2007 County Champions!!!

2008 Whitfield County Early Bird Champions

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Cubs Batting Leaders:Logan Hilton .532, Jackson Bell .500, Drew Guffey .486, TRey Hasty .412

Cubs Pitching Leaders: Logan Hilton 34 Innings -71 K's, Jackson Bell -29 innings 44 K's, Drew Guffey 21 Innings -37 K's,

Westside Cubs vs. Varnell Braves

May 19, 2006

Cubs 8 - Varnell Braves 6

The Varnell Game may be our last tough game of the year. They have the same won-loss record as the Cubs. Winning this game will secure a spot in the end of the year play-offs. Drew Guffey is due to start this game with Jackson coming in to pitch in the 2nd or 3rd inning.

The Varnell Braves game was the second game we played vs. Varnell this year. We played them during preseason and won 11 to 5.

Game Summary

It was an odd game from the start. Dakota Ware did not arrive until after the game had started and had to be scratched from the starting line-up. The Braves #31, Tyler Wheeler, also did not arrive until the bottom of the first. He had been placed in the batting line-up, but was removed when he missed his at bat. The Braves batted around in the first inning, which created an unusual situation. Since the first batter batted twice in the first inning, by rule the Braves were required to play 8 players and substitute a player for Tyler. In baseball, the line-up is the batting order, not the position they play. After Tim checked on the batting position of the player that did not bat, but went out to field the position, the umpire ruled he could not be inserted into the line-up. This forced the braves to start the game with 8 players and only two in the outfield.

When Logan Hilton lead off the Cubs first inning with a triple to right field, we realized that we did not want to win, based on limited fielders. Since we were playing to have fun (sitting on the bench is no fun), we asked the Umpire if Tyler could enter the game, and be inserted at the bottom of the batting line-up. I'm glad we did this. The win would have not been as meaningful, if we had taken advantage of their player's inability to tell time.

The game was also odd, in that, Drew Guffey had a very shaky first inning pitching, allowing 5-runs. The Braves first inning was called due to the 5-run rule. Drew surrendered 4 hits and 5 walks in the first inning. Since we were not accustomed to this kind of shaky start from Drew, we thought we might have to pull Drew in the second inning, but Drew reached back, allowed no more runs in the second and third innings striking out 4 of 7 batters.

Drew threw 34 pitches in the first inning , alone, so we were concerned about his pitch-count , as well. He ended the game with a total of 58 pitches, which is right where we want the pitcher to finish.

Clay Phillips threw out his first base-runner of the day (caught stealing-he had 3) at third base.

Braves 5 Cubs 0

In the Cubs first at bat, Logan Hilton led off with a triple. Blake Ownbey single to score Logan and pick-up an RBI. Drew Guffey then singled to score Blake (RBI). Clay Phillips popped out for the first out. Drew advanced to 2nd on a stolen base, advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch and was caught stealing home for the second out. It was right about here when we began to second guess our decision to allow them to play 9 players. Ethan Neal walked, followed by another Ethan Hayes single to score Ethan Neal (RBI). The inning ended with a strike out.

Logan Hilton, Blake Ownbey, and Ethan Neal scored in the fist inning.

Brave 5 - Cubs 3

In the second inning, Drew started the inning by striking out the first batter. The best "pitch" in baseball is the strike. The second best pitch in baseball is a first pitch strike. This made the difference for Drew for the rest of the game. While his accuracy did not improve, he was able to get the first pitch in for a strike and the batters helped him by swinging at bad pitches. All parents of pitchers should stress this point to their young pitchers. In 9 year old baseball, if the pitcher can throw a first pitch strike, it is (almost) unnecessary to throw anymore strikes to the batter.

The second Braves batter walked and was subsequently nailed by Clay "Rocket Arm" Phillips, when he attempted to steal second base. Clay made a great throw, Blake made a great catch and tag.

The next batter grounded to short stop. Blake Ownbey made a beautiful catch and an accurate throw which beat the runner by a full-step. However, the player (who should have been the third-out) was called safe. We, jokingly, appealed the play to the Braves third base coach, who over ruled the call. The next batter grounded to second base. Jackson Bell made a good catch and throw to Logan at first for the third out.

Braves 5 Cubs 3

In the Cubs second inning, Garrett Kelly led off with a single (Garrett went 2 for 2). Chip Brown walked. Logan Hilton singled to score Garrett (RBI). The Cubs then had a strike-out, followed by a Drew Guffey walk to load the bases. With the bases loaded, we had another strikeout for the second out. The next two batters walked to score Chip and Logan. Our final out was our third strike-out of the inning.

Garrett Kelly, Chip Brown, and Logan Hilton each scored in the inning

Cubs 6 Braves 5

Drew Guffey went back out to pitch the third and struck out the side on 12 pitches.

Cubs 6 Braves 5

In the Cubs third inning, Garret Kelly led off with a triple and was followed by a strikeout. Our player never attempted to swing on four pitches. We instructed the player to leave his bat in the dug out on the next at-bat. Garrett scored on a ground-out by Logan Hilton (RBI). The inning ended with a strikeout.

Garrett Kelly scored in the inning.

Cubs 7 Braves 5

Jackson Bell came in to pitch in the fourth inning and was simply over powering. In the last couple of games, Jackson changed his grip, holding the ball in the palm of his hand with all five fingers. This caused Jackson to lose velocity and accuracy. This shot-put grip also is hard on a young players arm. In our last practice and scrimmage against the 11 year old Westside team, we worked with Jackson on the grip. He came into the game "popping" the mitt and throwing strikes. He had a lot more velocity than the last two games. When Jackson is "on", he is almost unhittable.

After striking out the first batter, Jackson allowed a base-hit (actually an error). Jackson struck-out the next batter for the 2nd out. The next batter singled scoring a run. The final batter was left standing in the batters box when Clay Phillips got his third caught stealing of the game.

Jackson managed to save the game for Drew. This win (for Drew) was in jeopardy until Clay threw out the base-runner to end the inning. As Clay continues to block more balls with his body and keep more pitches in front of him, opposing teams will become more desperate to advance runners. When they attempt a "straight steal", Clay's arm will get us out of more and more jams. The 9 year old game is "all about" the catcher.

Cubs 7 Braves 6

In the Cubs last at-bat, Drew Guffey led off the inning with a bases clearing home run. (The bases were actually already clear, since he was the first batter, but a bases clearing Home run sounds great, doesn't it?) Clay walked and was eventually caught stealing at home plate for the first out. Ethan Neal walked and was eventually caught stealing at home plate for the second out. A strike out ended the game.

Final Score Cubs 8 Braves 6

While the Cubs out played the Braves, we looked shoddy in fielding the ball with numerous fielding errors/mistakes

Cubs Batting

Logan Hilton - 2 for 3, triple, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored

Blake Ownbey - 1 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 run scored

Drew Guffey - 2 for 3, Home run, 2 RBI's 2 stolen Bases, 1 run

Clay Phillips - 1 run scored

Ethan Neal - 1 run scored

Ethan Hayes - 1 for 1, 1 RBI

Garrett Kelly - 2 for 2, triple, 2 runs scored

Chip brown - 1 run scored

Cubs Pitching