Bad time for our worst game of the tournament. We played in the opening round of the bracket, and we hoped to play on until the 3rd round at least, but it was not to be.Scituate had a good team, but unlike the teams that narrowly beat us in pool play, if we played them 10 times, we'd win more often than not. We got in a big hole in the first inning, slowly crawled back, only to have Scituate pull away in the later innings. They did hit 2 HR in the 5th, one an incredible 13 pitch at-bat, but mostly Scituate waited for us to beat ourselves, with walks, balks, and lack of clutch hitting with runners on base. We were nailed by very suspect calls in the 6th inning, and perhaps less-than-mature displays of emotion (see photo above, in which unnamed player who may be related to me kicks dirt in anger) early in the game gave the umps an excuse to bust us for any little thing. Sam's pitching was our high point. After putting out the fire in the first, he pitched 4 1/3 innings of solid ball, by far our longest outing of the year.
The kids were disappointed to be done so early, especially when they heard Scituate upended a higher ranked team in their next game, but the experience was far from over. With no more baseball to play, we took our requisite pictures at the park entry, blew a few hours at a Cooperstown beach, and then bummed around the town for the rest of daylight, taking in a game at Doubleday Field.
After that, pins, pins, pins.
Thursday was dominated by cleanup, the parents' trip to Ommegang Brewery (I believe a few stayed behind to watch the kids, but as far as I know, the kids were left to wander the streets of Millford and beg for bread crusts), closing ceremonies (see the rings below), and some of the most feverish eleventh-hour pin trading known to man.
Parting thoughts? As a coach, this may well be the most tiring thing I've done since bringing a home a newborn baby. But it was worth it (not something I can say for bringing home a newborn). From a kid and parent point of view, if you get the chance to take the trip, you take it.
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