Nice Win!

Had a nice win tonight parents. The kids are running thru the bases now! Hey what do yo know...if I can only get Trace to quit running on his heels and to stop sliding into bases we would really have something. Kids are hustling around the bases and having fun! Tell your child after they hit the ball to put their head down and RUN FOREST RUN!!!! Too many are still watching the ball after they hit it. We will continue to stress it but it would really help if this week you push it hard. We will also continue to do so.

Had a few rough spots hitting today but for the most part a nice effort. Very impressed with the defensive play tonight. Yes we had errors, I can deal with errors, but had very few mental errors. The kids were very focused tonight on defense and it showed. They have a good sense of the defensive side of the ball right now. We need to work on fluidity, which we will in the spring, but they really have a good feeling of where to go with the ball when hit to them.

Next game Thursday against the Tigers. This is the rain out game. Nick has snacks. I know RJ and Raynard won't be there. If anyone else won't make it, please let me know.

Can't wait 'til Thursday!!!!

Saturday's Game Rained Out!!

Saturday's 9 AM game has been rained out due to field conditions. Reschedule pending....will let you know. Next game Monday night. Let me know if you won't be there. Thanks!
Coach Tom

Thoughts....

Looking forward to playing on Saturday. Game time 9 AM. Let's get there around 8:30 ish to losen up and field some ground balls. We worked on hitting and fielding on Thursday night at practice. The kids got a lot of cuts in.

One thing that I stressed on defense, in regards to fielding ground balls, was to move your feet, get your glove out in front of your body and work from the dirt up. What I mean by that is...

1. Get in front of the ball by having an active lower body. MOVE THOSE FEET!
2. Get your glove in front of your body and get your butt down underneath you.
3. Work your glove up from the dirt rather than down towards the dirt

All of these things will equate to a successfully fielded ground ball. Fitzgerald Guarantee.

Continue to stress this with your kid the rest of this season cause by the end of the fall season they will be sick of hearing me say it. Then after a layoff thru the winter, my big mouth will be there again stressing it.

I was watching a kid pitch game this week and saw this as a big issue even at that level. It is not an ability thing it is a practice thing. This is something we will practice, practice, practice in the spring.

We can improve on defense and will improve on defense because we have a lot of talent. Every kid can improve and no one is near their potential. I am a defensive minded guy and always enjoyed the defensive side of the game when I played. Pitching and defense is what it takes to win at any level and both will be stressed as we move the Big Stick Cardinals towards playing high school ball.

See ya Saturday!

Concession Stand & Practice

Everything went great last night. I think everyone actually had a lot of fun. Man are we dorks or what? Looking forward to tonight.

Concession stand starts at 5:15 PM.
Practice starts at 5:30 PM....we'll go as long as the kids want to go! Defense, defense, defense, and a little hitting sprinkled in.

Coach Tom

Coach Tom- Tip of the Week- Aug 25th

Baserunning Tip!

With less than two outs make sure that the ball is down on the ground before proceeding to the next base.


**friendly reminder- Pastor, it's your turn for snacks on Saturday**
And concession duty's tomorrow ladies.. and hiting practice for those that can make it after 5:30pm.

Defense and Paying Attention

I found our area of improvement....defense and paying attention.

Let's face it the kids are doing great in so many areas. In fact they are doing better in more areas than they are not doing well in.

What do they do well

• Hit
• Run the bases
• Have fun

What they need to improve on

• Paying attention
• Defense (Ground Balls, Fly Balls, Knowing where to go with the ball)

We will work on these two items at practice on Thursday. Field 94. Anytime after 5:30 is fine. I will be there the entire night helping with the concession stand, but will take a break during our practice time.

See everyone on Thursday night....let me know if you will be there.

Today's Game

Well, I tried an experiment today and it didn't go too well. But that is why they call it an experiment. I asked a lot of our kids today. I switched it up quite a bit. There were kids on defense that were playing positions they never practiced or played in a game, and the unfamiliarity showed. This close one is on Coach Tom. However, they did pull their defense together in the latter part of the game and I could not be prouder of this group of young men!

The kids pulled it out and really showed some heart out there. They are really dialing it in. Everyone is contributing and there seems to be new heroes every game.

Who is the next hero on Monday night?

See you then.

Coach Tom