Another game where we didn't win but can hold our head up. Even though we were down only 2-1 through 4 1/2, this one never felt like we were on the brink of pulling it off, probably because we generated so little offense against JCB's wild but hard-throwing pitchers.
Still, the game was great because it showed more ways Cooperstown required the kids to step it up. Take Jake Rand for example. At the plate he is undersized, gets nervous against hard-throwers, has had trouble with 2 strikes in the count. So what does he do? Falls behind 0-2 against one of JCB's flamethrowers before crushing a ball down the right field line for his first double of the year and one of few hard hit balls for us in the game. Pitching was another improvement. Most of our pitchers this year have thrown primarily fastballs, with a changeup tossed in now and then. Before the trip, a Cooperstown stopped by and talked to the boys, and told them that approach wouldn't work, that the hitters would sit on the fastball. Many of the boys did not take this to heart, and in their first pitching appearance, threw primarily fastballs. Some survived unscathed, some did not. Jacob went with the fastball in his first game and got pounded. For this game, though, he had learned his lesson, threw a ton of changeups, and did a great job keeping a strong team off-balance for 3 innings.
Pool play ended with us 1-5 and in 89th place out of 104. We certainly could have won more and been ranked higher, and this was definitely below the goal of many players. Regardless, our play had left us with much to feel good about.
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