.

• SCRIMMAGE GAME TWO SUMMARY - 4/26/2008 - CARDINALS
• SCRIMMAGE GAME ONE SUMMARY - 4/24/2008 - RED SOX
• THIRD PRACTICE SUMMARY - 4/18
• SECOND PRACTICE SUMMARY - 4/16
• FIRST PRACTICE SUMMARY - 4/14
• FIRST PRACTICE ANNOUNCED

PLAYER PERSPECTIVE BY ADAM - Today we played a scrimmage game against the Cardinals. The score was 14 Dodgers 6 Cardinals. We played really well and it was a lot of fun. I got up to bat 3 times out of 4 innings. My first time up to bat I had 3 balls and 1 strike and the pitcher threw a really high one but I didn't want to walk so I swung and hit a grounder to third. Then I stole all the way around and finally stole home. The next 2 times I got up to bat I was walked by the pitcher and did likewise all the way around the bases with a bit of help from hits by Julian and Matt.

It was amazing, everyone hit the ball today. Zack did an amazing job at second base in the second inning. He got all three outs that inning and he did great. Matt caught several line drives, one at third base that was about to hit the ground. Matt could have just tagged third base for the last out but he wanted to make us hold our breath as he picked it up and hucked it to first base and got the runner out before he could tag up.

In the last inning there were three amazing plays to end it. The first out, the runner got to first on an error, then I told Matt to pick him off cause I knew he would steal. Matt did and caught him sleeping, Drew picked the ball up out of his glove and immediately threw it to Shawn at second who then tagged the runner out. Out number 2 was a line drive hit to Tyler at second base who caught it with a startled look on his face at the speed of the ball. Then to end the game the next batter came up and hit a line drive straight to Matt at pitcher who scooped it up calmly for the last out of the game. There were tons of amazing plays and we played great.

What a wonderful Saturday afternoon at the ball field. Sure it was a bit chilly for those fans sitting on the metal bleachers, but we had a team goal to make contact and hit the ball. With that as our main objective, we did it. Take a moment to look over the scorebook at the bottom of the page to compare the difference between this game and the bone chilling, snow blowing, freezing first scrimmage against the Red Sox.

Today's game was played against Coach Chuck Cornett’s Cardinals. Coach Chuck had the biggest draft as he was starting out with the fewest returning players. His team has so many huge players, such as Fernando Vargas and Asa, that they looked like they could easily hit for the fences. He started out the game with 11 players and a couple of them had to leave mid-way through the game. They have a lot of potential and he will have his work cut out for himself as he tries to mesh the talent with the inexperience.

I was so impressed with our Dodgers as I showed up about 5 minutes before our planned 4:00 PM start time and there were already 8 Dodgers loosening up. At 4 o’clock straight up, Tyler showed up and apologized for being late. What a great spirit to have 10 players show up when they were scheduled. Jonas went with his family to Idaho and Brian went to meet a family member who came in from duty in Iraq. I encourage all of our 13-14 year olds to not miss those important family events. I just think that we are really blessed this season as we have 12 players who really want to play ball.

Prior to the game start we stressed our goals. Coach Street rehearsed his talk that our entire team needs to take speed... Uh he meant utilize speed. To do so requires each player to think about the play before it happens, and then when it does happen we can use our speed, without any hesitation, and make the play. Our second focus was to hit the ball and get on base. Once on base, our overall team speed and running skills would score us runs. We stressed our two line-ups of 5 batters. That had Drew and Matt strategicaly placed as our clean-up hitters. This means that they are designed to be up to bat with multiple players on base so that their power can bring them home.

As I look over the score book, 9 of our ten players made it safely on base. 7 of our players scored. 5 of our players scored multiple times and both Shaun and Adam scored 3 times each. Our total runs scored was 14, which was 10 more than we scored in our first scrimmage game. Hitting, running, and scoring were our goals and we accomplished them soundly. We also had 8 walks due to some inexperience on the mound for the Cardinals, but Coach Street did all in his power to make the stike zone as huge as possible for both teams so that we would do our best to hit instead of looking to walk

Our pitching was great today. Aaron took the mound and made quick order of it as he only had to face 4 batters. Julian came to the mound in the second inning and faced the entire lineup. He kept a smile on his face and 5 runs were scored. I liked the fact that he kept throwing strikes and even though there were lots of Cardinal hits, it gave our defense a good workout. After facing 11 batters, he only walked two and the rest hit. I think that it was a good outing for Julian and our team as we need to make the plays to back up our good pitching. The incredible part of the inning is that Zach made the first two outs and had a chance to catch a pop fly to end the inning and he missed it. The very next batter he then scooped up yet another ground ball and made the put out at first base. This means that he made all of our three outs while playing second base. I kidded with the team in the dugout that the next inning everybody could just sit because we were putting Super Zach back out onto the field. On a personal note, I was so proud to see Zach prepared before the ball was hit, moving when he saw it coming his way, and able to get his body and glove down to make the plays. All of his hard practice is really paying off and his smile of success in the dugout after the inning was incredible.

In the third inning, Jeremy took the mound and faced only five batters. His control was better, but it takes a few trips to the mound for the 13 year olds to make the added distance from the Junior league mound. It is a long way when you compare it to the smaller major league diamond. Jeremy was confident and although he walked one, Matt made an outstanding double play at third base to cut the inning very short. The line drive to Matt at third followed by the throw back to get the runner going from second to third for the double play really helps make the difference. When everbody ran to the huddle we asked how many realized what Matt could have done. Most of our players realized that Matt could have just touched the base just 5 feet away as the runner would have easily been out for not getting back to tag up. Instead, he made the long throw to first base to get that runner out for not tagging up.

Matt came up in the fourth inning and faced 5 batters and retired the side with just 9 pitches. That is incredible. He threw hard and very accurate. With a maximum 85 pitches per outing in Little League, he could have pitched a full Major League 9 inning ballgame.

I just loved the hustle on the part of Shaun today. He tried to hit but they walked him twice and he struck out once. But even after striking out, he raced to first base because the catcher dropped the ball. He then worked his way around and scored. Looking at the scorebook, Shaun had at least 7 steals. That is hustle! I shared with Shaun before the game the importance of him getting on base. Sure home runs are nice, but in this league with his speed he doesn’t need a home run to score. He just needs to get on base.

Stealing was great today as Shaun obviously led the way, both Adam and Zach had 5 steals a piece. Adam would have had more, but he had guys hitting behind him to bring him home. Zach would have had more, but he only got on base twice... 5 steals with two times on base... You figure it out. That is pretty good base running. Altogether there were 25 Dodger steals in our 4 innings of play.

We are looking forward to both Brooks and Drew to straighten out their strong foul balls. Drew fouled a couple good ones off today and come opening day I look forward to some strong hits on his part. Brooks came to bat in the second inning and drove a huge shot that hooked foul down the first base line. As a right handed hitter he is not supposed to hit with such power down first. He is a power hitter and I know that I am going to be writing a lot more this season about the hits off his bat. Brooks is also very fast and as he was walked twice, he attempted to steal and he has perfect form as he slides into second base.

SCRIMMAGE GAME SUMMARY 4/24/2008 - RED SOX - 6 PM at the City Center Field

COACH LEAVITT’S PERSPECTIVE

My feet and hands are just starting to thaw out after a long evening of baseball. This was our first game and we went into it with the understanding that we did not care if we won or lost. Every inning we used a different pitcher and most innings found a new player at every position. This often created havoc, but it gave every one of our players some great experience. I loved it when Tyler said, “I don’t need to play third base again.” After the game I spoke with him further and found that while he did not like third as much as he enjoyed second base. He really did enjoy the action at second base as he held the base runners back to an honest lead off. That was the goal of this game in a nutshell. We set out to play everybody everywhere and assess our player’s skills, heart, and hustle.

PITCHING: From a pitching perspective, we started the game with Matt on the mound and he is obviously ready for this season. He was accurate, strong, and I know that he wished that he could have stayed on the mound the rest of the game. Shaun took the mound next and as a lefty he will be a great asset to our pitching rotation with good hard throws. Aaron still had not arrived by the third inning and I looked to Julian and asked him if he would like to pitch next. I wish that I had a camera to capture his eyes as they grew as big as his smile when he said that he wanted to pitch. He confidently took the mound and threw very well. Last year he only had a couple of chances to pitch and we look forward to seeing him pitch more this season. Aaron took the mound next and I thought that he did very well. As we give him more innings I am sure that he is going to develop very rapidly into one of our pitching aces. Drew was due to take the mound but his shoulder is still giving him pains and we thought it was best to let him rest until it fully heals. His chance will come. Jeremy took his turn pitching and I liked his concentration and focus while he stared the batters down. It will be fun to watch him throughout the season. I look forward to seeing both Brian and Drew taking the mound during the upcoming games.

FINAL INNING: I need to take a moment to set up the final inning. With Brian at a school function and Drew injured, we looked at the players in the dugout and asked if there was anybody who had not yet pitched that would like to give it a try. Nobody jumped forth and Adam said that he would like to take the mound. I never heard so much chatter from a pitcher as he talked it up with the umpire, the coaches, and anybody within 8o feet of the pitcher’s mound. His very first pitch was a big, fat, juicy strike that was hit hard back in the form of a line drive to right center field. He then threw to everybody on the opposing team. In the process, Adam had over thirty balks (we did not call them, he hit one batter, and he walked several others. But at the same time, he kept his spirits high as he tried to pick off runners at second and third, and he instigated some of the wildest pickle plays that the Juniors‘ field has ever seen. It was great to see his enthusiasm for every pitch that was called a strike, for every pick-off play that came close, and for every good thing our team did. And while most boys would crumble under the pressure of facing so many batters in one inning, Adam was having the time of his life.

HITTING: We took it on the chin tonight with our overall team hitting. There were a few highlights on our team’s part, and great they were. But it was obvious that some boys were trying too hard to hit a home run while others were just needing more time swinging the bat against real pitching. We’ll have to break out the penetrating oil to get the rust out of their swings (was that a good metaphor Jonas?). The pitching of the Red Sox was not incredible, but it was good. I just think that we were experiencing some first game jitters and pressure after a long off season. We have now broken the ice and we can look forward to more well rounded games. On the positive side, Matt hit the ball hard all night long with great line drives, while both Julian and Adam were the benefactors by easily scoring.Adam was perfect in his on base percentage with good hits to right and center, while still beating out a full swing bunt down the first base line. Speed and hustle on Adam’s part scores lots of runs. Both Adam and Julian did a good job of getting on base and with their speed they both stole their way into position to be scored by Matt’s strong hits. When I say strong hits, I mean huge shots sent deep to the outfield. These three showed a great triple threat. I look forward to the not too distant future when the rest of our players discover their ability to make good contact, get on base, and allow and our power hitters to bring them around to score. Our contact and power hitters still don’t all know who they are and it will be great to see who develops into what type of hitter. We see lots of raw talent, now it is just going to take some work to bring it out. I am confident that it will just take a bit of time. I was amazed how our team kept their great attitudes even while the game got out of reach in the 29 degree chilly late night air.

HUSTLE & FILEDING: We made lots of great plays tonight. Jonas caught a hard hit  fly ball in left field. Julian hustled in center field. I was also impressed with our newest player Brooke’s  hustle and his throwing arm as he was quickly getting the ball from the outfield back to the infield. Matt made a great trick pick-off play at third and caught the runner leaving third while he still had the ball in his glove for the easy tag out.I was impressed with many of the catches made by our team in the infield, even though the infield was not well groomed and there were a lot of bad bounces. Jeremy displayed great hustle both in the field and behind the plate. Let’s face it, Jeremy, Adam, and Zach had their work cut out for themselves as they all 3 took their place behind the plate. And while some of the pitches were great, some were anything but catchable and many went to the backstop. This made for about a half dozen plays at the plate that required the pitcher to be in sync with the catcher to make the toss and the put out. We came really close a couple of times to create a lot of excitement at home plate.

HARD LESSON LEARNED: If we can’t get more players on base, then we can’t score. Looking back at the harsh realities of the scorebook, half of our players got 3 at bats, the rest got only two at bats, while the Red Sox all got 4 or 5 at bats. We had 4 different players safely make it to first base, while the Red Sox got all 10 of their players safely on base.

INJURIES: Drew has an injured throwing shoulder. Zach dinged up his knee as he sped off of first and slid into second while his metal cleats caught in the dirt sending him forward and toppling into second base. Adam took a shot to the gut behind the plate by a falled off fast ball. I think Jeremy, Adam, and Zach will all wake up sore in the morning for all their efforts behind the plate.

WEATHER: As we came off the field in the first inning, Shaun came to bat in a sudden snow flurry. We had sunshine and rather calm cold weather with a final game ending 31 degree temperature. I am thankful that we did not have eny injuries and I think the penguin style huddling together technique gave our players warmth within our dugout... Saturday’s 4 PM practice should be much, much, much warmer. Maybe we will be thawed out by then.

FANS: Zach’s mom was bundled up in a blanket throughout the majority of the game. Jonas’ family made it through the first 2/3’s before realizing that the little ones quickly could perish from pneumonia. Jeremy’s mom showed up ready for the arctic weather and she was able to stay warm while keeping the scorebook accurate… What a great Team Mother. Aaron’s dad was quietly seen with a kind smile on his face in the bleachers north of the dugout. And then there were the 4 frozen coaches who were doing their best to keep moving to prevent turning into a frozen popsicle. Coach Sterling was probably the smartest as he left during daylight to spend time on a date with Drew’s sister to see Adam’s sister in a funny play safely inside Orem High School’s warm Little Theater. Tyler’s stepfather came down after a long day of work, turned on the field lights, and then stood silently by enjoying the wonderful pickle action on the field between third base and home. The rest of our fans were also safely nestled inside their homes while sending good vibes from afar. Oh yes, I should also mention that the younger siblings of the players were busy playing pickle behind our dugout and their gleeful exclamations often drowned out the cheers on our field.

IN SUMMARY: It was incredible to be playing and have the lights turn on and change the darkening field into the coolest white glow with the sky and the snow covered mountains for our backdrop. It was an incredible way to experience life with our boys on the ball field.

What did you think of the game?

DODGERS - 4/24/2008

TOP ROW: Tyler, Zach, Brook, Jeremy, Drew, Matt

BOTTOM: Jonas, Adam, Julian, Shaun, Aaron - MISSING: Brian

Week of April 21- 27

Week of April 14- 20

OREM DODGERS - 4-16-2008

ADAM - GOLDEN GLOVE AWARD

THIRD PRACTICE SUMMARY: Infield, infield, and more infield!  Today‘s practice was completely geared towards infield skills.  It was our hope that the players could learn the different infield positions. By learning where each position should be and where the person playing it wanted to receive throws, it is our hope that we will be more considerate as we make plays. We play as a team and where we decide to throw the ball greatly depends on how we make our teammates look as they try to complete the play. And since we like our teammates, we would never want to embarrass them by making a horrible throw.

With only six of our players, 3 of our coaches, and a couple of young bucks present, we made the best of it. As we stood around first base we learned the correct positioning to receive a throw.  We learned where the throw should be made.  We also learned where to place our feet when making the play so as not to get your ankles broken. This approach seemed a bit off to several players because they knew that they never wanted to play first base and they wondered why they were receiving the training. It all became clear as we had some of the players go to second base and make throws to them while standing on first. They realized very quickly how much easier it is to finish when there is a good throw made to that base. And if nothing else, we learned that bad throws make everybody on the team look bad.

NEXT PRACTICE: Monday, April 21, 2008 - Windsor South - 4PM

What did you think of the infield practice?

SECOND PRACTICE SUMMARY: Hits, hits, and more hits. This was a straight batting practice that saw everything flying off the bats. We had both Brian and Zach join our ranks and it was fun to see so many balls being hit so hard. I get so excited just thinking back to our afternoon of fun.

SHAUN - LINE DRIVE HITTER

Sure it was freezing cold, but the sun was bright and the wind was blowing. If the sun had not been shining brightly, we would have called it quits early in favor of staying warm and healthy. After loosening up, I asked the team if we should do batting practice or fielding practice and everybody enthusiastically said “Batting practice!”

I am amazed at how much more confident the returning 14 year olds are when compared to their first practices when they were first coming into this league at the beginning of last year. Maybe it is their comfort level with the other returning players, maybe it is just because they are that much better as ballplayers.

The shining star in the outfield today was Adam. He took off running to short left center from the center field position and he took a flying dive, caught the ball fully extended, and then tucked in his shoulder and rolled over to complete the great feat. Talking with him later he aid that this was the first time that he had ever been in game mode and actually dove and held onto the ball. Being the primary catcher, he doesn’t see a whole lot of time diving for balls in the outfield. “All of the time we spent practicing the diving catches really paid off last year” he said. It was fun to see him so excited about making a great play.

The good news is that we had both Brian and Zach join us in practice today. Both are valuable returning players from last year. During the draft last week, both Zach and Brian were highly coveted by Coach Chuck, who is now coaching the Cardinals this year. He wanted both of them on his roster. In fact, he wanted every one of our returning players; imagine that!

ZACH - Zach has grown quite a bit since last year. He is a taller version of himself with the same build and the same big smile. I loved watching him hit the ball at practice. He has gained a lot of consistency and he will be a good hitter this season. Even with the cold weather and hoody sweatshirt, Zach showed off his form with a good swing that is sure to get him on base a lot this season and help us score a lot of runs. Last year Zach played a lot of second base and outfield. It is great to have his returning experience as he knows where to be and where to throw the ball when it is hit to him.

BRIAN - Brian came to the plate and hit powerful line drive after line drive to right center field. I liked seeing his smile as he realized just how hard he can drive the ball. I have always felt that the lefties have the advantage of hitting with power to right field. Our games are usually at the Orem ballfields in the late afternoon evening and this puts the sun right into the eyes of the first baseman, second baseman, and right fielders. When Brian hits the ball as hard as he does to the right side, it is really difficult for the fielders to get the ball. Brian plays a strong first base and loves to pitch. He has the right attitude and rarely shows any stress. His smile is contagious and he is a great asset to our team. We look forward to Brian making great plays this year and hitting some great balls for extra bases.

FIRST PRACTICE SUMMARY: I was very impressed with the first practice of our 2008 team. We only had 6 of our 11 players present, but we knew that it would be difficult during spring break.

Returning players Adam, Matt & Julian showed remarkable improvement from last year due to maturity and more body strength.

MATT - Matt was agile out at third base and his arm strength and accuracy are great. I saw a quickness that shows he has been working during the off season. During our rapid agility drill that puts you up against a fence while your teammate throws difficult grounders at you from about 20 feet away, he was snagging everything that Julian could throw at him. I was also impressed with his ability to get the jump on the balls hit his direction when he was at third base and at the pitcher’s mound. He caught most of those hit his way and there is no doubting his ability to make the long throw to first. He has a rocket for an arm. I was also impressed with his hitting as he took one out of the park for a home run. Matt had several deep flies that were close to the fence and several other hard line drives. Matt is going to be a deep threat to every team that we face.

ADAM - Adam has also improved his arm strength over the off season. He is sure to get those throws down to second base for the put outs on the steals. Today we had him in center field and he quickly caught on to the fact that he needed to anticipate the jump on the ball instead of watching the ball fly off the bat and then say, “Hey maybe I can get that... Man, it is going to bounce.” He was once again up to his diving antics and he is going to be a great influence on the light-hearted and relaxed nature of our tem. While at bat, he made lots of contact. This means that his eye to bat coordination is dead on. It was very obvious that Adam needs to stay back on his rear foot and get some power back into his swing. I was impressed as he came home and worked on this with his hit-a-way batting trainer to implement what we were trying to convey during practice. Adam is a great student of the game as he takes coaching tips well and continues to learn. He is so much fun to have on the team.

JULIAN - I don’t think Julian has grown an inch since last year, but he has matured and he is faster and stronger this year. His batting was strong as he hit line drive after line drive with hard grounders mixed in. I look forward to placing him in the lineup so that he gets on base and has the ability to steal with his speed. I also feel sorry for the opposing pitchers, as his strike zone is still the teeniest in the league. Out in the field Julian showed his quick reflexes and strong throwing arm. He was able to catch some very wicked ground balls, as the field was not very well groomed and there were a lot of bumps.

We also were able to integrate three new players to our team. Jonas, Drew, and Shaun are also going to be great assets to our lineup.

JONAS - Jonas has not played organized ball since 2006 and then it was just for one season. He has the natural physique for sports and he looks intimidating. Even with all that time off, Jonas was still able to catch outfield fly balls. He has a strong arm and he is the perfect asset to either of the three outfield positions. It will be fun to bring Jonas into the infield more and teach him where to play, what base to get the out, and how to best be in the right place at the right time.He played some first base today and he was very teachable. Jonas is like a sponge and he is very receptive to coaching advice. Now all he needs is more experience. Jonas had to leave before he could bat, so he didn’t get any opportunities today, but I am certain that it will quickly come back to him.

DREW - We are so excited to have Drew join our team as he is joining us from the 13-14 year old Braves.  He will be the only other Dodger at Canyon View Jr. High besides my son and it will be great for them to be able to pal around together. We thrust Drew right into action at first base and I saw some good play from him as he was positioned correctly and was able to stop many of the wild balls because of his prior experience. I look forward to coaching him at this position as it was one of my favorite spots to play when I was his age. I think that he could benefit greatly from a larger glove (hint, hint, Mom!), maybe even a first baseman’s glove??  I saw a lot of promise in Drew’s ability to hit. He quickly picked right back up on hitting the balls and before we knew it, he was hitting strong fly balls, grounders, and line drives. It was fun to watch Drew’s good-natured smile beam when the balls would zing off his bat to the outfield. It is as if he was saying to himself, “Hey, I really do like this game!” which is what I love to see!

SHAUN - Shaun is a great ball player. He has endurance, quick reflexes, and speed.We had a drill where we ran the bases. He dusted the other players with consistent passes in the 11’s while the next quickest players were in the 13’s. The first time he did this the other players thought I must have made an error with the stopwatch.When he did it again, the rest of the team were jazzed knowing that he was going to be a good asset running the bases. Shaun moves well, he fields well, and he is extremely accurate in his throws. I love his speed at shortstop, but we have to decide if his being a lefty is a detriment. I can see scenarios where he will play shortstop, third base, pitch, and any of the outfield positions.It is great to have this type of versatility. I was also very impressed with his positive disposition on the field and with the other players. When Shaun came to the batting box, he was rusty for about the first 8 pitches. I made the comment that he was dropping his elbow a bit and swinging under the ball about an inch and the next twenty strikes went deep to the outfield in the form of rocket line drives and hard hit deep fly balls.

Dodgers: I know that some of you are going to be away for the week due to spring break. I am glad for those that get to take a vacation, but I look forward to meeting with the rest of you during spring break.

FIRST PRACTICE ANNOUNCED: Our first practice is set for Monday, April 14, 2008 at the Windsor Park ballfields from 4-5:30 PM.

DIRECTIONS: These are located at the park just to the west of Windsor Elementary School which is located at about 1300 N. Main Street in Orem. This is not the ballfield on the north side of the school, but the two ballfields located to the west of the school. The easiest way to get there is to go north on State Street to 1200 North and turn right. Turn left and go north on 100 West and it will dead end into the deep outfield of the ballfields.

WHAT TO BRING: Glove, cleats, personal protection, bats, and water. I believe that the water fountains are still shut off at Windsor. The bathrooms should be open. If it is sunny, then bring a ball cap and sun glasses. If it is like the tryouts, then bring an arctic parka and lots of hot chocolate.

PROTECTION: Parents, please understand that your player should have a protective cup. Most think they don’t need one, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Please discuss this with your son and make sure that they have one that fits their growing bodies.