Play Ball!

After more than a month of practices, Michael's baseball team (the Pirates) kicks off its season schedule tomorrow. My co-coach and I are very happy with the team we selected this year. They have a lot of skill, determination and coachability.

We have played two practice games so far. We lost one game and tied the other, but we used players out of position and tried marginal pitchers just to see what everybody could do. That the unusual lineups hid the true talent of our team from the other teams is just a happy coincidence.

Michael is off to a solid start. He was the starting pitcher for both games and played well, particularly in the second game. He has started to put the bat on the ball consistently, and drove a textbook solid single up the middle in the second game.

Now batting ...
Cheryl took this great profile of Michael at the plate in the first game. The picture alerted me to some alignment problems in Michael's stance. Last Saturday, I reworked his batting stance to give him a more compact swing by lowering his hands substantially, and he has been pounding the ball ever since. To Michael's credit, he understands and put those adjustments into action immediately. Is not the biggest or strongest on the field, but he is a kind of player who can make a coach look good.

Cheryl also took a great sequence in which Michael was thrown out on a teammate's ground ball to short.

Off at the crack of the bat
In the next picture, you can see the shortstop fielding the ball as Michael is on his way to second.


In the last picture, Michael has entered his slide as the ball is visible in the air on its way to the second baseman. He was out, but only by a matter of inches.


Much of the time, when they miss catches or throw the ball away, the boys remind you that they are still just nine and ten years old. Every now and then, however, they will pull out a sparkling play that is pure baseball, regardless of level or age. I love helping the boys learn how to produce those sublime moments.