8 2
Strong pitching by Alex against the team whose coach cut him from the All-star team got the season rolling. Mike E. debutted at catcher in place of soccer-playing backstop Mike S.

22 3
Wow. The Mets actually scored 4 runs, but scorekeepers do make mistakes, not that it would've mattered. The hitting really showed up for this game. In fairness to the Mets, all of their practices prior to this game were rained out.

20 1
This game was honestly decided after four batters when James CRUSHED a ball over the fence in right field for a grand slam. Ian pitched one inning for the win after starter Alex was removed with an injury, sustained after 3B Mike E. threw the ball to him when he wasn't looking. Coaches determind after this game that they had a talented if not-too-bright club.

11 7
The team won a very sloppy game, threw to the wrong bases, made several mental errors, fell asleep frequently while in the field. The hitting stayed strong and Mike Squizzatto pitched well in relief for the win.

9 4
The score actually belies how close this game was. The Pirates had the bases loaded a couple of times, but the defense was fairly solid as we equalled our record for wins in a season.

3 2(8 inn.)
Became the last team to lose a game as an awful, AWFUL call by the plate umpire sent this game into extra innings. We led this game 2-1 through 6 2/3 innings and a 3-2 count on the "last" batter. I hate to blame umpires, but this one hurt.

5 2
One of the best games I've ever seen at this age level. Very few mistakes by both teams and great defense by both sides. The game took less than one hour, twenty minutes to play.

13 6
The offense continued to impress in this game against an improved Mets club. 8-year-old Jermain got to pitch late in this one, and although he got touched up for four runs (not entirely his fault), he should be one of our pitchers of the future.

7 6
I hate it when that happens... One of the biggest upsets in league history. Everything was going fine until the seventh (and last) inning. Tobias, not in our normal rotation, got the start and pitched well... until the seventh. Then the wheels fell off, etc. etc. and our 3-0 lead evaporated into a 7-3 deficit. We almost pulled it out in the last of the 7th, but it was not to be, and the Phillies improved to 2-7. In retrospect, only very good teams are victims of such upsets.

6 2
This was a nice confidence booster, as we won the battle of the 7-2 teams. Alex pitched another great game and timely hitting was delivered by David, Ian and James.

7 3
A well played game that was over half an hour shy of curfew because of solid pitching and defense by both sides. The difference was, once again, in our heavy lumber/aluminum.

9 9
The Night the Strike Zone Died. This was a brutal game courtesy of an umpire whose vocabulary does not include the words "called strike". The 18 runs were scored on a total of about six hits. This was your basic Walk-a-Thon. We trailed early 5-1, thanks to some lax defense and the excessive walks, but quickly took the lead after what seemed like an endless streak of walks. Leading 9-7 in the last inning, the Giants scored a pair, both of whom had (you guessed it) walked. Fortunately Alex tagged out the winning run about six feet from home for the last out of a game that lasted almost two and a half hours.

9 3
A solid outing by Mike E., with mop-up work by Mike S., who allowed 1 runner and struck out 5 in two innings. Again the defense was surprisingly good for a group of ten year-olds.

7 5
This one was sweet, as we finally beat the Dodgers, a team that has knocked us out of the playoffs on far too many occasions. Although, the coaching staff didn't help too much at one point. James started, and was shaky early, giving up 3 runs. We quickly got those back against a tough pitcher and the league's home run leader. Alex later relieved James, and the game became a tight defensive struggle. In about the fifth inning, Alex had a man on first with the pitcher coming up, already having hit a homer off Alex earlier in the year. Confidently Joel and I sprung our master plan: Put in James again. A big hard throwing lefty against the lefthanded hitter. I know playing the percentages in Little League sounds a bit over-the-top, but what the heck. With confidence we called for James. Two pitches later, an ill-placed fastball went screaming over the fence. Fortunately, the team bailed bailed out their coaches in the bottom half of the inning. Tobias, Ian , Jeff, Chris, The Mikes and everybody else scratched out walks and infield singles, and we fought back for four runs and the win.

15 4
The day we clinched the division. Mike E. pitched a shutout, until his Dad arrived. (Isn't that always the way?) James hammered a ball off the center field fence, and everyone around continued the hitting too, including Hawaz and Scott. The division title is the first of the "modern" era (1992-)

16 7
The Giants are an aptly named team, and have prompted such questions from the parents as "Are they in the same division as us?" For the first few innings their hitters were consistently air mailing balls over the heads of our outfielders. Since they seemed to have Alex's number, we went to Mike E., who pitched very well. By the top of the seventh, we trailed 7-6, in part due to the fact that our fielders were booting the ball around like the Italian national soccer team. But once again the bats and some luck helped us score 10 runs in our seventh. Mike S. saved the game and went 3-4 with three booming doubles.

10 3
Not the ideal way to end the season. Once again the Dodgers' pitcher hit a homer, once again the fielders played hacky-sack and even the hitters struggled, failing to collect a single hit. All of the big bats seemed to be slumping, and the play in the field was for the second straight game, remarkably lethargic, as Joel shouted "Wake up!" to the entire team about four times over the course of the game. What a nice way to go into the playoffs.

4 3
One of the best played games this year and possibly ever. The defense looked well-recoverd from the Dodgers disaster, and Alex took the mound with a vengeance. He looked very strong, shutting down a lineup that had rattled him a few games before. The Giants played impeccable defense as well. This was a bad combination along with our slumbering lumber, as we were held scoreless through four. The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the inning, although some good outfield play made sure it was only two. Finally, after much coaxing from the coaching staff, the players began to SWING their bats, rather than try to draw walks on called strikes. Mike E. walked and stole second. Alex followed with a double, scoring Mike. After two quick outs, Mike S. hammered a pitch into the gap in left scoring Alex and tying the game. We scratched out the go-ahead run on some very good baserunning and contact hitting by Chris and Hawaz, who would later make a run-saving catch. Jermain also had an excellent game, despite playing with an injury. The Giants refused to die and scored a run of Mike S. In the seventh inning we again managed to score, thanks to Alex's third hit, and in the bottom of the inning, Ian recovered a bobbled grounder and made the third out, with the tying run on third. This game proved to be quite the cardiovascular workout for the coaches, but the hitting must be more aggresive.

2 0
Our first game without Tobias, who moved South of the border to Washington D.C., was a good one, but the hitting which had carried us for so much of the year continued its slump. The Dodgers pitcher tossed three no-hitters during the year, and we've always had trouble with this team. The pitching and defense was superb. James struck out the side in the first, including the opposing pitcher, who, for the first time this year didn't hit a homer off us. The two runs scored on a couple of walks, errors and a base hit, although the defense was very good otherwise. Mike S. collected both of our hits and threw out about six would-be base-stealers. We need a better effort from the offense or our season will be over very quickly. In the words of Joel: "If you don't swing, we can't win."

9 8(9 inn.)
A remarkable game, in which a short-handed Reds club, minus Jay, Tobias and Mike S. showed a lot of heart, and just kept coming back. The bad news started early as the Giants racked up a 4-0 lead, almost exclusively on passed balls and missed plays at the plate. The hitting finally came around, and began chipping away at a very fine pitcher for the Giants. With two outs in the fourth, Chris legged out an infield hit on a very close play at first (which the Giants coaches will think was wrong until the end of time, but which he clearly beat out). This drove in a run, and set up an RBI triple by Alex to cut the lead to 4-3. Alex later stole home to tie the score. James relieved Alex, who pitched very well, to pitch to the heart of the Giants order. He handled them, but walks, errors and a bloop single pushed across two runs, and we trailed 6-4 heading into the last of the seventh. James lead off and walked, later stealing second (!). Scott followed, and looked overmatched, until he managed to fight off a fastball to stay alive. One pitch later he hammered a pitch to the gap in right field for an RBI double. Scott moved to third as Jeff awoke from his slump and managed a ground ball. With one out Hawaz came up and the infield moved in. After fouling off a number of pitches, Hawaz hit a scratch single just by the pitcher, scoring Scott and keeping the season alive. The score remained tied until the top of the ninth when the defense again became unglued, I think, largely because of the darkness. The lighting on the Tyke diamond is poor, especially over the infield(!), and a pair of ground balls were fluffed in the shadows. The convenor of the league insisted the game continue, because it required a winner. However, the coaches of both teams agreed that had the game been tied after nine innings, we would have mutually called it. The Giants lead 9-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, but again we came back, taking advantage of some wild relief pitching to load the bases and then walk in a pair of runs. With two outs and the bases loaded Jermain, the youngest player on the team came to bat. (You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried) After a tough at-bat, Jermain hit a hot shot down to third base, where the third baseman handled it and stepped on third ahead of Hawaz to end the game and our season, as well as an excellent game. The Giants went on to beat the Cardinals in the finals.

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