Final Game - 10:45 AM Saturday

Our final game vs. the Gators will be this Saturday at 10:45 AM. Please let me know if you will not be able to make the game. Let's finish strong!

Try and get to the indoor batting cages before Saturday if you can. Balls and Strikes or Drew Praters is fine. Set the machine at 29 mph and get some cuts in. We have not hit in a while so lets get refocused. Also, try and get your boy out with this glove. Hit him some grounders and get him ready for Saturday.

Have fun!

Today's Game Postponed!!!

Today's game has been postponed. Will provide rescheduled date when available.

NEXT GAME TIME CHANGE!!!!!!!! 2:15 PM!!!!!

Our next game on Sunday has been moved from 12:30 PM to 2:15 PM. See everyone on Sunday for the start of the 2:15 PM game.

Next Game - Sunday 9/27 - 12:30 PM

Our final game will be Sunday, September 27th at 12:30 PM. Strehl 95. See you there. If you can't make it please let me know.

Coach Tom

Game Rained Out!!!!

Game today is rained out! Once we have a makeup date I will let everyone know. I surmise it will be next weekend, but I'm not sure yet. Will know early this week. Have a safe and dry Sunday! Go Steelers!!!!

Check SPAA.COM for Rainout Info

I will be in church in the AM, so make sure to check spaa.com for rainout information. I will get an email out ASAP when I return from church if there is a rainout. As of the time of this email we are still on!

Rascals Friday Night - 7:05 PM

We are sitting in Section 101, Row 4, Seats 1-5. 5 seats that close for $25? Awesome!!!! Hope to see some of you out there to support the Rascals in Game 2 of the best of 5 Championship Series vs. Lake Erie.

Weekend Games

We have 11 for Saturday....(Nick/Wyatt)
We have 13 for Sunday....

Anyone that has not talked to me yet not going to make it on Saturday or Sunday? Already thinking about the weekend. Wait...I've been thinking about this weekend since last Sunday. What am I going to do this winter? I should be a bear and just hibernate....

We are going Friday Night!

We are going Friday night. Sorry about that.

River City Rascals In the Championship - Be There!

Message from the River City Rascals to all 2009 DAA Participants....

We are offering $5.00 box tickets (up to 4 per athlete) if they call or order tickets at the box office for the following games:
Game 1 – Thursday, September 17 @ 7:05 pm
Game 2 – Friday, September 18 @ 7:05 pm
*They must state that they are with the D.A.A. and their team name when ordering tickets.

Teri, Trinity, Tyson, Trace and I are going to be there. Would love to have all you join us. Can't beat the price. The kids always have a blast. Let me know if you are going to go so we can look out for you.

Come on out! It will be fun!!!!

Coach Tom

End of the Year Player Evaluations

After the season is over, coach Mike and I will be sitting down performing player evaluations. We will evaluate all areas of the game....

• Focus
• Attitude
• Commitment
• Defensive Awareness
• Arm strength and accuracy
• Fielding skills...ground balls and fly balls
• Baserunning
• Hitting

After this is done I would like to set up a time with all of you to discuss our thoughts. With 6 plus months before our next game I want to share with all of you what we see. Where things are going well and where there might be some room for improvement. All the kids do things well, but all have areas they need to improve upon. This is a good idea because it gives everyone a lot of time to work on some of those areas.

I think because we desire to stay together til they get to high school age, and maybe longer, that is very important.

We also need to talk about parent's expectations.....

• Is this just for fun?
• Is winning important?
• Can we have fun and win?
• Is tournament/travel ball of interest next year and beyond?
• Is your child being treated fairly by the coaches?
• Are there certain positions you or your son feel he would be better served playing?
• What do you want us to work on with your son that we are not already doing?

Pretty much, I just want to throw it on the table, level set, be honest and open and have good dialogue. This is a family. You are my friends and I will do anything for any of you. Teri and I moved here two years ago not knowing anyone and we are closer to all of you then anyone else in the area. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that because it would be hard on Teri and I.

We love being with each and everyone of you and we will stay in contact with each one of you during the winter. In fact we are even considering starting a "Christian Based Small Group". Josh is probably saying, "Yeah I heard that before!" He is right. The Lord has really convicted me over this and shame on me for waiting to be a good soldier under God's command on this topic. This will happen. More on that later if you are interested.

The toughest part of coaching is dealing with parents. I am a parent and I don't coach my kids in football or soccer, so I know all the emotions believe me. But you are more than parents to me and I hope I am more than just a coach to most of you. The Big Stick Cardinal family is not unlike any other American Family. We all need to be there for each other, be open with each other and enjoy each other. If we can't do that then it becomes just a baseball team....boring and without purpose. I want us to have purpose. This is more than just baseball. We are teaching respect, honor, courage, resiliency, commitment, passion, love, compassion and empathy among many other things. This is a family. Please always remember that Teri and I feel that way.

See everyone on Saturday....

Coach Tom

22-20 Loss

This game epitomized the importance of playing good defense. Simple solution to this one....they made the routine defensive play and we did not. I counted 8 plays that for our elite group should have made outs on. When we give 4 and 5 outs an inning it is tough to hold your opponent to less than 5 runs an inning.

That's ok. They are 5, 6 and 7. We will get better. Practice will fix all of it. We will be so good next spring it isn't even going to be funny. Let's take care of business next weekend, win our 2nd league title, finish the season 8-1-1(with very little practice by the way) and take some time off.

We will start our hitting program in January, start practicing outdoors in March and be ready for our first game in April. We will play a tournament or 2 next year as well if the parents/kids are interested in the commitment and the competition.

I am so excited for next year!!!!

21 - 21 Tie

Wow! What a game. There is so much to say, but I'm exhausted after today so I will keep it brief. The kids played well. The Pirates hit the ball very well, but we responded offensively when we needed to. This team stuck together and really showed perserverance. They were down most of the game and kept coming back. I was impressed and am proud to be the coach of this team.

I wanted to explain what happen today when I threw my hat. I can deal with fielding errors. I can deal with offensive let downs. Yet mental mistakes I will never accept. However, I need to deal with them by trying to keep my emotions in check. We had an incident today that got the best of my emotions. I threw my hat when it happen and for that I am sorry. Some of the kids saw it, some of them did not. I apologized to your son after the game as it is unacceptable behavior and I need to learn how to deal with the mental errors when they happen. That is not the example I want to provide your kids. I am truly sorry. If your son was emotionally affected by the incident please let me know so that I can talk to them one on one tomorrow.

Let's get 'em Sunday!

Game Time!!! Saturday 10:45 AM

Great practice Wednesday night! We are ready! See everyone on Saturday at Strehl 95. Be there no later than 10:30 AM. If you are not going to be at the game on Saturday please let me know today. Dwayne/Renee I know Preston won't be there.

Practice Tonight...Strehl 94/95 (6-7PM)

We will run and work on defense. Leave your bats at home. Come ready to work. Very important practice setting up for a very important weekend. The league title will be decided this weekend. Let's make no doubt about it and end it Saturday morning.

Let's have fun, work hard and keep rising!

Let's Go BIG STICK CARDINALS!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 9th - Practice

Reminder....6 PM at Strehl 95 or 94 depending on what is open. See you there for this very important practice. We work on defense. Two games against the Pirates next weekend!

The Perfect Game?

Well not quite...but what an awesome effort tonight was. New kids keep stepping up each week. Tonight was our best game to date. High focus, hard base running, great defense, no hesitation, great hitting...I mean it was an awesome effort. I'm proud of these kids...they are just at a different level than most kids their age.

We will have our hands full in 9 days. The Pirates are hungry! They want us bad. The coaching staff hates me, especially the head coach. She just doesn't see eye to eye with me. I want this one bad too. In fact I want both Saturday and Sunday's game badly.

Our kids are peaking....let's keep it going! Practice Wednesday at 6 PM. Field 95.....we will work on defense exclusively.

Have a great holiday weekend! Be safe and we will see you on Wednesday.

Coach Tom

Wednesday, September 9th - Practice at Strehl

We will have a long layoff between Thursday, September 3rd and Saturday, September 12th.

We need to practice our defense and our base running. Practice will run from 6 PM - 7PM and will move quickly. We will get a lot of work in.

Please plan on being at this very important practice. If you can't make it let me know. We will not hit. Practice will be at Strehl. Field TBD, but plan on 95 or 94 depending on availability.

See everyone Thursday, September 3rd around 5:30ish. We play the Tigers again.

Have fun!

Coach Tom

Schedule Update....also on the SPAA website

6 9/3/2009 Thursday 06:00 PM Strehl 95 V SP204 Tigers
24 9/12/2009 Saturday 10:45 AM Strehl 95 H SP201 Pirates
14 9/13/2009 Sunday 02:15 PM Strehl 95 H SP201 Pirates
21 9/19/2009 Saturday 10:45 AM Strehl 95 V SP203 Sharks
17 9/20/2009 Sunday 12:30 PM Strehl 95 V SP202 Gators