VS Centennial Freshman

Weather: Perfect high 60's low 70's. Sunny.
Starting Pitcher: Myles Kelley
Reliever: Salman Khan

As freshman games go, this one had it's ups and downs. Let's start off with some of the downs... get 'em out of the way.
When a batter is Hit By a Pitch, it will be scored in the stat book as HBP, and then the stat keeper will draw a line to first base.
There are two school's of thought on HBP's:
One is that the batters will be nervous to go up to the plate because they don't want to get hit, thus making them less likely to hit the ball when a strike is thrown.
The second is that the team being hit doesn't really care because they know it's a free pass to get on base. (and we don't throw all that hard at this level, so it's not going to hurt for long)
We've been working with Kelley on control and the first few innings showed why. Myles hit 4 batters through three innings. Looking at that stat may make some think he's a wild pitcher. But honestly he's not. It's just experience. And through the course of the game he became more comfortable on the mound and threw many strikes.
I also teach pitchers to throw to contact. Make them beat us by hitting the ball. Myles only walked 1 batter through his 5 and 1/3 innings. They can just hit it. With over 12 hits the Centennial team proved to be a better hitting freshman group. And we know now that we have to improve to keep pace.
The UP's- This game proved that even as young as we are, we can make plays. I was proud of only one error all day and some great catches in the outfield. At the plate I was excited when Centennial moved there infielders onto the grass when Freshman C.G. Facer was at bat. C.G. came through and hit 2 singles over there heads. A nice "In Your Face" to them!

Coaches comments: In my limited time here in Urbana, I didn't know what teams were natural rivals, which teams that these players grew up with and want nothing more then to beat.

With the move made at the end of the game gave me a very good reason to add this team to the top of the list of rivals.
With the Tigers down 12-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning. It was very disrespectful to me, my players, and the parents in the stands, when a right handed player for the other team turned around and batted left handed. It was clear to me that it was a joke to the players and coaches on the other team, and in the context of a freshman game- a game to learn and gain experience for players not normally in the line-up was not the place to do such a thing.
I don't blame the young player for asking or trying to bunt to get on base. What frustrated me was the Coaching staff allowed that to happen. When it was clear that he wasn't It just motivates me that much more to beat these guys in the future.

We have winnable games against Monticello, Villa Grove, and MacArthur still on the schedule this week, let's start a winning streak!
Go Tigers.