Jays Play Uninspired for 5, Drop First Game of Season
After securing sole possession of first place, the Jays faced the first stiff test of the season by squaring off against Seattle – one of the few teams in the league that can match the Jays on the mound and at the plate. The Jays, however, encountered the same problem that many pee wee teams face for 5:30 games: uninspired play. Playing a game at 5:30 after a full day of school is not easy for young ball players. It is why coach Mike wishes the league would not schedule these night games until after school is out.
Things started promising for the Jays with Jack getting the nod on the hill. Jack picked up right where he left off, pitching 2 scoreless innings, recording 5 strike out sin the process, including setting down Seattle in order by way of the K in the first. As a result of his impressive play in the first two innings (and coach Mike’s assessment that Jack was the only Jay that came ready to play in the first inning), Jack took home the player of the game award.
There really is not much to describe to this game. Seattle’s pitching matched Jack in the first two innings – Seattle has very good pitching. And the Jays were not able to hit during the first two coach pitch innings except an infield single by Tommy in the third. In fact, Tommy’s single was the Jays’ second hit of the game (Boki had a single in the second inning), and was their last hit until the 6th inning when Boki, Brooks, Bailey, Ryan, Zach and Daniel came up with singles to help the Jays score 3 runs in the 6th. BY that time, however, the Jays were already down 9-0, so while the final score was 9-3, the result is the same. The Jays are now in a tie for first place with 4 other teams. That was a good learning experience Jays. I am a firm believer that we do not learn a thing from wins, but only learn from losses. Here are two things I want us all to learn from this game: (1) we must come ready to play at the first pitch and play hard all the way through the last pitch; and (2) we cannot worry about how many games we have won previously, we can only concentrate and focus on what we can do to become better ball players and help the team in the present. There was far too much chatter before, during and after the game about "being undefeated." It is a long season, Jays. Three wins in a row does nothing but put a very small targey on our backs for the other teams in the league. We can now put the undefeated talk in the dugout to rest. We must work hard, every moment on the ball field (and in life, but you are too young for that lesson....). Let’s all take a lesson from this game, and come back on fire on Saturday when we face Baltimore. At the same time, don't get discouraged. We are a very good team, and as Woody Hayes used to say "nothing cleanses the soul like a good [loss.]" (I am paraphrasing for the young readers, of course). However, I really do not like too much soul cleansing, so let's turn the page on this game and get back to playing hard. We an lose every game, but let's go down with our best effort -- what we are capable of!! Keep your heads up, and get ready to "lace 'em up" on Saturday morning.
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