With high school softball season coming to a close last week - it looks like Baseball will be the dominant post for a few weeks. This week was filled with Baseball - which means I have lots of dirty clothes in my car changing from "work" wear to "coaching" wear while driving through rush hour traffic. I'm sure the people driving around me are wondering what the heck I am doing in the car.
As I posted on Monday - Holden's game was weather permitting ... and the weather did not permit - so the game was postponed until Wednesday. Tuesday - the weather was just as gloomy ... but we took a chance and started the game. The Tigers were playing the Red Sox on Tuesday - and with games on Wednesday and Thursday - we decided to keep our pitching fresh and started some of our kids that didn't get too much action on the mound. Holden caught the game - and got to call pitches. Holden had a groundout RBI in the first inning and the Tigers jumped out to an early lead. The Red Sox got one back in the top of the 2nd inning to tie it 1-1. The Tigers scored 2 more in the bottom of the 2nd to take the lead - after two innings, Tigers 3, Red Sox 1. Then came the lightning and the game was delayed ... after 10 minutes it was evident the weather was going to only get worse and the game was postponed until Friday. Thankfully - the storm was just a lot of wind, rain and lightning - but the tornado watches that happened later that day were just "watches". The bad stuff hit the next day in Alabama - here is a page that has some of the amazing and scary videos - http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110428/ts_yblog_thelookout/watch-tuscaloosas-terrifying-tornado
The fields dried out (amazingly) - and games were on for Wednesday. Holden had a track meet as well - and it was not his best performance - and because of that - you don't get to hear about his performance (just know that he was not happy - and he will be working on getting better) This was the rescheduled game from Monday against the Bucs - and the boys came with their game faces on. Our #4 pitcher Jordan took the mound for the game and threw a great game. Holden had to catch again, as the other catcher on our team was still nursing a sore arm. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. I'd like to give you play by play - but let's just say that the Tigers really started to put it on the Bucs in the 3rd inning with good hitting, aggressive baserunning - and then the Bucs pitcher lost all confidence and couldn't throw a strike. Realizing this game was over - the Bucs threw some less experienced pitchers and the Tigers kept hitting. Holden had a ground out in the first inning, drew a walk, stole a base in the third inning, and got a hit in the 4th inning. Tigers end up winning this game - somewhere along the lines of 12 or 13 to 1. Hard to believe I forgot the score - but at some point in the game - I have to stop the kids from stealing bases and feel bad for the other team.
Thursday - the Tigers had their 3rd matchup with the vaunted Thunder. This is the team we played and got absolutely destroyed the last two times - but this time, we had a chance to throw our #1 pitcher in Andrew at them. Unfortunately - without our catcher - Holden again held down the fort behind the plate - but our infield defense would be much weaker without him. The Thunder again threw their best pitcher at us as well, but seeing him twice already - our team was a little better prepared to play against him. After the first inning - the Tigers scored a run on an RBI groundout by Holden to take the lead 1-0. The score held through three innings. The fourth inning, the Thunder started a rally - helped out by an error by one of our players. With the bases loaded and one out - a ball was hit right by our third baseman - I'm not sure he was paying attention - because if he would have just lifted his glove a foot - he would have caught the line drive and had a double play with the runner leaving third base ... but - the third baseman was not named Holden - and the ball went right by him allowing two runs to score. The next batter hit a double and scored two more - so after 4 innings, the Tigers were down 4-1. The fifth inning the Thunder tacked on one more run 0 and Andrew threw the maximum number of pitches he was allowed to throw. With Holden unavailable to pitch (since we didn't have our other catcher) - we had to turn to our #3 pitcher - and he did not perform well under pressure. 9 runs later, we were down 14-1 going into our last at bat. Thankfully - their ace also threw his maximum number of pitches - and the Tigers started to rally. Holden drew a walk in the final inning and scored a run - and the Tigers scored 5 in the inning - but well short of the victory. All things considered - a small victory losing 14-6 - knowing they did everything they could to try to beat us. Holden threw out a base runner trying to steal on us - and nearly threw another one out after a wild pitch hit the backstop and bounced back to him. Solid game for the most part by the team - and by Holden. I think if we had our catcher - we very well might have won that game - so hopefully - we will get to see them in tournament ball this summer.
Friday brought the conclusion of the game against the Red Sox. The Tigers came out flat and lost their 3-1 lead they had when the game was postponed. Holden popped out his first time up - and after a couple of errors by the Tigers - we found ourselves down 6-4 going into the bottom of the last inning. We were up to the top of our order - and the first two batters got on base when Holden came up. Of course - since I wasn't there - Holden decided to belt his biggest hit of the season - a two hopper to the fence (and this is on the big field - 300 foot fences) - and got a stand up triple. He thinks he could have hit an inside the park homerun - but as a coach - there was no way I would let the winning run get called out at the plate with no outs. Two intentional walks and a little flare single that scored Holden and the game was over. Tigers win 7-6! Again - Holden caught the entire game ... and we got bad news from the other catcher - looks like he is out for the next three weeks (which is essentially the rest of the season). Hopefully we will get Holden on the mound this next week against one of the teams that we know we can beat and put an inexperienced catcher behind the plate. I feel bad for Holden - but as a coach - we have to do what is best for the team.
Three games next week - two tough ones against the Diamond Kings and the Astros - one easy one against the Yankees. Hopefully I can post after each game instead of giving a loooooonnnngggg blog about the week in review!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Barbe beats up Airline
:(
That pretty much sums it up - but here are the gruesome details ... Airline traveled to Lake Charles to take on the Barbe Bucs on Saturday for a regional playoff game. Barbe showed up to play, Airline did not.
Airline started off the game with a hit - only to get negated by the runner getting picked off 1st base on the first pitch. Airline had a chance to score - but the umpire called runner interference on a play that was clearly not ... and thus - no runs on the board in the first inning. The bottom of the first started off with a bang - as Barbe's leadoff hitter ripped a ball to left field. The outfielder missed the cutoff and the runner advanced to 2nd. One more throwing error and a no doubt home run by Barbe's 4th batter and pitcher - and the Vikings were down 4-0 after one inning.
The second inning was much less successful for Airline as all three batters struck out. The bottom of the second was worse. Airline committed a variety of throwing and fielding errors (five is when I lost count) - add to that a Grand Slam home run by their leadoff batter - and you could pretty much tell this was going to be a quick game. After a 12 run inning by Barbe (yes - I said 12) - score Barbe - 16, Airline - 0.
The third inning Mallory got an at bat and made good contact with the ball - but not quite hard enough to clear the shortstops head. We ended our part of the 3rd inning with one hit - and no runs. The playoff "mercy" rule is a 15 run lead in 3 innings means the game is over ... so - final score Airline 0, Barbe 16. Mallory went 0-1, and had absolutely no action in the field.
Barbe was definitely worth their billing as the #1 seed, but I believe the Vikings came out a little scared - and once the Bucs got rolling - we couldn't stop getting out of our own way! The Lady Vikings are a much better team than we showed. Rough end to a very good season! Time to start working on next year! Only one senior on the team - so the Lady Vikings are in line for some success next year, too!
Holden has a game tonight - weather permitting (although, it isn't looking good right now). I'll keep you posted!
That pretty much sums it up - but here are the gruesome details ... Airline traveled to Lake Charles to take on the Barbe Bucs on Saturday for a regional playoff game. Barbe showed up to play, Airline did not.
Airline started off the game with a hit - only to get negated by the runner getting picked off 1st base on the first pitch. Airline had a chance to score - but the umpire called runner interference on a play that was clearly not ... and thus - no runs on the board in the first inning. The bottom of the first started off with a bang - as Barbe's leadoff hitter ripped a ball to left field. The outfielder missed the cutoff and the runner advanced to 2nd. One more throwing error and a no doubt home run by Barbe's 4th batter and pitcher - and the Vikings were down 4-0 after one inning.
The second inning was much less successful for Airline as all three batters struck out. The bottom of the second was worse. Airline committed a variety of throwing and fielding errors (five is when I lost count) - add to that a Grand Slam home run by their leadoff batter - and you could pretty much tell this was going to be a quick game. After a 12 run inning by Barbe (yes - I said 12) - score Barbe - 16, Airline - 0.
The third inning Mallory got an at bat and made good contact with the ball - but not quite hard enough to clear the shortstops head. We ended our part of the 3rd inning with one hit - and no runs. The playoff "mercy" rule is a 15 run lead in 3 innings means the game is over ... so - final score Airline 0, Barbe 16. Mallory went 0-1, and had absolutely no action in the field.
Barbe was definitely worth their billing as the #1 seed, but I believe the Vikings came out a little scared - and once the Bucs got rolling - we couldn't stop getting out of our own way! The Lady Vikings are a much better team than we showed. Rough end to a very good season! Time to start working on next year! Only one senior on the team - so the Lady Vikings are in line for some success next year, too!
Holden has a game tonight - weather permitting (although, it isn't looking good right now). I'll keep you posted!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Updates!!
OK - so I fell behind by a day - so here is an update!!
Yesterday brought a game between Holden's Tigers and the Red Sox. I'd like to say there were all kinds of great highlights in the game - but it was just not a good game ... not for the Tigers - but for the Red Sox. They were just not very good. We sat Holden for 3 of the 5 innings and he only got two at bats. Got an RBI single in the first inning and drew a walk the second time up. We pulled him from the batting order and batted our worst nine guys - and still continued to score. The final score was 14-2 ... but would have been much worse if we ran the bases and hit our better players - but there is a time for sportsmanship, and hopefully, our boys learned that. We have been on the other end of a beating - so they were respectful of the Red Sox. Holden called pitches for me for a couple of innings and did a good job mixing it up - I see a future coach in the making!
As for Mallory's Lady Vikings - they traveled to Lake Charles today after practice to get prepared for their big playoff game. For those of you who cannot attend - the game will be streamed live over the internet by a radio station in the area. Click on the link to connect to the website - game time is at 2:30pm Central Time. KTKC FM
I have to work early in the morning tomorrow - and am heading to Lake Charles to watch the game. Julie hitched a ride down - and is there with Mal right now. I'm nervous for them - but I hope they play to their ability. If they do - they have a chance of upsetting the #1 seed - all it takes is one game. Their big motto this season has been "Believe" - tomorrow - they hope to make "believers" out of all of us! I'll give an update maybe tomorrow - or Sunday at the latest!
Yesterday brought a game between Holden's Tigers and the Red Sox. I'd like to say there were all kinds of great highlights in the game - but it was just not a good game ... not for the Tigers - but for the Red Sox. They were just not very good. We sat Holden for 3 of the 5 innings and he only got two at bats. Got an RBI single in the first inning and drew a walk the second time up. We pulled him from the batting order and batted our worst nine guys - and still continued to score. The final score was 14-2 ... but would have been much worse if we ran the bases and hit our better players - but there is a time for sportsmanship, and hopefully, our boys learned that. We have been on the other end of a beating - so they were respectful of the Red Sox. Holden called pitches for me for a couple of innings and did a good job mixing it up - I see a future coach in the making!
As for Mallory's Lady Vikings - they traveled to Lake Charles today after practice to get prepared for their big playoff game. For those of you who cannot attend - the game will be streamed live over the internet by a radio station in the area. Click on the link to connect to the website - game time is at 2:30pm Central Time. KTKC FM
I have to work early in the morning tomorrow - and am heading to Lake Charles to watch the game. Julie hitched a ride down - and is there with Mal right now. I'm nervous for them - but I hope they play to their ability. If they do - they have a chance of upsetting the #1 seed - all it takes is one game. Their big motto this season has been "Believe" - tomorrow - they hope to make "believers" out of all of us! I'll give an update maybe tomorrow - or Sunday at the latest!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times ...
What a tumultuous day in Bossier City for the Hall kids ... The evening started with Holden in the middle school track meet. Thankfully for the parents - he only ran one event and it was early. Holden ran the 800 meters - and ran a pretty good race - but there were some super fast kids in the race. He finished in 8th place - but was the fastest among the Green Acres kids. From there - Holden and I headed straight to the softball field - to catch the playoff game between Mallory's Airline Vikings against the Lafayette Lions.
We got to the game after the 1st inning was over and it was all tied at 0-0. The Vikings took the lead in the 3rd inning 3-0. Mallory got an at bat this inning - but was called out for hitting outside of the batters box - a pretty crappy call. The bottom of the 4th inning was a scoring barrage by the Vikings and the Lions made a few errors in the inning to keep the rally alive. Mallory got a walk, and scored a run with some fantastic baserunning. The Vikings finished the inning with 6 more runs and took the lead 9-0. The Lions clawed back in the 5th and scored three runs, then held the Vikings scoreless to narrow the gap to 9-3 after 5 innings. The 6th inning started with another rally by the Lions who added another run, however, with runners on 2nd and 3rd - they tried to bunt another run in. The 3rd baseman fielded it - looked the runner back, fired it to Mallory at 1st - and then she made a perfect throw to home to get the runner trying to score for an inning ending double play. The Vikings tacked on 2 more in the bottom of the inning. Mallory sacrifice bunted a runner into scoring position to help the Vikings. The Lions continued put pressure on the Vikings and loaded the bases again. Mallory made a great play to get the 2nd out of the inning. The Lions tried to bunt for a hit at the end of the game - and the 3rd baseman threw a bullet to Mallory for the final out of the game! Final score - Airline 11, Lafayette 5.
For the local news video footage on this game click here : Airline vs Lafayette video via KTBS. Look for Mallory at the beginning of the video for their infield huddle.
Plus - here is the article in the Bossier press with a picture of Mallory sliding into home for a score! Airline Rolls - Bossier Press
The night ended with Holden and I rushing off to his baseball game against the vaunted Thunder. With our ace pitcher out and Holden unavailable to pitch because our catcher was injured - Holden was forced to catch. Our inexperienced pitching caused singles to become doubles with easy stolen bases. Holden still managed to throw out a runner with this disadvantage. The Thunder threw there ace pitcher who was nearly unhittable. Holden unfortunately struck out during his only at bat. After falling behind 12-0 after two innings, the team found a rhythm and only allowed 3 more runs for the next two innings. Holden called pitches for the 2nd two innings and proved to call better pitches than his coach (and dad).
But unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't get the hitting necessary to put a run across the plate. Final Score - Thunder 15, Tigers 0.
Next Tiger game is Thursday - and in all likelihood, Holden will be catching the start of the game. Hopefully if we can get a big lead - we can get him out from behind the plate. Next Viking game is Saturday at 2:30pm in Lake Charles, LA against the top seeded Barbe Buccaneers. I'll keep you posted as the games are played! Both kids have a day off tomorrow - so they will get their much needed rest! As for me - I plan on working a very full day to try to catch up with my real job!
We got to the game after the 1st inning was over and it was all tied at 0-0. The Vikings took the lead in the 3rd inning 3-0. Mallory got an at bat this inning - but was called out for hitting outside of the batters box - a pretty crappy call. The bottom of the 4th inning was a scoring barrage by the Vikings and the Lions made a few errors in the inning to keep the rally alive. Mallory got a walk, and scored a run with some fantastic baserunning. The Vikings finished the inning with 6 more runs and took the lead 9-0. The Lions clawed back in the 5th and scored three runs, then held the Vikings scoreless to narrow the gap to 9-3 after 5 innings. The 6th inning started with another rally by the Lions who added another run, however, with runners on 2nd and 3rd - they tried to bunt another run in. The 3rd baseman fielded it - looked the runner back, fired it to Mallory at 1st - and then she made a perfect throw to home to get the runner trying to score for an inning ending double play. The Vikings tacked on 2 more in the bottom of the inning. Mallory sacrifice bunted a runner into scoring position to help the Vikings. The Lions continued put pressure on the Vikings and loaded the bases again. Mallory made a great play to get the 2nd out of the inning. The Lions tried to bunt for a hit at the end of the game - and the 3rd baseman threw a bullet to Mallory for the final out of the game! Final score - Airline 11, Lafayette 5.
For the local news video footage on this game click here : Airline vs Lafayette video via KTBS. Look for Mallory at the beginning of the video for their infield huddle.
Plus - here is the article in the Bossier press with a picture of Mallory sliding into home for a score! Airline Rolls - Bossier Press
The night ended with Holden and I rushing off to his baseball game against the vaunted Thunder. With our ace pitcher out and Holden unavailable to pitch because our catcher was injured - Holden was forced to catch. Our inexperienced pitching caused singles to become doubles with easy stolen bases. Holden still managed to throw out a runner with this disadvantage. The Thunder threw there ace pitcher who was nearly unhittable. Holden unfortunately struck out during his only at bat. After falling behind 12-0 after two innings, the team found a rhythm and only allowed 3 more runs for the next two innings. Holden called pitches for the 2nd two innings and proved to call better pitches than his coach (and dad).
But unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't get the hitting necessary to put a run across the plate. Final Score - Thunder 15, Tigers 0.
Next Tiger game is Thursday - and in all likelihood, Holden will be catching the start of the game. Hopefully if we can get a big lead - we can get him out from behind the plate. Next Viking game is Saturday at 2:30pm in Lake Charles, LA against the top seeded Barbe Buccaneers. I'll keep you posted as the games are played! Both kids have a day off tomorrow - so they will get their much needed rest! As for me - I plan on working a very full day to try to catch up with my real job!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tigers Win!
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Holden - played catcher all game - made a great play on a wild pitch - scrambling back to the backstop and making a perfect toss to the pitcher to prevent a run. The Tigers have a big game against the Thunder - a team that crushed us last time out - we are a little better set up with our pitchers this time - as the last time we faced them - it was after our 2nd place finish in the Lawson Brandon 1st Annual Tournament - where the team played 5 games in two days. Unfortunately, we are still down a catcher who is nursing a sore arm - which puts Holden behind the plate tomorrow - and hurts our team in the field.
Holden also has a Track Meet tomorrow - where he runs the 800 meters. So - busy day tomorrow - Holden's Track Meet, Mal's playoff game, then Holden's baseball game. Stay tuned for the results tomorrow!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Lady Vikings edge Lady Panthers
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| Sophomore Mallory Hall has a flawless day at the plate and in the field to lead the Lady Vikings |
Thursday, April 17th - article copied from Bossier Press Tribune - by Russell Hedges
The Airline Lady Vikings scored two runs in the sixth inning to get past Parkway 8-6 in the final regular-season softball game for both teams Wednesday at Airline.
Mallory Hall went 3 for 3 to lead Airline (18-11). Sarah Atkins went 3 for 4. Kix Hutchins, Katie Smith, Lindsay Fronzaglio and Miranda Young all had two hits. Smith had a triple, and Young and Fronzaglio had doubles.
Alexis McCown (13-9) got the win.
Jessica Randall went 3 for 4 with a double to lead Parkway (16-13). Katie May went 2 for 3 with a home run, and Danielle Cruickshank went 2 for 4.
Parkway scored four runs in the top of the sixth to tie it at 6. But the Lady Vikes used a Mallory Hall single, two bunts and a ground ball by Atkins to score two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Pretty cool article, huh? I figure bragging publicly on facebook makes me look like a bragger - so I figure what better place to post updated on the kids - along with other interesting "stuff". Mallory and the Lady Vikings have a big playoff game against Lafayette at the Airline Softball complex on Tuesday. Come out and support Mallory and the Lady Vikings. Lafayette beat the Vikings in Sulphur earlier in the year 12-4 in a game where the Vikings came out flat. This should be an evenly contested match - and hopefully home field advantage will push the advantage toward the Vikings. Stay tuned for an update on the playoff game. Go Vikings!!
Pretty cool article, huh? I figure bragging publicly on facebook makes me look like a bragger - so I figure what better place to post updated on the kids - along with other interesting "stuff". Mallory and the Lady Vikings have a big playoff game against Lafayette at the Airline Softball complex on Tuesday. Come out and support Mallory and the Lady Vikings. Lafayette beat the Vikings in Sulphur earlier in the year 12-4 in a game where the Vikings came out flat. This should be an evenly contested match - and hopefully home field advantage will push the advantage toward the Vikings. Stay tuned for an update on the playoff game. Go Vikings!!
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