One For the Ages

[johnlanza]

Just wanted to share a memorable game with "the family" here...

Rec League, 7/8 coach-pitch post-season tournament, playing in the semi-finals. We were #3 seed (I'm an assistant coach), they were #2 seed.
We were down 14-7 going into the top of the 6th inning. We have a seven-run/inning limit, so we need to score seven runs just to keep the game going. Head coach gave a little pep talk which seemed to inspire the guys.

Somehow we managed to score seven runs and then held the opponent scoreless in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh inning, we scored four runs and held them to two. We won 18-16 because every single player made a contribution to this team victory. Both teams deserved to win, and all coaches from both teams were very respectful.

Most of us here probably have had one of those sports moments as a kid that we remember fondly as we get older. I think these kids just lived one of those moments. I know it's something I will always remember (and I'm 47...)

The Championship Game is next week, but anything after tonight's game will just be icing on the cake (though my son really wants to take home the tournament title

[tradosaurus]

Congratulations.

I promise you that you and your son will remember that moment for a long time.

Hopefully you will have an even better game next week. :cap:

[CircleChange11]

I've coached a lot of teams for a decent amount of years, ranging from JH state champ, HS teams in sectionals (pitching coach for both), to rec league. My favorite memory of all time is our 8yo championship team. It's a 7-8yo coach pitch league and teams routinely score 15+ runs.

The team we played in the championship averaged over 20 runs a game and had a very loud and celebratory fan base.

When we played them, we put our 3 best players in the OF. Our RF threw out 2 guys at 1B. Our CF made a legit diving catch with the bases loaded and 1-out (and then ran to 2B for the DP), and our CF and LF made a great colliding catch where both guys were going after the ball full throttle.

We won 8-3. They scored 3 runs. The most satisfying aspect of the whole experience was around the 3rd inning, their fans stopped cheering when their players hit a fly ball. In just 2+ innings, they had been conditioned to view fly balls as outs.

Not that I'm a coaching genius or anything, but it felt good to introduce them to the importance of outfield and team defense.

But the real lesson learned was that parents just prefer a nonsensical, high scoring, everyone reaches base type league/game than one that features skill-based baseball.

Man, that was a fun game ... at least for us. Some of our "lesser" players really shined on the routine plays in the IF, including a very good catch on a line drive.

[Jake Patterson]

Congrats John!

[leecemark]

I've coached a lot of teams for a decent amount of years, ranging from JH state champ, HS teams in sectionals (pitching coach for both), to rec league. My favorite memory of all time is our 8yo championship team. It's a 7-8yo coach pitch league and teams routinely score 15+ runs.

The team we played in the championship averaged over 20 runs a game and had a very loud and celebratory fan base.

When we played them, we put our 3 best players in the OF. Our RF threw out 2 guys at 1B. Our CF made a legit diving catch with the bases loaded and 1-out (and then ran to 2B for the DP), and our CF and LF made a great colliding catch where both guys were going after the ball full throttle.

We won 8-3. They scored 3 runs. The most satisfying aspect of the whole experience was around the 3rd inning, their fans stopped cheering when their players hit a fly ball. In just 2+ innings, they had been conditioned to view fly balls as outs.

Not that I'm a coaching genius or anything, but it felt good to introduce them to the importance of outfield and team defense.

But the real lesson learned was that parents just prefer a nonsensical, high scoring, everyone reaches base type league/game than one that features skill-based baseball.

Man, that was a fun game ... at least for us. Some of our "lesser" players really shined on the routine plays in the IF, including a very good catch on a line drive.

--We had a similar game last week. Playing the undefeated 1st place team that had mercied ruled most opponents, including us the first time we played them. I put a couple of our best players in the OF and we spent the entire practice before the game working on team defense. I also let our best pitcher go til he reached his pitch limit (until this game nobody had worked for than 2 innings in a game). We went into the last inning tied at 1, but our relief pitcher really struggled they got 4 in the top of the inning. We mounted a great comeback, plating 2 and getting the tying runs on 2nd and 3rd with winning run to the plate. The rally ended there, but it was still a great game and I was prouder of this loss than any of our wins. Plus now the kids are actually excited about playing the outfield, which is a nice change .

[JCincy]

Just wanted to share a memorable game with "the family" here...

Awesome! Thank you for sharing this.

[Roothog66]

This brings back memories of a game I was shooting (as a phtographer) about 12 years ago at a Super Series state tournament. In the championship game of an eleven-year-old game, down by two runs with two outs and two on, a kid hit a 3-2 pitch over the pitch for the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. I had no horse in the race, but cried like a baby. I wanted to pull that kid aside and tell him to enjoy the moment because, even though you're only eleven, you may never experience a moment of pure happines that tops what you feel right now. I don't even know that if the same kid were to do the same thing in high school, college, or even at the major league level, that the sheer feeling of joy would be as great as what can be experienced in an eleven-year-old's accomplishments. Not sure whether that's good or bad, but...

[CircleChange11]

This brings back memories of a game I was shooting (as a phtographer) about 12 years ago at a Super Series state tournament. In the championship game of an eleven-year-old game, down by two runs with two outs and two on, a kid hit a 3-2 pitch over the pitch for the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. I had no horse in the race, but cried like a baby. I wanted to pull that kid aside and tell him to enjoy the moment because, even though you're only eleven, you may never experience a moment of pure happines that tops what you feel right now. I don't even know that if the same kid were to do the same thing in high school, college, or even at the major league level, that the sheer feeling of joy would be as great as what can be experienced in an eleven-year-old's accomplishments. Not sure whether that's good or bad, but...

My buddy hit a walk-off grand slam for us to advance in LL All-Star regionals (or whatever it's called at that level). In HS he started having some legal problems in regards to a behavior disorder, and eventually became addicted to drugs and alcohol while working in the oil industry in Alaska. He eventually served some jail time and took his own life.

Still, we were a highly successful HS program and yet when you ask all of us "what is your favorite baseball memory?", it's "JF's walk-off slam in LL All-Stars", even ranking ahead of playing at Busch Stadium.

[real green]

And so many say these games are meaningless! I absolutely agree these are memories that can last a life time.