Final Thoughts 6/14/2005 (by Mr. T.)

Note: as the title indicates, what you read in this Coaches' Note are my opinions and mine alone. Mr. B. may agree or disagree with what I say here. He is definitely welcome to weigh in with his own thoughts at any time.

Please forgive me if I babble a bit here. I'm working a stream on consciousness here.

Wow. I cannot believe the season is over already. It seems like just yesterday that Mr. B. and I were in his house discussing whom we should try to draft. The draft itself was also at his house later the same day. In a lot of respects, we didn't have much to go on; we saw some of you at the tryouts, that helped some. A lot was word of mouth and what we remembered of what we saw of you last year.

After these kind of "blind" drafts I always wonder about some things. Yes, what is the talent level of these girls? But more importantly, I wonder: what are these girls personalities going to be like? Will they listen to what the coaches have to say and be respectfull to them? Will they get along with each other? Will they be team players?

Well, call it a blessing or whatever, you girls win the gold medal on all accounts. All of you. You all were great (and easy) to coach, you payed attention and listened to the coaches. But as I said, more important than just the softball stuff, you are all great people. Not just kids, but people. I have a great deal of respect for each and every one of you. It was a pleasure and an honor to be your coach.

As for the softball part of things, I am very proud of you for that as well. You played hard all season long. You should be proud of yourselves for finishing second this season.

Random thoughts:

For the 16 year olds who can no longer play in ARA (Rachael, Bridgette, Wendy, and Jenny Schratz): thank you for the time you played in ARA. I hope you enjoyed it.

For the girls that are on 14U All-Stars: congratulations. I wish I was going to be there with you in the tournament. I wish you all the best of luck.

For all you: I wish the best for you in the future. If I decide to be a coach again next season, I hope I see you all playing again. Hopefully for the team I'm on! It will be difficult to play against you.

Final kudos to:

• Jenny Rose Bridgens, for her grim determination to win.
• Rachael Bridgens, for coming back at the end of the season (and playing well). I will never forget her helping the team by coming in to pitch in the last inning of a playoff game.
• Jackie Hamer, always hustled, always was determined and showed tremendous improvement throughout the season.
• Julia Kozak, was a great pitcher all season long and her hitting improved by leaps and bounds.
• Jeannine Mason, one of the best arms I've seen and definitely the best right fielder I've ever coached.
• Bridgette McMahon, the schedule conspired against her, but she had a great attitude and gave her all for the team.
• Megan Murphy, was a great catcher (The Wall), and had a great ability to get on base often.
• Brittany Roth, was a spark to our team every game she played.
• Jenny Schratz, was slowed by an injury, but gave great effort all season long.
• Jess Schubach, another quiet one, was an awesome player both at bat and in the field.
• Wendy Shapiro, the schedule REALLY worked against her; she knew how to play the game, she didn't have to be coached very much.
• Megan Stewart, incredibly quiet, but one of the best hitters (and baserunners) that I have ever seen.
• Brittany Williams, last but not least, was always smiling, cheering on her teammates, and even though was moved to several positions throughout the season, did not complain and took the changes with grace.

Take care, ladies. I will miss you.

Mr. T.

Championship Game vs. Racers 6/12/2005 (L 11-9)

I'm not sure I know what to say. You girls put up a gallant fight, and for most of the game, I thought you had them.

Kudos to:

• Megan M., (AKA The Wall, three hits, two runs, and great defense at catcher.
• Brittany R., two hits.
• Megan S., two hits.
• Jess, a triple (one of the longest hits of the year), a line-out that she was robbed on, and pitched a fantastic game (only four walks).
• Jeannine, two hits and threw out two more batters at first base from right field.

We are very proud of you all for finishing in second place! You should all be very proud of yourselves as well. Congratulation, girls!!!

Mr. B and Mr. T

Playoff Game vs. Thunder 6/11/2005 (W 14-11)

What can we say except a great effort by all and:

We won!!!

Kudos to (from memory, stats are not done yet):

• Rachael, game ball for coming in to pitch in the last inning with the game on the line and getting the last two outs.
• Megan S., game ball for four hits with several runs batted in.
• Julia, for pitching nearly the entire game in the heat.
• Megan S., for catching the entire game.
• The TEAM,for coming up big when it counted.

We are so proud of you girls, no matter what happens tomorrow.

Mr. B. and Mr. T.

Playoff Game vs. Racers 6/7/2005 (L 7-5)

A hard fought struggle against a good team; we came up just a little short.

Kudos to

• Rachael, game ball for two hits, a single and a double. She also threw out a runner at home.
• Jessica, pitches seven strong innings, only allowed five hits.
• Megan S., made a twisting, over the shoulder catch in the seventh inning to save more runs.
• Jenny Rose, had two hits.
• Nicole, for helping us out by playing.

This is not over yet by any means, girls. We're still in this and still have a good chance!

Mr. B. and Mr. T

Playoff game vs. Bandits 6/4/2005 (W 15-11)

We won!!!

All right, way to go girls! Overall, we played a great game and we really hit well (we had 18 hits).

Kudos to:

• Megan S., game ball for four hits (including a double and a triple) and sixruns batted in.
• Julia, pitched a fantastic (complete) game and continued to be a hot hitter with two hits and three runs batted in. (Note: I looked at the stats for the previous games against the Bandits, and Julia just wears them out!)
• Jessica, had three hits and a walk and scored three runs.
• Brittany W., had three hits and played great defense in the outfield.
• Jen S., played awesome defense at first base.
• The entire team, after all this is a team sport.

Congratulations, we are proud of you. One down, two to go!

Mr. B. and Mr. T.