Well the season is finally over so I thought I'd update those of you who are interested.
Sheep's Team: Indians 9-10 yr old Girls.
Reg. Season Record: 12-8 6th Seed in League Tournament.
After an up and down regular season, my girls really showed out for the tourney. We started our run with a 9-8 sudden death victory over the 4th seeded Rockies. It was a terrific game by both teams that was decided by a 2 out bases loaded single in the first "extra inning". (Sudden death in softball is simple. You start with a runner at second and 1 out. It's played like sudden death in college football with the teams alternating after a run is scored.)
Round two pitted us against the top seeded and undefeated Cardinals. We had played them tough all season (3 losses by a total of 4 runs) and my girls were simply not intimidated on their way to a resounding 9-3 victory sending them to the losers bracket.
Our third round game was against the 3rd seeded A's. We lost a heart breaker 4-3 on a walk off homer by Autumn, one of my favorite players in the league. A real sweet kid with a solid future in softball. Thankfully it's double elim so we stayed in the tourney.
Sunday morning brought us alot of excitement. We started with a stunning 7-6 come from behind victory against a very solid Portage Lakes team, which placed us in the semi-finals against the 2nd seeded Springfield Tigers.
The girls played their hearts out building a 7-2 lead before loosing 9-8 on a 2 out walk off single in the bottom of the 6th sending us home for the season.
Tournament Highlights:
We became the lowest seed in League history to advance to the Semi-Finals.
The play of my LF Allyson. She went all season without a hit, only to shell out 9 of them in the tournament.
Knocking the top seed out of the winners bracket is always a highlight.
Of course Raegan was her usual special self. Going 15-17 in the tournament while throwing out 3 runners at second and 6 at third.
KK's team: Giants 7-8 year old girls (Coach Pitch)
Reg Season Record 11-5-1 4th seed in league tournament.
They had a terrific regular season, but the seedings got the best of them in the tournament. They lost both of their games by 1 run in the final at bat for the home team.
Season Highlights:
The Giants out scored their opponents 268-185.
They pounded out 81 2B, 19HR, and 21 3B.
KK had 9 Triples, 7 Doubles and 28 RBI.
The 18-4 spanking of the Vipers on their home field in the annual night game. KK won the MVP with 2 Triples, a 2B and a single. 7 RBI and 4 runs.
Tournament Highlights:
Scoring 11 runs on 13 hits in the top of the 6th to take a 17-15 lead in round 1 of the tournament. The coach of the oposing team said after the game that it was the "Greatest display of hitting I have ever seen at this age level."
Fall Ball starts soon. Jim, Steve and I will again be hand picking our team from our league and we'll put them up against the best traveling teams in the state. I'll keep you posted.
You know how I love to talk about my girls. Well yesterday, my middle one had a day she will not soon forget.
On Saturday morning, oldest sheepling had a game at 10am. League rules dictate that you must have a minimum of 8 players to play. We were fine with our full contingent of 12 girls, but our opponents were short a player.
In steps Makhayla. "Dad, can I play?" Now league rules allow for a player to be brought up from the league below (Coach Pitch) in order to fill in in such instances, but my fear obviously was she's 7 and the other girls are 9-10; not to mention that Abbae was starting, and she throws in the high 30's low 40's. "I don't know K, Abs throws hard and I'm n...." "Dad, I can do it. I'm not scared." Well I gave in, and I was amazed.
Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that she was the star of the game, or that she ripped a solid single up the middle with the bases loaded. She went 0-2 with a BB and 2K's, but she did score a run, which she thought was really cool. What I will tell you is that this little girl climbed into the batters box against a girl that she has no business facing; and not only did she NOT back out of the box, she swung the bat....HARD. Twice she was just a hair late, and this is against a girl that was bringing it.
Raegan showed great sportsmanship towards her little sis; high-fiving her as she walked to the plate each time, which is HUGE to a little sister who looks up to and admires her big sis. I was never more proud of K.....until Saturday night.
Each year one team is invited to play a night game at water works park in springfield, under the lights against the Vipers. This year K's team was chosen based on the two prior games against the Vipers; a 13-13 tie due to darkness, and a 7-6 loss (We are the two stongest teams in the league; Vipers 6-0-1, Giants 5-1-1). I'm telling you, this game is a BIG deal. They do it up right. Pre-Game introductions are carried out over the PA much like MLB's All-Star game. The girls are introduced by name and number, and line up down their respective baselines. There are banners and signs, the singing of the National Anthem, and a guy doing play by play. Not to mention that they get to play in front of about 100 people.
They say "Great players shine when the lights are brightest", and Makhayla followed up her impressive morning showing, with a dominating evening preformance. The kid put on a show with the bat, 4-4....a two run triple, a bases loaded triple, 2 singles and 4 runs scored in an 18-4 rout of the previously unbeaten Vipers, earning herself game MVP honors and a game ball to take home (which daddy will photograph and post on the site as soon as she gets home from grama's tomorrow and I pry it out of her fingers)
It was a fun day for everyone, but an unforgetable one for her. These kind of memories are why I love being a Daddy. Especially, a Daddy of 3 AMAZING little girls.
What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
7 games later, I promise the Cavs have earned the respect of the C's and their fans. (minus the trolls that seem to have infiltrated our cozy little NBA corner.)
LeBron was magnificent, however, so was Pierce.
Any questions about the Cavs' heart, will, and/or toughness should've been put to rest Sunday. The Cavliers served notice to the rest of the NBA. They are very close to becomming a dominant team; and by very close, I mean 1 player.
If the front office can find LBJ's Pippen (and I think he may be out there in FA) the Cavs will automatically vaut into the top spot in the NBA. If LeBron can do this when he's forced to play 1 on 5 90% of the time, imagine what he could do if they had another guy that commanded attention.
Which brings me back to the second line of this blog. Boston won game 7 because Pierce has a ton of help. Even though Pierce was on fire, the Cavs couldn't focus exclusively on him. KG commands attention. Allen commands attention (I don't care how poorly he's shooting, you do not leave that guy open). LeBron put up 45 point's when the C's knew he was the one that was going to shoot. Delonte is a very nice player, but he's not going to scare anybody. Add another scorer to LBJ and Delonte, and then you have something.
Danny has to do something big. The Cavs have expiring contracts (Delonte's is one of them, but they need to re-sign him. Also I don't think Boobie needs to go anywhere.) and several very tradeable players. Joe Smith, Sasha (sry TL), AV, Big Ben, Damon, Wally all have something to offer other teams. It's up to Danny to figure out who/what other teams want and work a little magic.
Here's a list of the FA's and RFA's available this off season.
There are a couple guy that really pique my intrest as a fan.
The first of which is Luol Deng. I know he's an RFA, but at 6' 9" 220 he's built in the mold of Pippen (6'8" 210), and posseses many of the same skills. He's a solid shooter (career 48% from the field) and is supremely atletic. The Bulls are in "rebuilding" mode again, and I think that perhaps Danny can put together a sign and trade type deal with Chicago to get him here.
I also like J.R. Smith from Denver. 6'6" 220 and he managed to average 12ppg on a team dominated by Melo and A.I. He's young (22) , athletic, and shot 46% from the floor. Obviously he's not a guy that commands attention right now, but put in a position to score, he has the skills to become one.
One of the biggest names that could potentially be available is Shawn Marion. He has an Early Termination Clause in his contract, and with Miami's problems he may be looking for a new home. I would love to have his up-tempo mindset on this team. "The King" and "The Matrix" could be a deadly combo.
Another name I want to throw out there is Keith Bogans. The guy is stuck on Orlando's bench, but I think he's got what it takes to be a starting 2 guard (and no, it's not just because I'm a huge Kentucky fan). He needs some work, but he's young and he came from one of the premier college programs in the country.
The Cavs have to make some moves. As i said before, they are very close. I can't wait until next year. Here's to a great off season, and an even more eventful 2009.
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