win all the sweeter.  Then, after a tie in the B team game, he whined about something that happened in the handshake line.  

Joe and his teammates play with a bit of an edge.  They're a bit cocky and that's completely okay.  Not arrogant, mind you, but confident and a little cocky.  They're not going to get pushed around.  For several of these boys - not Joe - soccer is their main sport.  They've played it competitively at the travel level for years.  They've practiced, drilled, and played games all over middle Tennessee.  And it shows, now, as they play for their school.

Last year, it was interesting to hear Joe talk about how much fun it was playing soccer with his closest friends from school, boys he's been on the playground with every school day for the past 5 + years.  At lunch or during breaks, the boys got together and broke down the previous day's game.  He loved that.  Again, it's not often that a group of boys in middle school at USN are able to compete at a high level in a sport and experience success because too often the focus had been on participation, not competition.  

Sadly, because it's USN, it's very likely this group of boys will splinter when sixth grade is over and attend seventh grade at other private schools in the area.  This is what happened with JP's group and it's what will happen with Joe's group.  Why?  Because of a serious of broken promises from the USN administration over several years and a refusal to recognize that competitive sports can coexist at a school with a strong academic reputation.  That's a whole story in an of itself.

For now, though, I'm going to enjoy watching this group of sixth graders from USN compete on the soccer field the rest of the season.  Let's go!!

Sunday with the Dodgers

In the last scheduled game of the season, Joe's Dodgers were scheduled to play the Stars on Sunday afternoon.  A fun way to end the fall baseball season, because it was a beautiful day and Joe played with a few of the Stars' boys and for their coaches a couple of seasons ago.  

Our boys were primed and ready to go, all of them arriving on time for batting practice 45 minutes before game time.  That made me happy because JP and I have emphasized to the boys that it's important for them to take responsibility for asking their parents to leave home with enough time to get to the batting practice so they can be ready to play.  I think our message had taken root, which is nice.

Unfortunately, the Stars only had five players.  When their coach told me what was going on five or 10 minutes before the game, I initially was disappointed.  However, we agreed to give them a couple of players so we could scrimmage.  JP played right field for both teams.  All of our boys got a lot of work in, too, which they needed.  Plus, it was nice to play a laid back game in front of all of our parents to end the season.  

I loaned the Stars Joe and Walker, which worked out well.  Walker was able to play infield, second and third base.  Joe played shortstop the first inning, then pitched three innings.  It was fun to see Joe pitch against his teammates, most of them boys he's played with for many years.  Joe pitched much better than his last outing.  We still need to work on his velocity but he three to contact and struck a couple of batters out.  He hit the ball well, again, and knocked in a run with a nifty two strike single to left field.  

For the Dodgers, I was able to pitch Lucas, Bennett, Huck, and Trey, all of whom needed the work.  Huck and Trey, who don't normally pitch, were excited to have the opportunity.  Lucas struggled with his control - totally normal for a 12 year old learning to pitch on the big field.  Bennett struggled, too, and seemed to be felt emotionally.  He perked up, though, when he pitched to Joe and lined him out to shortstop.  

During the game, I made sure to stop, to breathe, and look around field 5 at Warner Park and, really, just take it all in.  Joe pitching, JP playing right field, all of my guys wearing Dodger blue in the dugout, and all of the parents sitting in the bleachers.  Honestly, youth baseball the way it's meant to be played.  In a recreational league, not traveling to Smyrna to get boat raced by a team of ringers with a giant 12 year old - who looks like he's 15 - throwing seeds to my 11 and 12 year olds.  

There is a place for recreational baseball in youth sports.  An important place.  Sunday's scrimmage was affirmation of something I already knew.

It's hard to capture in words how much it's meant to me be on the baseball field this fall with JP and Joe.

    My guys.

    Joe and George Bell.

George Bell, Joe, and Trey Glenn.

Nico Little and Joe.

The best of days.

Postscript.  One more doubleheader vs. the Moonshots on Saturday.  I hope the weather holds.  I always hope the weather holds. 

There's always more baseball.  Somewhere, somehow, some way.

Metro Championships

Tuesday afternoon at the Metro Cross Country Championships at Vaughn's Gap, JP and his teammates successfully defended their junior varsity and varsity titles.  To be fair, both squads were prohibitive favorites, as the competition from the other middle Tennessee schools simply wasn't very strong.  

My real interest, though, was in the individual race because the faster boys, Jack and JP, were going to pace the other boys in an effort to build a consistently faster pace for the entire team.  The boys were going to run in a pack for the first two miles, then Jack and JP would race the 1.1 miles.  I was very curious about the outcome, as JP has never run a race where he hasn't pushed himself the entire way.  Interesting.

The weather was beautiful, although it was a little hot for the earlier junior varsity races.  

Jack McDaniel won the boys' junior varsity race going away, which was cool to see.  He will almost certainly run varsity next year as a senior.  Jack and JP have been friends since they were three years old and attending Children's House together.  Pike (Jack's brother) and Joe are the same way.  

Jon Meade was there to see JP race, which was nice.  Tracy, Alice, and Jerry came, as well.  Jude's parents were there, too.  Joe missed because he had a soccer game for USN at Grace Christian Academy.

After the race started, Giles Ward and I walked over and set up shop at the one mile mark.  As the leaders approaches, I saw for the first time that Jack Wallace and JP were not running in the lead pack.  Uh oh, I thought, as Thomas A. and a boy from Father Ryan HS streaked by us.  Jack and JP were running comfortably in a pack with the three or four of their MBA teammates and another boy or two.  Their time was 5:15, which is considerably slower than they normally run the first mile of races.  The lead runners were 40 or 50 yards ahead of Jack, JP, and the other MBA runners.

This might be a problem, I thought, particularly because JP was looking forward to racing against Thomas.  He's a friend from the youth group at church and a fantastic runner who is going to run in college.  Great kid.  Still, it's always fun to beat your friends.  They have rarely raced each other due to scheduling conflicts.

On the back side of the course around 1 1/2 miles or so, the pack of runners was still together, although Cecil had fallen a little behind.  Thomas and the Father Ryan HS runner were sill 40 or 50 yards ahead.  I walked over the other side of the course again and waited at the 2 1/4 mile mark.  I was a little discouraged but, as it turns out, I shouldn't have been.  

Suddenly, I saw the leader runners headed down the trail toward me, wearing white singlets, red letter - MBA - emblazoned across the center.  Jack in first place.  JP in second place.  And they were absolutely flying.  Thomas was behind JP by 10 yards or so.  As the boys made the final turn and raced the last 800 meters, Jack and JP pulled away from everyone else.  Jack won and JP finished second in 15:50.

I talked to JP afterwards and he was happy with how the race turned out.  I think it was good for him to race this one a little bit differently as he prepares for the State Championship in a couple of weeks, followed by NXR (Nike Cross Country Regional Championship) in Cary, NC.

I was proud of him and happy that family and friends were able to see him race.  

Dodgers vs. Nolensville

On a beautiful mid-October Saturday afternoon at Warner Park, the Dodgers split their last doubleheader of the fall season.  They lost the game 1, 7 - 14, then rallied to win game 2, 14 - 4.  

As has been the case with this group of boys at times, they didn't come out ready to play in game 1.  I started Joe at pitcher - a mistake in retrospect, as I probably should have gone with Keaton - and Nolensville jumped on us quickly with six runs.  Joe didn't make it out of the inning.  He didn't have any control, as he continued to short arm the ball, something he hadn't done in the past.  As a result, especially from the longer distance, he doesn't have any pop on his fastball.  He's had the same problem making throws from shortstop, as well.  It's like he doesn't fully bend his right arm as he makes the throw, so there is not whip action to his arm.  The result is a pitch, or throw, with little on it.  It's something we have to address this winter.  

More concerning, though, was the fact that Joe wasn't ready emotionally and didn't react well when his teammates - Nico at third base, in particular - made multiple errors.  His frustration was palpable and, of course, losing control of your emotions is not something you can do as a pitcher.  JP told him as much when he visited the mound when things began to unravel.  I pulled him a couple of batters when he continued to vocally express his frustration.  It's all part of it, though, and I love his competitiveness.  He wants so badly to do well that he gets upset when things don't go the way he hopes.  It's something we'll work on and, as always, I'd rather have a kid who cares versus one who doesn't.  

On the bright side, Joe's hitting was much improved, as he really swung Bennet's new bat very well.  He had a single to left field in game 1.  In game 2, he knocked in a run with a single to left field in the first inning.  Later, after walking in his second at bat, he absolutely smoked a line drive down the line into left field - the hardest hit ball of game 2 - and plated two more runs.  It was the best he has hit all season.  I've got to get him a new bat, I think.  

A couple of interesting notes from the first game.  Elias pitched well.  Nice, fluid pitching motion.  Good control.  He can pitch, I think, but he's got to decide if he wants to and, really, if wants to play baseball in general. 

The highlight for me, though, was pitching Huck in the last inning.  My affection for him is well noted in this space, because he's so genuine, enthusiastic, appreciative, and competitive.  I'm proud of how hard he has worked to get some control over his emotions because he tends to get down on himself when he makes a mistake.  Our work on that the last couple of years is starting to pay dividends, I think.  At any rate, I brought him in to pitch in the last inning at Coach Benton's suggestion.  

After Coach Cyrus warmed him up while we were batting, Huck took the mound and threw nothing but BB's.  It was reminiscent of the night - last fall, maybe - when I pitched Big Mike and he was a revelation on the smaller field because he threw so hard.  Huck's control wasn't great but he threw really, really hard.  He was so funny to watch, as he took a giant deep breath before every pitch and, at time, quickly made the sign of the Cross in between pitches (no, he's not Catholic, but he's seen big league players do it in the batter's box, so he does it, too).  I was so proud of Huck.  It was a memorable outing for him, the first time he has pitched for me in a game.

Game 2 was much better that game 1.  Harper got there for game 2 and, in the first inning, threw a runner out on a routine grounder to third base.  He made the play that Nico couldn't make in game 1 and that set the tone for us in what was a much better played game defensively for the Dodgers.  Keaton pitched relatively well as the starter, although he ran out of gas sooner that I would have liked.  Harper took the mound and finished the game off, as we gonged (14 - 4) a Nolensville team that wasn't any worse than the Nolensville team we played in game 1.

It's only natural, I guess, but I find myself wishing like hell I had one more year with these boys.  If only, you know?  If only they were 11 and not 12.  

If only I had another year, two baseball seasons (fall and spring), to work with Huck on pitching, and on throwing and catching more consistently.  

If only I had another year to try to reach Nico, to access that part of his brain that will keep him focused and locked in.  

If only I had another year to spend with Bennett, to marvel at his grasp of the nuances of a baseball game in a manner unlike any boy I've ever coached. 

If only I had another year with Walker, to replace the years he missed on our team when he played for a coach who didn't develop him or, more importantly, his love of baseball.  Walker can play baseball - as evidenced by the fly ball he caught in center field in game 2.  He just doesn't know it.  I need another year to see him grow bigger and strong, and hit the ball more consistently.

If only I had another year with Paul, to help him gain confidence in himself while he improves on the baseball field. 

If only I had another year with Trey because, well, Trey is one of my favorite boys I ever have coached.  Always smiling, always game, smart baseball mind and can play anywhere.  He sent me a card when my mother died.  I will never forget that. 

If only I had another year with Ram, whom I've coached since he was four or five years old.  I need another year to find a way to teach him to hit with power and to watch his pitching continue to improve.  So smart.  He'll be a surgeon some day and a concert level guitarist because there is nothing he cannot do.  He'll be a winner in life.  

If only I had one more year with Joe, to spend with him on the baseball field.  My time coaching him has meant the world to me.  Words can't express how proud I am of him and how much I have loved every minute I've spent with him on a baseball field.  

One more game on Sunday and that's a wrap for the Dodgers.