Another Weekend at the Ballpark

Whew - just finished another full weekend at the ballpark. The Braves participated in their second tournament this weekend - this was an AAU event in Auburndale. We are a "fire" division team (like AA) and all three teams we played this weekend were "ice". The boys did really well and managed to go 1-1 in pool play - winning their first game 20-9 and then losing their second 12-2. Bradley played left field the first game and did a great job - catching a fly ball and doing the right thing of throwing it to the cut-off to make sure the runner on second didn't advance. He pitched in relief the second game but it was too far gone to do much good. He helped his team at the plate in their first game on Saturday going 3-4 but no at bats in the second game. It was an early morning on Saturday as we had the 8 & 10 am games - that meant leaving the house at 5:40 to be at the park at 7! Elimination day started at a more reasonable hour of noon - meaning we didn't have to leave until about 9:40. We faced a really tough team out of Tampa that had obviously been playing together for quite some time. Bradley took the mound and really pitched a great game but he was unable to get the fielding help he needed. TR said it sure looked like the other team had been scouting Bradley as they hit the ball well and didn't take a alot of pitches. Of course, playing on a 300' field didn't help when the ball got past the outfielder it was headed to the fence! Our boys put up a great fight but it just wasn't enough and they were never able to get anything going at the plate, losing 9-0. Our boys have been taught to be patient at the plate but it definitely didn't work when the ump's strike zone was a little hard to get a handle on - as Bradley said - "it was about 12" wide but 3 1/2' tall!" after he struck out on two very low pitches and then Carson struck out on two very high pitches. They boys have a doubleheader next weekend and no more tournaments until March 21.

Basketball Is Over

We finished our basketball season, losing to the Blue team for the second time this season. We were tied for first going into the game with the Maroon team - not sure how they finished as they had the late game last night. The boys did well, just went cold in the 4th quarter and couldn't hit a bucket.

As promised earlier - here are a few pics of the baseball tourney last weekend - a couple of Bradley pitching and one of Carson & Brock, two of his baseball buddies. BTW - Brock was on the Blue team that beat us in basketball last night. We all went out for dinner after the game though..

The boys are out of school on Friday for "Rodeo Day" as its time for the County Fair. I think they'll all end up at our house sometime on Friday to get in a few swings at the batting cage. They have another tournament this weekend in Auburndale - we play at 8 am!!!! It's about an hours drive from the house so we'll be leaving BEFORE the crack of dawn. .

One Bad Inning...

Oh what a weekend! The Braves played their first tournament of the season this weekend. They went 1-1 in pool play but didn't allow too many runs so they seeded second in their pool into the elimination bracket. Bradley pitched during one of the pool play games, earning a 12-2 victory. He also pitched this morning and had a 10-2 lead after three. Things fell apart and the Braves had a bad inning and let the other team back in the game. The Braves had a slim 10-9 lead at the end of four but couldn't seem to get it back together and ended up losing 17-10 in six innings. For more in-depth game recaps, see the team website at www.orlandobraves.com. Overall the boys played well considering this was their first tournament! We'll post pictures of the event a little later.

Bobcats Back on Track with Win

The Bobcats posted a win over green this week 19-15. We knew going in this would be a tough game and the boys played well defensively. They took much better care of the ball this week. They need to work on running the plays and executing on offense. All in all, I was very proud of them this week.

It has been another busy week but at least TR has been working here in Orlando. Bradley's baseball team will play their first tournament of the season this weekend and I think they are ready. They looked good in practice Tuesday night and will have batting practice again on Friday. Bradley went to pitching on Wednesday after school and I'm told he did a great job. Shortly Stan (pitching coach) will have to report to his minor league team for spring training. Bradley will definitely miss his time with Stan!

Braves Win Two!

The Braves won both of their games on Sunday - even without Coach TR there to help as his flight didn't land until 7:45. Bradley extra hit the first game and the Braves won a thriller 8-7 in the bottom of the last inning. He started off pitching the second game, completing three innings, throwing only 43 pitches and had an 8-2 lead after three. He then moved to first base. Our relief pitchers struggled a bit, but the Braves came away with a 14-10 win. You can check the Braves website - http://www.orlandobraves.com/ for updated team news.

It was a busy weekend with baseball practice on Friday and games on Sunday. Bradley had a sleepover at the Barber's after practice on Friday night. We'll repay the favor sometime soon. Saturday was spent playing catch up on the laundry, cleaning, etc and preparing for Sunday!

Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers

Well, the Orange Bobcats lost their second game of the season 22-19. It definitely was not pretty. If I had a nickel for every time they turned the ball over, I'd be rich!!!! There's not much good I can say about the game....Stay tuned and hopefully next week's update will be better.

Happy 40th Birthday TR!!

It's official.....TR is Over the Hill! Happy Birthday!

On to other news, Bradley's baseball team had their first doubleheader yesterday. They split winning the first game 12-5 and losing the second 11-7. The boys played really well the first game - Bradley pitched 2 1/3 innings and was 1-2 at the plate. TR & I missed the second game due to a bat incident with TR's head (no worries, his head is very hard), but I hear that Bradley hit a double with a couple of kids, was hit by a pitch and didn't remember if he batted a third time. Hopefully, some pictures were taken and we will put them on the baseball website.