Game Day: Focused, aggressive Braves win their season opener

A base on balls might not come immediately to mind when thinking of big at-bats in a 17-4 game.

But Jason's third-inning walk was a key point in the Braves' 8-run outburst during today's season-opening victory over the Orioles. His epic battle at the plate, one of several by the Braves today, typified the blend of aggression, patience and good decision making that led to victory.

Jason was down 0-2, but continued to spoil good pitches by fouling them off, and wisely laid off the pitches that weren't strikes. He endured a pitching change by the Orioles -- no easy feat, waiting with 2 strikes for a new pitcher, bringing a different speed and motion to the mound. He finally worked the new pitcher for a walk. With Alec already on base with a ringing double down the first-base line, the Braves were in business. Matt's double down the third-base line brought Alec home, and the scoring onslaught began. Thirteen Braves batted in the inning.

As Coach Dave pointed out after the game in his remarks to the team, it is rare in our little league to have every kid on the team score in a game. But the Braves pulled that off today.

Every Brave went home today with something to feel good about. The Braves where whirling around the bases so fast the electronic remote control for the scoreboard threw a hissy fit and stopped working for a while.

Some of the highlights as I saw them (feel free to add your own mentally):

PITCHING: Two dominant innings of pitching by Connor, who struck out 5 batters and showed impressive command and poise. Folks, I saw Connor pitch last season. He has made tremendous improvement on the mound. Later in the game, after the Orioles mustered a rally, Chris swaggered onto the mound and shut them down.

BATTING: RBI machine Jack drove in 5 runners with 3 hits, including 2 doubles; Alec ripped two doubles as well, and Chris and Scott each had three hits. Every Braves batter had at least one hit.

FIELDING: Jack made a nice catch in LF of a hard-hit ball to snuff out a rally (the Orioles had the bases loaded). When an Orioles runner tried to score from third, catcher Nick threw him out, with pitcher Alec alertly covering the plate and applying the tag. Evan made several sure-handed putouts at first.

THIS DAY IN WFBLL BRAVES HISTORY

With this being the Braves' first game ever, let's take a moment to note a few firsts in Braves team history:

First pitch: Connor to Scott.
First K by a pitcher: Connor.
First putout: Evan (at first base, unassisted)
First batter: Jason
First hit: Connor
First stolen base: Connor
First extra-base hit: Alec
First run scored: Alec
First RBI: Matt

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. Any mistakes are my own, too, and have nothing to do with the coaches. If you think I got something wrong, please tell me.