Lotta Ball...

It's been a great weekend. Starting this past Thursday night with Holden's graduation, followed by a grad party Friday night, and then 5 games between Saturday & Sunday. The weather was pretty much picture-perfect (but WOW it got hot out there!)

Saturday...

Paxton's Rockets took on the Hidden Valley Thunder. The Rockets had troubles getting much of anything going. This was one of those 'blink and miss it' kinda games. Pretty much over before it even started. But we all KNOW the Rockets are 'right there'... they just need a break or two. Good job anyway, Paxton! Keep working, buddy.

Duncan's Heat played @ Veteran's Park (pretty fitting for the Memorial Day weekend, eh?), facing off against Underground Sports. The Heat delivered some good pitching... and, unfortunately, the boys from 'Underground' were teeing-up on LOTS of it. Tough to watch... the Heat didn't have a bad game, but 'Underground' had a very good game. Next time, Duncan! Keep your head up.

Holden's Highlanders were in a real brawl with the Westside Bulldogs. Looking to avenge an earlier-in-the-season 1-run loss to the 'dogs, the Highlanders brought it! I've mentioned what a great rivalry that's existed over the years between these two teams. And this week's game didn't disappoint. It required extra innings (2 of them), but the Highlanders ultimately sent the Bulldogs packing, 16-15. Great game, Holden!

Sunday...

Cameron's Heat split a doubleheader against Lourdes this afternoon. The Heat's bats were largely AWOL in game #1... with Cameron getting a hit and working his way around to score the Heat's only run in a 4-1 loss. In game #2, the Heat stepped-up. And in ANOTHER extra-innings outing (man, there have been a LOT of those lately), the Heat won, 5-4. Excellent, Cameron!

We Interrupt This Blog...

Congratulations, Holden!!! And Happy Graduation!!! Holden graduated from 8th grade last night. It was a terrific ceremony, followed by a very nice reception. Holden put together an AMAZING grade school campaign. Check out some of the stats...

- First Honors... THROUGHOUT
- Straight 'A's with the exception of 5 'B's over 9 years
- Perfect Attendance 4 of 9 years (last miss, over 3 years ago)
- 2,500+ Accelerated Reader Points
- 2x 'Principle For A Day
- Crown Bearer for May Crowning Ceremony
(the list goes on, but these are surely some of the bigger highlights)

Among many honors received by Holden last night...
Elder High School Placement Test Scholarship
Marlene Menchen Scholarship
Farmer Family Foundation Scholarship
Mike Moehring Good Sportsmanship Scholarship
Overall Achievement ALL SUBJECTS
(again, the list goes on... but these are some of the 'biggies')

Holden also delivered an outstanding speech at commencement (and, yes, his words brought a tear or two to my eyes). Congratulations on a fantastic 9 years, Holden. We're all very proud of you. And we love you very much.

'AA' Heat Suffers First Loss

Cameron's Heat went up against Colerain last night. It just wasn't meant to be. The Heat struggled on the mound, and Colerain took advantage of that. The Heat also committed too many fielding errors to come back from. It was just one of those games. Final score: Colerain 16, Heat 9. Now with 3 wins and 1 loss, Cameron's team gears up for this weekend's doubleheader against Lourdes. Go get 'em, bud.

A Thriller & A Laugher

Two more games this evening, folks. And it was another beautiful evening for some ball. Perhaps we're getting 'paybacks' for all the rain we had a bit earlier in the season.

Paxton's Rockets hit the road to visit the Hidden Valley Lake Monsters. The Rockets jumped right out to take an early 1-0 lead. After several innings of back and forth... we were in for yet another game of extra innings, all knotted up at 8 runs apiece. The Rockets ended up on the short-end of a 9-8 final score. But they have a lot to be proud of. All the boys hit tonight. They were aggressive (and SMART) on the base paths. There was also some pretty awesome fielding. Paxton (shown in pic) had a great night... two base hits, two stolen bases, one run scored, and flawless performances at 2nd Base and Center Field. Super game, Paxton. Proud of you buddy!

Holden's Highlanders have the Avondale Indians to thank for tonight's win. And while I kind of hate to say it (goodness knows we've been on the wrong end of more than a few games this year), it was almost as if the Indians never even showed up at all. The Highlanders never even broke a sweat as the went away winners. Great outing, Holden! Another quality win.

3-Way Tuesday

Three of the boys hit the field this evening. And here's how it went...

Griffin's Dodgers faced-off against JB Yeager Sports. And as long as there's been a KelleyBoy playing baseball... JB Yeager Sports has always been a machine. Not sure where they find those boys, or what they feed them... but they are ALWAYS great. Couple that with the fact several boys on Griffin's team are playing organized baseball for the FIRST TIME... and tonight's game was a tough one. Congrats to the Dodgers though... they kept the final deficit to less-than 10 runs. Dodgers lose, 12-3. Griffin earned his keep suiting-up behind the plate this evening. Just keep going out there, buddy... good things will happen.

Paxton's Rockets travelled (ALL THE WAY) to Brookville, IN to take on the Franklin County Wildcats. Really no other way to put it folks... this was a good ol' fashioned trip to the woodshed. Unfortunately for Paxton and the Rockets, they were on the receiving end of the whoopin'. Suffering their biggest loss of the season thus far, the Rockets went down by a score of 18-0. Paxton split his time between catching and playing center field. Way to go, Pax! Always proud of you.

Cameron's Heat took on the Westside Chargers. The Heat might have been suffering a bit of 'jet-lag' following this past weekend's performance... as it took a couple innings to get things in gear. But... as the game moved on, the Heat opened things up and ended up winning by a score of 9-6. Cameron caught a great game and kept the Chargers' base runners honest. He also drove in two runs with one base hit. Excellent, Cameron! Heat improves to 3 wins, 0 losses.

How 'SWEEP' It Is

Today was Cameron's 'AA' Heat's first outing. And what a day it was!!! A little background first. At this level, the boys play 7 innings, double-headers every weekend, and a couple more games during the week. It's a relatively brief season, but we're going to get our money's worth. They'll log 24 games over the next 4 to 5 weeks.

Game #1: WOW!, what a game. Taking on the Dominic Blackhawks (an older, more experienced team), the Heat jumped right in the fire and started trading blows. After 7 innings, the score was knotted at 14-all. Folks, these boys (this age, these teams at 'AA' level) can flat-out HIT the ball. Much like a heavy weight fight, these two teams had pounded one another through 11 innings... with the Heat crossing the winning run, walk-off style, in the bottom of the 11th. Final score, 15-14.

Game #2: Cameron caught for this game (shown behind the plate, in the pic above). The Blackhawks never stood a chance in this one. Behind more hitting, and tenacious fielding... along with some AMAZING pitching... the Heat dominated from start to finish. Cameron went 2 for 4. His first hit was a BOMB hit to dead center... and it had an already very-deep-playing center fielder running like mad giving (futile) chase. And Cameron's second hit was a shot down the right field line, driving in what would become the game's ending run ('mercy' rule, his RBI put them up by '10'). Final score, Heat 12 - Blackhawk's 1.

A recap of sorts... 2 games, 2 wins, 17 innings, Heat starting pitching: 27 strikeouts, Heat scoring: 27 runs, Heat hitting: NO IDEA but it was a TON, start to finish: about 7 hours, Cameron 2-for-4 with 1 RBI. What an OUTSTANDING first day in 'AA' ball for Cameron. Thanks, dude. We had a blast! And top it all off with a clear blue sky and temps in the upper-80s. Yeah... it was a fine day.

A Split For The Day

Two of the boys had games today. And after a LOT of rain this week, we were lucky to get any games in at all. But the day started off a little cloudy, plenty warm... and ended up being a beautiful one.

Paxton's Rockets had their hands full with the Hidden Valley Thunder. In fact, the Thunder took it to Paxton's team pretty rough for 4 innings, posting a score of 9-0. The Rockets wouldn't quit though. Through the final two innings the Rockets plated 4 runs. Final score 11-4. Paxton played a solid game behind the plate as well as in the field. Way to go Rockets... never give up! And great game, Paxton. Proud of you, buddy.

Duncan's Heat had a re-match with the Covedale Storm. The Heat 'stormed' out to a 7-1 lead in the first 2 innings. But as mentioned in a previous post, these two teams seem to bring out the best in each other. One rough inning... and next thing we knew we had a real edge-of-your-seat kind of game on our hands. Duncan had a sweet 2 RBI single earlier in the game. And as the Storm took to the plate in what we all hoped would be their last at bat... the Heat was up 8-7. Duncan accounted for the first two outs of the inning... 1 by running down a shot to right field and rifling an assassin's shot to 2nd base to nail the runner & 2 by showing heart, speed and range chasing down another well-hit ball to catch it on the fly. The Heat's pitching took care of the third and final out... handing the Storm just their second loss of the season. Excellent game, Heat. Way to go, Duncan!