Cooperstown Game Schedule

Schedule for Elk Grove Gunners for week of Week of June 20, 2009
Day	Time (EDT)	Field	Home/Visitor	Opponent
Sunday	8:30 A.M.	14	Visitor	Glenview Blaze 10U (IL)
Sunday	1:45 P.M.	19	Home	Wellington Warriors (FL)
Monday	11:00 A.M.	16	Home	Noblesville Heat (IN)
Monday	4:30 P.M.	8	Visitor	Gainesville Cannons (VA)
Tuesday	11:00 A.M.	6	Home	Pembroke Lakes Bulldogs (FL)
Tuesday	7:00 P.M.	4	Visitor	Cincy Flames (OH)

Gunners Batting Practice

Jack spent the morning working out with the Gunners at Elk Grove High School.

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2009 Gunners Baseball Memorial Weekend Tournament

While I was in New York, Jack spent the weekend playing baseball with the Elk Grove Gunners 10U team. They played two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. The Gunners beat the Slammers by a score of 14 to 2 and lost to the Tassajara Valley Bulldogs by a score of 9 to 8 on Saturday. On Sunday, they beat the Sluggers by a score of 10 to 5 and the Bandit Baseball Club by a score of 6 to 5. The Gunners did not advance to the Championship game on Monday; they lost out on one of the tie breakers (runs scored?).

As best I can sort out, Jack was 4 for 10 at the plate. In the fourth game, Jack came up with the bases loaded and two outs. He ran the count to 3 and 2, fouled off a pitch and then drove a pitch into left center to score two runs. In his second at-bat in the same game, Jack swung at a curve ball in the dirt for his third strike. The ball got by the catcher and Jack was safe at first. He stole second and came home on a hard grounder by Matthew that the shortstop had trouble handling.

In the field, Jack played all four games at third base. It sounds like he had a particularly good tournament in field. Jack said that he handled a number of grounders cleanly, tagged out a runner stealing third and he and Aaron got a runner out in a pickle. Randy's son Aaron showed up on Sunday and played with the team for the first time.

Jack has played mostly third base on his rec team this spring. After laboring as the tenth, eleventh or twelfth player on the tournament team over the last ten months, it would be nice if he could win the starting third base position for the tournament team and the all star team. There is a lot of baseball to be played in the next month and a half.

Jack came out of this weekend as excited about and focused on baseball as I think I have ever seen him.

Gunners Fundraiser & Wine Tasting

Sharon and I went to a fundraiser and wine tasting at Logan's Roadhouse for Jack's Elk Grove Gunners Tournament Baseball Team.

2009 Gunners versus Sierra Valley Storm

The Gunners played a double header against the Sierra Valley Storm. As well as Jack played on Saturday, he struggled today.

In the first game, Jack played three innings at third base. He struggled in the field. At the plate, Jack got to bat once in the fifth inning. He fell behind in the count, ran the count to 3 and 2 and then struck out on seven pitches. The Gunners lost the first game by a score of 7 to 5.

Jack played three uneventful innings in right field in the second game. He got to the plate once in the fifth inning. Jack hit the first pitch for a high pop-up down the first base line that was caught by the first baseman. The Gunners won the second game by a score of 14 to 1.

Through his hard work last fall, Jack was able to work himself into being the 8 or 9 player on the Gunners. Unfortunately, I think that he has fallen back towards the end of the bench over the last two months.

2009 Gunners versus Star City

Up early, Jack and I headed to Natomas. The Gunners played Star City. Between now and the end of June, Jack will be playing rec ball and tournament baseball with the Gunners.

Jack played three uneventful innings of a five inning game in left field. He got to bat twice in the fifth inning. Jack walked on five pitches and came around to score. With two outs and Gunners having already scored 9 runs in the inning, the umpire told that Jack everything was going to be a strike. Jack chipped a low outside pitch to the left side and was called out at first; it looked like he was safe.

The Gunners won the game by the score of 22 to 7 in five innings.

At the Gunner's Scrimmage

At the Gunner's Scrimmage, originally uploaded by heringermr.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament Batting Statistics

Since September, Jack has played in six tournaments with the Elk Grove Gunners U10 baseball team. Jack was 9 for 25 at the plate for a batting average of .360. He drew 5 walks. Jack's on-base percentage was .467 (14 for 30).

After struggling at the start of the season, he has pulled his batting average up consistently over the last four tournament. At one point, after the second tournament, Jack's batting average was only .125.

Gunners 10U Travel Baseball Team

The traveling baseball team that Jack played on this fall is looking for a some additional players.

Gunners 10U Travel Baseball Team
The Elk Grove Gunners 10U tournament team is looking for a few qualified players to join our team. Players cannot be older that 10 on April 30, 2009. Currently the team is ranked 3rd in Northern California under USSSA events. The team has played 7 tournaments this fall with the following results:

3 Championships

1 Runner-up

Made the semifinals in 6 of 7 events

This team has secured a spot at the Cooperstown Dream Park Tournament in June of 2009. If you have not heard of this event check out the website at www.cooperstowndreampark.com

If you would like your son to experience the next level of baseball and receive excellent coaching and development opportunities - you may be who we are looking for. We are looking for pitchers (who wouldn't be?) and/or strong outfield skills. Prior All Stars or Tournament experience is a plus, however not necessary. If you are interested in additional details, please send a note to 10utravelball@comcast.net.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #6 Day 2

The good news was that the Gunners did not have to play in Manteca until 9:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. The bad news was that they had to play Hard 90 Pastime. They lost to Hard 90 by the score of 11 to 2 on October 4 and by the score of 8 to 2 on November 2.

In the top of the first, the Gunners scored a run on two hits. In their half of the first inning, Hard 90 scored two runs on an error, a walk and a hit.

In the top of the second, the first two batters reached base on a hit and an error. Jack came to the plate with no outs and runners at first and second. The third base coach gave him the sign for a bunt and Jack laid the first pitch perfectly down the first base line advancing the runners to second and third. The pitcher fielded the ball and made a great throw to get Jack by a step at first base. The next batter hit one into center field where the fielder misplayed it and both runners scored. At this point, the Gunners lead by a score of 3 to 2.

The bottom fell out in the bottom of the third. The Gunners had two plays at home plate on infield grounders; one was a tag, while the other was a force. Both throws were slightly offline and the runners were safe at home. By the time the Gunners got out of the inning, Hard 90 was ahead by a score of 8 to 3.

Jack got up in the top of the fourth. He lined the first pitch back to the pitcher and was thrown out at first. In the top of the sixth, Jack lined one hard up the middle off the pitcher's glove. By the time the shortstop tracked the ball down, Jack beat the throw to first. Unfortunately, he was called out trying to steal second when it looked like he was easily safe.

The Gunners lost the game by a score of 9 to 4.

For the weekend, Jack was 3 for 6 with one strikeout, one sacrifice bunt, three RBIs and three stolen bases. He played 18 of 22 innings over four games in right field and at third base.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #6 Day 1

After a late night last night at the Kings game, this was a long day for both Jack and I. The Gunners drew the first two games of the day at Big League Dreams Sport Park in Manteca: an 8:00 a.m. game and a 10:10 a.m. game. I got Jack up about 5:45 a.m. and we left the house about 6:15 a.m. This team has never played very well first thing in the morning.

They played the first game against Cen Cal, a team that they have beat twice in the last couple of months. They got off to a bad start. Their pitcher walked five batters in the top of the first inning and gave up 4 runs. The boys started to hang their heads and things spiraled downward from there.

Cen Cal had picked up a new pitcher who struck out 6 of the 10 batters first time through the order. Jack got up in the bottom of the third. He fell behind 0 balls and 2 strikes and then worked the count to 3 balls and 2 strikes, including fouling off a pitch. Jack ended up striking out swinging on a low pitch that might have been called a ball.

The Gunners managed only three hits in the game and ended up losing the game by a score 8 to 0 in five innings. Jack played four uneventful innings in right field.

The second game was against TABU, a team the Gunners barely beat a couple of weeks ago. Like the first game, the Gunners gave up four runs in the top of the first inning on two walks and a couple of singles.

In their half of the first, the Gunners manufactured 3 runs on 2 walks, a hit by pitch and a single. These were the only runs the Gunners could manage, while TABU scored in four of the five innings.

In Jack's first plate appearance in the second inning, he hit a 2 balls and 1 strike pitch to the third baseman and was thrown out at first. Jack's second at-bat was an eight pitch affair. He ended up driving one hard down the third base line for a single. With one out, he stole second and third, but the Gunners left him at third.

Jack played five innings at third base. He handled a routine grounder in the first inning and threw the runner out at first. In the fifth inning, Jack tagged out the runner trying to go from second to third on a nice throw from the pitcher.

The Gunners managed only four hits in the game and ended up losing the game by a score of 10 to 3.

With two losses, the Gunners were seeded fourth out of five teams for the elimination round of the tournament. Unfortunately, the first game of elimination round was at 6:50 p.m. on Saturday night. We ended up going home and coming back.

The Gunners played the Bay Bombers in the third game of the day.

Leading 1 to 0 in the bottom of the second, Jack came up with the bases loaded and one out. He drove a 1 ball and 0 strike pitch up the middle for a double and two RBIs. He stole third, but the Gunners left him at third.

The Gunners ended up winning the game by a score of 6 to 2 in 6 innings. Jack played three uneventful innings in right field. Continuing the trend of the day, the Gunners managed only four hits in the game. Two of the hits were by Pat who showed up only for the last game. Over the course of the three games, the Gunners managed only 10 hits and Jack had 2 of them.

With the win, the Gunners get to come back on Sunday to play the #1 seed.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #5 Day 2

With the Gunners seeded first for Sunday's single elimination games, Jack and I showed up in Manteca in the late morning. We watched the end of the game between Hard 90 Pastime and TABU. The Gunners would play the winner. Hard 90 won the game by a score of 2 to 1 in seven innings.

The Gunners lost to Hard 90 Pastime a month ago in a funky game played partially in a driving rain. Nevertheless, I was initially optimistic. Unfortunately, the game turned into a train wreck from the start. I never complain about the umpires, but I was very disappointed in this umpiring team. While most of the umpires are older men, this team was two young boys; they were terrible. The field umpire was consistently out of position and had his back to several plays. The home plate umpire called a very inconsistent strike zone. He would call a pitch a ball and then call the same exact pitch a strike one pitch later. This makes it very difficult on the boys.

The Gunners pitching struggled. The starting pitcher walked five batters in the first three innings; three of these runners scored. Nevertheless, the Gunners only trailed by a score of 3 to 2 at the end of three innings.

The bottom fell out in the fourth. With a couple of hits and walks, Hard 90 scored four runs. The Gunners lost by a final score of 8 to 2. The final running amok of the day was that the umpires stopped the game after 5 innings even though they had only been playing for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Jack did not play in this game. It looks like he is back towards the end of the bench.

For the weekend, Jack was 1 for 2 with a walk. He scored two runs. For the five tournaments that he has played with the Gunners, Jack is 6 for 19 with five walks and six strike outs.

Jack played 5 of the 12 innings in three games this weekend. Jack has played 55 of the 82 innings in the five tournaments this fall in left field, right field, third base and as DH.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #5 Day 1

Originally, there was supposed to be a flag football skills competition Saturday morning. It rained steadily most of the night and through the morning. As a result, the skills competition was cancelled. About noon, Sharon, Jack and I took off the the Big League Dreams baseball complex in Manteca. Jack is playing in his fifth tournament. We missed a tournament last weekend when we were in Spokane. The Gunners won a tournament at the Sacramento Baseball Complex.

The Elk Grove Gunners played TABU in the first game at the Polo Grounds. Jack played three innings of a five inning game at third base. It was not his best game in the field. On a runner going from second to home who was thrown out at home, he was called for interference. Jack was standing close to third base and the runner brushed him as he went by. On a grounder hit down the line, Jack handled the ball cleanly, but his throw sailed over the first baseman. I can't remember the last time he overthrew first base; part of the problem may have been the wet conditions.

With runners at first and second with one out and the Gunners trailing by a score of 6 to 5, Jack got up in the fourth inning. In the heaviest rain of the day, he fell behind in the count 0 and 2 and then fouled off a pitch. Jack drove the fourth pitch up the middle for a fielder's choice. The runner was forced at second and Jack was safe at first. The third base coach sent the runner from second home and he was thrown out at the plate ending the inning.

In the fifth inning, the TABU pitcher hit one batter and walked four. The Gunners scored four runs and ended up winning the game by a score of 9 to 8.

The Gunners played CenCal in the second game at the Polo Grounds. The Gunners beat CenCal by a score of 18 to 1 in the Championship game of the first tournament this fall. This game also quickly turned into a rout.

Jack was the designated hitter. In his first at-bat, he walked on five pitches. Jack eventually came around to score as the Gunners scored 11 runs in the first inning. Jack fell behind 0 and 2 in his second plate appearance. Shortening up his swing, he pushed one to the right side of the infield. With Jack charging up the line, the second baseman tried to shove the ball to first and the first baseman did not handle the ball cleanly. Jack was safe at first. In my score book, I am going to give him a hit... He eventually came around to score.

The Gunners beat CenCal by a score of 15 to 0 in two innings. CenCal only ended up sending only 6 players to the plate in the game.

The Gunners finished the day with the first seed of the seven teams in the tournament for Sunday's single elimination round.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #4 Day 2

With Sharon and I heading out of town to celebrate our anniversary, Drew took Jack to day 2 of the weekend's baseball tournament at Kloss Field in the Elk Grove Regioal Park.

In the first game, Jack was 1 for 2 at the plate. In his first at-bat, he hit a double into left field to drive in a run. Jack came around to score. He grounded out to first in his second plate appearance.

In the field, Jack played three innings at third base. He made a couple of good plays, including catching a high pop fly in the sun and fielding a drive that went off of the the diving pitcher and throwing the runner out at third.

The Gunners won by a score of 9 to 0 in four innings.

In the second game, Jack struck out in his first at-bat. He said the pitcher was throwing hard and he hit one very hard but foul. In his second plate appearance, Jack walked, stole second and came home to score on a punt. Jack hit a double off the third baseman's glove in his final at-bat driving in one run. He eventually came around to score.

Jack played third base again. He made a couple of nice plays, including tagging out a runner on a throw from the shortstop Cooper and fielding a grounder and tagging third for the force out.

The Gunners won 11 to 2 in six innings and won the tournament championship.

For the weekend, Jack was 2 for 6 with three strike outs and a walk. He got two RBIs and scored three runs. For the four tournaments that he has played with the Gunners, Jack is 5 for 17 with four walks and six strike outs.

Jack played 15 of the 18 innings in three games this weekend; he missed the first three inning game due to football. Jack has played 50 of the 70 innings in the four tournaments this fall in left field, right field, third base and as DH.

Jack was very happy to have played all three games this weekend at third base. He got a chance last weekend in the consolation game to show that he could play in the infield. The coaches were very complimentary of Jack's play at third base in their comments after the championship game. I have always thought that he could help the team with his glove.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #4 Day 1

After the football game, Jack and I headed to Kloss Field at Elk Grove Regional Park to catch up with the Gunners Team. We got there in the bottom of the second. The Gunners were playing the Yuba Sutter River Bandits. The Gunners won the game by a score of 15 to 0 in 3 innings.

In the second game, the Gunners played the Tiburon Pirates. Jack started at third base. After going weeks and not really handling the ball much in games, he had two balls hit at him in the top of the first. Jack cleanly fielded the first and threw a one hopper to first. The first baseman was unable to dig out the ball and the runner was safe. The next batter hit a hard liner literally over the bag. Jack was able to knock the ball down; if the ball had gotten by him at least one run would have scored. The Gunners ended up getting out of the inning with runners on second and third.

In three of the next four innings, the Pirates got runners to third base, but the Gunners were able to get out of the inning.

Jack got up twice and struck out both times. The Pirates starting pitcher was strong; he struck out 6 of the first 10 Gunners batters. The first time at bat, Jack ran the count to 3 balls and 2 strikes before going down swinging. The second at bat with the bases loaded and one out, Jack went down swinging on three pitches.

The Gunners ended up winning the game by a score of 6 to 2. They will be seeded #1 tomorrow for the single elimination championship round.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #3 Day 2

With two losses on Saturday, the Gunners ended up getting seated sixth and playing in the consolation game on Sunday. It was another early morning drive to Big League Dreams Park in Manteca for an 8:00 a.m. first pitch.

With nothing at stake, the coaches mixed the line-up and pitched several of the boys that are on the end of the bench. Jack came up in the third inning. Falling behind no balls and 2 strikes in the count, he lifted one in right center for a single. Jack stole second, went to third on a passed ball and then scored on a single by Jeremy to left.

While walks had hurt them on Saturday, the team misplayed a number of balls in the infield in this game. The end result was that the Gunners were trailing by the score of 7 to 4 in the bottom of the fifth.

Jack lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. After falling behind in the count 1 ball and 2 strikes, he crushed one into left center. The fields are big and the ball rolled all the way to the warning track. The third base coach waved Jack to third. With the ball coming back into the infield, he made an awkward head first slide into third. The infields on these fields are artificial turf. Jack was safe, but he ended up scraping up his chest and banging up his right knee pretty good. He was able to walk it off and stay in the game. The next batter walked and stole second. An infield out scored two runs to make the score 7 to 6. The game ended with that score after five innings. The Gunners lost to the Petaluma Rebels.

Jack played two innings in right field and three innings in left field. He did not get any opportunities to play the ball.

After getting a single and triple and scoring two runs, the change in Jack's body language was amazing. After he scored following the triple, I was halfway expecting him to grab his crotch like Sam Cassell after a big shot and dance towards the dugout. Although the weekend was a bust for the team, Jack's defensive play on Saturday and hits on Sunday were very good for his confidence.

For the weekend, Jack was 2 for 3 with one strike out and two runs scored. For the three tournaments that he has played Jack is 3 for 11 with three walks and three strike outs.

Jack played 12 of the 15 innings this weekend and has played 35 of the 52 innings in the three tournaments this fall in left field, right field, third base and as DH.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #3 Day 1

Not a very successful day... The Gunners drew the first two games of the day: an 8:00 a.m. game and a 10:15 a.m. game. I got Jack up about 5:45 a.m. and we left the house about 6:15 a.m. It was raining lightly when we got to the Big League Dreams Park in Manteca. The Gunners scored two runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, with one of the Gunners best pitchers on the mound, it started to rain pretty hard. Our pitcher who throws hard had a difficult time with his grip in the rain. The Gunners ended up walking 6 batters in the inning and giving up 10 runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Jack got up once in the top of the second. He struck out swinging on a 2 ball, 2 strike count. Overall, six of ten the Gunners struck out in the game. The Gunners had only one hit in the game.

Jack played four innings in left field. He had one ball hit through the infield to him. In the light rain, Jack barehanded the ball and threw it back to second. My heart skipped a beat when I watched him barehand the wet ball. He said afterwords that the ball had some funny spin on it.

The Gunners ended up losing the first game to Hard 90 Pastime by a score of 11 to 2 in four innings.

The rain had stopped and the sun came out by the time the Gunners started the second game at 10:15. In the top of the first, the Gunners pitcher hit two of the first four batters and the team ended up giving up three runs before the pitcher settled down and struck out the last two batters in the inning. The Gunners put together one run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth to tie the score at the top of the sixth. In the top of the six, one of the Gunners walked four batters and the team gave up four runs to fall behind by a score of 7 to 3.

Jack played three innings at third base (1st, 2nd and 6th). In the top of the sixth with runners on second and third and no outs, Jack was holding the runner at third. A ball was hit sharply to the left side. Jack fielded the ball cleanly and looked towards first. As he looked at first, the runner on third took a couple of steps towards home. Jack started back to third. He chased the runner towards home plate and made a solid throw to the catcher who tagged out the runner. At the time, the defensive play kept the game tied at 3. Unfortunately, a couple more walks and a single blew the game open.

Oddly, due to the substitution pattern, Jack never got to bat. The Gunners ended up losing the second game to the Sonoma County Rebels by a score of 7 to 3.

Gunner Batting Practice

Gunner Batting Practice, originally uploaded by heringermr.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #2 Day 2

Up early, Jack and I headed back to the Manteca Big League Dreams Sports Park. The Gunners played the Lamorinda Baseball Diablos in the first game. Both the Gunners and the Diablos were undefeated on Saturday.

Falling behind 1 to 2 after the bottom of the first inning, the Gunners rallied to win by a score of 11 to 5 in five innings. Jack played one inning in left field, but did not bat.

As a result of this win, the Gunners were seated first in the championship game and the Diablos were seated second. We had to play them again in the afternoon.

Talking to one of the parents on the other team, I realized that this is the first game this traveling team has lost since they started playing together in August. Additionally, they have been playing up a division; they have been playing in the U11 division rather than in the U10 division.

In the tournament championship game, the Diablos started a big left hander. Except for two bloob singles over the head of the second baseman, the Gunners never hit anything out of the infield. They lost 12 to 2 in four innings.

Jack started in left field and played three innings in the outfield and one inning as the DH. He got up once. Jack hit a grounder down the third base line and was thrown out at first. He was on deck when the last out was made.

For the weekend, Jack was 0 for 2 with one walk and one strike out. For the two tournaments that he has played, Jack is 1 for 8 with three walks and two strike outs. He played 11 of the 19 innings this weekend and has played 23 of the 37 innings to date in left field, right field and as DH. Unless he can get his bat going, Jack is going to be stuck at the end of the bench. He is not overmatched at the plate. I think that he just needs a few more at bats and a couple of bounces of the ball.

2008 Gunners Baseball Tournament #2 Day 1

Jack in right field of Yankee Stadium

After the football game, Sharon, Jack and I took off for Big League Dreams Sport Park in Manteca to play in a tournament with the Gunners Baseball Team. This is a very unusual sports park. It includes a number of scaled-down replica stadiums, including Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Anaheim Stadium and Wrigley Field. The park is laid out with three stadiums built around a stadium club with a restaurant, bar and big screen televisions. You can see the fields from inside the Stadium Club.

The Gunners played the Visalia Lightning in Yankee Stadium in the first game. Falling behind by a score of 2 to 3 at the bottom of the first inning, the Gunners went on to win by a score of 10 to 4 in five innings.

Jack was 0 for 1 with one walk and one strike out swinging. He stole second and then got picked off second when he tried to stretch his lead. He played five innings in right field and did not handle a ball.

The Gunners played the SB Diamondbacks in Yankee Stadium in the nightcap. The kids played under the lights. The Gunners rolled to a 9 to 0 win in five innings. Jack played one inning in right field, but did not get to bat.

By time we packed up and drove home, it was a long day with one football game and two baseball games!