Game 13: Braves 25, Brewers 2

The Braves batted around in both the first and third innings and crushed four homers, including two grand slams. But what Coach Ross wanted to talk about the team's 25-2 victory over the Brewers Monday afternoon was the fabulous team defense in the first inning.
As home team, the Braves took the field first, with Evan on the mound. The first Brewers batter dropped down an excellent bunt to the left of the mound. Braves third baseman Jack, pitcher Evan and first baseman Tyler all charged toward the plate as soon as the batter squared up to bunt. Jack picked up the ball and fired to second baseman Nick, covering at first, for the out. A bang-bang play, executed perfectly by the Braves. In the same inning, Matt (at shortstop) and Jack both made fine pickups of ground balls and threw sharply to Tyler at first for the outs.
With one out in the bottom of the first, Nick battled a good Brewers pitcher with foul after foul through ten pitches until he finally drew a walk. That seemed to break the ice for the Braves, who proceeded to bat around. Jack doubled, driving in Nick. Connor singled to right field, bringing Jack home. Will blooped a single to right, scoring Connor. Matt walked. Scott singled to bring Will and Matt home, and scored on a passed ball. Anthony singled, and Liam followed with a single to score Anthony. Tyler drove in Anthony with a groundout to the right side, and Nick singled into right field to score Liam. Braves 9, Brewers 0.
Anthony took the mound in the second inning. As he and our other hurlers pitch to contact, our defense continues to do its job. Third baseman Jack grabbed a grounder and threw out the first batter. Anthony helped himself by snaring a soft liner for the second out. Then Anthony finished off the inning by striking out the third batter with two successive changeups, the second one slower than the first. (I've noticed that's a theme in Little League Majors pitching this year -- the advent of the changeup, a pitch thrown ideally with the same motion as a fastball, but somewhat slower speed, disrupting the batter's timing.)
In the bottom of the second, one of the goofier moments of the season: Matt ducked out of the way of a high pitch, which hit something and rolled onto the field. The alert Brewers catcher picked up the ball and threw to first. The otherwise solid home-plate umpire seemed momentarily flummoxed by it. Both teams agreed the ball hit Matt's bat as he was ducking out of the way. The Brewers contended the ball hit only the bat. The Braves argued it hit the bat and then the catcher's mask, making it a foul ball. In the end, with no instant replay review at Water Tower, the umpire ruled it a ball in play and the out was recorded.
Strong Braves defense continued in the third inning. Anthony struck out the first batter. The next batter hit a grounder up the middle and through Anthony's legs, but shortstop Scott was in position and threw him out. Two Brewers walked, but the Braves snuffed out the rally on the next grounder, with Scott throwing to Evan at third base for a forceout.
The thundersticks returned in the third inning. Evan singled and took second on an error. Anthony singled him in. Liam walked. Anthony scored on an error. Nick singled, plating Liam. Then Jack gave Nick's legs a rest, crushing his second homer of the season, so both boys could trot home. Connor followed with a homer to center field, his eighth of the season. Cookie (Will), Matt and Scott all followed with singles, loading the bases for Evan.
If you know Evan at all, you know he approaches whatever he is doing with complete intensity and commitment. I'm sure he stood in the batter's box thinking only about getting the bat on the ball. But he got a pitch in his hot zone and slammed it over the fence in right field for his first home run and a grand slam to boot. He was screaming with excitement as he hopped around the bases.
Anthony and Liam both singled to center field to extend the inning, and Nick drove in the final run with a single. 20-0, Braves.
In the top of the fourth, our rookie Cookie took the ball on the mound. He struck out the first two batters looking, then hard-nosed Brewers player Joey Anzia battled him through several foul balls, then ripped a single. The next batter hit a high line drive that Liam left his feet to snare.
The Braves added more runs in the fifth. Evan singled and took second on an error. Anthony singled. Liam hit into a fielder's choice, driving in Evan. Nick and Jack walked, then Connor followed with a grand slam, his ninth homer of the year.
The Brewers, who never quit, got on the board with two runs due in part to aggressive baserunning. Final score: Braves 25, Brewers 2.
Coaches awarded the team ball to Evan.
Braves alum Chris Pritchard and his dad, our former coach Dave Pritchard, both watched big chunks of the game. I can tell you this: Chris roots for the Braves as intensely as if he were still on the squad. Thank you, Chris, for being one of our role models and a great supporter.
Homer time: I don't want to overemphasize home runs, because boys can mess up a good swing and hurt their team by trying too hard to hit dingers. But the Braves are loving the recent summer power surge they've put on. They were trying to add up the year's total last night. I think this is it: Connor, 9; Nick, 4; Jack, 2; Alec, 1; Evan, 1. Total to date: 17 HRS. I don't know the homer totals for other teams, but I would be surprised if any other team has 5 boys who have homered this year.
Changing speeds: Connor's at-bats have been impressive. He made a point of saying to me, "I hit singles, too," and he does. He has become patient enough to adjust to the speed of each individual pitcher.
Returning to the theme of changeups: Some of the Braves, including some of our better hitters, have more trouble with a slow pitch than a fast one. As we have started to see this season, some of the best pitchers aren't necessarily guys who throw as hard as possible all the time, but who vary the speed and location of their pitches with some control. Matt Bernstein of the Red Sox, for example. This is why studying a new pitcher, including studying your teammates' at-bats, is important. Matt will nearly always throw a good hitter a changeup during an at-bat. (When he pitched against Nick, for example, he threw it with two strikes in the first at-bat, and as the first pitch in the second at-bat.) Swinging out of your shoes on every pitch leads to a lot of misses. Our team success at the plate shows that getting the bat on the ball is the most important thing, not necessarily hitting it as hard as possible each time. Be patient, don't lunge at the ball, and drive it.
Next game: Our next game is Thursday June 14 at Water Tower vs. the Padres. Please have your Brave at the batting cage area at 5:30 p.m. Thanks.

Practice added for Sunday (June 28)

Everyone,
The Braves will practice Sunday at the usual 4 to 5:30 p.m. time.
The practice will be at Atwater School in Shorewood (unless you hear differently from us).
We worked mostly on team defense at Thursday's practice. Whenever a player on the other team hits a ball EVERYONE on the Braves needs to be moving either into fielding position or to a spot where he is backing up someone else. We worked on that a lot, with pretty good results.
The other thing we worked on last night was short flies to the outfield. Results weren't so good there, largely because our outfielders were hesitant to call off infielders who were aggressively going for over-the-shoulder catches (none of which they made). We've had way too many catchable balls drop in for hits in the past few games. Outfielders need to take charge on these kinds of plays; the play is in front of them, after all.
Overall, it was a good practice. When he was playing third base, Jack K. did a wonderful job of keeping his body in front of ground balls. A couple of hot smashes slammed into his legs, so I suspect he has a bruise or two today. But he stayed in the game, and hit very well in our traditional end-of-practice scrimmage.
Dave

Game Story: Yankees 13, Braves 11

Sometimes the other team makes good plays and beats you.
That's what Coach Dave told the Braves after a 13-11 loss to the Yankees Monday night at Water Tower Park.
The defensively sound Yankees made two double plays in the game, snuffing out potential Braves rallies. One was a typical Little League double play, a combination of alertness and luck: the Yankees first baseman caught a line drive and stepped on first to double off a baserunner.
But the other DP was special. The Braves had the bases loaded with no outs. Scott hit a hard grounder toward third base. The Yanks' third baseman grabbed the ball, stepped on third and threw to second base to get a second Braves out. One batter later the game was over.
The Braves were down 3-0 entering the bottom of the 1st, but responded with a fine team rally. Ryan walked and moved to second on a passed ball. Connor beat out an infield single, with Ryan smartly holding at second. Evan reached on an infield single, loading the bases. On a 2-ball, 2-strike count, Nick ripped a hard single through the infield, driving in Ryan and Connor. Three batters later, Jack smashed a double to center field, bringing Nick and Jason home. ("I thought it was going to go out," Nick said of Jack's mighty jack.) The Braves were up 4-3.
In the bottom of the third, the Braves lit up the scoreboard again. Chris singled to right, then stole second and third. Ryan walked and stole second. Connor singled, driving in Chris. Ryan scored on a passed ball. Evan was plunked on the helmet by a pitch: it wasn't thrown that hard, and Ev was OK. See for yourself in this video clip, courtesy of Joe Kimple. Nick then lifted a towering sacrifice fly to center field, bringing Connor home and giving the Braves a temporary 7-5 lead.
Unfortunately for Braves fans, the Yankees scored 8 runs in the 4th through a combination of timely hitting, well-executed bunting, heads-up baserunning and Braves miscues. The Braves battled back with 3 runs in the fourth and one in the sixth, but couldn't close the gap.
One bright spot was the return of Connor from the disabled list. Connor singled twice, scored twice and pitched two flawless innings, striking out 5 Yankees. It appears all of our flu victims have recovered, and the Braves are healthy and ready to close the season strong. (Sigh. I hate writing the words "close the season.")
More highlights and notes:
Defense: As he habitually does (though we never take it for granted), Jason made several fine plays at shortstop, including two straight bang-bang throws to Tyler to nab consecutive batters in the second inning. Connor made two strong, accurate throws from center field to home plate to prevent runners at third from scoring. Ryan stuck with a tricky grounder to throw out a runner, and also caught a hard liner to end an inning.
Batting: Ryan, Connor, Evan, Nick and Jack all reached through hits/walks/HBP twice. Tyler, continuing his recent improvement, singled sharply up the middle.
NEXT GAME: 11 a.m. Saturday June 27 is our rematch against the Rays. The coaches will expect to see players about 10:15 a.m. at Water Tower.

Notes from the Dodgers game

I'm going to offer a positive scouting report after the team's loss to the Dodgers' Sunday night. Remember, as always, these are my personal observations, not endorsed or pre-approved by our coaches, Bud Selig, or anyone else.

There are times in this age group when an obviously superior team crushes an inferior opponent through sheer talent and will. While it is clear the Dodgers are superior right now, that is NOT what happened Sunday night.

The Dodgers were efficient in making the Braves pay for many mistakes. Only one ball was hit out of the park. With better defense and baserunning by the Braves, that could have been a 5-1 game, and I don't think any of us would have felt bad about that.

The Braves did not put enough hits together, but that is nothing to be ashamed about this early in the season against a high-class opponent. (You will sometimes see 2-1 and 1-0 games in this league.) More swings and warmer weather will improve the hitting.

Defense can be improved, too. That's why we have practice. It's much better to get this kind of game out of the way earlier in the season, when there is practice time to work on fielding.

It's tempting for a player to get demoralized in such a game, so I want to single out a couple of guys for sustained, passionate effort throughout the night.

As a fielder and pitcher, Jason battled throughout the game, getting to every ball he could and making excellent throws. You could see the fire in his eyes, even when we were down big.

Evan, too, particularly when he's at 1B, makes it a point of pride to catch everything. When he was not able to handle a difficult throw in one play, he got upset, but I could see it was the right kind of upset - he expects to catch everything.

A few other notes. Again, blame me for the observations and omissions, no one else:

Pitching: Connor was effective pitching against a strong opponent. He struck out 5 in three innings, a long stretch of work. He could have gotten out of the first inning without giving up any runs, but an error kept the Dodgers at bat. Connor did what pitchers do when they get bad breaks -- he didn't moan or point fingers, he simply went back to work.

Hitting: Chris had a booming double and a single. Ryan and Anthony had singles. Nick walked twice. (He's walked 4 times in 3 games this year. Either the hair or the glare must intimidate other teams.) Jack also drew a walk.

Fielding: Scott made a nice pickup at second, firing to Tyler at first to end the second inning. In addition to his other fine plays, Jason, while pitching with the bases loaded, grabbed a grounder and fired to the sure-handed Anthony at home to force the runner.

Jim Higgins