New site (the link works now)

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The site is under construction but is up and running-

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www.canesbaseball.typepad.com

Ron

Manteca 4/18-19

Our games for the weekend in Manteca were solid. We played three very solid teams as I went away thinking that any one of the teams we played could have won that tourney. In the end The Stanislaus Sting won the final game as they surprised an incredibly tough Iron Pigs baseball club. Although we won one game and lost two, we are playing tough baseball and are right where we should be at this point. Each of the past three tournaments we have made great improvements. It is only a matter of time until we bring it all together and leave with iron from the Ship...

Our two tourney balls for the weekend went out to Devin Hurtado and Brandon Peterson. Big Dev was relentless at the plate while Brandon took the hill in his first game as a Hurricane and sliced up Tabu while looking like he has been with us for years.

I gotta mention Todd Porter! Our props go out to Todd as his hard work is paying off. He was outstanding on the mound AND at the plate.

Manteca Heat...

Our tourney times for the weekend along with brackets for Sunday have been posted. Our first game is at 10:10 am at Wrigley field. Please be sure to be there and be there on time. For our first game, we will only have 9 players ( a 10th will be there for only part of the game). If you have any idea that you may not be able to make it or you will be late, please let me know SOON. We will be thin on Sunday as well! (We have a few out of town)

Our schedule for the weekend?   http://www.mantecaheat.com/11u_Baseball_Classic.html

Our first game is against the Tabu 11 year old team. They pitch extremely well and hit well. They have speed. Their win/loss record does not do them justice. I had many of these boys on my squad last year, and they are solid. Depending on the day they having, they are beatable- but should play tough knowing it's me they are after (I don't care if someone tells you it doesn't matter, because it does). Many of the parents and coaches I consider family, therefore I would want our boys to show well by playing with grit, guts and class.  After we play them, I will be routing for them. That is, until we play them again.

Practice tomorrow at 5:30. BP and a review of all plays... ground balls/fly balls. If you wish to wear shorts tomorrow, you may! (Just be sure to wear your warm-up top)

42

Jackie Robinson day...

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2009/04/15/2009-04-15_citi_field_rotunda_no_42_jerseys_honor_jackie_robinson_milestone.html

Three and out.

Something strange happened in baseball on Sunday... It happened with the Dodgers and D-Backs. The four -out rule was in effect. If a player, ANY player comes to practice Wednesday and can explain this rule and what happened in Sunday's game, he will be free from any running and/or push-ups for the day!

Gators 8, Canes 2. (Sunday, 4/5/09)

Sunday morning and for once we didn't have to be at the field at 7... 

As I mention in my last post, we left runners on. We had a few strike outs. The Gators played well and pitched out of crucial situations. Yada yada yada.. 

Our headline shows we went down 8-2, but really... we played pretty well. We had more purpose...  Although we lost by 6, this game was much closer than the score. Each inning we found ways to reach base and get in scoring position. We saw many pitches, crowded the plate when we should have and put tremendous pressure on the Gators.  In the dougout, our boys were "up" and in the game...

Vince Leon took the hill once more and did a pretty solid job of keeping the Gators in check. Vince ran into trouble in the 3rd, but overall, he is what kept us close. Although we managed to land many runners on base, The Gator's pitching never gave us the chance to breathe. We were only able to scatter 5 hits in 6 innings...

This tourney was the first tourney that we truly played to win. That being said, I was pretty happy with our squad. We now have had good defensive games- so we know we can play defense. We have pitched well-We know we can do that. We have had games where we have hit well- We can do that too. We now know that we can get through a game and be good team-mates. If there is anything missing, it is two things: base-running and a complete all-around game... These will come. When it happens once, it will be contagious.

Albany Gators 3, Canes 2 (Saturday, 4/4009)

Game two was against a pretty solid Albany Gators team that proved you don't have to be real physical, you just have to play WELL... They did just that. 

After two games against these guys, we must give them props. They didn't light us up with the bat. They just hit when they needed to. They were not tremendously fast. They just had the skill and the know how to run bases well. On the hill, they did not overpower us. They just threw strikes. Defensively, they made very few mistakes and forced us to leave 23 runners on base in two games. Can I say that again? 23 RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE. Now I cannot give them ALL for credit for that stat as we did help by striking out 13 times in 2 games, 9 times with runners in scoring position. Even knowing that, Their pitchers STILL had to pitch in pressure situations, and for the Gators, they came through. 

Enough about them...

Our first game against the Gators was well played. After starting a little slow, Devin Hurtado took control and relied on a solid defense to keep the game close, with us down 1-0 going into the 5th. In that 5th, Jelani Davis reached with a walk, then sole 2nd and third. After two strikeouts, Jelani was still on 3rd when CK Toribio drove him in with a single to left center (a 3-0 pitch). Vinnie Poole then crushed an 0-2 fastball about 300 feet to right for an easy triple. trouble was, his third base coach thought the double cut somehow would get screwed up and sent the poor kid home (he was exhausted) well, let's just say I still owe him a "fence-and-back". Unfortunately, that was the third out of the inning, and it was crucial. We were up 2-1. 

After the Gators responded with 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the 5th, We then got more runners on and in scoring position, but ran out of gas... We go down 3-2.

In the end, we seemed a little slow, a little tired and frankly, a little scared. I was disappointed with our team-mates in the last game as I felt we needed just a little bit more fire to win games like this. I told them to go home, get some sleep and come out Sunday with some purpose....

Canes 8, Solano Storm 2 (Saturday, 4/4/2009)

Against the Storm our Canes came out Bangin'... Game time was 8 am, and by 8:05 we were up 3-0. With Vince Leon on the hill and in control, we scored in each of the first four innings and never looked back. At the end of 6, our Hurricanes proved to be too much as we took home a solid 8-2 victory.

If there were two defensive keys to this game, it would be pitching and outfield. Our boys in the outfield have been challenged many times this year as teams have tried to stretch the extra bag only to get gunned by one of our tremendous arms. If you saw yesterday's post, I gave it the name "Martinez Madness" ...Well, it was madness alright. Yet another poor kid tried to take an extra base on one of our young-guns and another poor kid is sent back to the dugout. This time one of the opposing coaches was sent home as well. I overheard CK Toribio say: "Why get mad at the umpire and get tossed?"  "...Just stop trying to run on us."  Well said, Toribio.

On the hill, Vince was ON. In three innings of work he walked only ONE batter, gave up only ONE run on ONE hit. The only runner that scored got on base by error (on Vince). Leon did all this and kept his pitch count down to 27 pitches. 9 pitches an inning is AWESOME...

Not only did Vince pitch well, but our boy Jordan Barnum came in and was Dealin' as well-throwing only 27 pitches over 3 innings while only giving up 3 hits, 1 run and ZERO walks. Nice.

At the plate, CK Toribio, Kaya Lacey, Jack Brydon and Devin Hurtado all crushed the ball in this game. CK, Dev and Jack had 2 hits a piece while Devin scored twice. Kaya blasted a monster double...

Please check the calendar for the upcoming games. Next tourney is in Manteca. I will have June and July schedule soon. Please be sure to remind me of any weekends that do not work for you in those months. 

Helmets and bags should be in soon. Hopefully something shows up before the 18th!

See you tonight.

 

  

Martinez madness

Overall, our Canes had a solid outing in Martinez this past weekend. Without question, we wanted to finish the weekend with a trophy and our "gameness" in the last game was proof. 

We just ran into a team that made fewer mistakes...

We finished by winning one and losing two.

Game one started out strong as we came out swinging and put up three runs in the first inning against the Solano Storm. Todd Porter set the tone by leaving his breakfast at first base on his way to an extremely "Gutsy" performance for the day, and the weekend. Our boys made a number of nice plays as we had some great, breakout performances by many. For the weekend, Vinnie Poole, Vince Leon and Todd Porter all received Hurricane MVP baseballs.

Vinnie had an all-around fantastic tourney as he was solid behind the dish by throwing out runners and by taking command of our pitchers. On offense, he was just as solid going 3 for 7 with a triple, a double, 3 RBIs and a run scored. Once again, Vin lead by example, hustled and made sure that everyone knew that he was one of the top players around.

Vince Leon earned his ball with his stellar defense. Vince only gave up 6 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings pitched over 2 days. He picked off 3 runners with his sweet move to first (and one to third) - he actually had a runner picked at second for the "pick cycle" but sailed it to center... Once the boy was finished on the hill, he went onto Center field and was inches from gunning a runner at first base!!!! His pitching, work in center and hustle gave him a great weekend to build on. Great work, kid.

Todd Porter won our "great team-mate" ball this weekend as his toughness, pride and hustle cut a great path for the rest of us to follow. His first at-bat of the weekend was a single to center, followed by a brief barf session at first. Yeah, you read that right. He was not feeling well and tossed his cookies once he reached first base. Due to an odd, misinterpreted rule, he could not come out of the game... If he did, he was an out. So what did he do? What do THINK he did!!! He's a Hurricane! He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, put his helmet back on and scored on the next base hit. He then came out later in the day and pitched two solid innings for us. Unbelievable. his performance and leadership was outstanding. He never complained once. Thanks Todd. Or should I call you Ralph?

I will have more individual game info posted tomorrow. I'm out of time!!

I hear we may be rained out tomorrow. Hope not. If we are, I will see you Friday.

Game time, WOO!!!!

Game times for this weekend are posted on this link:  http://usssabaseball.yuku.com/topic/1750

Waterfront Park - Martinez
Park phone number 925-372-3551

From 680, take the Marina Vista Exit. Stay on Marina Vista, Go right on Ferry St

Our first game is at 8am!!!! Please be there BY 7:15!!!

Puget Sound Shockers 14, Canes 7. (3/15)

Our Sunday afternoon game against the Shockers (who came all the way from Washington) was a little messy, but something to build on.

We jumped up early with 2 runs on 4 hits in the top of the 1st and showed some true grit and guts to battle hard throughout. With a score of 7-7 going into the bottom of the 5th, the Shockers proved to be a little much for us a they ran off 5 runs to seal our fate and send us packing. The Shockers looked imposing, but our Canes showed to be more physical as we hit the ball harder, ran faster and seemed to be more aware. In the end, it came down to throwing strikes and a few ill-timed errors. Overall, we hit well and ran bases well. 

The (offensive) stats tell the story:

Shockers= 11 singles + 6 walks + 4 Hurricanes errors... and only ONE strike out. 

Canes = 12 singles + 2 walks +  2 Shocker errors... and TWO strikeouts.

We OUT hit them! But the walks, errors and whiffs proved to be too much to overcome.

- Notice I said "singles"... Once we convert a few singles to doubles, triples and HRs, we will be golden.

Once again, this Shocker team was solid. All the teams we played this weekend were very good, well coached teams. Although we came up short in all but one game, there has been some wonderful improvement.

Vinnie Poole, Roman Reed and Jordan Barnum each had 2 hits.

CK Toribio was 1 for 1 with a walk.

Kaya Lacey was 1 for 1 with a walk.

Vinnie drove in 2 runs and scored twice.

I must say, Mr. Poole has been straight raking the ball! This reminds me...

Starting this week, We will have "Tournament MVP" balls to give out. They will be given out based on offensive and defensive play, awareness, leadership and the plain-old gut feeling of your fearless leader...

Also this week, I am awarding game tokens to anyone who gets an extra-base hit. It

 must be legitimate; a single and a throwing error that lands our batter on second base does not count!!!!

When we win our first tournament, Vinnie's dad J.R. has pledged to allow the boys to shave his head. 

PYB Crushers 7, Canes 1. (3/15)

Hit.... If you were to ask a thousand people what wins baseball games, 90% of fans, players and coaches would say pitching. The other half would say hitting. for those of you paying attention, that is a new twist on an old joke...

Our boys really have played well lately. We may not "hitting" on all cylinders, but much of the sloppiness has passed.  In this game against the Crushers our bats were quiet and we had trouble with finding the plate. Anytime we have trouble throwing strikes, we could have a long day... Well, we had a long day. To make things worse, the Crushers only walked  2 and spread 2 errors among 3 hits in 6 innings. We issued 4 walks and 7 hits and tried to hide them somewhere within TWO innings. It really doesn't work th

at way. 

I'm not sure if our boys knew, but the Crushers were actually coming up and trying to hit from the opposite side of the plate... But I knew. We will not say or do anything at this point, but we will remember it. We will remember it and use that memory as a tool. We knew coming in that we would get bounced for a bit.We just need to learn from it. We will.

We will get our walks down, attack the baseball, play smarter, be faster and show more all-out hustle. 

Luck = hard work +opportunity.

Please don't get me wrong, talking about the negative is not something that I try make a habit of. Remember the lean times and never let it leave your memory. Motivation comes from many different places. If ever in the future we need a little more motivation, we can draw from some of our tougher games. This, was one of them.

CK was 1 for 2 with a walk

Vinnie was 1 for 2 with a walk

Jack was 1 for 3 

Justin was 1 for 1 with a run scored.

Our boys are learning more and more baseball each day. Many of them are right where they should be at this point, and at this age. The wins will come over time.

It could be worse... We could be Cubs fans.

Canes 7, Muckdogs 3 (3/14)

 Game two on Saturday and we looked like a completely different team. We won the toss and unconventionally, we chose to be visitors. Why? I don't know. I guess it just felt good. When we are hitting, I love to hit first to intimidate the other squad by starting the game with a whole gang of runs. So don't ask what I was thinking as we had exactly ONE HIT in the morning game...

But it worked.

Jordan Barnum led off with a single. Todd Porter dropped a bunt for a hit, then CK Toribio grounded to short and scored Jordan. Vinnie Poole drilled a base hit down the left field line to score Todd. Nice. Up two runs before the Muckdogs even warm up.  On Dee, Todd pitched extremely well to hold back the dogs as when he left in the fourth, we were up 3-2 as he scattered 4 hits and two walks in front of a very sound defense that played the entire game with ZERO errors. Jack Brydon closed out the final two innings on the hill striking out 2.

In the end, The Canes led the whole game and played solid through out. On offense, we swung at good pitches to hit and drove the ball. We ran bases well, never missed a sign and executed a few very nice bunts.  Defensively,  we made plays. In the first inning Jelani laid out for a ball down the line, picked it up, fired to Jordan who fired to Torin who then laid a quick tag on the runner trying to squeeze a double for the second out of the game. Our boys may not know how big this was- No other runners even attempted to try for two for the rest of this game... We only walked 2 runners. 

This was our best all around game as a squad.

Jack was 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.

Daniel Gates was 2 for 3 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored.

Vinnie went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs

Todd was 2 for 3 with a run scored and and RBI

Jordan went 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

Justin was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Slammers 9, Canes 0 (Saturday, 3/14)

Saturday's opener seemed to be a typical opener for us as of late. It took us until the 6th inning to come out of a deep sleep. Too bad the game didn't go 6 innings. Our Canes went down without much of a fight to a good Slammers team, 9-0. 

 Our boys really didn't play all that bad - We just didn't hit and gave up a few too many hits and walks on defense.

Roman had our only hit as we only managed to get 2 runners on board with nobody even reaching second base.

Bee's 5, Canes 4 (Sunday, 3/8/09)

     Our final game on Sunday was solid. Although we lost to a good Bees team 5-4, the game was well played and came down to the wire.

     Vince Leon took the hill for us and pitched his heart out. All day long the Bees were off balance as Vince mixed up his change up with a strong fastball to keep us in the game. Vince scattered 7 hits and 5 walks among 3 strikeouts to give up 4 runs in 5 innings pitched. Although the Bee's got a few runners on, Vince was quick to pick them off as he was able to use that nasty move to first to catch 5 runners sleeping... Devin came in to finish off the 6th and recorded another strikeout.

      On offense, our base running was key as we swiped many bases and took advantage of 1st and 3rd situations every chance we could. As a team, we scored 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 times. (Goal is only 2 per game, and soon to be ONE)

      Vinnie Poole continued to terrorize pitchers as he went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI and a run scored.

Hitting:

Hits: 2- Vinnie; 1 - Jordan Barnum, Todd Porter, CK Toribio and Devin Hurtado.

Doubles: 1 - Vinnie Poole

Runs: 1 - Jordan Barnum, Todd Porter, Ck Toribio and Vinnie Poole

RBI: 1 - Vinnie Poole

Walks: 2 - Justin Watts; 1 - Roman Reed.

Jordan recorded 4 outs and 3 assists on defense...

Practice Friday at 5:30 at American.

Our schedule for the weekend is posted and below...

http://www.nations-baseball.com/index.cfm?event=general.gameSchedule&eid=15389

Hurricanes 11, Die Hard 9. (Sunday, 3/8)

Our boys came out early and started Sunday off with a win as they took The DieHards 11-9 in 4 innings.

Behind some patience at the plate, some strong bats and solid base running, our Canes made sure this game was not as close as the score might show. After a 7 run first and 10 runs after 3, all our squad needed to do was make a few plays and run out the clock. They did just that. Roman pitched 2 1/3 innings while striking out 6 and giving up 4 hits. Jack pitched 1 full inning while getting a K and giving up only one hit. Vince closed the game giving up 2 hits and getting the final batter to pop-up to Todd in right. Vince also picked off another runner at 1st...

Devin led the Canes at the plate with 2 hits and two runs scored.

Hitting:

Devin Hurtado: 2-3, a double, 2 runs and 1 RBI

Todd Porter: 1-1 with a walk, 2 RBI and a run scored.

Vinnie Poole: 1-3 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs.

Jordan Barnum and CK Toribio both went 1-2 with walks and 2 runs scored each.

Kaya Lacey pulled 2 walks and scored once.

We only had 3 strikeouts... Our goal is TWO or less-

A brief reminder: Practice Thursdays, 5:30 at American.  Fridays 5:30 at American.

This weekend we play at Twin Creeks. First game is at 8 am. Please be there at 7. (Ouch)

We also Play Sunday at the same time.

Please remember to let me know if a player cannot make it to all games.

Delta dawgs 5, Canes 4.

Game two on Saturday against the Delta dawgs was a tough, well played and competitive ball game. Although we took the loss, it was something to build on. In the end, we went down 5-4 in a game that could have gone either way.

Devin pitched 4 solid innings, giving up 3 earned runs while allowing only 2 hits. He recorded 5 strikeouts. Daniel threw one inning allowing one hit and completed the inning by feeding a ground ball to Jack who turned a sweet 1-5-2 double play...

At the plate... Well, we have not been swinging- so we did not expect much...but don't tell Vin.

Vinnie was 2 for 2 with a walk, Jordan was 1 for 2 with a run scored.

Everyone else was 0-16 with 7 walks and 10 strikeouts... Glad we had some DEEE.

I have to send some love to Roman as he caught a solid game, was drilled in the face with a fastball and not only shook it off, but he took his base and stayed in the game. The next morning (his next at-bat) he drove the fourth pitch over the left fielder's head. I can't begin tell you how wonderful this is. If you don't know, if a kid gets hit in the face with a pitch- many times it will end any aspirations of playing baseball again; not because of the physical damage, but because of the psychological effect. Most kids would have a really tough time just getting back in the box....

Atta Boy, Rome.

Athletics 18, Canes 0. (Ouch)

I wondered if we would be a little rusty after rarely getting together for the past month... "Rusty" doesn't quite explain how we looked in the first game. In the end, It was ugly and we were sent home early. 

18-0.

Nuff said.

Rain out!

Due to rain, flooded and muddy fields, Our Tracy tournament has been cancelled. Enjoy your weekend.

See you Wednesday.

Ray Fosse

For those of you that might be in the Danville area Friday between 5 and 7pm (if we do not have practice), Ray Fosse will be at the Talkin' Baseball memorabilia dealership in Danville. My friend Ken Brison will have Ray as a guest as the former A's catcher will be signing autographs. Talkin' baseball will also be giving away a 12 ball set of autographed balls from the 2007 Oakland A's starting lineup and tickets to the A's - Giants exhibition game this year. Autographs are free with the purchase of a picture or baseball...

Outside of these parts, many fans remember Ray as the catcher that Pete Rose injured in a controversial collision at the plate in the 1970 All-Star game; but around here he is known for much, much more. Currently, Ray is a TV and radio announc

er for the Oakland A's. He was also a catcher for the 73' and 74' Oakland teams that won back to back to back World Championships. Mr. Fosse won a Gold Glove in 1970 and 1971. The link between the Ray and the Bay Area is deep in many ways. Not only did he play for the Oakland A's (as well as the Indians, the Mariners and

 Brewers) but he has a special tie to Fremont that he might not even know... He caught 

Dennis Eckersley's no-hitter on May 30th, 1977. As many of you know, Dennis Eckersley played his little league and high school ball in Fre

mont! Not only did the Washington High graduate Throw to Fosse in 77' as a member of the Cleveland Indians, but they were joined again when Fosse was the announcer and the "Eck" was the closer for the Athletics in the late 80's and 90's. 

What time is it?

Our schedules are up for the weekend. Let's be ready to roll Saturday. Game time is 11am. Tracy Sports complex. Please arrive an hour early. Be sure to look for a text for a change of time, or fields (or even cancellation) if rain persists. Until it is called officially due to rain, please do not assume we are cancelled as crazy things can happen!!!

Here is the link to the Tourney...

http://www.nations-baseball.com/index.cfm?event=general.gameSchedule&eid=8499

Canes 6, CenCal 4 (1/31/09)

Our Superbowl weekend started well. We won the first game 6-4 and struggled to find ourselves in the next two. We finished 1-2 for the weekend with plenty to think about and work on in the coming weeks.

Game one against the CenCal Outlaws was well played by both teams as Vince Leon and Todd Porter combined to pitch and win a 6-4 game. 

Vince kept our squad within striking distance as he pitched 4 solid innings with 2 strikeouts and only 2 walks. CenCal jumped up early and scored two quick runs in the bottom of the first but that was all Vince would give up as he held 'em down by throwing strikes and picking off runners.

Down 2-1 going into the 5th we got what we needed. A couple of walks, a mad bunt by CK Toribio, a balk, an RBI from Jelani Davis capped off with a 2 run single by Jordan Barnum and our Hurricanes go up for good. 

CenCal did mange to scare us as they made a bit of a comeback when they were able to load the bases in the bottom of the 6th only to hit a ground ball to Jordan who made a wonderful game clinching force to seal the victory. 

Defense and holding runners was key to this game. Although we did not hit well, we made some excellent plays in the field to hold off a tough CenCal team.

Game changers of the game:

Pitching: 

Vince: 4 innings, 2 k's, 1 walk 2 earned runs. 2 more runners picked.

Todd: 2 innings, 3 k's,  2 walks. 

Hitting:

Justin Watts: 1 for 1 with a walk and an RBI

Kaya Lacey: 1 for 1 with a run scored

CK Toribio: 1 for 1 with a run scored

HR's... 0

3b....... 0

2b....... 0

1b........ (1) Jordan, Justin, Torin Nelson,  Kaya and CK

RBI: Jordan - (2)

Runs: Roman Reed, Vince, Jelani, CK, Kaya and Jordan

Stolen bases: Jordan -  (1)

If you have pictures for the game, please send them or download to our picasa!

Top of his game

Do you know what the requirements are to be President? Three things. You must be older than 35. Both you OR your parents must have been born in the US. And finally, you must be a BASEBALL FAN.
That's right. It doesn't matter what your profession was BEFORE you were president. It doesn't matter what school you went to. You didn't have to been born rich, or into a presidential family. Now it helps if you are or were a Lawyer (although Carter grew peanuts and Reagan was an actor)... And It helps if you went to an IVY league school, as five went to Harvard and three went to Yale... It REALLY helps if your Daddy was president (GW)... but it is almost impossible to get elected if you are not a baseball fan.

After all, who would vote for someone who doesn't like baseball? It's America's game. I got pictures to prove it. So... if you ever run into a President and run out of things to talk about ( I wouldn't talk about the economy, as it may be a sore subject) you can always talk about baseball. 
Mr. President- If you are reading this, who do you like to take the AL East this year?

Game time!

Super Weekend Invite at BLD
January 31 - February 1, 2009

Schedules for 11U - Open Division -


1 Sat 01/31/09 9:00 AM BLD Manteca Polo Hard 90 Phenom II vs. Bay Valley Bombers (orange)
2 Sat 01/31/09 11:10 AM BLD Manteca Polo Fresno Blue Devils #1 vs. Bay Valley Bombers (orange)
3 Sat 01/31/09 1:20 PM BLD Manteca Polo Hard 90 Phenom II vs. Fresno Blue Devils #1
4 Sat 01/31/09 3:30 PM BLD Manteca Polo San Ramon Bombers vs. CenCal Outlaws
5 Sat 01/31/09 5:40 PM BLD Manteca Polo CenCal Outlaws vs. West Coast Hurricanes
6 Sat 01/31/09 7:45 PM BLD Manteca Polo San Ramon Bombers vs. West Coast Hurricanes
1 Sun 02/01/09 8:00 AM BLD Manteca Polo Seed #3 vs. Seed #3
2 Sun 02/01/09 10:10 AM BLD Manteca Polo Seed #1 vs. Seed #2
3 Sun 02/01/09 12:20 PM BLD Manteca Polo Seed #1 vs. Seed #2
4 Sun 02/01/09 2:30 PM BLD Manteca Polo Winner Game #2 vs. Winner Game # 3

Nevada Outlaws 7, Canes 5

Sunday. 8 in the morning. I am surprised our boys look as ready as they do.

We actually win the toss. CK Toribio (Co-Captain for the tournament) tells the umpire we hit first.

We start the game with Jordan Barnum getting on first with a walk. Another balk, ground ball and a strikeout and Jordan is sitting on third with 2 outs. Vinnie Poole walks up to the plate and looks for a sign. I give him nothing. I said something like "Drive the ball, Vin..." So he did. He crushed the first pitch he saw over the left-fielder's head for a stand-up triple. Man that boy has a beautiful swing... We are up 1-0. Roman on the hill and like the others, needs an inning or so to knock the rust off. We find ourselves down 5-1 after two with the Outlaws getting a little too relaxed. What was nice about our boys is they stayed loose and confident. They knew they could come back... it was just a matter of when.

Top 3, Jelani Davis gets on first with a walk, moves to third with his speed and a wild pitch. Two batters later and Jordan smokes a single up the middle for the RBI. Roman Reed shuts 'em down in the third. Still 5-2. Top 4 and Vinnie and CK get drilled. Hmmm. Our number 4 hitter who just hit a triple gets drilled? Someone in my head has to remind me they are 11 and to just let it go... Another walk by Vince Leon, an RBI ground out by Daniel Gates, a two-run base-hit by Roman and the Canes have a tie ball game on their hands. Roman is on second while Devin Hurtado drives a single to right. We should have scored the go ahead run, but I held Lil' Rome at third. I don't know what I was thinking, but it happened. We close the inning at a 5-5 tie.

The Outlaws break through in the bottom of the 4th and put up two runs on a walk and base hit...
Top 5 with 1 out when Kaya Lacey belts a triple down the right field line. Big Kaya gave us some hope, but the Outlaws' closer was too good on this day as he blew threw the next two outs to give his Outlaws the win, 7-5.

Overall, we walked away pretty happy. We played a solid team (they went on to win the tourney) and stayed within range although we used very little strategy and made many tough, although correctable mistakes.

Pitching:

Roman Reed - 3 Inn, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3bb
Jelani Davis - 1/3 inn, 1 bb 1 Run
Jack Brydon - 2/3 inn, 1 run, 1 hit.


Hitting:

Roman Reed - 1 for 1, 2 RBI and a walk.
Vinnie Poole - 1 for 1, triple, run, RBI
Devin Hurtado - 1 for 1, walk
Jordan Barnum - 1 for 2, run, walk, RBI
Kaya - 1 for 2, triple

HR: 0
Triples: Vinnie Poole, Kaya Lacey
Doubles: 0
RBI: 2- Roman Reed, 1 - Vinnie Poole , Jordan Barnum and Daniel Gates



Don't forget practice tonight at the Lake. 5:30.

Outlaws 5, Canes 4

Game two on Saturday was exciting, to say the least. We go head-on against a team that was undefeated in at least five tournaments. The Outlaws are the top team in Nevada.

We lost the toss, but as I said before, we are playing mind games here- we actually won... right? Well, not this time. This kid on the mound was pretty solid. Nice fastball, solid change AND a curveball he threw for strikes. First inning and he strikes out two Canes and leaves Jordan stranded as Jordan reached on a walk...

Vince Leon took the hill for us and threw quite well. He walked the lead off batter, but never walked another. His pitching kept us in the game. After two innings, he gave up only one run on one hit and struck out two. We pick up one run in the 3rd, as CK Toribio reached on a walk, stole a couple of bags (actually got picked at first and beautifully beat the throw to second) With Jordan on first and Ck on third, we score on a balk. At the bottom of the inning, the Outlaws put together a couple of hits, steal a bag and then it happens. Vince pulled out the new move to first. Runner picked. Two outs. Vince then figured he would let the next guy get on base with a hit, then just pick him off with the new move. So he did. Runner picked. Third out. Vince gets out of a tough inning with minimal damage, but we are down 3-1 and we need some hits.

Top of the 4th and we get what we need. With one out, Daniel Gates hits a ground ball to the shortstop who overthrows first (Dan would have beat the throw anyway). Vince comes up and helps out his own cause by smashing a triple down the first base line to score Daniel. One pitch later and Roman Reed crushes a single to left that scores Vince. After a ground out, CK drives in Roman with a single to left center. In another blink of an eye, we are up 4-3 with the Outlaws wondering what hit 'em... Vince proceeds to blow through the next inning 1-2-3 and take us to the top of the 5th with that 4-3 lead in tact. After a three and out by us as well, Daniel takes the hill in the fifth and although he strikes out three, we give up one run on a walk and a rare error. Tie ball game. 

Top of the sixth and we go down in order... The Outlaws only chance to get us was if we were to beat ourselves. After a sweet double play on a snatched line drive by Roman we had them where we wanted them. 2 out and Daniel throwing gas? Who wouldn't want that? Before we know it, a runner is on and he gets to third after swiping two bags... That chance of the Outlaws getting to us on our own mistakes? It happened. I'll just say that all of our boys saw what happened and I am sure they will use it as an expensive lesson.

We go down but have our heads up. Outlaws 5, Canes 4.

Pitching: 

Vince Leon: 3 k's, 5 hits and a walk with 2 earned runs in 4 innings.
Daniel Gates: 3k's, 4 walks and 2 un-earned runs on zero hits in two innings.

Hitting:

Roman Reed 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored.
Vince Leon 2 for 3 with a triple, a run and an RBI.

HR's: None
Triples: Vince Leon
Doubles: None
RBI's: CK Toribio, Vince Leon and Roman Reed.


Next: we face the same Outlaw team. 8am. Sunday.

Canes 12, Rays 6.

Game one in Manteca on Saturday and we took on the Valley Rays. Game time was 11:15. Cloudy and about 60 degrees.

We loose the flip.

Little do the Rays know, we wanted to loose that flip. Seriously. We want to come out Bangin' first. Okay, it goes like this... An ideal first game for the Canes: We come out bangin' first, put up ridiculous, serious runs and demoralize the other team before they even get to hit... So we win no matter what. If we win the toss, we call for visiting team. We hit first. If we loose, the other team wants to be home team (like most should) and we hit first anyway. We win again. In order for this to really work in our favor, we must come out bangin'...

Top of the first, we are nervous. Jordan leads off and as I think of it, (you are in my head now) he has only played a hand full of games in tournaments where players can actually take leads. What did I do? Did I put him in an no-win situation? He's on a new team, playing a new game and I load up the pressure and force him to lead off the first game of our very first tournament. What was I thinking? Should I make a change before he takes a pitch? Too late. He's looking at me for a sign... I tell him to hit away. First pitch and Jordan looks like he has been doing this for years. He drives the ball up the middle. Base hit. Nice. I start to think... Why would I ever doubt Jordan?

Jordan steals second as CK now has a 1-1 count. Third pitch to CK and he pounds a double deep over the left and center fielder's heads. Two batters later, CK is on third when Vinnie drills the pitcher with the hardest line drive I have ever seen. CK scores. After some tears, the pitcher is found to be OK but needed to change his shorts. We lead 2-0. The other team has seen a glimpse of the storm to come and they are freaked. Our Coin toss theory proved well. So far...

Devin takes the hill and after two strike outs, we get out of the first with that 2-0 lead in tact. Second inning. Todd on first with a walk. Torin rakes the third pitch down the line for an RBI triple. Justin follows with a double to knock in Torin. Bottom 2 and we are up 4-0... We are now rollin. 90 miles per hour. Then... the wheels come off. A few walks, a couple of hits, a pitching change and couple more walks and a base hit given up by Torin, and we are down 5-4. We come to bat and go down 1-2-3. Uh-Oh. How are the boys going to react? Will they fold? Can they handle it? Jack takes over on the mound after one more run and we go into the 4th down 6-4. Gut check time.

I am now worried about the time. This game has taken a while and we need to wake up. Quick.

Right after I look at my watch, Devin comes up and wastes no time blasting a ball over the right fielder and to the fence. Home Run! Home Run! This boy hit the ball so far he he even had time to do a hip roll between 2nd and 3rd, get up and finish running home. 6-5 game. Back to back doubles by Vince and Daniel, a single by Jelani, then 2 more doubles by Jordan and CK. Just like that, we are back on top 10-6. Two more runs added in the 5th and Jack finishes the game on the hill with very little trouble... Hurricanes win 12-6.

On the hill Devin had 4 k's, 3 walks and gave up 2 hits. Torin gave up 3 walks and 2 hits. Jack had a strikeout, 1 walk and a hit.

At the plate, Jordan was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 runs scored.

CK was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.

HR: Devin
3B: Torin
2B: CK (2), Jordan, Vince, Daniel and Justin
RBI: Torin 3, CK 2


Next: The Outlaws. Did you know they have never lost? They are the top team in Nevada... Here we go.

Nice.

I am so proud of our club. We came into this tourney knowing we have potential, but unsure of how we would perform right out of the blocks. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised.

We showed up today.

I really thought our boys played as though they have been playing games for months. We made very few mistakes, came through in many clutch situations, and threw a lot of strikes. It was a very nice beginning.

Props go out to our pitchers today - Devin had 4 k's in 2 1/3 innings, Vince threw 4 innings with only 1 walk and 3 k's. Daniel threw 3 k's in 2 innings while not giving up a hit.

Defensivley, Jordan made a few wonderful plays a short, Devin and Vin ran solid games behind the dish, Torin had 5 put-outs at second, Roman had a great defensive game with a nice leaping double play

At the plate, Jordan, CK and Vince had 3 hits each, CK and Torin had 3 RBI's, Devin crushed an HR, Vince and Torin had triples, CK had 2 doubles...

Let's get more tomorrow!!!!


If anyone took pictures, send them to me. I will upload them to this page!

Now taking the hill...

Do the Wellman

I saw and posted this last year and I still love this video... This has got to be one of the greatest meltdowns in baseball history. The rosin grenade was a perfect toss.
Please do me a favor and tackle me if I ever loose it like this job does. I really don't want my most famous moment in my coaching career to be a YouTube video of me in an all-out army crawl at Twin Creeks... But Really, who knows if this was a stunt to get more fans out to the park or not, but I hear it worked (those minor league guys will do anything). Heck, if this is what it takes to fill our stands in the dead of winter, I'll do it!

Rock you like a Hurricane

I had a great time last night. All the food, music and friends made it fantastic. The only thing that would have been better would have been to have more friends there OR for ME to win the poker game! In the end, Coach John outlasted all of us and now has bragging rights until next month. On a side note: In a wonderful, "team-first" move, Big John donated his winnings to the Hurricanes!!! ( You are a much better man than I...)
The boys were full on in concert mode playing Rock Band and rockin out well past midnight. I didn't realize our boys were some of the best musicians around...

Do fries come with that...

One of the signs of a well prepared team is the handshakes. Well, I guess a team doesn't have to be really prepared to have good handshakes and having a good shake doesn't mean a team can win, but I am sure in some weird way it probably helps. I will also assume if a team doesn't even shake hands, they probably don't win much.

So what comes first? The wins, or the shakes? With me being extremely baseball superstitious, I think we need to get our shake on.

(Be sure to pause the music player at the bottom of the page when watching a video...)

The Greatest...

Growing up in the Bay Area, I had the privilege of being 10 years old when Rickey Henderson was a Rookie with the A's. His first years with the A's were my first real years as a baseball fan. I sat in the Left Field bleachers at more A's games between the age of 10 and 14 than I have in all the years since. Many kids around these parts that were around my age idolized Rickey, and I was no exception. I had every Rickey Henderson baseball card. I think I still do. My batting stance as a 12 year old was a mix between Rickey Henderson and Rod Carew. I once to tried to snap my glove after a catch just as Rickey did back in the day and completely missed the ball only to have it bounce off my face. Perhaps the greatest story I have of Rickey was just a couple of years ago as I was at a playoff game when the A's were playing the Red Sox at the coliseum. I got up to go to the jam packed restroom between innings and Rickey was in line. After a few minutes, Rickey was at the big white bath-tub looking urinal and it started. One guy yells out "RICKEY'S IN THE HOUSE!..." Then it REALLY started... The whole restroom (about 100 of our closest friends) start chanting. RICK-EEE! RICK-EEE! RICK-EEE!... Hilarious. What I can't believe is he was actually able to pee under all that pressure. Now THAT's a true Hall of Famer.


I hope he goes into the Hall wearing Green and Gold... With white cleats.

Almost Ready...

A couple of wins would sure go well with our new jerseys...

Just go with it Ron...

Practice this past weekend was pretty solid. Now that we are back in the hitting tunnels and getting quality swings along with further work on our pitchers, catchers and team plays, I couldn't be happier. We must have many more great practices to get to the level we should be playing at. Like it or not, we need to take our game to a couple of tourneys for our boys to have a few weaknesses exploited. Yeah that's right- I said it- a little beat down would be good for them... Seriously, have you heard these guys lately? We have a team full of boys that don't stop gabbing and Yappin their mouths. They talk trash... Xbox, girls, music, football, Rock band... just about everything but baseball. DURING PRACTICE. It drives me crazy, but at the same time I kinda like it. I couldn't have dreamed of a team getting along better. For all the reasons it is difficult to quiet them down and get them to pay a little more attention, are the very same reasons why I think they could do extremely well.
As for me talking about beat downs... Do I really want them to get bounced in their first tourney? Not at all. But something funny happens when these boys get serious. They are good. They are good and they know they are good. I truly believe we are loaded with some of the best athletes around. It will not be until they learn all of our team plays and terminology that they will be good together. It may take a little beat down to realize they need less jibber-jabber and more focus. Until then, I am reminded that these boys are not out here to change the world. They are out here to have fun...