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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Ethan Neal
Without a doubt, Ethan Neal is our most improved player from 2005 to 2006. In 2005, Ethan had difficulty throwing, catching, and hitting. All of our coaches were shocked to see how much he had improved in one year.
In 2005, it was difficult to keep Ethan's attention on the game. This year it seems he can't wait to get to the ballpark. His excitement has been contagious for the rest of the team, as well. He has made several outstanding plays in center field, this
year, and his speed has helped both our right and left outfielders in backing
them up on missed balls. In several cases, he outran the (right and left)
outfielder to get to missed balls and he gets the ball back to the infielders
quickly. In each case, he limited the opposing team from scoring
additional runs, because of his quickness in getting the ball back to the
infield quickly. His hitting has improved greatly, as well. Ethan is becoming one of our best "contact" hitters. With two strikes, he seems to get the bat on the ball to avoid strike-outs. While he doesn't always get a hit, he seems to "put the ball in play", which is so important at this age. Good things always happen when you hit the ball. Some players go to the plate looking for a walk on every at bat; Ethan goes to the plate looking to hit the ball. Ethan Neal continues to surprise us with his improvement with each game and practice. He may begin to see more playing time at second base, but he will certainly see more time at second base, next year. Currently, Ethan is our only outfielder that can catch fly balls, so we are relying on Ethan to be our outfield captain. Catching fly balls, at this age, is very difficult, so when you find a player who can do this, he becomes a valuable commodity. Currently, it is difficult for us to justify moving Ethan to second base, when he can do things in the outfield that no other player on the team can accomplish. As of the Valley Point Game, Ethan Neal is tied for the Team lead for runs scored, and is second in batting average. He is among the Team leaders in on-base percentage, is among the leaders in walks, and is tied for the lead with fewest strike-outs. He is developing into a steady performer at the plate. In as far as runs scored, it is far more difficult to score runs at the bottom of the batting order than at the top, because there are fewer players hitting the ball at the bottom of the batting order. He is tied for the team lead for runs scored with Clay Phillips. One of the reasons Clay has scored many of his runs because Ethan is hitting behind him in the line-up. We will move Ethan to the fifth spot in our batting order in the next game to see if he can drive us in some more runs.
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Cubs Supporters
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Westside Youth Athletic Association Website Helton Genealogical DNA Project - Hilton Family Tree - http://hiltonfamilytree.com
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Because of his speed and baseball "smarts" he moved to
centerfield in 2006, but he also has seen playing time at 2nd base. His
parents have done an excellent job of working with Ethan to help him improve his
skills.
