Logan’s All-Star Tournament

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Logan made the Single-A All-Star team. The coaches nominated players, and the league split them up into four teams. Those four teams played each other on Saturday, and the two teams with the best record would play each other for a championship. It definitely seemed like it would be a bit much for these kids to play four games in a day. Fortunately, the coaches decided to just have the third round of games count as the championship and consolation finals (it worked out that the two undefeated teams were playing during the third spot). 

Logan’s team ended up getting third place, they went 1-2. We lost the first game 14-12. He went 1-3. His first at-bat was a single that looked like it would skirt through the second and first basement, but the 2B made a decent play, but was not able to throw Logan out in time. His next two at-bats were hard hit, but fielded by the first baseman, who easily got him out. 

The next game was a little uglier. The boys lost 22-16. Logan went 3-3, scored a run, and also had an RBI. He hit all three balls to the right side again. One was a hard grounder to RF. The outfielder managed to get it and throw it before Logan could go to second. Another hit was a fly ball that the first baseman let bounce over his head. I think he was definitely swinging a little late, but still making contact.

After the second game, the boys had a Home Run Derby. A bunch of kids signed up for it. They did it on the t-ball field which has a short fence. The hitter got 10 swings, and 10 points for hitting it over the fence, 6 points for hitting the fence on the fly, 4 for hitting the fence on a bounce, and then 2 points for the ball getting out of the infield. Logan entered, and they could have anyone pitch, and I had one of the coaches do it. I should have probably just threw to Logan. The coach threw a little harder and a little higher than Logan probably liked for this. He managed two points, but ended up fouling a bunch off. None of the kids ended up hitting one over the fence, but there were a bunch that were close. It was a fun time.

The third game was our team’s best, and definitely Logan’s best. We won 16-13. He went 3-3 with 2 doubles. One of them was a cheap double, it was a weak grounder that went through the first baseman’s legs, then rolled into the outfield grass. The first base coach sent Logan as soon as it touched the grass, and Logan ran hard (this was something we really tried to stress to the kids during practices). The other double was a legitimate double. He hit it hard into right field. His third hit was another hard grounder, but the pitcher fielded it, then turned to see if the kid on third was going to run home. Logan ran hard again and managed to beat the throw. 

But the coolest thing was two of the plays Logan made in the field. He was playing 3B in the last game, and he fielded a hard grounder, and threw to the second baseman for the out. Actual throws to the base are kind of rare at this age. The next play was what ended the last game. The bases were loaded with two outs, a ball is hit up the third base line, Logan tries to make a play on it, but it skips past him. It was a fair ball, but it rolled into foul territory about fifteen feet past third. The runner on second was going home, so Logan picked it up, and threw it home. The ball beat the runner on a single bounce. There was a little debate about it (the coach as a catcher rule in this age causes arguments just about every game), but in the end, the runner was out. As one of the coaches put it “that was probably one of the best throws I have seen at this level!” I was super proud of him.

So baseball season is over. Logan signed up for football, which starts pretty soon (he did a football camp for a few days up at St.Francis University).