Jamestown Eagles - Baseball

2009 Jr babe season ends with a bang!

We finished the season strong playing our best baseball of the season in the last two games of the tournament. Playing everyday this week really seemed to help the boys find their grove. We were playing solid defense for the most part and putting the ball in play. Although the season ended in disappointment there was nothing to hang your head about. We did just as I expected this year getting better each time we took the field. The easiest way to tell this is to look at the Pilot Grove games. The first game of the season we didn’t get a hit against them. The next time we played them we had 2 hits and the last time we scored 7 runs. Losing just one player this year means we should be a real contender next season.

Chad pitched the best I have seen him throw so far. He needed only 67 pitches to get through 5 innings. Striking out 6 and walking just 2. That is a great adjustment by Chad from the flamethrower he was at the start of the season. When Chad was just throwing it past guys he was having elevated pitch counts because they would either walk or strike out. By taking a little off and throwing strikes Chad was able to let his defense do their job and limit his pitch count. If Chad did not run out of innings I think he easily could have gone all 7. We will surely miss Chad next season and the boys moving up will have some big shoes to fill. Not only does Chad lead by example on the field he was a great help in the dugout this season keeping this young team in line.

Isaac quietly had a very solid season. Isaac had the second best batting average on the team at .545 and led the team in runs scored with 15. We moved Isaac around a little bit to try and make the most of his athleticism, and Isaac never complained. Just as you would expect. With one season left in Jr Babe we will be looking to Isaac to be a leader for this team next year.

Andrew earned his spot at shortstop this season and did a great job. He also wedged his way into the number 2 spot in the pitching rotation. Andrew led the team in batting average at .588 and was second in on base percentage at .750. I will be looking to Andrew to take on a leadership role next year as well. He will be our number one pitcher heading into next season unless somebody else steps up and takes it away.

Josh missed a lot of practice this spring and ended up sitting out a lot to start the season. I am very proud of the way Josh handled this situation. He showed a lot of maturity from last year to this year. Josh would have a lapse now and then, but always seemed to catch himself. I think that Josh has a lot of natural ability and if he ever fully takes advantage of it he could become a very good ball player. He is already a solid all around player and did a nice job on the infield this year as well as at the plate. Josh had a very low number of strike outs this season. Josh was used as a pitcher this year and although he battled control issues much of the season he hung in there and ate up some valuable innings.

Kellen held down third base for much of the season and consistently improved throughout the season. Kellen is a great competitor and he lets you know how he feels. If we can just Kellen to stay a little more even tempered without losing his fire and will to win we will be in great shape. Kellen improved dramatically at the plate between last season and this season, and hit his first career home run in the tournament. It was the only home run hit this season.

Matt moved around a little this year and even played in some places that he was not totally comfortable. I really appreciate Matt's willingness to take on these challenges. Matt did a nice job at first base even though I really had not practiced him there. I’m not sure where Matt is going to fit on the high school team but I have not doubt that he will continue to improve with his willingness ask questions and accept criticism. I look forward to getting Matt back for one more year. I would also like to thank Matt for always doing a nice job helping me with the gear, and for letting the team us his personal catching gear when he is not behind the plate.

Spencer had a good tournament and his bat really helped us in the Prairie Home game in the tournament as he scored 3 runs and had 2 RBI's. Spencer has a good attitude and was willing to play wherever I put him. I planned to use Spencer at second base this season and I practiced him there a lot this spring which may have hurt him in the outfield. I did not end up using Spencer much at second base and it was brought to my attention in the tournament by some other players. I would have preferred to get Spencer more time at second base. I believe Spencer is going to be moving so I don’t think he will be here to finish up with us next year. Good luck to Spencer in his new school.

Alden was always able to keep me entertained if I was getting a little bored with the baseball game that was going on. Alden made it clear that baseball was not his true love but we may not have been able to play all of our games without him. So thanks a lot to Alden for coming out and giving it a shot. That being said he did a fine job and I hope he was able to enjoy himself this season and wants to come back next year for our championship run. I was able to give Alden an opportunity to pitch which he was just dying to do against Prairie Home and although I would not call the outing a success it was definitely one of the more memorable things that happened this year.

Ethan surprised me time and time again this season. I think that Ethan will be a very good ball player as he continues to develop his skills. Ethan is the type that does not have the natural athletic build and talent but gets everything out of what he does have. He plays the game the right way, asks questions if he doesn't know how to do something and accepts criticism very well. Ethan led the team in on base percentage this year getting on base nearly 80% percent of the time for a .792 on base percentage. I don’t even have words to describe how incredible that is.

Calen has a lot of upside. He seems to have a lot of natural ability and an athletic build. If I can find a way to maximize Calen's abilities I think he will be a very good ballplayer. He assumed a lot of catching duties this year, and although I don’t know if he will catch next year he improved behind the plate as the season went along and was a real asset in the tournament. Calen also pitched a little bit with mixed results. he was very good in one inning at Prairie Home and struggled a little in the tournament.

Andy missed a lot of the spring with an injury and I think it hurt him during the season. Since it was Andy's first year and he did not get to practice with us very much I was not sure how he would do in certain positions. This means I tend to go with somebody I know in critical situations. We still go Andy some playing time and he was able to start a game at pitcher in the tournament. He was very good the first two innings before getting tired in the third. I think we will be fine as he gets bigger and stronger over the winter.

I think we will be pretty strong next year with all of the players that are coming back. Pitching will be the real key to success next year.

Posted by Garrett Fain, Wed Jul 1, 2009 @ 1:53 PM 0 Comments


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