July 9 - Sparks: End of Season

Sadly, this was the last time we will all be together as a team - but we had fun!

Although the parents' team started off strong behind some good defense - especially from Taylor's Dad and Paige's Mom - and some excellent pitching/umpiring by Coach Jim, the Sparks won the game in the end, 63 - 18. (okay, maybe that wasn't the actual score...)

On to Teddy's for dinner... and my homework: a little about each player.

Abby: 'Rush' ... One of our two 'Canadian Sisters'... Queen of the Double ... pitcher, catcher, fielder, hitter ... voted an All-Star by her teammates ... clearly made WAY more talkative by ice cream, even if she can't find her mouth with it

Allie: 'Goody2Shoes' ... Queen of 'The Pose' ... speedy on the basepaths ... played all over (and will definitely pitch more next season!!) ... consistently excellent fielding.

Anna: 'Ghostie' ... The Quiet Competitor ... great catcher ... solid hitter... and made an amazing shoestring catch to make the final out in the playoffs vs the Mystics ... hits better than her Mom. :-) ... our reserve All-Star player, top 6 in votes received.

Carly: 'Egan' ... (where is Carly?) the other 'Canadian' ... big hitter ... Queen of 'SOFTBALL READY!' ... excellent catcher & 3rd base ... potential All-Star for 3rd season in a row (if she'd stop going on vacation!) ... responsible for 'Star Jump' instruction.

Emily: 'Dynamite' ... Queen of the Question ... always wanting to know the score, the number of outs, the square root of 11, and the meaning of life ... has a monster swing that softballs are afraid of ... slugged a single into the outfield in the parent/Spark game (See, Emily? You really CAN hit!) ... made multiple catches of pop ups at second base.

Jenna: 'JC' ... Queen of 'AH!' during the circle warmup ... selected to be an All-Star by the team ... excellent first base player ... one of our two lefties ... made numerous VERY intelligent plays in the infield, including running down & tagging two baserunners by herself ... best hit of the season was a TRIPLE against Madalyn down the 1st base line.

Jordan: 'Sparkle' ... Miss Bubbly Personality 2010 ... ready to play anywhere ... would prefer all pitchers to slow down ... great fielder ... even better at somehow convincing pitchers to walk her.

Katie: 'Smallz' ... Queen of the Walk ... pitchers couldn't figure out how to pitch to her ... improved her fielding all season long ... put in extra time on her hitting (I have the bruise on my shin to prove it) ... had a great single in the playoffs to keep a rally alive.

Kelly: 'Special K' ... Queen of the Untied Shoe ... takes after her Dad! ... our other lefty ... slugger at the plate ... base stealer and intelligent fielder ... elected to All-Star team by teammates

Nikki: 'Swizzle' ... Queen of the (loud!) Dugout Cheer ... consistent hitter ... stole so many bases she should be arrested ... great fielder & rocket arm ... excellent speech-giver ... not so great at drinking milkshakes ... wants a yellow jeep ... and to know if she can milk the cowdog.

Paige: 'Firecracker' ... my 'Fielding Frog' ... improved her fielding immensely ... great arm ... became more and more consistent as the season progressed ... a willing hitter ... led the team in hitting the ball hard...directly to a fielder ... next season we work on hitting where they're not!

Sophia: 'Chief' ... Queen of the 2-Pitch Warmup ... excellent wherever she played ... slugged her first double this season! ... consistently excellent pitching ... was 'the closer' in every important game ... named to the All-Star team by teammates.

Taylor: 'Blondie' ... Queen of Hitting Any Pitch (no matter where it was!) ... had an excellent season pitching, playing first and occasionally 3rd ... All-Star selection ... always a defensive batter - I'm pretty sure Taylor was our foul-ball leader this year! ... but when she hit it between the lines, almost always a single and rarely put out on any hit.

I'm sad that the season is over, Sparks - but I'm so happy that I got to be your coach this season!
Have a great summer, and I hope to see you all again next Spring!

- Coach Drew

July 7 - The All-Star Game

The Sparks were well-represented in the 2010 All Star Game by Abby, Taylor, Sophia, Jenna, and Kelly. We combined forces with 5 All Stars from the Mystics, and two from the Storm.

We didn't keep stats for this game - but behind excellent pitching from Sophia and Taylor (with help from the Mystics' Madalyn) our team won this game convincingly, 13-8.

Everyone played very well - even of we did get a little wet! Better yet, you all performed an excellent version of Y M C A which was very entertaining.

Congratulations to the 2010 All-Star Game Champs - the American League! (Us - in red!)

Coach Drew

July 2: Stingers VS Sparks

Great game, Sparks. I'm so proud of all of you for making it to the Championship game, and for never giving up. Here are some of the outstanding stats for the game:

Taylor - TWO hits, a run scored, two stolen bases, a put-out at first, and two innings pitched - one of them a shutout

Kelly - three runs, SIX stolen bases, and an RBI

Jenna - two runs scored and a DOUBULE

Abby - in 4 at-bats, two singles, TWO doubles, two stolen bases, and 3 RBI

Jordan - her FIRST double and two RBI

Anna - one run scored, a DOUBLE, one stolen base and an RBI

Allie - THREE stolen bases

Nikki - one hit and THREE stolen bases

Sophia - TWO hits and three innings pitched, TWO of them shutouts, and NO walks

You had TEN hits against the Stingers, girls - FIVE of them were doubles!

I hope you are all as proud of ourselves as I am of you. It was a long season, and it takes a lot of work and concentration to get to the Championship. I think you've all improved this season, both in your individual skills, and as a team. I enjoyed coaching you all, and I hope you'll continue to love to play the game. I'm planning to coach again next year, and I'd love to have you back with me to make another run at the Championship. Even if we don't get to play together again, I hope you'll all continue to play and be active - no matter if it's basketball, or softball, or hockey or poms - keep finding things to do that are fun and that let you meet and play with other great kids.

I feel lucky to have gotten to play with all you great kids - all my Sparks. Have a great summer, and hopefully I'll see you next season!

- Coach Drew

June 29 - Sparks VS Mystics

That was a great game, girls! I'm just going to give everyone's stats:

Paige: 3 at bats, 3 runs scored

Kelly: 3 at bats, 1 hit, 2 runs scored

Taylor: 3 at bats, 2 hits, 2 runs scored, a stolen base, and an RBI, as well as a force out at third

Anna: 3 at bats, 1 hit, 1 run scored, 1 stolen base, 2 RBI, and an awesome catch at short for the last out

Jenna: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, an assist, and a force out at 3rd

Abby: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, a single, a double, 2 stolen bases, 4 RBI, and a force out at home

Jordan: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, and an assist

Carly: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, a single, a triple (!), a stolen base, 4 RBI, and a caught fly ball at 3rd

Allie: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, a stolen base, and 2 force outs at 3rd

Nikki: 3 at bats, 2 hits, 2 runs scored, 3 stolen bases, and an assist

Katie: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, a single, 1 stolen base, and 2 RBI

Sophia: 3 at bats, 1 hit, 1 stolen base, 2 RBI, and pitched a no-hitter in the 3rd inning

Emily: 3 at bats, 1 run scored, and a stolen base

EVERYone contributed to this win, girls - an absolutely SUPER job!

One more game, Sparks! Let's win it!

- Coach Drew

June 29 - Sparks VS Mystics

Okay, Sparks - I don't even have the book in front of me right now, so I don't have all the stats, but that was just an exciting game.

Carly hit a triple, Abby hit yet another double, Taylor had a potential extra-base hit...if she hadn't stopped at first... and Katie had a clean single - against their #1 pitcher.

Sophia pitched a shutout, Taylor, Jenna, and Abby all pitched well, too... the defense was crazy good. Pop ups were caught, force outs were made, runners were thrown out... and I have to mention Anna's amazing catch at shortstop to end the game. That was just, well, amazing!

I'll post again later, with all the stats from the game - I just wanted to take 5 minutes to tell you all how proud of you I am (yeah, again) for working so hard and playing so well, and for never giving up.

You're all awesome.

- Coach Drew

June 26 - Sparks VS Mystics (again)

Finally! We've been trying for that win all season! Great job, Sparks!

Lotsa lotsa defense in this one, girls!

Allie had two put outs

Sophia had two as well

Jenna had two put outs and two assists

Taylor made a force out at 3rd

Abby had a force out at 1st

Nikki caught a pop-up

Emily made two good throws to the pitcher from center field

We had only six hits in the game - but Jenna, Abby, Anna, and Nikki all had singles,
while Abby had another double and Sophia had her first one!

Star of the Game Honors were awarded to:

Jordan - 4 at bats, 2 runs scored, and a stolen base

Katie - our season walks leader, and always on base in position to score

Sophia - 4 at bats, two runs scored, a double, two RBI, and two strong innings on the mound

So the 'regular season' is now over, you've earned second place in the league, and it's time for the playoffs! And guess who we face first in the playoffs?

Right! The Mystics!

You all have the talent and skills and abilities to beat any team you face - you have beaten every team in the league at least once. (and yes, I'm proud of you!)

Now is the time to look back at what you've done so far, and use all those positive experiences to strengthen your belief in yourselves. You've all worked hard on your individual talents all season, and you've come together to play as a team.

Before each of the last two games, I've given you 'team goals' - something to all work to achieve together - and you've achieved what you've set out to do. Out team goals now are simple:

1) Continue to play together - talk to each other, keep each other 'softball ready,' cheer for each other

2) Stick to the basics - the 'fundamentals.' In the field, catch with two hands, make accurate throws, and get the ball back to the pitcher quickly. At home plate, watch the ball. Swing hard, run hard when you hit.

That's it!

I'm looking forward to the next game - you all keep impressing me; I can't wait to see what you do next!!

- Coach Drew

June 22 - Sparks VS Mystics

Sparks, you have been SO great defensively this week! You held the Stingers to 10, the Crush to 8, and now the Mystics to 4!

Defensive highlights -

Jordan's put out at first

Allie's assist

Carly's force out at 3rd

Jenna's two put outs at first

Abby's two put outs at first and a caught pop-up

Paige's assist...

...all combined for a great team effort!

Did I mention that no pitcher allowed more that one run in any inning? And that Taylor and Jenn each pitched shut out innings? Awesome!

Offensively, we were a little quiet - only Jenna, Taylor, and Abby had hits. I think I said this last time I wrote - there is not a pitcher in the league whose pitches you can't hit! I know some of you watch opposing pitchers warm up, and when they look like they're fast, you think it's going to be tough to hit. Have confidence! You've been hitting well against every team we've played - you wouldn't have won 9 games if you couldn't hit!

As an example, look at Jenna's triple in this game - she hit that ball off of the Mystics best - and fastest - pitcher! Believe you will hit the ball - stand in there, be aggressive, watch the ball, and swing with everything you have - it will happen!

Star of the Game honors were awarded to:

Jenna - 3 at bats, a double, a triple, two put outs in the field, and two innings pitched, allowing only one run

and, from the last game against the Stingers...

Anna - 4 at bats, one run scored, three hits, and three stolen bases

All right, on to our next game against...oh! Look! The Mystics again!

- Coach Drew