After one practice and one practice game (which her "Penn State" team won), Kelly's volleyball team is now 2-0 for the season. The difference in quality of play between sixth grade and seventh/eighth grade is dramatic. It helps that Kelly's coach drafted a team of girls who all have good basic skills, but throughout the league, bump-set-spike is much closer to reality than it ever was last year. Kelly has proven to be a reliable, contributing member of the team, with a surprisingly effective underhand serve, solid passing skills, and an ability to set the ball wherever it is needed. She also saved a key point this weekend with an outstretched left hand that was pure instinct, coupled with some skill and court awareness.
For the record, Penn State beat St. Mary's 2-1 in the first week, coming from behind to win the first game. This week, Penn State beat USC 2-0, after again falling way behind in the first game only to roar back to win 25-22.
Scenes from the practice game against Pepperdine:
Michael's baseball team is off to a good start. You never know how good you are until you get in the arena with someone else who has the same goal. As an unofficial assistant coach, I have been to most of the practices from the beginning, and have been witness to the many, many drills devoted to the simple act of catching and throwing the ball. That basic skill was a challenge to much of our team in the early practices. The rainy weather that forced us to play on the blacktop probably did us a favor, as all we could do was stick to basic skill practices rather than get ahead of ourselves with baseball drills.
The A's prevailed over the Red Sox 17-5 in the first week, and beat the Orioles 12-4 in the second game, with a rainout in between. Yesterday, the A's obliterated the Yankees 22-2. The game was notable for several things. The least surprising development, based on our practices, was that our bats woke up in a big way. Considering that teams are limited to five runs per inning, and that the A's only batted five times because they were the home team (and did not bat in the bottom of the last inning because of the lead), we scored 22 out of a possible 25 available runs. Michael is not a big hitter, but he hits the ball sharply. He went 4-for-4, with three runs scored and three runs batted in. More significantly, this game confirmed what we were beginning to suspect, that all the work we have done on basic defense is paying off. The A's have given up far fewer runs than any team in the league, and our boys made a bunch of solid defensive plays. The one play that none of us expected to ever see was a triple play. Michael started it by catching a line drive from the pitcher position. He threw to first to double off the runner, then our first baseman (our best player) threw a dart across the diamond to third base to catch the runner leaving from third. That one play showed both skill and smarts by several different players.
Our comeuppance will arrive at some point during the season, but for now, the boys are really showing progress. There is something exceptionally pleasing about watching the boys take infield grounders adeptly and make throws smoothly, and even line up cutoff throws accurately, as they did at practice this afternoon, things that only our best few players could do with any alacrity at the beginning of the season. What matters most of all is when Michael declares on the way home from practice, as he did today, "I love baseball!" As long as he keeps saying that, all the work will be worth it.
Warming up:
The pitch is on its way:
Ready to run:
Manning the hot corner:
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