Remember to bring your camera to each game to take action photos
Forward these pics. to cubspics@westsidecubs.net
New Images Available under Image area
2008 Game Schedule Now Available
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Remember to bring your camera to each game to take action photos Forward these pics. to cubspics@westsidecubs.net New Images Available under Image area 2008 Game Schedule Now Available
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Jackson Bell
Batting
Pitching
Jackson was our most improved and hottest hitter in 2007. While he seems to start slowly at the plate each year, he will more than likely be among our top three batting spots this year. He ended up with the highest batting average on the team hitting .696. This year we will try to hit Jackson and Logan back-to-back once Jackson gets his stroke. While we will be losing Blake in the #2 spot (in front of Jackson), we will pick-up a couple of players that will more than adequately fill this vacancy and allow Jackson to drive in more runs. In 2007, Jackson worked with a trainer which helped his swing. However, it may have been the extra work (swings) he got rather than adjustments to his swing. Jackson has always had a beautiful left-handed swing. Personally, I think the more Jackson works, the better he gets. The extra time with the trainer simply gave him the swing count he needed last year. Before 2007, Jackson always started the year slowly at the plate. As each season wore on, his swing stroke and batting average continued to get better. Jackson has always been one of our best pitchers when he is hot. We always save him for the toughest teams. Unfortunately, he ran into the Dug Gap buzz saw twice in 2007 and suffered two losses. Jackson vs. Dug Gap (or the Cubs vs. Dug Gap for that matter) was a psychological thing. Each time Jackson pitched vs. Dug Gap, he was so nervous in pitching versus his old classmates that they had him psyched out before the game started. Once he overcame this, he pitched very well in the Championship game against Dug Gap. Also once he (and the team) discovered that the Cubs could beat Dug Gap, it was just a matter of doing the things they had learned all year. This year, with Logan and Henson splitting time with a travel team, Jackson will get lots of pitching work. We will use Drew and Jackson, along with new addition Ryan Townsend for a lot more innings. As a 9 year old, we limited Jackson to two innings per game and as a 10 year old we limited Jackson to three innings. This year we will count pitches and allow him to pitch 4 or more innings depending on how economical he is with the pitch count. Logan and Henson will get plenty of work in 60-70 games of travel ball and will be ready for the County Championship Tournament. Jackson led the team in strikeouts per innings pitched and only trailed Logan by 2 strikeouts despite having pitched 7 fewer innings. When he throws strikes, he is almost unhittable and he is only 10 years old. He has the best velocity on his fastball of anyone on the team. Since he faces the best teams, our batters face the best pitchers, so we always need a pitcher that limits opponents runs and keeps runners off the bases. As a batter, Jackson starts slowly each year and 2007 was no exception. During the 2007 early Bird tournament Jackson did not swing the bat so well. However, he looked much better in our first game and looked like an All-star in our second game. Jackson got only 6 hits in 2006, but had 5 after our 3rd game last year. By the Championship Playoffs he was unstoppable. Teams would have been better off to walk him. Jackson finished up 2007 with 16 hits. in 2007, we moved Jackson from third base to second base. In the past, we wanted to take advantage of Jackson's arm and Glove at third base, but with our pitchers, very few balls are hit to third base. Moving Jackson to second better utilizes his glove and keeps his mind in the game, since third base can be a lonely position without action. This move really paid dividends with Jackson making several outstanding plays at second base. In fact, it made the coaches look like genius' during the Championship Playoffs, when Jackson made superb play after superb play to get us out of jams. We will continue to work with Jackson to ensure he understands the second baseman's responsibilities. This year we need to make sure Jackson is aware of where the smart play should be made. He needs to ask himself before every pitch, "If the ball is hit to me, what will I do with it?" As long as Jackson continues to charge the ball, field with two hands, make good throws, and carry out the responsibilities of second base as he has done, it will be very difficult for another player to replace him at second base.
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Westside Youth Athletic Association Website Helton Genealogical DNA Project - Hilton Family Tree - http://hiltonfamilytree.com
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