You Make the Call (Part 14)

Q #14: A line drive hits the pitcher's rubber and deflects into foul territory near the first base on-deck circle. Fair or Foul? You make the call.

A #14:: Foul. A batted ball that enters foul territory and has not reached a base must be touched by a fielder or settle in fair territory to be considered a fair ball.

Warriors Come Back to Defeat SSE

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #19.

The Warriors came back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat the Southside Express (SSE) B team in a wild game on Monday night at Centennial #4.

The Warriors scored first after Robbie Maxfield singled to start the game and came home on a ground out by Paco Lauciello. The SSE tied the game in the bottom of the first inning after the lead off hitter walked and scored on a base hit to leftfield.

Matt Taylor held the Warriors scoreless through the second and third innings. The SSE scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning and another three runs in the third inning to take a 6-1 lead.

Paco Lauciello and Ryan Knightly hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the fourth inning. The Warriors scored two runs to close the score to 6-3 in favor of the SSE.

Ryan Tannebaum entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Warriors. Ryan retired the SSE in order in the fourth. The score remained 6-3 in favor of the SSE as the game moved into the fifth inning.

The Warriors scored nine runs on nine hits in the top of the fifth inning to take a 12-6 lead! Key hits included a bunt single by Dennis Bresingham and a triple down the leftfield line with the bases loaded (with two strikes and two out) by Robbie Maxfield. Robbie is now ranked second on the team with his .607 on-base percentage and third on the squad with a .476 batting average. This is particularly impressive given that he is playing up as a 12 year old!

The SSE Express came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth after Ronnie Drabeck smashed a ball into leftfield. The Warriors' leftfielder then threw the ball out of play attempting to retire Drabeck at second base. Ronnie was awarded two bases on the overthrow. The Warriors led 12-7 after five innings of play.

The Warriors failed to score in the top of the sixth despite a double to deep leftfield off the bat of Jack Lebert. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Warriors allowed five walks and committed an error to let the SSE back into the ballgame. The Warriors held a one run lead (12-11) as the game entered its final inning.

The Warriors scored four important insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Ryan Knightly hammered a triple to drive home two runs. With Knightly on third base, the SSE intentionally walked Tim Prendergast to pitch to Sam Marc. Tim Prendergast promptly stole third base before Sam lined a single to centerfield to score another two runs! The Warriors led 16-11.

Ryan Novak was the Warriors' closer for this one. He remained composed and effective through the difficult sixth inning. With the Warriors leading by one run, the SSE had the bases loaded with its clean-up hitter at bat. Ryan got the big strikeout on a high fastball to end the inning and preserve the lead! Despite two infield errors behind him in the seventh inning, Ryan retired the SSE and earned his team leading 2nd save of the season.

WARRIORS: 16 runs, 15 hits, 5 errors, 9 left on base
SSE B: 12 runs, 10 hits, 3 errors, 10 left on base

Photos from South Cicero

CLICK HERE to view photos from South Cicero--courtesy of Ann Bresingham.

South Cicero Sweeps Doubleheader

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #18

South Cicero won both games of the doubleheader over the Warriors.

South Cicero jumped on top of the Warriors in the first game with 12 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks in the first two innings of play. The Warriors battled back with 7 runs in the fourth inning. But, South Cicero scored six times in the bottom of the fifth inning when the game was called with the score at 19-7. The Chicagoland Metro League has a 12 run mercy rule.

SOUTH CICERO: 19 runs, 13 hits, 1 error, 7 left on base
WARRIORS: 7 runs, 4 hits, 3 errors, 3 left on base

In the second game, the Warriors held a lead over South Cicero until the seventh inning. With the Warriors leading 9-7 with one out in the final inning, South Cicero scored six runs on one hit and went on to win the game by a score of 13-10.

SOUTH CICERO: 13 runs, 8 hits, 1 error, 10 left on base
WARRIORS: 10 runs, 9 hits, 5 errors, 10 left on base

Thanks to everyone who helped with the picnic lunch! The food was great and having that activity between the games made the day a much more enjoyable one.

Hurricanes 8, Warriors 6

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #16

The Hurricanes prevailed 8-6 over the Warriors in a closely contested game on Saturday morning at Schussler South. In the end, the Warriors just made too many mistakes to overcome--five errors versus none for the Hurricanes.

It was a pitchers' duel early on as no team scored through the first three innings of play. The Warriors turned a nice double play on a line drive to Jim Robley at shortstop. Jim then threw to Robbie Maxfield at second base to get the runner who was attempting to return to the bag. Tim Prendergast fielded a ground ball at third base and threw across the diamond to Ryan Knightly to end the inning. The Warriors failed to score in the bottom of the first inning. The inning ended when Paco Lauciello lined out to the centerfield.

Jim Robley made two assists at shortstop in the second inning before Jason Waner struck out the batter to end the inning for the Hurricanes. That was the only strikeout of the game for the Warriors' pitching staff! The Warriors hit the ball hard in the bottom of the second inning, but the Hurricanes third baseman made two nice plays and the pitcher fielded a hard ground ball off the bat of Sam Marc. Jason Waner had two assists from the mound in the top of the third inning before Robbie Maxfield battled the sun to make a play on a fly ball to deep leftfield to end the inning.

The Hurricanes scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning on three hits and a series of defensive miscues, including failing to execute a rundown of a runner who was picked off first base. But, the Warriors came right back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. C.J. Brucki started things with a single to leftfield. Robbie Maxfield singled. Jason Waner bunted to move the runners to second and third base. With two outs, Ryan Knightly hammered a double to leftfield to score two runs. Tim Prendergast lined a double to leftfield to score Ryan. The game was tied at three runs a piece.

The Hurricanes scored two more runs in the top of the fifth inning. An error by the Warriors' second baseman opened the door for a big inning. The Warriors came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. The Hurricanes' pitcher walked the first two batters of the inning. But with first and second and no outs (and the batter taking a pitch), the Warriors' runner was picked off second base for the first out of the inning. Jim Robley then lined a double down the leftfield line to score one run. Jim later scored when the catcher threw the ball past the pitcher after a pitch!

The Hurricanes scored two unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning after another infield error kept the inning alive. The Warriors came back with one run in the bottom of the inning on three hits (Robbie Maxfield, Ryan Knightly and Tim Prendergast). The inning ended with two runners stranded in scoring position after Sam Marc grounded sharply--but right at the third baseman.

The Hurricanes tagged on an important insurance run in the top of the seventh inning on an infield tapper followed by a pop fly which landed into short leftfield. The Warriors did not score in the bottom of the seventh inning despite a single by Lance Cardinal.

HURRICANES: 8 runs, 8 hits, 0 errors, 4 left on base
WARRIORS: 6 runs, 8 hits, 5 errors, 5 left on base

You Make the Call (Part 13)

Q #13: With a runner on first base, the batter hits a line drive over the shortstop's head that has potential to go all the way to the wall. The shortstop tosses his glove in the air in hopes of knocking the ball down to hold the runner to a single. The glove hits the ball. You make the call. What if the glove misses the ball?

A #13: If the glove makes contact with the ball, each runner is awarded three bases. So, the runner from first scores and the batter goes to third base. If the glove does not make contact with the ball, the play proceeds as if nothing happened.

Warriors 13, Southside Express 3

CLICK HERE to view team and player statistics through Game #15.

The Warriors beat the Southside Express B team by a score of 13-3 at Schussler South on Thursday night.

The Warriors jumped out to an early lead--scoring 8 runs in the first two innings. The Southside Express pitchers had difficulty locating the strike zone and walked 7 batters in those innings. Tim Prendergast hammered a double into deep leftfield to break the game open with one out in the second inning. Paco Lauciello later singled home two more runs in that inning.

In the meantime, Jason Waner pitched a masterpiece. With the assistance of Coach Jim Waner calling the pitches, the father and son team held the Southside Express to just one run through four innings of play. In typical fashion, the Warriors' pitching staff struck out only 2 hitters in the entire game. Yet, the pitchers continued to throw strikes and kept the batters off balance--and the defense made the plays. Dennis Bresingham had three put outs in rightfield on hard hit balls that tailed off the bats of the righthanded hitters. Dennis has developed into a outstanding outfielder--and his hitting is coming around as well.

The Warriors put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning on back to back doubles off the bats of Paco Lauciello and Ryan Knightly. Robbie Maxfield also singled in the inning for his second hit of the game. Robbie is now hitting an impressive .419 for the season (ranked 3rd on the squad)!

The Warriors scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tim Prendergast had two RBI in the inning on a line drive single to centerfield. Tim had four RBI on the night and now has 16 RBI for the season (ranked 3rd on the team).

Ryan Novak also had an impressive pitching performance in this one. He entered the game in the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out. He completed that inning and then pitched two more innings without allowing a run.

The Warriors wish Tim Carroll a happy 14th birthday! The team celebrated Tim's birthday in leftfield after the game. Tim currently leads the Warriors in on-base % (.639) and has performed flawlessly throughout the season defensively.

Tim Carroll (Photo courtesy of Ann Bresingham)

WARRIORS: 13 runs, 7 hits, 1 error, 6 left on base
SSE B: 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 errors, 8 left on base

Baseball History

The Chicago Cubs played its first professional game on April 25, 1876--exactly two months before Custer's Last Stand! Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States. The Cubs got off to a good start by defeating the Louisville Greys by a score of 4-0.

History of the Strike Zone

During the first 12 years of baseball history, there was no such thing as a called strike. If the hitter didn't swing at a pitch over the plate, it was just a "do-over".

When the National League was formed in 1858, the Major League pitching mound was just 45 feet from the plate. The batter would inform the umpire (and pitcher) of his preference for a high or low pitch. If the pitch was not in the specified area and the batter didn't swing, the umpire would call a strike. But, if that was the third strike, the batter would get a warning to swing at the next pitch or be called out. A ball would not be called until three pitches were thrown outside of the strike zone. And, three balls caused a walk. So, it took 9 balls to walk a hitter.

In 1887, the hitter's requests were no longer part of the game. And, called strikes were defined as pitches over the plate not lower than the knee or higher than the shoulder. In 1889, the concept of three strikes and four balls came into play.

In 1950, the strike zone was revised for the first time in 60 years. It was then defined as "between the batter's armpits and the top of the knees when he assumes a natural stance." This was a major change as it stripped a couple of inches from both the top and bottom of the strike zone. Major League run production increased 5% in 1950.

After shrinking the strike zone in 1950, baseball enlarged it again in 1963. But, in 1969 the strike zone was made smaller than ever. In 1988, they made the strike zone even smaller. Here's today's definition of the strike zone taken from the Official Baseball Rules (Rule 2.00):

"The strike zone is that area over the plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders the the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the knee cap."

The other element of the strike zone is that it is determined "from the batter's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball." When a hitter steps towards the ball, his body height contracts and the strike zone usually shrinks significantly!

Once again, baseball can make the simplist things very complicated. Ron Darling, a pitcher who won 136 games in 13 seasons, said "I can't really describe what a strike is, but I know it when I see it."

The Baseline: A Definition

The baseball rule book makes even the simplest things complicated! For example, many people believe that they understand the definition of the "baseline" on a baseball field. If you drew a straight line between each base, would that define the baseline? Believe it or not, that is NOT the case.

The baseline is determined by the position of a baserunner at the point that the defense initiates a play on him. For example, a baserunner makes a very wide turn while running past first base. While he is nearly in the rightfield grass, the defense begins to make a play on him. The baseline is then defined by imagining a straight line between the baserunner's position and the next base. If the runner moves three feet or more outside of that line while attempting to avoid a tag, he should be declared out.

You Make the Call (Part 12)

Q #12: One out, runner on first base. The first baseman, while holding the runner, positions his left foot in foul territory. The manager of the team at bat asks the base umpire to call a "fielder's balk". Is this a balk, or not?

A #12: Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a "fielder's balk" under Official Baseball Rules. If a fielder positions himself, or any part of his body, in foul territory before a pitch is delivered, an umpire might direct the player to move into fair territory. However, there is no consequence for this--other than possible ejection if the player blatantly disregards the umpire's instructions. Umpires often overlook this--even in professional baseball.

If the catcher, however, moves outside of the catcher's box prior to the release of a pitch--this is a balk with runners on base. That is why you will always see catchers stand inside the catcher's box and extend an arm for the pitcher to use as a target on intentional walks. The catcher cannot move outside of the box until the pitcher throws the pitch.

Warriors Beat Eagles in Slugfest

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #14

The Warriors prevailed over the Frankfort Eagles in a 17-13 slugfest at Humphrey #2 on Wednesday night. The number "4" was a popular number as it was scored in six different innings during the game!

The first of the "4" spots was posted by the Warriors in the bottom of the first inning. The Warriors had just one hit in the inning--a single to center off the bat of Ryan Knightly. Ryan went on to drive in 3 runs for the game to extend his team-leading RBI total to 25 for the season.

The Warriors scored 4 runs again in the second inning on four hits. Dennis Bresingham singled to centerfield--his fourth consecutive hit--to start the inning. Robbie Maxfield then singled to leftfield to score Dennis. Paco Lauciello doubled to deep leftfield to score two runs. Paco had four RBI in this game. The Warriors led 8-0 at the end of two innings of play.

The Eagles scored four runs in the top of the third inning on four hits. An error by the Warriors' rightfielder extended the rally. The Warriors failed to score in the bottom of the frame. Jim Robley reached base after getting hit by a pitch--and was the first of three runners thrown out attempting to steal during the game.

The Warriors scored four runs again in the bottom of the fourth inning on six hits. Two runners were thrown out attempting to steal second base. But, Ryan Tannebaum got things started with an infield hit. Robbie Maxfield singled to leftfield. Jason Waner executed a perfect bunt single down the third base line. Paco Lauciello singled home two runs. And, Tim Prendergast crushed a double to deep leftfield. Tim had two doubles and a single in the game and elevated his batting average (now .357) into the team's leaderboard. The Warriors led 12-5 after four innings.

Both teams failed to score in the fifth inning.

The Eagles scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning on five consecutive hits. The Warriors came back with five runs in the bottom of the inning on five hits. Ryan Novak lined a singled into leftfield--his second hit of the game. Tim Carroll also singled sharply to rightfield for his second consecutive time. Tim leads all Warriors' hitters with a .690 on-base percentage for the season. The Warriors led the Eagles by a score of 17-9 as the game entered its final inning of play.

The Eagles put another four runs on the board in the seventh inning.

WARRIORS: 17 runs, 19 hits, 2 errors, 7 left on base
FRANKFORT: 13 runs, 14 hits, 4 errors, 7 left on base

Time of Game: 2 hours, 18 minutes

Photos from the Tinley Park Game

Ann Bresingham captured photos from Sunday's game against the Tinley Park Bobcats. Here's the link:

Photos

Warriors Baseball

Players who participate on the Warriors have an opportunity to play a lot of baseball. One of the local travel coaches recently mentioned to me how the biggest difference between a travel and "recreational" player is the ability to adjust to playing so many games (that team has played 32 games so far). That got me thinking about how many games a Warriors' player has played so far this season. Let's take one of my Yankees' players, Lance Cardinal, as an example. Here's how many games Lance will play by the end of this week:

• Chicagoland Metro League games- 16
• Other Local Travel games- 3
• OYA Pony League games- 16
• OYA Pony League scrimmage games**- 3
• Warriors' scrimmage games**- 6
• TOTAL GAMES (including scrimmages**)- 44

**this includes only scrimmages played against other teams in a simulated game format.

And, the Warriors still have three more tournaments and other non-tournament games left to play through July.

Warriors baseball also offers players a much lower cost alternative than many of the other local travel options. The fee to play is a fraction (half or far less) than the other alternatives and does not involve any additional fundraising or mandatory sponsorship commitments.

I mention this perspective as something to be considered as players determine what they might wish to do as plans for the 2010 14U Warriors team are developed over the next month or two.

Warriors Facts & Figures

A few fun facts from this season:

• The Warriors have drawn 1.74 times as many walks as it has allowed. This has resulted in 54 more baserunners than its opponents. Seven players have drawn at least 11 walks each.
• Tim Carroll has been walked or hit by pitches 17 times--accounting for 60% of his plate appearances.
• The player with the lowest on-base % on the team exceeds .320.
• Anthony Lauciello leads the team in batting average (.526). He has 20 hits and just one strikeout. Jim Robley is the only other player on the team with just one strikout. Ryan Novak and Jason Waner have struck out just twice each.
• Every player on the roster has driven in (RBI) at least three runs and scored at least three times.
• The Warriors have 20 extra base hits. Ryan Knightly has six of them with 4 doubles and two homers. Ryan leads the team with 22 RBI---8 more than the next player in that ranking.
• 8 Warriors have scored at least 10 runs. Jason Waner leads the squad with 18 runs scored.
• 10 players have pitched during official Chicagoland Metro League play. 4 pitchers have seen most of the action with at least 10 innings each. Lance Cardinal has been pitching in most of the innings when the score changes in favor of the Warriors and leads the staff with 5 wins against just 1 loss.
• The pitching staff averages just 5 strikeouts per game.
• The pitching staff allows 2.09 runners per inning. The staff allows 7.74 runs per game. However, if there were no errors, the pitching staff would allow 4.86 runs per game (ERA).

Rules Clarification: Balk?

During today's game, the base umpire warned our pitcher about a possible rules violation. While the umpire was correct to issue a warning, he was incorrect regarding the consequence of such a violation.

Here's what happened:

Jack Lebert was pitching for the Warriors in the bottom of the third inning. Jack was taking signs from his catcher, Paco Lauciello, while standing behind the pitching rubber. Once the signs were communicated, Jack then stepped on the rubber and delivered his pitch.

This sequence of events results in a violation of the "pitching ritual." Pitchers are instructed to take signs while on, not off, the pitching rubber. The reason for this is to slow pitchers down enough to avoid quick pitching--which is illegal and a safety issue for hitters.

However, taking signs while off the rubber does not result in a balk. Rather, the umpire should simply instruct the pitcher to "not do that". If the pitcher continues to disregard the umpire's instructions, an ejection might occur. This would be very unusual in youth baseball as most pitchers will comply with the umpire's instructions.

If the pitcher "quick pitches" (i.e., delivers the pitch before the hitter is prepared to hit), that is then considered to be an illegal pitch. The penalty for this is a balk with runners on base or a ball without runners on base.

Warriors 17, Tinley Park 5

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #13

The Warriors slaughtered the Tinley Park Bobcats by a score of 17-5 in five innings on Father's Day.

The Warriors scored first with a run in the first inning after Jason Waner walked and then scored on Paco Lauciello's base hit to leftfield. Sam Marc singled, but the Warriors left two runners stranded to end the inning.

Lance Cardinal was the starting pitcher for the Warriors. He pitched a flawless first inning--catching a pop up to retire the lead off man before striking out the next two batters. Lance improved his pitching record to 5-1 after this performance.

The Warriors scored three times in the second inning on just one hit. Tinley Park made two errors in the infield and also hit a batter during the inning. Dennis Bresingham made the Bobcats pay with a line drive into centerfield to score Jim Robley. The Bobcats scored a run in the bottom of the frame to make the score 4-1 in favor of the Warriors after two innings of play.

The Warriors blew the game wide open with 13 runs in the top of the third inning. There was just one walk during this inning! Paco Lauciello got things started with a single to leftfield. Ryan Knightly and Sam Marc singled before Tim Prendergast doubled down the leftfield line. Jim Robley singled. Dennis Bresingham lined another base hit into centerfield to drive two runs home. Jack Lebert singled and Paco Lauciello then hit a ground rule double over the leftfield fence (his second hit of the inning). With two strikes, Ryan Knightly crushed a three run homer to deep left-centerfield--his second of the year! Sam Marc singled again in the inning, but was left stranded as the inning finally came to a close. The Warriors led 17-1.

Jack Lebert pitched the next two innings for the Warriors. He allowed four runs of which two of the runs were earned. Jack struck out five hitters during his two innings of work.

Sam Marc pitched the fifth inning for the Warriors and retired the side in order. Sam was the 10th pitcher on the team to see action during official Chicagoland Metro League play. The Warriors did not score again in this game, although Dennis Bresingham lined his third consecutive single into centerfield in the top of the fifth inning.

The mercy rule was applied as the Warriors held a 12 run lead after five inning of play.

WARRIORS: 17 runs, 15 hits, 1 error, 7 left on base
TINLEY PARK: 5 runs, 4 hits, 6 errors, 5 left on base

Time of Game: 1 hour, 52 minutes

Photos courtesy of Ann Bresingham:

The Warriors congratulate Ryan Knightly on his second homer of the year:

Ryan Knightly is presented with his home run ball:

You Make the Call (Part 11)

Q #11: Runners on first and third base with one out. Pitcher throws a pick off throw over to third base. During the throw over to third, the runner on first base advanced to second base. While he ran to second base, the runner veered 15 feet from the baseline into the rightfield grass before coming back to the bag. No play was made on the runner originally positioned on first base. Should the runner be called out for running out of the baseline? You make the call.

A #11: A runner should NOT be called out for running out of the base line unless he does so to avoid a tag.

You Make the Call (Part 10)

Q #10: Runners on first and third base with one out. Batter hits a deep fly ball to leftfield which is caught for the second out of the inning. Runner on third base properly tags and then crosses home plate to score. However, the runner on first base was off with the pitch and failed to tag. The defense makes an appeal over at first base (after the runner from third crossed the plate). The umpire calls the runner out at first base for the third out of the inning. Does the run count? You make the call.

A #10: The run counts. When the third out of an inning occurs on an appeal for leaving a base too early, the umpire must determine whether the other runner crossed the plate before or after the appeal. If the runner from third reached home plate before the defense made the appeal, the run counts (as it is a timing play).

If the third out had occurred as result of the batter-runner not reaching first base safely, or had occurred as a result of a force out, the run would not score as those situations do not involve considering the timing of when the runner reached the plate.

Warriors' Website Passes 20,000th Visit!

The Warriors' team website reached another milestone today when it recorded its 20,000th visit! As a result of this activity, the site now appears more readily in Google searches.

I first created this website as way to cut back on the number of phone calls that I would have to make. I had no idea that the site would generate this much activity!

Good Luck in the Playoffs!

I wish all of the OYA Pony League teams (and Warriors' players) good luck in the playoffs this week. May the best team end up winning the championship!

Warriors 15, Rebels 7

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #12

The Warriors beat the New Lenox Rebels by a score of 15-7 in seven innings at Humphrey #2 on Sunday morning.

New Lenox jumped on top with a run in the top of the first after the lead off man walked and later scored. The Warriors came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame after the first three hitters (Jason Waner, Jack Lebert and Paco Lauciello) reached base on singles to the outfield.

New Lenox scored twice in the top of the second inning to regain the lead. But, the Warriors scored nine runs in the bottom of the second inning to take an 11-3 lead. With the bases loaded and one out, Ryan Tannebaum singled to score Lance Cardinal. Paco Lauciello and Tim Prendergast also had RBI singles in this big inning. The Warriors would never again trail in this one.

Ryan Novak entered the game in relief in the top of the third inning. He pitched three masterful innings--holding New Lenox to just one run in his three innings of work. The Warriors scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Ryan Knightly lined a double into the left-centerfield gap and later scored on Sam Marc's single to rightfield. Sam is now ranked second on the team with 12 RBI for the season. The Warriors held a 12-4 lead as the game moved into the sixth inning.

New Lenox battled back with three runs in the sixth inning on five hits. A few balls that looked playable landed untouched in the outfield. Fortunately, Dennis Bresingham made a nice play in rightfield by making the catch and then firing accurately into home to hold the tagging runner on third base. New Lenox now trailed by five runs.

The Warriors also scored three runs in the sixth inning--the inning of the bunt. After Tim Carroll started the inning off with a single to rightfield, Ryan Tannebaum laid down a bunt single down the third base line. Then, Dennis Bresingham placed a perfect bunt down the third base line for a hit. Jason Waner lined a single into leftfield to score two runs. Jack Lebert then laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position before Paco Lauciello hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Dennis Bresingham. This may have been the first time in Warriors' history that the team executed consecutive sacrifice plays! Ryan Knightly then singled to centerfield, but Jason Waner was thrown out at home plate to end the inning.

Jason Waner held New Lenox scoreless in the seventh inning.

WARRIORS: 15 runs, 14 hits, 0 errors, 6 left on base
NEW LENOX: 7 runs, 11 hits, 1 error, 8 left on base

Warriors' Photo Session

Last year, I captured individual photos of several of the Warriors' players. A sample of those images can be viewed HERE.

This year, I'll be shooting similar photos on Tuesday, June 30th. Players can sign up for a 15 minute time slot between 1:45 pm and 6:00 pm for that day on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested, please send me an email at gnagel60@comcast.net to request a time. Some OYA girls' softball players will also be reserving time slots that afternoon.

If there is enough interest, I am also considering offering some action shots this season. That session would be held at Centennial Park on a weekday morning in July. Pitchers would then throw from the mound for a few minutes until a few sharp images were captured. CLICK HERE for a sample image.

I will keep the pricing on these photos at a very reasonable level: 4x6 ($1.50), 5x7 ($3.00), 8x10 ($5), 11x14 ($12), etc. You will be able to order as few (none) or as many as you like. This pricing structure is only for Warriors players.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

Scheduled Times (as of June 25th):

1:45 - 2:00 pm: Ryan Novak
2:00 - 2:15 pm: Sam Marc
2:15 - 2:30 pm: Jack Lebert
2:30 - 2:45 pm: Tim Prendergast (unavailable due to scheduling conflict)
2:45 - 3:00 pm: Ryan Tannebaum
4:15 - 4:30 pm: Jason Waner
4:30 - 4:45 pm: Dennis Bresingham
5:00 - 5:15 pm: Robbie Maxfield
5:30 - 5:45 pm: Anthony Lauciello
5:45 - 6:00 pm: Lance Cardinal

Photos from the Jackie Robinson Game

Ann Bresingham captured some photographs from last Sunday's game at Jackie Robinson West. CLICK HERE to view the photos.

Some Softball Photos...

I had the pleasure of shooting the OYA Girls' Softball Picnic All-Star games last Friday night.

CLICK HERE if you would like to view some of my photographs from that event. Thanks!

Warriors 17, Jackie Robinson 1

CLICK HERE for team and player statistics through Game #11

The Warriors beat Jackie Robinson West (JRW) by a score of 17-1 in five innings on Sunday afternoon.

The Warriors jumped out with four runs in the first inning. Sam Marc grounded sharply to the second baseman for his first RBI of the game. Sam eventually drove in four runs in the contest to move his season total to twelve (now ranked 2nd on the team). Tim Prendergast hit a sacrifice fly to score Ryan Knightly in the inning. The Warriors led 4-0 and would never trail in this one.

Lance Cardinal held JRW scoreless in the first inning. The first two hitters of the game hit long fly balls for outs before the final hitter of the inning grounded out to Ryan Tannebaum at second base.

The Warriors scored six runs in the second inning as the JRW pitchers could not find the strike zone. Ryan Tannebaum singled to leftfield to score Jim Robley. Ryan Knightly hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield. And, Sam Marc singled to rightfield for two more RBI. Lance Cardinal struck out two hitters in the bottom of the second inning and did not allow a run. The Warriors led 10-0 after two innings of play.

The Warriors broke the game wide open with a seven run third inning. Once again, the JRW pitchers were wild and walked five Warriors in the inning. Some timely hitting (Sam Marc and Robbie Maxfield) contributed to the big inning. JRW scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the third inning to make the score 17-1 in favor of the Warriors.

The Warriors did not score in the next two innings. Ryan Tannebaum was impressive in relief. He allowed one hit and struck out four hitters in his two innings of work.

With three of our catchers missing for this game, Jack Lebert did an excellent job filling in at the position.


The Chicagoland Metro League's mercy rule is 12 runs after five innings of play. With the score 17-1 after five innings, the game ended.

WARRIORS: 17 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 3 left on base
JRW: 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 6 left on base

Warriors to Travel to Jackie Robinson

The Warriors will play at Jackie Robinson West on Sunday, June 7th at 2:00 pm. The team will be going into this game shorthanded as three of its catchers (C.J. Brucki, Anthony Lauciello and Ryan Novak) will be deactivated (due to scheduling conflicts)! This will provide more opportunities for other players to experience new positions. We will be wearing the WHITE uniforms for this game.

Players should arrive at the park by 1:15 pm for pregame warm-ups. Following are the directions to the field:

• Take 159th Street East to I-57 North
• Go North on I-57 take 111th Street
• Turn left (west) on 111th Street and go to Vincennes Avenue (just a block or two)
• Turn right (north) on Vincennes Avenue and go to 107th Street
• Turn right (east) on 107th Street
• The field is right off the interesection of 107th Street & Vincennes (about three blocks past the train tracks on the left side of the street)

The coach will call me in the event of a cancellation due to the weather. I'll update this website with any information as soon as I get it.

Even the Great Ones Make Errors

The Warriors had an unusually high number of fielding errors (8) in last Sunday's game against Oak Forest. However, even the greatest players make errors.

The great lefthanded pitcher, Tommy John, once made three errors on a single play! A ball was tapped back to the mound and John had trouble getting a handle on it. The batter was safe at first on the error. John then fired the ball past the first baseman down the rightfield line for his second error of the play.

As a runner was rounding third to score, the rightfielder threw the ball into the infield and John fielded the throw which landed in the infield. He then made another throwing error attempting to retire an advancing runner!

Tommy John later had surgery to repair a ligament in his pitching arm. The surgery was revolutionary at the time and was named "Tommy John Surgery". Many pitchers have undergone Tommy John surgery over the years.

John won 288 games in the Major Leagues. He is the winningest pitcher in baseball history not to be elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.