All 3 of my favorite teams are playing good baseball this year so far. The Tampa Bay Rays are knocking on the door of first place in the AL East after they beat the Marlins last night (an ugly win, but they won). The Pittsburgh Pirates are still flirting with .500 after they beat the Yankees for the first time since Bill Mazeroski hit the home run that won the 1960 World Series.
But those are only 2 of my favorite teams. My absolute favorite team is also having a good season. Collin’s PAL Club coaches’ pitch team is now 9-5 after winning another game last night. And against a team that beat us pretty good earlier this season.
The kids played stellar defense all night. They also hit the ball very hard and very well, scoring 16 runs. They started by building an 8-1 lead, scoring 4 runs each in the first and second innings. Then, they broke it open with a 7-run 4th inning that did not include very many cheap hits or errors on the other team. Collin’s friend Micah cleared the bases with a double for 3 RBI, and then Collin doubled him in, and then Collin got doubled in.
Collin played his usual first base position and made some great plays over there, including catching a line drive that was headed to right field and extra bases for the other team in the bottom of the 4th inning. That inning, we let the bases get loaded, but then got a strikeout and caught 2 line drives to keep the runners right where they were. And one of our littlest guys, Christian, caught a pop up at pitcher and threw to first for a double play to end the game, which we ended up winning 16-3.
I’m so proud of this team! I remember writing blog entries the past couple of years sharing my frustration with the team at times because they just weren’t “getting it.” Not this year. They’ve come a long way since last year, and even the beginning of this year. They’re playing great TEAM baseball right now, and it’s a lot of fun to coach. We play again tonight, but I see rain to our West – hope it doesn’t rain us out!
