Above left: Will she become the next Ila Borders, the first woman to pitch in the Major Leagues? Maybe not, but the Dodgers’ Alyssa Spry is a pretty good pitcher in her own right. Above: Throwing with all of his might, shortstop Josh Prom launches the ball into the first baseman’s mitt getting an out on the play. Left: Looking like Babe Ruth, the Cubs’ Andrew Miller took a mighty cut at this pitch, and connected for a home run. As a pitcher Andrew threw 12 strikeouts against the Dodgers.
Summer weather is finally here and baseball is being played and enjoyed by over 140 kids in Community Education’s youth baseball program.
Terrific T-ball teams
About 60 of those players are involved in T-ball this summer. They play every Monday and are more then halfway through their season.
The game is very simple to play. One team has all their players out in the field while the other team, one at a time, hits the ball off a tee. Players run one base at a time while the team in the field tries to get an out. It is very rare that a team will get an out, but they learn how it should be done.
After everyone has batted, the team in the field gets to bat. They do this for three innings and then the game is over with both teams winning because we don’t keep score at this age level. You have only two weeks left to catch these young players in action—don’t miss the T-ball fun!
Competition and cooperation in Parent Pitch
Parent pitch games are played on Tuesday nights and we have enjoyed great weather of late. The season is going along great with every team playing well. The Lions are coached by Dave Furcht with help from parents, and the Yankees are coached by Jared Smith and Paul Sporn. They are in a tie at the top of the standings.
The Yankees were down a few players at their June 25 faceoff, due to family vacations and other summer activities. The Lumberjacks loaned the Yankees two of their players so the kids could have a game and a great game it was.
Both teams hit the ball very well, scoring several runs every inning. Good defense by both teams kept the games close and it ended in an 11 – 11 tie. The Lumberjacks got the win, only their second of the season. For the Yankees this was their first loss.
The Lumberjacks played the Thunderbirds from Grand Portage on July 2. In their first meeting the Lumberjacks won the game by 8 runs. Things would be different this week. The game was evenly matched and the score was 12 – 11 after two innings. The teams’ last at bats would decide the outcome of the game. The Thunderbirds batted first, hitting the ball very well and scoring 5 runs to make the score 16 – 11—a tall order for the Lumberjacks to overcome.
The Lumberjacks started out with a couple of hits and it looked like they might just pull it out. Then the Thunderbirds pulled it together with three great plays on defense that would put the game out of reach. The final score wound up 16 – 14, the first win for the Thunderbirds.
At the same time the Yankees and Lions were playing another game to see who the first place team would be. At this time I don’t have the outcome of that game. In my opinion this year’s parent pitch teams are playing some great baseball, as good as I’ve seen, and the rest of the season is going to be fun to watch.
Lots of Little League action
We are in the middle of the Little League season with lots of games having been played and only a couple of rainouts. Every year we plan some games against Silver Bay. The Cubs games against Silver Bay in Silver Bay were rained out. The Dodgers were luckier and squeezed their games in between storms. The Dodgers lost two close games to the two Silver Bay teams. They were in both games but needed to make a few more plays on defense to pull out a victory.
Next up for the Dodgers was a game with the first-place Cubs. The Dodgers started Ethan Sporn on the mound. He threw 72 pitches with 9 strikeouts, another great performance. Cubs countered with Andrew Miller on the hill. He threw 70 pitches with 12 strikeouts. These are two of the best pitchers in the league and it was a great battle.
Noah Furcht reached base twice and scored both times for the Dodgers. Alyssa Spry had multiple plays on defense and was called an excellent player by the Cubs’ coaching staff. Adam Dorr finished out the game on the mound for the Dodgers and did his best to keep his team in the game. Joe Deschampe pitched the last inning for the Cubs and the Cubs won the game (12 – 5).
The Twins started the season in first place but have slipped in the standings as of late. After winning both their games with Silver Bay, they’ve had trouble with the local teams. They lost two games to the Cubs 16 – 7 and 11 – 0. In the first game the Twins played very well, but the Cubs’ bats came alive and led them to victory. Andrew Miller hit his first home run over the right center fence. Levi Shells was not to be outdone, and he was 3-for-3 with an inside the park home run.
The second match-up was all about pitching. The Twins started the game with some new young arms. Patrick Pierre and Aram Falter had their first starts as pitchers. They pitched the first two innings and struggled a bit but never stopped trying. Josh Prom entered the game in the 3rd inning and kept the Cubs at bay, but the damage had been done. The Cubs used three pitchers who held the Twins scoreless. Pete Sutton threw 62 pitches with 10 strikeouts; Skylar Wilson pitched two innings and had 5 strikeouts; and Tate Crawford closed out the game with a 1, 2, 3 inning.
Little League is played at Pappy Wright field on Tuesday and Sunday nights. Come out and catch a game!
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