18 is the Magic Number

The Warriors scored 18 runs for the third time in four games to beat the Homer Fire by a score of 18 to 6 in five innings of play at Homer on Saturday night.  Even after two weeks of rain, the Warriors' bats remained hot as the Warriors pounded out another 17 hits in this one.

CLICK HERE to view team and individual statistics through Game #4.

After several game cancellations due to the rainiest April in 50 years, the Warriors finally played again in Homer on Saturday night.

The Warriors jumped out to an early lead when Matt Carroll walked and later scored in the first inning.  But, Homer tied the game in the bottom of the frame when the lead-off hitter drew a walk and scored on a ground out to the first baseman.

Connor Bartle lined a single into centerfield to start the second inning and scored on Pat O'Connor's triple to deep rightfield.  Pat tripled again in the third inning.  Pat's three triples for the young season already threaten the all-time Warriors record for triples in a season held by Matthias Dietz (5 in 2008) and C.J. Brucki (5 in 2010)!  In the ultimate sign of respect, Pat was intentionally walked in the fourth inning.  Zac Zavod also tripled in the third inning of this game.

The Fire scored five times in the bottom of the second inning to take a one run lead--on just one hit.  Four walks (including three hitters at the bottom of the order) combined with an infield error led to the big inning.

The Warriors' bats came alive in the third inning with four hits, including a double by Tyler Dempsey.  Tyler also came in to pitch in relief with the bases loaded and one out--and held Homer to just one run in nearly three innings of work.  Connor Bartle also singled in the third inning for one of his three consecutive hits in the game.

The Warriors scored four more times in the fourth inning after Rick Sisco started the inning with a double to leftfield.  Steve Sismelich also singled before Jason Enguita lined a base hit into rightfield to score two runs.

The Warriors did some major damage in the fifth, and final, inning of play by hammering out six consecutive hits.  The final hit in the series was a home run to deep leftfield by Matt LeVigne.

Steve Sismelich held the Fire scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning before the game was called due to the 12 run mercy rule.

Pony League's Opening Day

Oklahoma topped Notre Dame by a score of 9-1 in the opening OYA Pony League game on Monday, April 25th. 

The Warriors were well represented in this game.  Zac Zavod threw three innings as Oklahoma's starting pitcher.  Steve Sismelich tossed the final two innings for Oklahoma and Trent Sichelski pitched two innings for Notre Dame.  Rick Sisco went 3-3 at the plate for Oklahoma.  Notre Dame is anxiously awaiting the return of Cody Rutledge once the Sandburg baseball season ends.

Warriors Win Big Over Blue Demons

The Warriors dominated play in an 18-1 win over the Blue Demons on Sunday night under the lights.

CLICK HERE to view the Team & Individual Statistics through Game #3.

The Warriors could do no wrong in this one.  Offensively, the team pounded out 20 hits to score 18 runs in five innings of play.  Defensively, the Warriors did not commit a single error.  The pitching staff allowed just one hit for the evening.

The Warriors started the game with three consecutive hits.  Steve Sismelich scored the first run on Jason Enguita's infield hit down the third base line.  The Warriors would never trail in this one.

Steve Sismelich had four hits in four plate appearances as the Warriors' lead off hitter.  Trent Sichelski also reached base in every plate appearance.  Trent now leads the squad in both on-base percentage and batting average.  Steve is a close second in these two important hitting categories.

Other notable offensive achievements included Matt Carroll's second bunt single of the season, Jim Robley's consecutive doubles, Pat O'Connor's triple to deep left field and Zac Zavod's consecutive hits.

Connor Bartle tossed two impressive innings as the Warriors' starting pitcher.  Connor picked up his second win of the young season.  Jim Robley and Zac Zavod made their first appearances in the regular season.  Both pitched well--and were the recipient of double plays executed by the defense behind them.  In the fourth inning, Tyler Dempsey caught a fly ball in rightfield and then threw the runner out attempting to score on the play.

If past seasons are any indicator, the Warriors should not become overconfident after these early season victories.  The statistics are inflated now and tend to come back down to Earth as the season progresses.

The Pat Pieper Story

Baseball is rich with history and traditions.  One of the amazing stories is that of Frank "Pat" Pieper.  Pat was the public address announcer for the Chicago Cubs for an incredible 59 consecutive years.  He started announcing the lineups during the year that Wrigley Field opened and continued through 1974.

He made the following announcement before each game in that span of 59 years (only missing 16 games and not missing any games since 1924):

"Attention!  Attention, please!  Have your pencils and scorecards ready, and I will give you the correct lineups for today's game."

You can see Pat Pieper with a megaphone in the background of this image.  He announced the lineups before the historic game when Babe Ruth pointed to the bleachers before hitting a homerun in a World Series game agains the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

War of the Warriors

This afternoon's scrimmage against the 15U Warriors was cancelled due to the rain.  However, the event has tentatively been rescheduled for Saturday, June 25th as a game with a starting time of 9:30 am at Schussler South.

Similar to last season, the game between these two teams will be called the "War of the Warriors" and will develop into a larger event in which the two teams gather for a cookout lunch after the game.  It was a fun event last year and we expect everyone to enjoy the day again this season.

As the date draws nearer, we'll be looking for some volunteers from both teams to coordinate the cookout activity for early that afternoon.

Cody Rutledge Homers for Sandburg!

Cody Rutledge, one of our 14U Warriors' players, appears to be doing quite well on the Sandburg High School baseball team.  He recently hit a ball out of the park for a homerun in a clutch plate appearance for the Eagles.  CLICK HERE to view the Eagles' Update on the high school's website.

The Warriors look forward to Cody's return to the team in late May.

Warriors Improve to 2-0

The Warriors beat Oak Lawn by a score of 10-4 in seven innings on a cold and windy Thursday night at Centennial #4.

CLICK HERE to view the team and individual statistics through Game #2.

Oak Lawn scored first with a run in the top of the first inning after the lead off hitter doubled to leftfield and later scored on a base hit to centerfield.  The Warriors came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame.  Steve Sismelich started the inning with an infield hit which was followed by a bunt single down the third base line by Matt Carroll.  Two walks and a hit batsman resulted in two runs for the Warriors.

Tyler Dempsey faced just three hitters to retire Oak Lawn in the second inning.  When an Oak Lawn batter reached first on a throwing error by the Warriors' third baseman, Rick Sisco hustled in from rightfield to back up the throw and fired the ball into Steve Sismelich at second base to retire the advancing runner.  This was Rick's second impact play in two nights as a result of extra hustle.

The Warriors failed to score in the second, but scored twice in the third inning on three hits.  Matt LeVigne doubled in the inning.  Matt drove in four runs in this ballgame!  The Warriors wasted an opportunity on a failed steal attempt at home to end the inning after loading the bases.

Oak Lawn scored three runs in the third inning after its lead off hitter reached base on a dropped third strike.  The game was tied moving into the fourth inning of play.

Matt Carroll was unhittable during his three innings of work.  In a legendary performance, the lefty tossed less than 35 pitches to retire nine consecutive hitters.  He struck out four and did not allow a ball to leave the infield.

In the meantime, the Warriors scored three runs in the fourth inning and another three runs in the fifth inning.  Extra base hits by Pat O'Connor, Steve Sismelich and Tyler Dempsey helped put the game away.

Other notable achievements included Jim Robley's perfect night at the plate.  Jim reached base in all four plate appearances.  He had three hits, including a double down the leftfield line, and two runs batted in.

Jason Enguita pitched the seventh inning of the contest and held Oak Lawn scoreless to end the game.

Warriors Win Opener 18-6

In one of the longest games in Chicagoland League history, the Warriors opened its season with an 18-6 win over Oak Lawn at Pacetti field on Wednesday night.

CLICK HERE to view the team and individual statistics through Game #1.

The Warriors struck first with a run in the top of the 1st inning when Trent Sichelski singled to center and later scored on a base hit to leftfield by Tyler Dempsey.  With the bases loaded, the Oak Lawn rightfielder made a nice catch on a line drive off the bat of Connor Bartle.  The Warriors left three stranded in the inning.

Connor Bartle was sharp as the Warriors' starting pitcher.  He allowed just one baserunner in his first two innings of work.

The Warriors' bats came alive in the second inning.  After Matt LeVigne hammered a triple to deep leftfield, the Warriors rallied with five more hits in the inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead in the game.

Oak Lawn closed the gap by scoring five runs in the third inning on five hits.  Steve Sismelich was effective in relief to close out the third inning, but ran into some trouble in the fourth inning.  Tyler Dempsey entered the game with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and promptly got the first hitter he faced to line into a double play.  Tyler retired the side in order in the fifth inning to record his first save.

Offensive highlights included Tyler Dempsey reaching base five times; Rick Sisco scoring four runs; Matt LeVigne reaching base four times, including a triple; and Trent Sichelski reaching base safely during his first four plate appearances in the lead off spot.  Connor Bartle hit into some tough luck with two line drives caught by the rightfielder before he tripled and singled during his last two plate appearances.

WARRIORS: 18 runs, 17 hits, 0 errors, 12 left on base
OAK LAWN: 6 runs, 8 hits, 3 errors, 5 left on base

Catcher's Interference

During tonight's scrimmage, one of our hitters reached base on catcher's interference.  Interference was called because the catcher's glove hit the bat during the swing.  As a result, the hitter was awarded first base.

If the batter would have reached base on a hit and all other runners had safely advanced, the play would have stood and the interference would have been ignored.  But, since the ball was caught on a fly, the interference applied and was a benefit to the offense.

For scoring purposes, the catcher is charged with an error.  The interference is ignored entirely for purposes of the hitting statistics.  In other words, the batter is not charged with a plate appearance and is not credited with reaching base.

We tend to see catcher's interference four or five times during a season.  Sometimes, we see it twice in the same inning!

Pick Off Moves

During today's practice, we talked about some pick off moves that our pitchers can practice.  Following are a couple of videos on the topic that are well worth watching:

Move to 1B...


Move to 2B...

Warrior Improve in Second Outing

After making more than its share of mistakes in the first scrimmage, the Warriors showed significant improvement in its second scrimmage on Thursday night. For starters, players arrived on time and proceeded through a 30 minute pregame warm-up.

Our positioning on defense, particularly in the outfield, was much better which allowed our fielders to make plays on some deep fly balls. Our bats were alive with several hard hit line drives. In our fifth bunt attempt of the season, we finally were able to lay one down in fair territory. We used six pitchers in the scrimmage and all looked promising, although a couple had trouble finding the strike zone.

A freezing rain began to fall during the late innings. Players battled through the conditions without complaint or excuses. Before too much longer, the game was called due to the weather and time.

Overall, Thursday night was a step in the right direction for the Warriors.

Warriors Announce 2011 Schedule

The Warriors have announced its 2011 schedule. So far, the team's schedule includes 35 events: 6 scrimmage, 14 Chicagoland games and at least 15 tournament games. Each of the five tournaments guarantee at least 3 pool play games. Hopefully, the number of tournament games will increase as the team may play up to 6 games in a given tournament if it advances through pool play.

We are still working with a few teams to schedule some additional games--particularly during the week of June 27th to prepare us for the Lombard tournament.

When you factor in the 22 regular season OYA Pony games plus playoffs, players will be given an opportunity to play a lot of baseball in the next 3 months!