Baseball Season is Over - Well Rays Pinto Season

Well today the Pinto Rays finished their season a respectable 6-4-1. We started out like gang busters, but dropped 4 of the last 5. It seemed like we were a lot better than some of the teams to start the season, but we just didn't improve as much. Either that or the hot weather got to us. I think we got a little out of sorts when we were off for 10 days and didn't really play. Oh I kept working with Sampson on the weekends and I think he really did do better as the season went on, but some of the situations we ended up in were really difficult to prepare for. Just different scenarios with runners on and where the forces were at, stuff like that. Sampson did have all 3 out unassisted in one game at Bridgeport though. He played 3rd base all season and the other team happened to get runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and the next 3 people lined the ball right to him and he just grabbed it and stepped on the base. Sometimes he really impresses me with what he does and just surprises me. I'm really proud of the way he played this year, we even had what I would call our first real game of catch in May at Maw's house. Well the season did end on kind of a sour note, with out team getting mercy-ruled by 10 runs in the last 2 games. This last left me Really upset, not because I thought we could come back and win, but in the bottom of the fifth inning after we had gotten on of the kids out at first the first baseman went to through the ball back to the circle and he threw it to the opposing coach. Well "Coach Super Bad Sport" (as he will be referred to for infinity) ducked, wait did you catch that he DUCKED out of the way so that the ball would go out of bounds and they would get another base on the over throw. Well the kid was awarded 3rd base and then scored on the next play which was a fielders choice from the short stop which would have held the runner at second with 2 outs and we would have had a chance to get to the 6th. I just thought it was really poor from a sportsmanship standpoint to do something like that to 7 and 8 year-olds. The bad things is that since it was a continuation of a game we had already started, Sampson didn't even get to bat tonight. So that is all for this season since we won't have enough kids to compete in next weeks playoffs, eh I was ready to be done, just a little disappointed in the way it ended.

My biggest gripe may be the stupid rule about the circle. We never had the circle growing up and in my opinion it is stupid. That blunt enough for you. It teaches terrible fundamentals, in my opinion was the ball is secured in the infield by any of the infielders the base runners can't advance, period. When they get to high school someone isn't going to make the turn to third when the second baseman has the ball, it just teaches horrible base running habits. I don't like it and I think it ought to be changed. That circle is just bad and you don't need the thing, get rid of it.

Ok now for some happy pictures of the season, well after this weekend maybe. Oh did I mention I kept book for the team. It was pretty hectic keeping up with the kids, I only made one mistake all season. And if you believe that . . . Well I will say this the other coaches on the team said that they had no doubt that someone wasn't going to pencil whip us. And they wouldn't have.