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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Cubs Vs Varnell Reds
Cubs 5Reds 2Varnell came to play with a pitcher that threw hard,
but the Cubs are slowly beginning to hit the ball. All the time in the
batting cage is beginning to pay off and we got key hits from
While we are still stranding runners on base (6
runners in 4
In the first Cubs inning, the Varnell pitcher was throwing smoke. Jackson Bell singled and Trey Hasty walked, but both were stranded by an inning ending strikeout. The Cubs did not score. Cubs 0 Reds 0 In the Varnell first, Jackson Bell struck out the first batter and then walked the next two. These runners moved around the bases on passed balls. The first walked batter scored on a passed ball and the second walk was stranded when Jackson struck out the last two batters of the inning. Reds 1 Cubs 0 In the Cubs Second inning Cody Ware walked and was driven in by a line drive double to right field by Chip Brown. Chip remembered to step on first base this time, but he was just as excited this time as he was a couple of weeks ago when he doubled. Chip is really beginning to become aggressive at the plate. Hunter Hewitt walked and both Hunter and Chip were stranded by two strikeouts. Cubs 1 Reds 1 In the Varnell second inning, Jackson walked the lead-off batter and then struck out and walked every other batter after that. The Varnell inning ended with the bases loaded and no Varnell runs scored. Cubs 1 Reds 1 As the Cubs batted in the top of the third, Robert Nichols hit a line shot up the middle. In practice, he had been really aggressive when hitting and we were trying to get him to transfer this aggressiveness to game situations. He had been hitting the ball back into the practice net and hitting the telephone pole in the center of the net and the ball was bouncing back at him off the pole. We told him that's exactly what we wanted him to do in the game; hit it right back at the pitcher so the pitcher would have to duck after he threw every pitch (this way he couldn't throw strikes). That's exactly what Robert did. Robert scored on a long drive to left center by Drew Guffey. Drew was tagged out at the plate trying to stretch a triple to a home run which ended the inning. We want our players and coaches to be aggressive on the base paths and the coaches will assume all blame for sending runners who get tagged out-as long as the players are listening to our instructions. This may be the last year in baseball when we can run and force the other team to make errors through aggressive play. Cubs 2 Reds 1 In the Reds third inning, We walked the lead-off batter, who eventually scored on passed balls. Paxton Bennett made a great play on a swinging bunt to field the ball and throw the runner out at first base and Jackson struck out the next batter. Jackson walked the fourth batter and struck out the final batter of the inning. Cubs 2 Reds 2 In the Cubs 4th inning Jackson Bell and led off the inning with single. Trey Hasty hit into a fielders choice to erase jackson. Garrett Kelly walked to load the bases and then Paxton was hit by a pitch to score Trey. Cody Ware walked to score Trey and then Hunter Hewitt singled to get his first RBI of the year. The inning ended with another strikeout. The Cubs scored three runs in the inning. Cubs 5 Reds 2 Jackson Bell pitched a great game and while 9 walks may seem like a high number, Jackson's strike zone was probably more stable than the strike zone he was getting from the new umpire. However, for her first game she was doing a good job and you won't see me putting in an application for that job. Having 26 irate mothers after you is not a good predicament. Having one irate mother is all I can handle. We had planned to pull Jackson after the third inning and put Drew into the game but we thought the game was going to last 5-6 innings by how quickly it was moving. Drew's wrist was hurting and we thought we would hold him to pitch one inning rather than two. Since most games this year have been going 5 innings, we were trying to look ahead to the 5th. The fourth inning bogged down and took longer for both teams than we anticipated. We knew we had 7 minutes left when Varnell started batting in the fourth. Jackson made us a little uneasy by how well he was pitching in the 4th because we were afraid he would end the inning too quickly. However, after going 0-2 on the first batter, he threw 4 straight balls to walk the first batter. Jackson struck out the next batter on 3 straight strikes to strike out the next batter- we began to worry again. The next batter got Varnell's first hit of the night and the next batter walked to load the bases. We began to worry for different reasons now and it had nothing to do with the time limit. Jackson came back and struck out the next two batters to end the game. In coaching games like these, a coach can get mixed feelings about coaching. I have enjoyed being "just" a parent on Logan's Spider team-not having to worry about getting boys in/out of the game, keeping a one run lead, or worrying whether your positive or negative reinforcement that you alternatively try to use for each boy is helping or hurting. However, when Chip Brown, Hunter Hewitt, Robert Nichols, or another boy steps up to the plate (like they did in this game) and smashes a ball after you have been working hard with them, it makes you happy for the boy to see their diligence and hard work paying off. As their self-confidence increases, you begin to understand what youth athletics are all about. Cubs Batting Drew Guffey 1 for 2, Triple with RBI Jackson Bell 2 for 2 Chip Brown 1 for 2, Double Hunter Hewitt 1 for 1 with RBI Robert Nichols 1 for 1
Cubs Pitching
Jackson Bell 4 Innings, 11 K's, 9 walks, allowed 1 hit and 2 runs
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players who don't
typically hit the ball. All they needed was a little work, some swings in
practice, and a little confidence. Our Cubs are hitting better than any team we
have faced so far and our pitching has been much better.
innings), the big 3-run 4th inning helped us out of a jam.
The umpire was in her first year, so her strike zone was a little tight for 11
year old baseball, but it worked the same way for teams. However, our Cubs
went to the plate looking to swing the bat; whereas the Reds went to the plate
looking for walks. Most of the teams we've played have spent more time working
on fielding than hitting and it shows. The Reds had 9 players who reached
base through walks and only one player hit the ball. Of the 12 outs the
Cubs recorded in the game, 11 came on strike-outs by
