Blue Thunder's Season Comes to an End

The Blue Thunder was eliminated from the Orland Park tournament after a hard fought 2-1 defeat against the Tinley Park Bobcats. This was a very well played baseball game that featured pitching and defense.

Grant Lewis was awarded the game's MVP for starting the ballgame with four shutout innings for Orland Park. He was helped by some good defensive plays, particularly from Cody Gountounas, who made three great plays at second base.

I appreciated the opportunity to have worked along with such an experienced and excellent coaching staff. Our coaches (in alphabetical order)--Gary Dietz, Tom Hughes, Dave Lewis and Matt Rafferty) bring years of baseball experience and positive attitudes to the field. I learned a lot from them over the past two months.

I also enjoyed coaching this outstanding group of players. It can be difficult maintaining a positive environment while losing ballgames, but this team continued to battle through the last out of the tournament.

Although our team was eliminated from this tournament during pool play, I believe that it accomplished the three goals that we established in early June:

1. Respect the game (opponents, teammates, officials and yourself)
2. Learn more about the game
3. Have fun

I look forward to seeing many of you during Fall baseball and in the Pony League next Spring.

Glenn Nagel

Orland Park Tournament Update

We play our last "pool" game on Saturday, July 28th. This game is scheduled for 11:30 am on Centennial #3 against the Tinley Park Bobcats. Players should arrive at the field by 10:45 am for this game.

As a result of the dramatic comeback on Friday night against Orland Hills, our team needs just one more victory to advance to the tournament's playoffs.

If we beat the Tinley Park Bobcats, we'll advance into the tournament's playoffs and we would be guaranteed to play two more games. With a win, our next game would be played at 5:00 pm at Centennial #3. However, if we lose to Tinley Park, we will be eliminated from the tournament.

Unfortunately, we are entering Saturday's game(s) shorthanded. Six players (many of which occupied revolving roster spots) are unavailable due to being out of town. The following players are unable to play on Saturday:

1. Matthias Dietz (will play on Sunday if we are still alive)
2. Justin Agresti
3. Jack Lebert
4. Robbie Maxfield
5. Sean Kitchin
6. Jimmy Smith

Blue Thunder Stages Big Comeback

The 12U Blue Thunder staged a big comeback on Friday night to stay alive in the Orland Park tournament!

The Blue Thunder trailed Orland Hills 10-3 as the game moved into the bottom of the sixth inning with the time limit approaching. Orland Park scored six times to move within one run, but failed to score the tying run despite having the bases loaded with just one out. With less than two minutes remaining before the time limit was applied, Orland Park hustled onto the field and the seventh inning was underway just in time.

Matthias Dietz held Orland Hills scoreless in the top of the seventh. But, the first two hitters for Orland Park struck out in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two out and no runners on base, Matthias Dietz doubled sharply down the leftfield line. Nick Waters then hit a spinner through the right side of the infield and Matthias advanced to tie the ballgame. Nick advanced to third base on two stolen bases and alertly scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

The Orland Hills coaching staff awarded the game's MVP to Nick Waters in recognition of his four outstanding innings of pitching and his aggressive baserunning to score the winning run. Nick battled through the middle innings and never gave in despite getting squeezed on some critical two strike pitches and having the infield defense collapse behind him in the fifth inning.

Nearly every player on the team contributed to this win. Some of the notable plays included: Cody Gountounas fielded two balls that were hit very hard at him at second base; Joey Marchese showed amazing range in the hole from his second base position to retire an Orland Hills' batter; Matt Rafferty sacrificed his body at third base by knocking a hard hit ball down and throwing across the diamond to retire a batter; Jayson Lenzen dug balls out of the dirt on two plays over at first base to retire the batters; T.J. Andrews slammed a triple to deep rightcenter field; and Sean Hughes pitched two solid innings to get Orland Park off to a good start in this one.

Last Night's "Non-Interference" Call

A few people asked about the controversial play that happened early in the game last night against Glen Ellyn.

With two out and runners on second and third base, the batter struck out. Unfortunately, the third strike was dropped by our catcher and the ball deflected down the first base line. The batter-runner made contact with the ball on his way down the line--deflecting it towards the screen. At that point, it was going to be a difficult play for the catcher. His throw down to first base sailed down the line. Two runs scored on the play and three more runs subsequently scored before the inning finally came to an end.

There can be much confusion about when an interference call should be made. I thought it might be helpful to clarify the interference rule as it applies to this play.

When determining if interference should be called, an umpire must first consider the following: Was it a batted ball? In the case of a batted ball, a runner should be called out for interference if he makes contact with the ball or hinders a fielder in any way during his attempt to make a play. Interference is called even if the fielder moves into the baseline to field a ball. With a batted ball, the fielder has full rights to go for the baseball--and it's the runner's responsibility to give the fielder clearance to make the play.

However, this play DID NOT involve a batted ball. In the case of a thrown ball, or a dropped ball, the umpire must now consider a different question before making an interference call. The question now becomes: Did the runner intentionally interfere with the fielder's attempt to make a play? If the contact with the ball, or player, isn't deemed intentional, there is no interference. Fielders lose most of their protection through the interference call once the ball has been dropped!

As I went out to question the call, the base umpire simply said one word: inadvertent. He was quickly communicating that the batter's contact with the ball was not intentional, so there was no interference. I happen to agree with his assessment on this particular play.

I asked a few other umpires from around the country about this particular play. It's their opinion that interference should NOT have been called. They point out that the catcher already had his opportunity to catch the ball (on the third strike) and now he is simply chasing a loose ball.

Pizza Party on Wednesday!

We would like to invite all of our players and coaches out for pizza after Wednesday's practice to celebrate the July travel experience. Family members of players are also welcome to attend. Practice has been moved up 30 minutes (ending at 7:00 pm) so that we can get to the restaurant a little earlier (by 7:15 pm).

The team will gather at Aurelio's for pizza at 7:15 pm. The restaurant is located at 11329 West 143rd Street. Pizza will be ordered in advance--so, everything should be wrapped up by about 8:30 pm.

All players are encouraged to participate--including any "revolving" roster players who are inactive at this time.

Wednesday is an ideal day for this as we'll have all of our players together just prior to the last tournament of the month. The 8:00 pm games ruled out Thursday and Friday--and these things tend not to work out so well if they take place too long after the season ends.

In the News...

I noticed this very sad story this morning in Sports Illustrated. Tulsa's first base coach was killed after getting hit by a line drive.

For our players, it points to the importance of staying alert on the field (i.e., in the on-deck circle). Although, helmets provide good protection for our players.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/07/23/coolbaugh.dies.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

Blue Thunder Sweeps Doubleheader

The Blue Thunder won both games of the doubleheader to win the Bourbonnais tournament championship. The team rebounded after an early deficit to defeat the New Lenox Rebels 12-10. After trailing early in the second game of the twin bill, the Blue Thunder went on to beat the Orland Park Red (11U) by a score of 9-5.

Grant Lewis was awarded the game ball for his outstanding pitching in the game against the Orland Park Red. Grant pitched four strong innings and kept our team in the game. He also hammered a double to deep centerfield early in the game.

Jimmy Smith was recognized with the tournament's MVP. Jimmy contributed offensively in all three games and had three consecutive hits in the final game of the tournament. He ran the bases aggressively and scored the lead run against New Lenox with a delayed steal of home plate. He also pitched effectively for three plus innings against New Lenox in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Unfortunately, Jimmy has played his last game with the Blue Thunder. He occupied an "alternate" roster spot on this team and that spot is no longer be available for the Orland Park tournament.

All of our players contributed with either a timely hit or a key defensive play during the games on Sunday. It was good to see the offense generating some runs after such a long drought!

Problems with the Bourbonnais Tournament

As you know, the organizers of the Bourbonnais tournament did a very poor job this year. Our team experienced the following issues:

1. We did not receive a tournament schedule until two days before the first game was played. Even at that late date, the posted schedule was wrong (we were scheduled to play a triple header). It was finally corrected after I placed two calls and an email to the tournament director.
2. Our team was told to report to the field by 7:00 am on Saturday. When we arrived, the facility was locked! Personnel arrived and we were finally admitted at about 7:15 am.
3. After arriving at the field at such an early hour, our 8:00 am game was cancelled! The Glen Ellyn team called the facility at 7:30 am and explained that they elected to play in a different tournament that day--one that was closer.
4. The "tournament" included only three teams--two of which were from Orland Park! It would have made more sense to play the games at Centennial Park rather than drive to Bourbonnais.
5. I'm not normally one to whine about the umpiring. Although our team received the benefit of many of those bad calls, I don't think I've ever seen a base umpire miss more obvious calls in a single game. The New Lenox coaches agreed that we would have been better off not having umpires for Saturday's game.
6. The field was not in good condition. The pitching rubber was finally "fixed" in the last inning of our first game. We also received complaints about the condition of the women's restrooms.
7. Finally, the championship trophies had the wrong inscriptions on them. The plates stated that this was an 11U tournament when in fact it was officially a 12U tournament.

Of the four July tournaments that our team will participate in, the Bourbonnais tournament is the only one that is coordinated by a group that isn't not-for-profit. About the only thing they were diligent about was collecting admission fees and ensuring that no food or beverages were brought into the facility!

I drafted an email to members of OYA's management to inform them about our experience and to recommend the following actions:

1. OYA should not play in Bourbonnais again in future years.
2. Glen Ellyn should be banned from participating in the Orland Park tournament as a result of not bothering to notify us of their intention not to play the 8:00 am game until 30 minutes prior to game time.
3. I've demanded a full refund for the fees that OYA paid to Bourbonnais. This refund will be granted. And, we are proposing that a portion of those funds be used to fund a pizza party for our players after one of the Orland Park games.

I know that the Bourbonnais games (or lack thereof) were an inconvenience to many of you. And, I'll keep you informed as to what happens with the recommendations.

New Lenox Summary

The Blue Thunder opened the New Lenox tournament against the New Lenox Rebels. Once again, Orland Park's pitching and defense continued to play well. Matthias Dietz gave the Blue Thunder four strong innings as the starting pitcher--and Nick Waters pitched effectively for the remaining innings. The most dramatic improvement was with the outfield defense as fly balls are now being caught more routinely. But, the team continues to struggle on offense. The Blue Thunder had just one hit in this game. Although the game was competitive throughout, the team could not muster enough offense to overcome the few runs it allowed.

Orland Park then played Palos on Saturday morning. Again, the lack of hitting hurt the Blue Thunder. The team failed to score a run in this contest. Solid pitching and defense kept the Blue Thunder in this game. Grant Lewis started the game and four strong innings. Mike Rafferty came on in relief and pitched a couple of innings. A few baserunning blunders took the team out of some innings early on, but there just weren't enough hard hits to mount any kind of a rally.

At the end of the first two pool play games, the seven teams participating in the tournament were seeded based upon their performance in pool play. Orland Park received the #5 seed (of seven teams) due to its competitive play. Although the team lost its first two games, the run differential was closer than two other teams in the tournament which had also lost two games in pool play.

So, Orland Park was matched up against the Tinley Park Bobcats for the 1:15 pm game on Saturday. Jake Krueger started the game and pitched into the fourth inning. Nick Waters came on in relief in the fourth inning and Mike Rafferty pitched the last two innings of the ballgame. The defense was not quite as strong as in the earlier games of the tournament--with three errors on routine grounders to second base and a critical dropped third strike in the first inning. But, two Bobcats were thrown out trying to steal third base. The game was close throughout. The Bobcats eventually scored six runs--while the Blue Thunder was held to just two runs in the contest.

The New Lenox tournament is best summarized by a lack of hitting with a few baserunning blunders sprinkled in to kill any innings that started to develop at all. The pitching has held up remarkably well--especially considering the pressure that builds with a lack of run support.

Oak Lawn Tournament Summary

Many people from around our league thought that our team would not be competitive during July tournament play. For one thing, none of the players from the top four teams in the Bronco's National League (the Reds--the Bronco champions, Dodgers, Brewers and Braves) even tried out for the team. Secondly, our team is much younger than most of its opponents. At least a quarter of our team is made up of 11 year olds (we even have one 10 year old)--while a quarter of our opponents' teams are made up of 13 year olds! Additionally, many full time travel teams (e.g., Magic, Southside Express) were recently created in Orland Park for this age bracket--eliminating several talented players from the OYA's Bronco League. Finally, many of our opponents have played together for the better part of a year, while our team has practiced together for just a few weeks.

However, this team was very competitive in its first tournament. In the first game, we had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third against the Oak Lawn Thunder. Our pitching and defense kept us in the game until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Oak Lawn offense exploded with nine runs in the inning. Oak Lawn proved to be a formidable opponent--winning its next three games to go undefeated in pool play.

Our team showed considerable improvement in its second game against Palos. Once again, the pitching and defense were impressive. Palos scored just seven runs in the game. But, our offense was unable to get anything going for the second straight game. Palos won the game by a score of 7-2.

We then won our first tournament game against the Mokena Coyotes. This was a very well played baseball game by both teams. Our team made few mistakes in the field and we finally started hitting--scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Grant Lewis held the one run lead in the final inning--stranding Mokena runners on second and third base with one out.

Our team lost to Hinsdale by a score of 11-8 in the fourth game of the Oak Lawn tournament. Once again, this was a low scoring game (2-0) after three inning of play. Our pitching staff ran out of gas in the late innings as our pitchers are not used to throwing so many innings in such a short time. Some of our pitchers threw on four consecutive days! Hinsdale scored five runs in the sixth inning , capped off with a homerun onto Central Avenue, to extend its lead to 8-2. Our team then staged a dramatic comeback--scoring six times in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game. Hinsdale posted three more runs in the seventh to win the game. Hinsdale slaughtered Palos earlier in the tournament.

In my opinion, our players are showing great progress in a short period of time. As a result of facing some better hitters, players are quickly developing from throwers into pitchers. Players are understanding their defensive assignments and moving more quickly to the ball. The team is already beginning to gel--and play better together.

As a result, our expectations are rising. We are no longer content to be competitive. We now must take advantage of the opportunities we have to put teams away and win some more games.

Our biggest area of opportunity is hitting. In every game, we string several consecutive scoreless inning together. This puts pressure on our pitching and defense. Clearly, our hitting must improve for us to win more games. But, a few other factors also came into play in Oak Lawn:

1. Our hitters were not allowed to use their own big barrel bats in the Oak Lawn tournament. This should not be an issue in upcoming tournaments. Many hitters should feel more comfortable going back to their personal bat.
2. Our hitters have not batted against pitchers throwing off of a mound prior to this tournament. The elevated mound affects the angle at which the ball approaches the hitter--and provides the pitcher with a considerable advantage. I'm not certain if the New Lenox and Bourbonnais fields will have mounds or not. But, in time our hitters will have more experience hitting in this situation.
3. Opposing pitchers (especially the 13 year olds) have been throwing some curve balls to our hitters. Again, this can be a difficult pitch to hit for batters who haven't seen a curve ball before. This will be a difficult thing to deal with in such a short period of time, but more experience at the plate against curve balls will help.
4. Our hitters must keep their hands back and avoid lunging at off speed pitches. It is important for our batters to remember the lessons taught by hitting instructor Doug Pringle at one of our more recent practices.

For me, the Oak Lawn tournament was a great experience. As a kid, I played Little League baseball on those diamonds. I also coached Oak Lawn baseball teams for ten years. Throughout college, I umpired Oak Lawn baseball games for my summer jobs. It was a lot of fun to return to the fields on 99th and Central Avenue--and I was proud of how our team represented itself. The players hustled and maintained a positive attitude throughout the tournament--regardless of the score and the heat during the games.