Lubbock Grays

Not Exactly How We Wanted It To Go

2008-08-18T15:15:00.003-05:00

Even though this Fall Ball season has not gone exactly the way we wanted it to, I do think some of our boys have learned some valuable lessons about baseball and life. We have two more games to go this week against the Braves on Tuesday and the Lions on Saturday. We are very well matched with both of these teams and there is no reason we can't walk away with two victories to close out the season.

To focus on the positive, the above picture is of our team with the opposing team prior to one of our games. People will say what they want about the Frenship league but the one constant that I do like about it is the coming together of the two teams prior to each game and the home team offering a prayer. This simple gesture has been lost or prohibited just about everywhere you look in our society. I hope this league continues this act and hopefully some bleeding heart won't come along to try to put an end to it because they are offended. Jesus loves baseball too.

Got Another One

2008-08-11T15:36:00.002-05:00

Well I am happy to say we came away with another win Saturday morning. We faced the Young Guns, a team we have know from past seasons, and knew we could beat. Our boys are really starting to figure this game out and are starting to get to know one another better and are playing like a team.

Cham went the distance for us on the mound and did a good job. A little problem with balks but he figured it out. We had some good defense from everyone. We eased up a bit in the last inning and allowed a few runs we shouldn't have but all in all did a good job.

The best performance I give to Matt. He may be little but he can run the bases well. He had a good hit but his base running generated alot for our team. We have a game tomorrow and two on Saturday again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Was It Ever A Long Saturday

2008-08-06T02:12:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know that it has taken me longer than I thought it would to get to this post but I will be honest with you, I didn't want to post it. We had an 8am game that did not end well and a 4pm game that was just down right ugly on our part.

If there has been a positive come out of this past weekend, I think that there may be a couple of boys who may want to stand up and be leaders. We need that badly. In those 2 games I think I heard 3 words from the team while they were on the field. No communication, no emotion. It was just nothingness from them. I think we have had a few good practices but another one of our teams' character flaws is not getting to practice. There is usually the same group of 6-7 players that tend to make it to practice most of the time with only one kid who has never missed. Granted, I know it is fall baseball and you sometimes have other things to do, but there still has to remain some sort of commitment to this team. Fall ball is a time to learn and prepare for the next year, but if you are never at practice this is hard to accomplish.

All in all, I think this team is growing. Unfortunately we only have 6 games left to try to savage a better season. I'm not saying we have to win every game, just that our team shows up and does the job they are capable to doing.

I am going to close with a few quotes from one of my favorite coaches of all time, Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils:

"Everybody wants to take responsibility when you win, but when you fail, all these fingers are pointing."

"Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to do it."

"Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication."

"When a leader takes responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, he not only sets a good example, he shows a healthy respect for people on his team."

"The worse the crisis, the more people will tend to think as individuals rather than as members of a team."

More games to come Friday and Saturday. I hope to have a lot of positive to report.

Long Saturday Ahead

2008-08-01T13:53:00.004-05:00

We are getting ready for a busy Saturday. 2 games, one very early so hopefully we will all be awake and the other in the dead afternoon heat of the blazin' Texas sun of August. We will see how we respond. One of our players who hasn't been with us of late is Cham. He has had many things going on and today his dad is having some major surgery, so it looks like Cham may not be with us this weekend either. Please keep Cham and his dad in your thoughts and prayers and help all of us remember what is really important---its not all about baseball.

PS--working on getting all the boys profiles online. I will hopefully have them all by Sunday.

One-for-Two

2008-07-31T12:25:00.005-05:00

I know I am a little slow in getting our first two games updated on here. We have played two games in the past week. Our first last Saturday and the second on Monday. I wish I could say we came away with wins in both games but I guess you have to look at what you call a win.

In our first game on Saturday night we played the Cooper Shockers. From what I can tell they are pretty much a team like us, not really any older players, just 12 yr-olds moving up to big boy ball. We won this game 3-0 behind the awesome pitching effort of Isaac. He walked a few batters but always battled back and never let anyone score. He ended the night with 14 strike- outs and a defensive play to end the game in the 5th inning. As far as our scoring it looked like this, in 5 at bats Christian had 1 hit, 3bb, 1 sb and scored, Matt had a hit, 2 bb and scored. Koby was our big hitter of the night with 2 hits, 3 strike outs and 2 rbi's. Isaac had 2 strike outs, 3 fly-outs, Zach had a hit 1 rbi and Tanis had a hit. It was nice to get the first win under our belt.

Our second game came against the Sluggers. We know most of these kids, Yankees in the regular season. We started out well with Cameron pitching and had a 2-0 lead. However in the 3rd the Sluggers got bases loaded and a big kid we know, Tate, came up and hit a grand slam home run. After that our boys kind of shut down. We had runners in scoring position twice after that but we failed to get them in. Zach ended adding an RBI in the bottom of the 5th when he hit Tamarick in but we ended up losing 11-3.

This Saturday we have 2 games, 8:00am against the Owls and 4:00pm game against the Lubbock Lightening. I know we can beat the first team, don't know much about the latter. I will let you know how it goes.

One Day Away

2008-07-25T02:55:00.000-05:00

Our boys had a great scrimmage last night against a Jr. League Team out of the Lubbock league. The team we played consisted of all 13 & 14 yr olds. Our team has one 14 year old, one 13 yr old and the rest are twelve and guess what? We won the scrimmage something like 7 or 8 to 3. I was stuck at work but it sounds like things went really well. I am very excited for them. I think they realize now that they can play with the big boys.

We have had several kids out of town and some departures and new entries to the team. That is fall ball for ya. I think everything is set now and hopefully our uniforms will be done before our first game Saturday @ 6. Hope to see ya at the game.

In The Scrimmage Mode

2008-07-19T12:19:00.002-05:00

We have had a few scrimmages under our belt. The boys are starting to figure out the game. It is a big adjustment from Little League to the bigger fields of Jr. League. It has become real baseball. We are still adjusting the team a little and we begin league play next Saturday. I think they are nervous but I know they will do fine. That is what fall baseball is all about, trying to learn the game.

GOOD NEWS

2008-07-14T11:53:00.002-05:00

I have great news. A good friend of ours made a donation to our team for uniforms. Our friend Wesley made a great donation that will begin helping with the cost of them. It is great that our boys will not have to come up with so much money. I will be listing his business on the site in the next couple of days. Now with a few more donations we will be rocking. Thanks Wesley!!!!

Contiune on the practice trail

2008-07-11T14:45:00.002-05:00

Sorry been away for awhile but been busy. We have had some really good practices this week and it looks like we have our final team roster. We have added some boys from Dixie LL and Southwest LL. They have brought alot to the team. The boys are starting to get to know each other and our coaches are preparing them well for what they will face.

We have had a couple of kids get hit in the face the last week so that has pushed me to make a trip to Sam's Wednesday to purchase a good first aid kit. I guess you can never be to prepared. Still on the search for some sponsorship to help with uniform cost. I'm just trying to get enough to cover shirts and hats but believe me when I tell you just that doesn't come cheap. Luckily, one of the boys parents does uniforms so we are going to be able to get them done at cost.

We have practice tonight and maybe tomorrow and we will have a scrimmage sometime next week. Will get back soon so you can keep up on the progress.

Day after the 4th

2008-07-06T15:29:00.002-05:00

Had an 1100 practice on Saturday morning. I think some of the boys had way too much fun on the 4th because some were dragging a bit. Our team is pretty much set and we plan to have our first full practice on Monday evening. Looks like we may have a few sponsors that may step up to the plate for us. Keep your fingers crossed. Looks like things are coming together.

Some Talent

2008-07-03T09:11:00.002-05:00

Had a great practice yesterday. Had nine boys and have aquired some great talent. One 14 yr-old can pitch in the mid-80's. Zach is trying to prepare himself to be able to catch this kid. We are going to have practice today with some new boys and have final cuts today. We are going from 15-20 boys down to about 12-13. I'm headed out to fundraise today so we can get some uniforms. Wish me luck.

Test entry--1st day of practice

2008-07-02T01:12:00.001-05:00

Had first day of practice last night. Only had 4 boys but most of the team will be at tonight's practice. This is going to be some team. I can't wait to see what they do.