Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Kid's Baseball Clinic
Kyle's team put on a baseball clinic a couple of Sunday's ago. He got to work with the pitchers and had a blast. Some of the kids had zero experience while others were pretty skilled, which makes for a difficult experience. Anyway, here is a picture of him working with some of the kids (and with his eye on the camera).
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Baseball Weather???
So Joshua had a 9:30pm baseball game on Friday night. They are trying to make up the games of the tournament that were rained out last weekend. You know you are not in Arizona anymore when the coach emails everyone to bring "snow gloves" to wear between innings!
Here was the weather report from weather.com for the hour that the game finished up!
11:00 PM
Partly Cloudy 40°F
Feels Like 37°F
Dew Point 33°F
Wind From SSE5mph
Now it's bad enough that you have to endure weather like that for a baseball game. The worst part is that the game ended in a 3-3 tie in regulation and tournament rules stipulate that they do not play beyond regulation until the championship bracket. What does that mean? We ended with a 1-1-1 record in our first tournament and did not advance.
We got home close to 1:00am and Josh had a scrimmage double-header later that day. The boys were pretty tired but had a ton of fun. The weather had actually warmed up and was pleasant. The other team brought BBQ stuff and they ate together between games.
That's a lot of baseball in 24 hours.
Here was the weather report from weather.com for the hour that the game finished up!
11:00 PM
Partly Cloudy 40°F
Feels Like 37°F
Dew Point 33°F
Wind From SSE5mph
Now it's bad enough that you have to endure weather like that for a baseball game. The worst part is that the game ended in a 3-3 tie in regulation and tournament rules stipulate that they do not play beyond regulation until the championship bracket. What does that mean? We ended with a 1-1-1 record in our first tournament and did not advance.
We got home close to 1:00am and Josh had a scrimmage double-header later that day. The boys were pretty tired but had a ton of fun. The weather had actually warmed up and was pleasant. The other team brought BBQ stuff and they ate together between games.
That's a lot of baseball in 24 hours.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Panthers now 1-1
We went to Kyle's game in Stanwood tonight (about 30-40 minutes north). We didn't arrive until about the 3rd inning, which is when Kyle entered the game in right field. We were ahead 2-0 at the time. It was a well played game on both sides. Kyle's first at bat was a walk to lead off the fourth inning, followed by a single. It was looking like some insurance runs were on the way. That was until the triple play. Yes, you read that right. The next batter drilled a shot directly at the first baseman, who tagged the runner and threw to second before Kyle could get back. Stunned shock. Big bummer. There really wasn't anything he could do, especially since they kept pushing him for larger and larger leads at second.
His next at bat came with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth (we play seven). We were up 3-2. He hit fly ball directly to the left fielder. Good contact, no bonus points. Stanwood tied it in the bottom of the sixth and shut us down in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, a couple of hits and they score a run to end the game 4-3. Nobody likes to lose in the bottom of the last inning, but it really was a good game - nothing to hang your head at.
Next game Monday.
His next at bat came with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth (we play seven). We were up 3-2. He hit fly ball directly to the left fielder. Good contact, no bonus points. Stanwood tied it in the bottom of the sixth and shut us down in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, a couple of hits and they score a run to end the game 4-3. Nobody likes to lose in the bottom of the last inning, but it really was a good game - nothing to hang your head at.
Next game Monday.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Looking Through Pictures
I was going through older picture files on my computer and came across this one of my boys at Chris and Andrea's wedding. Andrea looks gorgeous and is obviously the star of the show, but I think my guys add to the aura as well. :)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Mom said there would be days like this...
Sunday brought game number 2 for the Cats. They played a HUGE team from Federal Way. I was at church, so I'll give you the details as communicated to me through Josh.
Mitchl (different than Mitch, who pitched yesterday) did a great job on the mound - he has such a nasty curveball. We were ahead for the first few innings, but as Mitchl got tired, they started hitting. Josh was pretty deflated because he made three errors at second base. This is rather startling considering he played the entire season last year without a single error. His coach, who he is in his third year playing for, was incredibly encouraging and pretty much told him to shake it off.
Anyways, we lost 6-2.
It looks like the tournament is going to be extended to next weekend. We have a Friday night game at 9:15pm. We play a team that is 0-2 and if we win, we have a very good chance of advancing to the quarter-finals because we have only allowed 6 runs in two games. This is the first tie-breaker for advancement.
Mitchl (different than Mitch, who pitched yesterday) did a great job on the mound - he has such a nasty curveball. We were ahead for the first few innings, but as Mitchl got tired, they started hitting. Josh was pretty deflated because he made three errors at second base. This is rather startling considering he played the entire season last year without a single error. His coach, who he is in his third year playing for, was incredibly encouraging and pretty much told him to shake it off.
Anyways, we lost 6-2.
It looks like the tournament is going to be extended to next weekend. We have a Friday night game at 9:15pm. We play a team that is 0-2 and if we win, we have a very good chance of advancing to the quarter-finals because we have only allowed 6 runs in two games. This is the first tie-breaker for advancement.
Baseball Saturday
Our games this weekend were in Tukwila, which seems like a long way from here. Luckily, my in-laws live about halfway in between. We stopped there before heading to our first game only to discover that our first game had been rained out - again. We did get the 5pm game in, so we can now officially say that the RiverCats have begun their season.
I don't think I sat down for the entire game. If someone could somehow capture my nervous energy and utilize it for the good of the world, we'd solve the energy crisis. Josh batted second. He walked in the first inning and came around to score as the RiverCats put up four runs. It was all they would need.
The pitching was outstanding as Mitch, Zach and Jake threw a shutout for game #1 and the defense was near perfect. The good guys win 6-0.
Josh's highlight was lining a double over the right fielders head in the seventh inning. The runner on first attempted to score on the play, but was thrown out at home to end the inning. Kinda weird, cause that is the same thing that happened to Kyle in his first game.
I don't think I sat down for the entire game. If someone could somehow capture my nervous energy and utilize it for the good of the world, we'd solve the energy crisis. Josh batted second. He walked in the first inning and came around to score as the RiverCats put up four runs. It was all they would need.
The pitching was outstanding as Mitch, Zach and Jake threw a shutout for game #1 and the defense was near perfect. The good guys win 6-0.
Josh's highlight was lining a double over the right fielders head in the seventh inning. The runner on first attempted to score on the play, but was thrown out at home to end the inning. Kinda weird, cause that is the same thing that happened to Kyle in his first game.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
We were slated for two ballgames today and now we are down to none. Kyle's high school game was postponed and Joshua had his first game of the season (in a weekend tournament) rescheduled as well. I think that means that tomorrow is going to be crazy. Josh already had a 5pm tournament game. Now we'll probably have one before that as well - at a field a good hour away.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
A Game of FIRSTS
So Kyle's FIRST game as a high school student was full of FIRSTS.
Kyle did not start in his FIRST game. Nick, whom you may or may not remember as the fastest thrower in Joshua's league (on the Yankees) in his first season with the Cubs, started. He throws incredibly hard and can throw about 5-6 different pitches. But that also leads to control problems. He ended up giving up 4 runs in 2 innings.
Kyle made his FIRST pitching appearance in the THIRD inning. He got his FIRST strike-out on his FIRST batter - swinging. His SECOND inning pitched he pulled another FIRST with a three pitch inning - three easy pop-ups on the infield. He ended up getting the first two outs of the third inning, but it was apparent that he was getting tired. The next batter was his FIRST walk. The following batter was the FIRST hit he gave up. He then walked his SECOND batter on four pitches to load the bases. The coach came to the mound and I really thought that was going to be the end of his outing, but the coach encouraged him to suck it up and get one more out to finish the inning. The batter complied by popping up to second.
As for coming to the plate, his FIRST at-bat resulted in his FIRST strike out. It wasn't pretty as he got badly fooled by a curve ball in the dirt. However in his SECOND at-bat he got his first SINGLE - a blooper over the third baseman's head. A runner on second tried to score (we were looking for the FIRST RBI), but he was thrown out at home plate.
The Panthers defeated the Bearcats 8-4 and Kyle was the winning pitcher! A very nice start to the FIRST game of the Kuest boy's season.
Kyle did not start in his FIRST game. Nick, whom you may or may not remember as the fastest thrower in Joshua's league (on the Yankees) in his first season with the Cubs, started. He throws incredibly hard and can throw about 5-6 different pitches. But that also leads to control problems. He ended up giving up 4 runs in 2 innings.
Kyle made his FIRST pitching appearance in the THIRD inning. He got his FIRST strike-out on his FIRST batter - swinging. His SECOND inning pitched he pulled another FIRST with a three pitch inning - three easy pop-ups on the infield. He ended up getting the first two outs of the third inning, but it was apparent that he was getting tired. The next batter was his FIRST walk. The following batter was the FIRST hit he gave up. He then walked his SECOND batter on four pitches to load the bases. The coach came to the mound and I really thought that was going to be the end of his outing, but the coach encouraged him to suck it up and get one more out to finish the inning. The batter complied by popping up to second.
As for coming to the plate, his FIRST at-bat resulted in his FIRST strike out. It wasn't pretty as he got badly fooled by a curve ball in the dirt. However in his SECOND at-bat he got his first SINGLE - a blooper over the third baseman's head. A runner on second tried to score (we were looking for the FIRST RBI), but he was thrown out at home plate.
The Panthers defeated the Bearcats 8-4 and Kyle was the winning pitcher! A very nice start to the FIRST game of the Kuest boy's season.
A Tradition Begins Anew
Okay, so I haven't blogged here for about two years. But Liz has encouraged me to blog my boys baseball games so that family and friends outside of the state can follow along. It'll be a full season for the Kuest family.
Kyle made the Freshman team at Snohomish High. It is a school known for a great baseball program - they took second in state last year. 48 kids tried out for the Freshman team and they only kept 16. He'll pitch, play a little first and a little outfield.
Joshua had an outrageous season last year on a team that was 28-3. Two of their losses came in the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season where they took second place out of all of the Little League teams in Snohomish County. This season he'll play on a select team for the same coach and many other kids from last years 12 year old all-star team - The Snohomish RiverCats. So keep an eye out for further updates.
Andrew and Brett will play in the Minors this year for the Mets. We bumped Brett up to play with the big guys so that we would not have to have four boys on four teams - four on three teams will be crazy enough. It will be their first year playing "real" baseball. I am the Assistant Coach for their team. So far, we look pretty good, so I'm excited about what the season holds for us.
Kyle made the Freshman team at Snohomish High. It is a school known for a great baseball program - they took second in state last year. 48 kids tried out for the Freshman team and they only kept 16. He'll pitch, play a little first and a little outfield.
Joshua had an outrageous season last year on a team that was 28-3. Two of their losses came in the Tournament of Champions at the end of the season where they took second place out of all of the Little League teams in Snohomish County. This season he'll play on a select team for the same coach and many other kids from last years 12 year old all-star team - The Snohomish RiverCats. So keep an eye out for further updates.
Andrew and Brett will play in the Minors this year for the Mets. We bumped Brett up to play with the big guys so that we would not have to have four boys on four teams - four on three teams will be crazy enough. It will be their first year playing "real" baseball. I am the Assistant Coach for their team. So far, we look pretty good, so I'm excited about what the season holds for us.
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