Baseball Bonanza - 10U Yankees

Baseball is officially in full swing.  We had a bit of a rough start to the season, with more games being cancelled due to weather than we were able to play, but the weather seems to be cooperating more now, and both boys have been able to play 4 games each (although they should have played 7 each by now!).  First, I’ll start with a 10U Yankees re-cap to date.

On 3/7, the Yankees beat the Cardinals 14-3.  This game was pretty much in hand from the start.  It was 2-0 after 1 inning, but then the Yankees put up 6 runs in the 2^nd and never looked back. They put up 6 more in the 4^th, which pretty much put the game away.  Zachary did a lot of catching in this game.

On 3/11, the Yankees lost to the Red Sox 15-9.  This was the mud bowl game.  It had rained – A LOT – and the field was a mess.  The balls were a mess (from rolling on the ground) and they kept having to swap them in & out to wipe them off.  Both teams struggled with pitching, but the Red Sox had a little bit better defense.  Zachary was catching, and took a ball to his thumb.  He was able to get back in as catcher, until he took another one to the same spot later in the game.  That pretty much ended things for him at catcher that night.  He was a muddy mess.  We got his thumb checked out the next day – not broken, just maybe bent back too far.

On 3/21, the Yankees beat the Royals 15-8.  The Royals had not yet won a game, coming into this game.  Zachary’s coach had decided to sort of “hold back” a little bit, so as not to turn it into a bloodbath.  This was probably the closest game we've played – it was 11-8 Yankees at the end of the 4^th inning.  There were 3 minutes left in the time, and everyone thought the game was over, but the umps (and other coaches probably) decided to start another inning.  At this point the coach decided to stop holding back, out of a fear of losing the game.  Since the Yankees were the visitors, they hit first, and put up 4 more runs, making it mathematically impossible for the Royals to win.  So instead of ending the game 11-8, they made us play another half inning, resulting in an even worse score (for the Royals).  Thanks umps!  They tried Zachary at catcher again – one pitch and his thumb was hurting, so they pulled him out.

On 3/23, the Yankees beat the undefeated Dodgers 10-2.  Zachary did not catch at all this game, which was fine – his thumb needs a little more rest before he tries again.  He played 3 innings at first base, and made 4 or 5 outs there.  He also made a nice play from left field to hold the runner to a single.  Our pitchers were on fire – one kid struck out at least 14 batters (they lost count after that).  Zachary had a couple of walks and a strike out – not his best day at the plate, but at least he was able to contribute by making outs.  The game ended in the most bizarre way – the Dodgers batter apparently squared up to bunt, but then did a full swing.  The ump said that’s against the rules, and called him out – that was the 3^rd out, and just like that the game was over.  So weird – even the coaches were confused.  Zachary’s coach is so nice he was even trying to say he didn't care, and just let the kid finish the at-bat.  But, the rules are the rules, apparently.

On 3/28, the Yankees beat the Orioles 14-3. Zachary finally got his first hit of the season, and it was a good one too!  The umps actually called the game (and left the field) after the top of the 4th inning when it was 10-3 Yankees, but the Orioles coaches complained and demanded the umps come back. So we played the bottom of the 4th, the Yankees scored 4 more runs, and the umps called the game for the 2nd time.  It was so strange!