Going to play in Victorville, I had 1 worry......would we be ALERT in game 1???, long drive and possibility of starting out sluggish....guess what, it happened, 7 ERRORS by 5 players cost us 5 runs......when the marathon inn was finally over, I simply told the girls, wipe this inn out, we have a long day of softball still ahead of us, take a breath, and let's go to work.......after the first 23 minutes, we played as well if not better than any other team on the day......we moved fields twice, we hit the ball well, we pitched really well, and our defense for the most part played strong the rest of the way.....for 3 hrs and 15 minutes we were really strong.......Athletics Coach let me know he merged with 18u Marucci 3 weeks ago, he said he was glad it came prior to playing us as he knew the ability of our girls to play the game.....18u Firecrackers Parents came and told me they have 3 teams merge to make the team, and even that didn't help their kids as we constantly beat their teams in previous games, (Halos & Assasins)........E1 asked if the could play us on different field so they avoided same team 2 games in a row, HUH???? Whatever, get us to a field and let us play....and they pitched at 40', that is for 12u not 18u pitchers.....oh well, again, it only makes us stronger.......So after our slow start, we played strong to close out the day.....and once again playing up in age only makes us stronger, next year you girls will finally play in your own age group, and all it did was make you guys stronger..........job well done, cya on the diamond

vs Athletics

The size of other teams always a little bit to digest, but as a Coach...... I am always impressed with our girls competing with them, and yes it has been a plan since they were 7 yrs old when I saw they played older than their age.......As big as Athletics were, I always look forward to playing them, they just got a lot bigger,.....the merge did them good, but we misplayed 7 plays, and it cost us 5 runs.......as girls came in, I told them, “just throw away this inn, let’s cash in our do over and go to work starting NOW......we did, a Tazz 1b, Gemini 3b, and TBird bomb put us back in the game, most important, we changed our focus......Turbo threw 4 pitches and Defense recorded 3 outs after our strong inn.......after changing pitchers, we once again kicked the ball to the tune of 4 more runs, we were digging ourself a big hole.......but as we have done so often, we hit again....Tazz ...Turtle...KFC......Gemini......all reached on hits, Turbo sac fly to score Gemini and we are right back in it......but as friendlies often go, time expires, we fought back, just came up 1 run short......onto the next......

Athletics———-10

Lil Sluggers——-8

Pitching: Turbo/Tazz 4 inn/ 10 runs/9 hits/2 B.B./1 k

Hitting: Tazz 2-3/Turtle 1-2/KFC 1-2/Gemini 2-2/TBird 1-2/Turbo Sac Fly/Kandy 2-2

vs E1

We won the toss!!!!! Doesn’t happen very often...... we didn’t score to start, but we had good at bats, that was a good sign....they had 4 batters and one run, but we cut down a run at home and another runner at 2nd...defense was on......TBird then triples....Pep bunts her home, Squinky reaches on a 9 pitch walk and Kandy scores Pep, we jumped in front of the E1 crew....defense again put in good work, their abs were going quickly.....they scratched 2 more runs in the next three inn, but we were never in any real trouble.....Tazz bbs, KFC 1bs, Gemini bbs, TBird bbs, Joy sac and we push 2 more.....Kandy then 2bs to cash in Pep in front of her, and scores herself on a Koolaid 1b.....back to 1-1 on the day, and more importantly, can we keep our 8 yr streak of always winning at least 2 out of 3 games in friendlies....I Believe!!!!!

PS Lil Sluggers——-5

E1————————-3

Pitching: Tazz 4 inn/2 runs/2 hits

Hitting: Tazz B.B/ KFC 1-2/Gemini B.B./TBird 1-1/Turbo Sac Fly/ Pep 2-2/ Squinky bbs/ Kandy 1-2/ KoolAid 1-2

vs Firecrackers

With our 8 yr streak on the line, we moved fields again, and faced the strongest team on the day....we lose flip AGAIN....but 6 pitches from Turbo and we were back in the dugout, and we went to work....Turtle 1b, KFC 1b, Gemini 1b,Tbird Sac Fly scores 2 runs, yes, 2 runs....Coach Marcus had these girls running, and it was paying off all day....back on to defend, 2 pitches and we had 1 down....but then it happened, a routine ground ball and we kicked it, with runner on 1st, we record 2nd out on fielder's choice, then they hammered a 2b, we now stood in a 3-1 game, ..........we got our sticks going again, working on their 2nd pitcher, Pep reaches on a 1b, KoolAid 2bs her home, and while they were throwing ball around, KoolAid kept going, Marcus sends her and they never realized KoolAid was back in the dugout, 5-1 good gals......Turbo then toes the plate and brings us back to the dugout 10 pitches later, we get sticks again , let's go!!!!!! Turtle gets us off our seats with a 3b, Gemini drives her home with a 1b, TBird 2bs, Pep 1bs home TBird, but once again Marcus keeps Gemini going with ball in cather's hand, se never realized Gemini had the throttle open and snuck in, 8-1 good gals..... Pep now takes the rock, a lousy 1b and an error cost us a run, but we go into the bottom of the 4th with 8-2 cushion......we had a quiet 4th, but then it got a little scary....with 2 quick outs, it started to get dicey, 2 bbs, a lousy pop up falls in right field, a 2b clears the bases, a ground ball to third puts runners on 1st and 2nd, two down, and tying run at the plate.....on a 5th straight 1-2 count, Pep wins the battle, perfect pitch, perfect location, lazy fly ball to end the game, 8 yr streak still intact, all in a days work...job well done

18u Firecrackers------5

PS Lil Sluggers--------8

Pitching: Turbo/Pep 5 inn/5 runs/ 5 hits/2bbs/4ks

Hitting: Turtle 2-3/KFC 1-2/Gemini 2-2/ TBird 1-2/ Pep 2-2/ KoolAid 1-2