Dove & Chick

Mother dove and her chick...to date we have only seen the one. I would guess the chick is about 1 week old. It is pooping up a storm all over the front porch. Father dove has come around a few times. Mother dove never leaves the nest.

See Any Resemblance?

Happy to Win Gold!

Lil' Lefty loves playing softball. She loves to be on the mound pitching. She loves to hear the ump call STRIKE! She really loves winning!
Lil' Lefty won her 14th medal this past weekend in Guelph by defeating Brampton. The 14th medal is Gold! This is Lil' Lefty's third gold medal. Most of Lil' Lefty's medals are silver. As Lil' Lefty would say, "Silver is good, but gold is BEST!"
She won her first gold medal in Waterloo in May of last year. She actually won her 1st gold last year pitching against her now team, the Tigers, and striking out K for the last out of the game and the win. She won her second gold at the Teddy Bear Tournament in Niagara Falls last July.

CHEER! We are so proud of you...so very proud of you!!

Turtle, Turtle

On Friday Night during Lil' Lefty's pre game warm ups, I went to play catch on a strip of grass outside the right field fence of the softball diamond. I found this painted bottom turtle. She was digging a hole in the ground with her back legs to lay her eggs. She laid six eggs. We returned to the field on Saturday morning and the turtle was gone and the hole was completly covered up with dirt. I read on the internet that it will take about 76 days for the eggs to hatch.

MacDaddy

My Shins Hurt

Lil' Lefty's team won Gold (1st Place out of 10 Teams) in the Guelph Tournament this past weekend. They played 6 games and won them all. Lil' Lefty pitched the first game Friday night, a game on Saturday and the Gold Medal Game on Sunday.


At this time, she pitches faster than batters can swing. She is also learning to become a pitcher instead of just a hard thrower. I do not expect she will always have this dominant speed (I could be wrong-it has happened before though I hate to admit it).


When I have compared radar readings, she is consistently throwing 4-5mph harder than other pitchers... just enough to sneak the ball past their bat.




Her winter pitching coach suggested she throw a knuckleball as a change-up because her normal C change up is still to fast. I was originally against the idea but Lil' Lefty has shown tremendous success with the pitch. She is shown in the picture on the left throwing the knuckleball. It doesn't knuckle, but it is slower than her fastball and has arch.

During the first inning of the Gold Medal Game, Lil' Lefty struck out the opposing team's third batter to end the first inning on a beautiful change up that "floated" over the plate. I could see the opposing coaches having discussions with their player's and warning them about the change up. At this age, once coaches have that discussion with their players we have won. Batter's are now worried about a change up pitch and aware Lil' Lefty can throw it in addition to her fastball that seems to sail past most bats.

Lil' Lefty and her battery mate, the catcher, were also successful with outside strikes when ahead in the count.

I have noticed that Lil Lefty can get lazy with her flip, the activity where she flips her wrist during the release of the ball. This especially happens when she knows the batter can not catch up to her slower fastball, and after she has thrown a change up.

When I notice her flip is inconsistent, we will sneak behind the dugout and throw some pitches to work on her feeling the flip. I inevitably take one on the shins. I have a nice black and blue mark from yesterday. It wasn't the first and won't be the last.

Gold Medal games go 7 innings regardless of time. Lil' Lefty pitched all 7 innings striking out the side in the last inning. Way to go Lil Lefty!!!

A-Mac -- A Confidence Boost

I told MacDaddy a few weeks ago to start saying "I am a GOOD ballplayer". Just reading the words doesn't describe the emphasis I place on the word "good". After he started doing this he had a few GREAT hitting games.

I told A-Mac to do the same thing. She, being older, was reluctant to fully embrace the concept. She did NOT emphasis "good" the way I wanted in her first few attempts. But, we got her there. I told them to say it to themselves in the on-deck circle and batter's box before they bat.

A-Mac hit her first triple of the year. She went 3 - 4 with 5 RBI in two games and was rewarded by batting 11th instead of 12th. Oh well...

A-Mac told me she said "I am a GOOD ballplayer" to herself before she batted. She is...

A-Mac Off to Texas

A-Mac is getting on a plane this morning to fly by herself to DFW airport where Minga is going to pick her up and drive to College Station Texas for a 3 day Texas A&M University softball camp. She got very little sleep so I hope she can nap on the plane.

Look Closely - The Culprit Left Evidence

We have evidence of who took pitchers with MacMom's camera. Look closely at this picture. Do you know this person?

I Saw Lil Lefty Throw Nine Pitches

A-Mac and Lil' Lefty are both playing in the Guelph Tournament, but their age divisions play at different fields. I was able to get to Lil' Lefty's team just long enough to cook hit dogs at the picnic organized by MacMom. I spent most of Saturday with A-Mac. Once A-Mac's game ended around 8pm, we hurried to catch the end of Lil' Lefty's game. She pitched the first game Friday night and now the last game on Saturday.



When we arrived at the field, it was the bottom of the 5th inning and the Tigers were loosing 3-1. Our Tigers scored 4 runs in the top of the sixth to go up 5 - 3. Lil' Lefty had been pitching the entire game. I grabbed a glove and had Lil' Lefty throw to me before going back out for the bottom of the 6th inning. Hold them and we win.

Lil' Lefty threw NINE pitches. ALL strikes! She struck out the side and the Tigers won, completing a 4-0 pool portion of the tournament.

I only saw nine pitches. Three outs... three strike outs...

The Tigers earned an important bye and will be back for a 2pm semi-final game on Sunday.

Friday Night Guelp Tourney - AMac and Lil Lefty

A-Mac's team played Guelph and lost 10-3. She played third and left field, batting twice and not striking out. MacMom was at her game.

Lil Lefty's team played Kitchener and won 6-3. Lil Lefty pitched all 5 innings and had 11 strike outs. She was always in command. Her team had lost to Kitchener in a bronze medal game last tournament.

Both girls played at the same time in different parks. Great playing by both girls.

Lil Lefty controlled the game.

Solving the Mismatch Mystery

What happened to the missing sock? Two socks enter the washer. Only one sock of the pair exits the dryer. In our laundry, I have a basket of mismatched socks in search of their mate.
Where did all the socks go?

1. They walked away.
2. The washer or dryer ate it.
3. Sock Heaven
4. The Bermuda Triangle
5. There is a conspiracy between sock makers and washer & dryer manufacturers...
They just want you to go out and buy new socks!

MacDaddy and MacMom Head to Baseball Tournament in St. Thomas

The biggest challenge for me, with three kids that all play baseball/softball is that I do not get a chance to watch every game because they overlap. Baseball is a great game to hear on the radio. Our kid's games are not on the radio, or TV, yet. So we have had to improvise with text messages and digital pictures.






All through the weekend I received text messages from MacMom about MacDaddy hitting success. I recall only one text where hit popped out to shortstop. He was constantly on base. MacDaddy played shortstop, as pictured at left, left field and second base.

MacDaddy made a great running catch in the outfield to preserve a win in the semi final game.

Way to go MacDaddy!!! Two tournaments and two trophies.

Sixteen teams were in this tournament. I said 16!!! MacDaddy's Oakville A's finished first.

A-Mac League Game - Happy to Report Progress

A-Mac had a league game last night against the Mississauga North Tiger Novice I Team. Her team, the Blazers, won quite easily. A-Mac played 3rd base the entire night and made quite a few (6-7) throw outs at first base.

More importantly, she batted 4 times and hit the ball to the left side 4 times. She had two pop -ups, a hard grounder and a line drive single to the grass between left and center field. The pitching was slower than what she had faced the last weekend. Most importantly her step timing looked good. I do not think she swung at, and missed a pitch the entire evening.

We batted for 45 minutes into the screen, in a corner, at Lil Lefty's practice before A-Mac's game. A-Mac still does not seem to drive the ball in the batter's box the way she does when she practices. I measured the speed of the ball coming off a Tee when hit by A-Mac at 50-52mph. We will monitor that speed to gage improvement. Our list of things to work on:

1. Watch the ball from the pitcher's hand to the bat (always on the list)
2. Load and step timing (only one step, balance, rhythm...)
3. No "gate swing" (step, hips to build torque, hands stay back and then hands move...)
4. Sweet spot of the bat
5. Experiment with finish - hand on or off bat

Is it Summer Yet?

Softball/baseball season is well underway with games, usually at least two a night, for us at different parks across southern Ontario. When are the temperatures going to get above 75 degrees? A-Mac, Lil Lefty and I were at A-Mac's game last night. It was 57-58 degrees from 8:30-11:00pm. I keep hearing global warming but I haven't packed away my winter clothes. A friend of ours said they take summer serious in Canada and the "warmer" weather doesn't start until summer officially starts on June 21st. I am counting the days.

"Hitting is timing and pitching is upsetting timing"

Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn said the title quote. Right now whomever is pitching to A-Mac is automatically doing a good job because her timing is all "upset". Her Blazer's won a bronze medal in a weekend tournament against older age girls. Never the less, none of her team mates played very well, and A-Mac had a rough time at the plate. Her entire team has been taught the "load and step" approach to hitting and A-Mac is just not "feeling" the timing. She looks great in the on-deck-circle but when she gets to the plate she steps uncomfortably out-of-sync, loosing her balance and rhythm. She often steps twice.



We will work on step, hips, hands... and the balance/timing.

It is unfortunate for the immediate results and I know how hard it is to have fun when you are not hitting well, but, A-Mac will get this sorted out and learn a few valuable life lessons in the process.

1) You can do anything if you work hard at it (great life lesson that sport provides the backdrop for...)

2) Trust yourself - you have to BELIEVE

3) Have fun (easiest to hit while smiling... relaxes the muscles)

4) Have to perform the way you practice

5) The most important weapon/asset you will always have is your ability to think.

6) Persistence - anything worth doing takes effort

MacDaddy League Game and Now St. Thomas

The Oakville A's played a league game Thurday against the Mississauga Tigers and are now off to St. Thomas for a weekend tournament. MacMom took MacDaddy to St. Thomas and are having a mother-son weekend. They packed all of MacDaddy's ball stuff and a bunch of beach clothes.

I didn't have the heart to tell MacMom the tournament is in St. Thomas, Ontario... not the US Virgin Island.

Two League Games - One Night

Lil Lefty pitched against Brampton Squirt II. She consistently threw 45-46mph and we worked on outside pitches when ahead in the count. She had two hits. Tigers won 11-9.

A-Mac played against Oakville Angels and played left field. She batted three times, struck out, grounder to pitcher and deep fly ball to right field. Swing looking good. Need to speed up hands.

If it is Permanently Attached to a Structure it Must be True

Lil Lefty and A-Mac have both had their first games with their new teams at the home park of their old teams. The metal sign below is permanently attached to the fence at Trafalgar Park in Oakville.

Lil Lefty - Halton Hill Tourney, Sunday May 30

After hitting her HR in the morning's first game, Lil' Lefty was out on the mound for game #2 in the elimination round of the tournament.










Our Tigers played the Brampton Squirt II team. Lil' Lefty pitched well. She probably struck out 6 - 8 batters and I don't think she walked any. We had some fielding blunders, including a dropped third strike, which contributed to an 8-5 loss. We were tied going into the last inning.


A-Mac was with me the whole weekend as a FAN through the cold and the rain. MacDaddy and MacMom were at his tournament in Mississauga. All of us were able to make the last two games of MacDaddy's tournament Sunday night.

A-Mac took all of these pictures. She has an amazing talent with a camera (gets it from her Mom) and a very artistic eye. Plus, she is young and just knows technology things... she even knows what a "winky symbol" is...

I started watching the form and learning the mechanics of fastball (fastpitch) pitching a couple years ago. I remember paying a stranger at a ball diamond $40 to help both A-Mac and Lil' Lefty after a league game in Texas with their pitching mechanics.

I have learned the mechanics of what generates the ball speed from the pitching motion. I have seen two girls that throw harder than Lil' Lefty. I do not know their age and both are probably 30-40lbs heavier. Pound for pound no one throws harder than Lil' Lefty.









Have a break and a drink of water... you deserve it!

Hey # 9, I've Got My Eye on You!

MacDaddy and the Oakville A's played their first tournament of the season in Mississagua this past weekend and made it to the finals! MacDaddy spent the entire weekend playing either in the outfield or at pitcher. They went 3-1 in pool play. In the Semis, the A's played North York and won! With another victory under their belt, The A's qualified for the finals. The A's played and lost the championship game to the Mississauga North Tigers.


MacDaddy played great baseball all weekend long. He was awesome at bat. He produced some great hits in clutch situations yeilding some much needed RBIs to pad the score in our favor. MacDaddy even swung at a first pitch (He never swings at a first pitch--always the second one; Caught the outfielders off gaurd, too!) and had a beautiful line drive down the third base line to the fence that the wind blew foul.


The winds were horrible this Sunday making our sunny, blue sky, 50 degree day feel more like 40. It was cold, windy day to be a fan in the stands.



What a successful weekend for the A's. Way to go MacDaddy! You are only going to get even better...I see a homerun in your future. Daddy, get ready to hand over a Rip Stick to MacDaddy. You know he doesn't like sharing the one we have with Lil' Lefty.