Brian Kelly’s Blog

The Braves are undefeated this season (thus far) for a reason.  Their roster is comprised of big hitters and superb defenders (fielders).  It turned out that we were over-matched in this game.  There weren’t many mistakes made on either side, it’s just that they had hit the ball much harder (consistently) which translated into more base runners (and runs).

There was a bright side to the game, however.  My son had never pitched in a game before this one .. including Farm, Minor, Fall, and one prior Major league season.  We were down 11-0 so we decided to give him a look:

Here were the results:

He faced the following hitters in the lineup (typically the strongest hitters in the lineup, save the #1 batter):
#2 Hitter -- Result -- Strikeout (K)
#3 Hitter -- Result -- Strikeout (K)
#4 Hitter -- Result -- Hit by Pitch (HP)
#5 Hitter -- Result -- Strikeout (K)

So in his first ever performance from the mound, he struck out the side!  Talk about a proud pappa!  I’m *sure* that my chest-size grew about 2 inches today.  I was so incredibly happy for him, it nearly brought me to tears (and I don’t well-up all that easily).  For me, personally, it practically felt like a win.

Final Score:
Braves -- 11 (5-0)
Pirates - 0 (3-2)

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Our Little League Pirates "brought it" once again.  The bats were as live as ever, and the defense was stubborn.  It was another great effort by the kids in Yellow & Black.

Here’s a video of pre-game infield/outfield practice, some live footage of the game, and the final "victory lap" at the conclusion.

Final Score

Pirates: 10 (3-1)
Giants: 0 (0-4)

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Our little league team (the Pirates) pulled it back together after last week’s heart-wrenching loss.

Our pitching was once again extremely effective as we held the opponents (Cardinals) to only 3 runs.

Our batting was consistent throughout. If I recall correctly, we had only one scoreless inning … and that was just do to the fact that the balls were being hit right at a defender.  The bats were very live for the Pirates all game long.

Great recovery kids!

Final Score:
Pirates: 13 (2-1)
Cardinals: 3 (0-3)

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Our little league team (the Pirates) lost a heart-wrencher.

They dominated the game with superb defense and very live bats.  We had a commanding lead going into the bottom of the 6th (and final) inning.

We were up 11-2.  Our starting pitcher exhausted his maximum number of pitches for the game (Little League has rules governing how many pitches any individual can pitch), so in came a reliever.  The opposing team’s (Red Sox) bats suddenly came to life.  At the same time, our fielding seem to fall apart completely.  After 5 solid innings of defensive play (including 2 double-plays), our guys somehow seemed to get rattled by the sudden hitting display by the Red Sox.

Our guys were pretty down after the game (which is to be expected), but they’re a *great* group of kids that will surely bounce back for our next game this Saturday.

They may have lost in heart-breaking fashion, but I have not doubt that a lot of character was built within each of our players.

Time to put it in the past and move on.  It was only the 2nd game of our 24 game schedule, so there’s still a long way to go.

Final Score:
Pirates: 11 (1-1)
Red Sox: 12 (1-1)

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