We had to move our batting practice from Round Lake to Starring Lake last night because of field availability issues. This turned out to be good because we play one regular season game at the Starring Lake field in June, so now most everyone knows how to get there.
The wind was howling, blowing straight out which can be a bad thing. With the gale-like gusts, we saw a lot of fly-ball swings. That hurts us during the season no matter which way the wind blows because we have a four-homerun limit during games and when the wind blows in, all those pretty fly balls are outs.
However, it was also good to see a lot of guys swing with authority and give the ball a ride here and there. We had 12 players, great work to Eric Johnson for manning the phone tree and for everyone for finding the spot in a decent amount of time. In attendance were Jamy Antoine, Eric & Jeff Johnson, AJ Larson, Matt Hanson, Matt Shuster, Lee & Jared Valle, Brendan Finn, Chris Burr, Jon Engbrecht and me.
Chris and Eric looked rusty but still showed why they were 1st Team All-League last year, smoking a few balls including a dinger or two.
Finn hit the longest ball of the night, probably a 340-350 foot shot to left-center. He also hit consistent lasers.
Dr. Jamy had a good first showing, lifting a few dingers and making solid contact on some other swings.
AJ stayed consistent with his low-liner approach and sprayed the ball all over the field.
Matt Hanson improved again and hit more line drives and we're expecting him to continue his progression upwards as the season goes.
Shuster showed some more pop with his low, long swing and narrowly missed a couple homers and drilled few liners.
Jared also improved and once he starts getting on top of the ball more regularly, he'll see some better results.
Jeff stayed on the ground just like Saturday but still hit the ball well. If he keeps this up, he's looking at a very high on base percentage for the season.
Lee hit a ball about 280 feet in the air, but the fence is also 7 feet tall so it didn't go over. Tough break. He did show more good pop all over the field.
Jon E. had no rust on his swing as he hit with some serious authority and knocked a handful of balls over the fence. He also raked in the gaps and did an all-around great job.
I had fun. Lefty and righty. I was swinging too hard sometimes, but it was fun. I must say that my running commentary was spot-on last night.
The "Outs" game was good too. Team 1: AJ, Lee, Matt H. and me dominated. The "little" infielders worked over everyone else. Our bad. Maybe next time guys.
Everyone has a schedule and a hat now, so please review the schedule and tell me ASAP what games you'll be missing for sure.
Scrimmage tomorrow, 11 AM at Round Lake. I'll try to get there early enough to lock down a field.
Great job last night, lots of fun hopefully for everyone and we all mashed pretty well.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Game Schedule
April 26: 8:50 Field 2 Immanuel
May 3: 8:50 Field 3 Life Church
May 10: 7:50 Field 2 Wooddale Gray
May 17: 5:50 Field 3 Pax Christi
May 24: 6:50 Field 5 St. Andrews Red
May 31: 6:50 Field 3 St. Andrews Blue
June 7: 7:50 Field 2 Eden Prairie Assembly of God
June 7: 8:50 Field 2 Living Word
June 14: 5:50 Field 1 Immanuel - Starring Lake Field 1
June 21: 5:50 Field 2 Life Church
June 21: 6:50 Field 1 Wooddale Gray
June 28: 6:50 Field 2 Living Word
June 28: 7:50 Field 2 Pax Christi
July 5: 8:50 Field 4 St. Andrews Red
July 12: 5:50 Field 3 St. Andrews Blue
July 19: 6:50 Field 4 Eden Prairie Assembly of God
July 26: 6:50 Field 2 Wooddale Gray
July 26: 7:50 Field 2 Living Word
May 3: 8:50 Field 3 Life Church
May 10: 7:50 Field 2 Wooddale Gray
May 17: 5:50 Field 3 Pax Christi
May 24: 6:50 Field 5 St. Andrews Red
May 31: 6:50 Field 3 St. Andrews Blue
June 7: 7:50 Field 2 Eden Prairie Assembly of God
June 7: 8:50 Field 2 Living Word
June 14: 5:50 Field 1 Immanuel - Starring Lake Field 1
June 21: 5:50 Field 2 Life Church
June 21: 6:50 Field 1 Wooddale Gray
June 28: 6:50 Field 2 Living Word
June 28: 7:50 Field 2 Pax Christi
July 5: 8:50 Field 4 St. Andrews Red
July 12: 5:50 Field 3 St. Andrews Blue
July 19: 6:50 Field 4 Eden Prairie Assembly of God
July 26: 6:50 Field 2 Wooddale Gray
July 26: 7:50 Field 2 Living Word
Practice last Saturday....
We had our first practice of the season last weekend and it went well. 8 team members were in attendance, Jeff Johnson, Matt Hanson, Lee & Jared Valle, Nick & AJ Larson, Jason Merritt and myself.
Everyone got to field some grounders and shag some flies and then finish up with some swings. The weather was gorgeous and everyone got some good work in. With more newcomers, it'll be interesting to see how we piece together that lineup so we can challenge for the title again this summer.
The ball was carrying pretty well but we didn't use the new bat, The Mutant, or the most potent bat from last year, The Freak Plus, just in case it was too chilly for the good bats. On a side note, I did take the Mutant out and swing it on Sunday and it felt pretty solid. I wasn't at a field but am pretty sure that there were some 300-foot shots. Once it gets broken in, it should be real solid.
The Synergy played real well Saturday, more so than the Freak 98. I think the Crush2 was also used but can't remember exactly.
Matt and Jared had their first taste of softball life, and eased into it well. Both stayed down on the ball in the infield, which means they don't know enough that the ball can jump up and hit you in the face at some point. That's good. Outfield was a bit more challenging but that will come with practice. Both made good contact at the plate, which is a positive. In this game, it starts with, "Can you put the bat on the ball?" Once you get past that, other things will come. Matt heated up as he went and Jared showed some loft on his swing. Once both get comfortable and start using their whole bodies, the balls will jump a little bit off their bats.
Lee impressed me the most at the plate. He was hitting some shots to both right-center and left-center. He knocked a few out to the wall but had some good zip on every swing. Plus, with his eagle eye, he won't waste any swings up there.
Jason, although just a sub for us, showed great improvement from last year. He swung with much more authority and soothed me knowing that he'll be there if we're short a guy. He drove the ball better than I've ever seen but did get under the ball a tad. He launched his first-ever homer and just missed another one.
The Larson boys were solid as usual. They stayed after and had more batting practice with their other team so they got a good workout in. AJ hit it hard and low to both sides of the field and Nick showed that gap power and hit some good shots.
Jeff hit some tasers in the ground and stayed on top of the ball really well. Last year he struggled a bit with pop-ups, but you wouldn't have guessed it Saturday the way he was torching grounders. He hits it hard.
I took 16 swings righty and 4 lefty and hit 8 homers: 7 right-handed and 1 left-handed. I used the Synergy and thought it swung a lot better than when I used it last spring. I was out in front on a lot of balls but managed to put some good action on most pitches.
Our next practice is Thursday at 6 PM which will just be hitting. We'll play "Outs," so depending on the number of guys we have, we'll have 3 or 4 teams and everyone will start their round of outs with 5 swings and then we'll play. Saturday will be our scrimmage. Everyone will get 4 at bats and then we'll probably call it a day.
The schedule will be posted next. Have a good week everyone!
Everyone got to field some grounders and shag some flies and then finish up with some swings. The weather was gorgeous and everyone got some good work in. With more newcomers, it'll be interesting to see how we piece together that lineup so we can challenge for the title again this summer.
The ball was carrying pretty well but we didn't use the new bat, The Mutant, or the most potent bat from last year, The Freak Plus, just in case it was too chilly for the good bats. On a side note, I did take the Mutant out and swing it on Sunday and it felt pretty solid. I wasn't at a field but am pretty sure that there were some 300-foot shots. Once it gets broken in, it should be real solid.
The Synergy played real well Saturday, more so than the Freak 98. I think the Crush2 was also used but can't remember exactly.
Matt and Jared had their first taste of softball life, and eased into it well. Both stayed down on the ball in the infield, which means they don't know enough that the ball can jump up and hit you in the face at some point. That's good. Outfield was a bit more challenging but that will come with practice. Both made good contact at the plate, which is a positive. In this game, it starts with, "Can you put the bat on the ball?" Once you get past that, other things will come. Matt heated up as he went and Jared showed some loft on his swing. Once both get comfortable and start using their whole bodies, the balls will jump a little bit off their bats.
Lee impressed me the most at the plate. He was hitting some shots to both right-center and left-center. He knocked a few out to the wall but had some good zip on every swing. Plus, with his eagle eye, he won't waste any swings up there.
Jason, although just a sub for us, showed great improvement from last year. He swung with much more authority and soothed me knowing that he'll be there if we're short a guy. He drove the ball better than I've ever seen but did get under the ball a tad. He launched his first-ever homer and just missed another one.
The Larson boys were solid as usual. They stayed after and had more batting practice with their other team so they got a good workout in. AJ hit it hard and low to both sides of the field and Nick showed that gap power and hit some good shots.
Jeff hit some tasers in the ground and stayed on top of the ball really well. Last year he struggled a bit with pop-ups, but you wouldn't have guessed it Saturday the way he was torching grounders. He hits it hard.
I took 16 swings righty and 4 lefty and hit 8 homers: 7 right-handed and 1 left-handed. I used the Synergy and thought it swung a lot better than when I used it last spring. I was out in front on a lot of balls but managed to put some good action on most pitches.
Our next practice is Thursday at 6 PM which will just be hitting. We'll play "Outs," so depending on the number of guys we have, we'll have 3 or 4 teams and everyone will start their round of outs with 5 swings and then we'll play. Saturday will be our scrimmage. Everyone will get 4 at bats and then we'll probably call it a day.
The schedule will be posted next. Have a good week everyone!
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