With all 31 players and most of their families in the spacious meeting room at Julio’s Mexican Restaurant, the coaches began the annual baseball banquet.
Coach Merritt offered a prayer, and the food was served shortly afterwards: endless enchiladas on the house along with generous helpings of rice and beans.
After just under an hour of eating and socializing, Coach Miller came to the microphone and called up the five skill-squad players.
“This group of young men worked very hard in practice all year even though they knew they probably weren’t going to get any playing time this season. They did serve a valuable role as they allowed us to rotate our other players in and out during scrimmages and gave us extra depth at key positions. Cody Tibbits dressed as our emergency catcher for a handful of games, and Harold Henderson got into a game for the red team early on, including a single and a stolen base.”
Next up was the red team. Coach Bowler gave the speeches for that group.
“First, our seventh-graders. We had six on our team this season, including one who played on both our team and Coach Merritt’s blue team.
Avery Crumbliss started all 15 games for us in left field. He hit .200 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored on the season and was very solid on defense. We look forward to having him on the blue team next season. Dante Dillard was our starting center fielder. Dante batted .243 with 4 RBI and 6 runs, but the highlight of his season was a diving catch with the bases loaded against McKenzie. We think he has starting potential for the blue team next year. Grant Godwin played some right field and some designated hitter, and hit .205 with 3 doubles, 9 RBI, and 6 runs. While he struggled in games, Grant showed a lot of raw power in practice and could be a valuable contributor next season. Sam Gow played mostly third base, and hit for a .364 average with 5 RBI and 8 runs. Sam’s contact-hitting ability should help him carve out a role next year. Danny Hummer was our starting second baseman, and hit .308 with 2 RBI and 5 runs. Even though he joined the team late, Danny quickly worked his way into the lineup and proved himself valuable. James Wilson played both ways and started 8 games in right field for us. He had a .500 average with 5 RBI and 6 runs in those 8 games, as well as 2 stolen bases. The experience he got with the blue team this season should help him next season as we think he can start in right field.
Next up, our sixth-graders. We had eight sixth-graders on the team including one again who played for both teams.
Johnny Boyega started all 15 games at first base and had a solid .294 batting average plus 8 RBI and 7 runs. Johnny may get a chance to start next season for the blue team as we are thin at first base and he showed that he can hit the ball this season. Jimmy James struggled with his control some, but was a great strikeout pitcher for us with 14 strikeouts in 12 innings. He finished with a 1-3 record, 1 save, and a 6.00 ERA in 9 games and 3 starts. Due to a thin pitching staff, he may get a chance with the blue team or playing both ways next season. Lake Lagunov also struggled some, as he got hit around some after being thrust into action when we realized we simply didn’t have enough pitchers on the red team. We like his potential and his work ethic. Lake finished with 3 saves, a 6.00 ERA, and a 1.58 WHIP in 9 games/1 start. Stanislaus Lem is the rare “fast catcher” and was actually second on our team with 5 steals this season. He also had a .242 batting average with 1 double, 2 triples, 5 RBI, and 6 runs while starting every game behind the plate. He will probably start behind the dish for the blue team next year. Anthony Mangum was one of our best pitchers with a 2-0 record, 3.00 ERA, and 1.27 WHIP in 10 games and 2 starts. He also hit the ball well with a .259 average and 2 doubles in 27 at-bats. Anthony was a great player for us on both sides of the ball and could see some time with the blue team next season. Matthew Simpson played both ways and was our ace on the mound going 6-1 with a 1.13 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts in 24 innings over 8 starts. He will see a lot of action with the blue team next year. Thurgood Stubbs was another of our pitchers, and he finished strong with a 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 1-1 record in 9 games while also hitting .214 over 28 at-bats. His ability to play third base when he wasn’t pitching helped us out a lot with our depth and we anticipate Thurgood being a solid contributor next season. Xander Woods was our star player at shortstop, starting all 15 games and finishing with team highs in nearly every category. Xander hit .550 with 7 doubles and 3 triples, had 10 RBIs, scored 15 runs, and had 9 stolen bases. We know he will be a star in the future and he will almost certainly start with the blue team in 2016.
We are pleased to now announce the team awards:
Most improved player: Lake Lagunov! Lake was a player we did not anticipate getting any playing time this season, but he worked his tail off and earned enough trust to get the ball late in some close games, recording 3 saves in 4 chances. Most valuable player: This was a tight race all the way but we’re going to give the award to Xander Woods! Xander was our best hitter all year as just a sixth-grader, and he played outstanding defense at short while also leading the team in steals and runs scored.”
Coach Merritt called up the blue team and began the speeches.
“First of all I am very proud of this team for going 10-5 overall, I think that speaks to the kind of leadership we got out of our eighth-graders and we are going to be hard-pressed to replace all of you next season.
First of all our two-way players, Matthew Simpson and James Wilson. They both sacrificed playing time and free time for a chance to gain some experience with us and it paid off as we think they have both learned a lot from this experience. Matthew pitched in 4 games for us with a 4.91 ERA and James got into 2 games as a pinch-runner, successfully stealing in his only attempt and also scoring one run.
Our other seventh-graders, Harry Hustle and Jaxon Stills. They both played off the bench and showed a lot of effort and potential. Harry did not hit very well but played good defense at all three outfield positions and was one of the fastest players on the team. Jaxon didn’t play very much but did get 7 at-bats with 5 hits and 1 home run. He also added 3 RBI, 3 runs, and 2 steals in 4 attempts.
However, our team was led by this tremendous group of eighth-graders. Every single game this season was started by nine out of the ten eighth-graders and their leadership came not only on but off the field as well. We are going to be very sad to see them leave but are at the same time excited to see what they do at the high school level.
Charlie Pickett started nine games at pitcher. He was always a model for our younger players with his tremendous work ethic, and his hard work translated to games with an 8-0 record, 3.30 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 42 strikeouts in 46 and a third innings. Bryan Carvajal started the other six games. He also pitched in relief for three games as well as starting eight games at first base. Bryan not only had a 2-4 record and 4.38 ERA but he also batted out of the three-hole and hit .354 with 6 doubles, 13 RBI, and 14 runs, with the highest on-base percentage (.456) of any of our starters. Tommy Henderson started the other seven games at first and filled in at other positions including pitcher where he recorded the final out against Allanburg. He batted just .176 but his versatility was huge off the bench for us. Tyler Peterman was our starting catcher. While he batted seventh in the order, Tyler was one of our best power hitter with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 7 RBI to go with a .286 batting average. At second base was Alex Gonzalez, batting fifth. Alex hit .310 with 10 RBI and 8 runs, and drew a team-high 10 walks. At shortstop was our cleanup hitter Mitchell Haber. Mitchell was our best hitter with a .404 average, 7 extra-base hits, 15 RBI, and 10 runs. Joey King started at third and hit .250 with 6 RBI and 8 runs. His defense was huge for us down the stretch as he made play after play at the hot corner. In left field was our leadoff hitter Tucker Simmons. Tucker batted .309 and added 4 RBI, 11 runs, and 6 stolen bases. Tucker’s twin brother Simon started in center field and batted second, with a .377 average, 8 RBI, 12 runs, and 3 steals. Rounding out the lineup was our right fielder Will Lang, who batted eighth. Will had a .194 average but like Joey his fielding was crucial down the stretch.
Our team MIP is Charlie Pickett. He came into the season with a focus and was the most consistent pitcher on the staff. Our team MVP is Mitchell Haber. His offensive prowess was too much for several of our opponents to handle as Mitchell consistently banged out hits against the best of them.
Thank you all for a great 2015-16 baseball season. We hope all of you will return for next year.”
_________________ Olive - she/they // NAPOLI FOR MVP // post count doesn't matter
yeah that log's dead too- i mean on hiatus (yes that one too) (seriously all of them now lol) (haha unless...?)
"All people are good for something. The important thing is finding what." - Tom
BrewersFuzz wrote: PEDs wrote: i think we banned him cause he was an idiot glad i never got banned for that
Second Member of the 10,000 Post Cult
|