Draw The Curtains On 2010

Turn out the lights... the party's over. And it's been a great one. In fact.. 86 games worth! This has been a baseball season unlike any other for the FiveKelleyBoys. With one playing in every level --- 'D', 'C', 'B', 'A' & 'AA' --- we have logged some serious hours at a lot of parks in a lot of parts of the tri-state area.. It's been a privilege and an honor to be part of the whole thing.

The season, while starting off very slowly, really picked up mid-stream and things panned-out well for each of the boys. Griffin enjoyed his first year of kid-pitch. Paxton was named to his first AllStar team. And Duncan, Holden & Cameron all qualified for the City Tournament with their respective teams.

As of this evening, the two 'fkb' teams remaining in 'City' took their final bow. Duncan's Heat & Holden's Highlanders each hung up their second losses of the tourney. And with that, the 2010 Season ends. A couple pre-season tourney games (back in early April), a whole ton of regular season games, an AllStar game, and 8 post-season games... for a grand total of 86 games.

Thanks, boys! It's been fantastic to be along for the ride this season. We're very proud of each of you.

City Tournament - Week 1 UPDATE

With 1 week of the City Tournament under their belts... Cameron, Holden & Duncan have each had varying experiences. The tourney is a '2&out' sort of affair. Very straight-forward... lose 2, and you're out. And here's how the boys have faired thus far.

Cameron's Heat - Playing 2 games in less than 24 hours, the Heat travelled to Northern Kentucky and to Blue Ash (OH) last night and this afternoon. The Heat had a pretty fantastic season in general, and Cameron really came into his own as he managed the move to 'AA' with confidence and success. Last night's game was tough to handle... the Heat got through 6 innings trailing 3-2, and then, with their gloves apparently taking an early exit, the Heat watched 4 runs get hung on them. Batting last in the 7th, there wasn't enough Heat to come back from 5-down. And then today we travelled north to ol' Crosley Field in Blue Ash (see picture) to take on a team from Goshen. All even at 4-apiece going into the 7th inning, Goshen managed to sneak 2 across in their half of the frame. And that was the difference. So there ya have it... 2 losses, in less than 24 hours. And so the Heat's 2010 season comes to a close. I thanked Cameron this afternoon for having us along for a very enjoyable season. Proud of you, dude! Can't wait until next year.

Holden's Highlanders - the Highlanders drew the Bridgetown Sparks to open the week's play. And much to a lot of our collective surprise... we watched the Highlanders go down to the tune of 4-0. However, the Highlanders rebounded in their 2nd game... and for the 2nd year in a row they got to personally punch the ticket of their arch-rivals, the Westside Bulldogs. Bye-bye Buldogs, Highlanders move on. And then today, the Highlanders played the Eastside Cats. Highlanders 7, Cats 4. Congratulations, Holden (and Heat). Good luck as your tournament continues.

Duncan's Heat - similar to Holden's hated Bulldogs, Duncan's Heat has the Covedale Storm. And guess who the Duncan's Heat drew in their first tourney game. Yep... the Storm. Unfortunately, while this match-up is almost always a knock-down fistfight often decided by a margin of only 1 or 2 runs, the Storm that showed up this morning THROTTLED the Heat that came to the park. This one was actually kind of difficult to watch. But hey... this is a '2&out' tournament. And Duncan's Heat will live to play again in a couple days. Hopefully they return to their form. Good luck, Duncan. And step-up Heat... let's get things back on track in this next game.

The KelleyFive!

The Second Act... Movin' On To POSTSEASON!!!

Congratulations to the boys on closing a very long and (as you'll read here) SUCCESSFUL season. Great news to share here.

First... big 'CONGRATS' to Cameron's Heat who handed the Delhi Eagles only their 2nd loss in 22 games last night. Cameron had a great game... and in what would require 2 extra innings before it was all done, his RBI was critical in the Heat's win, FINAL SCORE: 2-1.

Second... (for any of you who've been following since the beginning of the season, this is AMAZING...) after a very sluggish start to things, 3 (THREE!!!) of the boys' teams have qualified for the City Tournament. Cameron's Heat, Holden's Highlanders & Duncan's Heat will all be moving on to the big show -- games start next week.

Third... another round of 'CONGRATS' to Holden's Highlanders, who closed the season by winning their Division OUTRIGHT! Way to go, Holden. More hardware for the collection.

So, looking back... it's been a pretty fantastic season (and it's not over yet!). The boys logged somewhere between 80-100 games (I'll have a more specific idea when I get around to doing the exact tally). And after what proved to be a really tough start to things... congratulations to each of the boys for not getting too frustrated, and never giving up. I always tell them... keep working at it, give it your best, good things will happen. Well... that applies here. 3 out of the 5 of them are moving on to the City Tournament (and one of them, by virtue of winning their Division). A fourth (Paxton) was selected to his AllStar game. And even Griffin had a fantastic season --- very much enjoying his first season of 'kid pitch' baseball. Always fun to see that time come after a couple years of t-ball, and then another couple years of 'coach pitch'. Great job, Griffin!

There will be more posted about the City Tournament. But I want to say right now... OUTSTANDING JOB, BOYS!!! Thanks for a terrific and entertaining season. It's been a joy and you each have a LOT to feel great about. I'm so proud of you all!