Great Job to the boys this weekend in persevering while finishing first, and completing the only championship ( 3 runner-ups) for the Sabres to date. It was a total team effort and required contributions from everyone to accomplish our goal. Dewitt proved to a be a formidable opponent, as they battled us through two extremely tough games. They were very sportsmanlike, classy, and gracious in defeat which speaks to their organization and coaching / training.
I would first like to offer our appreciation to the reserves that filled in this weekend. Jack filled in nicely, for his brother Charlie, by stepping up and playing up from his U12 program. Hopefully it was a valuable experience and teaches him that he can compete against older competition. Ty is a regular who played the pool play for us and despite prior obligations, skipped a few family events, collected a few hits, and made some key defensive plays which allowed us to advance to the championship game. Nathan was a force acting as the backstop, while catching 4½ of the 5 total games, battling the heat, blocking seemingly everything in the dirt, and throwing out 'would be' base runners. His championship game saving play at the end of regulation will be remembered for years to come as it helped extend the game and allowed us to complete the first place finish. Great hustle, and we were fortunate to have you back there this weekend. The offer to play with us anytime stands...
The regulars all contributed and the win was capped off by an extra inning line shot by the game MVP ( as voted by the opposing coach ) Geoff. We needed to use 5 different pitchers with Mickey shutting them down for 3 innings (tourney max.), and Jacob redeeming himself from an earlier meltdown in the first matchup to end Dewitt's rally. Jon toughed out an early morning injury and played 'out of position' which was crucial to fielding a team. Offensively, Jon was able to help put Derek in position to score, as he is the only player that was able to cross home more than once. Jimmie Lewis was clutch regardless of what position we put him in and Brett camped under a BOMB to deep right center, icing the victory for the final out.
I want to congratulate the boys for never quitting and maintaining a positive attitude the majority of the weekend and I genuinely hope all the families had a great time staying in Birch Run.
Lastly, I have to mention that none of this would have been possible without the help of our batboy Jackson. He helped with key coaching decisions and helped keep the boys focused on what they were trying to achieve. He was the envy of every opponent and his services were solicited by other teams but, he was invaluable to our team and it only cost me $9.50 for the weekend. Well worth it, and thank you Jackson.



**pictures to follow**