A nice game for the Phantoms! Fun in the sun, great baseball and a ‘W’ in the W/L column. Playoff game 1 is in the books and the team in green shows the league who the team to beat is.

We have Pitching! Chris started us off strong going 3 innings facing 10 batters with 32 strikes of 49 pitches, 4 strikeouts, 0 walks, 2 hits and 0 earned runs. Jordan pitched the rest of the game facing 14 batters with 30 strikes of 38 pitches, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, 5 hits and 2 earned runs.

We have defense! In the second inning a hard ground ball was hit to Reilly and bounced over to Ryan who then threw it back to Reilly for an incredible 3-4-3 play to get the 1st out. Sean caught a grounder and tossed it over to Ryan for 6-4. Reilly caught a line drive at 1st base in the 3rd and a pop-up in the 4th. In the fifth inning a hard shot to left field got past Sean, but he stayed with it and threw the ball down to Chris who then threw the ball to Ian for the tag at 3rd 7-6-5!

We have Bats! Chris lead us off with a single, Ryan got walked and Jordan hit a single to load the bases. Sean then drove 2 runs in with a double. Jordan should have been safe for the 3rd run, but he didn’t slide and was called out at home. In the 2nd inning, Alex R and Chris got walked. Then Ryan had a hard hit line drive for an RBI, Jordan had an RBI single and Sean drove in a run. Reilly got walked in the 3rd and then Jack drove him in with a single.

Our MVP of the game was Benji. He was pretty quiet at the plate with only a sacrifice RBI to drive Jordan in for our last run of the match. Defensively Benji grabbed a nice pop fly at center field in the first inning, tagged the runner trying to steal home for the 1st out of the third, caught a pop-fly at 1st base in the fourth and had a 2-5 play with Ian in the sixth.

The Phantoms were ready to play from the first pitch. They cheered their players on and wanted the game more than Point B. Team Echelbarger is the most feared team in the league.

Our next game is Tuesday, June 8th at 5:00 pm against Interbay Foods on Lynndale Field 2. See you there! Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Point B 2 – Echelbarger 8

The Phantoms finish out the season on a strong note with a decisive win. Team Echelbarger scored 18 runs in 6 innings and hold the Blue Devils to 1 run, 2 hits and 0 walks. They had it all, great pitching, solid defense and awesome bats.

We have pitching! After Christian’s last outing, he got serious and worked on his pitching for several days with Jordan. He got his first start since the 3rd game of the season and pitched very well. Christian went 2 innings facing 8 batters with a pitch count of 33, 21 strikes, 5 strikeouts, 2 hits, 0 walks and 1 earned run. Chris pitched the third and fourth innings facing 6 batters with a pitch count of 24, 17 strikes, 4 strikeouts, 0 hits, 0 walks and 0 earned runs. Jordan pitched the fifth facing 3 batters with a pitch count of 12, 8 strikes, 0 hits, 0 walks and 0 earned runs. They combined for 46 strikes of 69 pitches holding Distinctive Glass to 2 hits, 0 walks and 10 strikeouts.

We have defense! With the awesome pitching, we didn’t have much action on the field…But we did get some plays. Christian had a 1-3 with Reilly in the first inning. Chris had a 1-3 with Alex B and Sean had a 6-3 with Alex in the fourth. Christian had a 4-3 with Benji in the fifth.

We have bats! The Phantoms offense was on tonight. They had 19 hits, 8 walks, 15 RBI’s and 18 runs scored in six innings. Just about the entire team came home. In the sixth inning, with bases loaded Jordan hit a base clearing double. After the opposing pitcher caught a line drive to get an out in the top of the sixth, we ended the game due to time. So the Phantoms reverted back to 11 runs.

Everyone played well and everyone deserved a game ball tonight. But our MVP of the night was Reilly for a spectacular pop-fly catch at center field for the first out of the fifth inning.

Team Echelbarger is looking great for the playoffs. I would say we have an advantage in the 3 areas of baseball. We have a solid pitching staff with Alex R, Christian, Chris, Jordan, Ryan and Sean. I don’t think any other team in the league has 6 solid pitchers.

We have shown awesome defense, every infield position has a primary and a secondary that can start in that position. At first we have Reilly and Benji. At second we have Christian and Ryan. At shortstop we have Chris and Sean. At third we have Ian and Alex R. At catcher we have Jordan, Benji and Alex R. We have solid outfielders with Alex B, Jack and Ceasar. When we are on, I don’t think any other team can match this defense.

The Phantoms have fire power behind the plate. Every single player on this team can hit the baseball. We have speed at the top of the line up, the ability to move runners and big bats in the later part of our lineup. For the season, the team in green has had 180 vs 121 hits, 133 vs 100 walks and 162 vs 101 runs.

The playoffs begin on June 1st and we have a BYE in the first round. We will play against the winner of the Point B / IRG Flames match. Our first playoff game is Saturday, June 5th on Field 2 at 1:00 pm. See you there! Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Echelbarger 11 – Distinctive Glass 1

“We have Bats! We have Defense! We have Pitching! We have Style! Who are we? PHANTOMS!!!” is the new cheer for this season. Team Echelbarger came out to play great baseball and win an awesome game against Showcase Sports.

Sometimes as head coach you need to chew out the team to start the fire within the players. We had a chat before the game on how we needed to step up, be focused, cheer for our teammates, call the plays and play Phantoms baseball. I told the team that it was up to each individual player to bring it and not the responsibility of the coaching staff to get them fired up.

We have Pitching! We had 6 innings of solid pitching with 73 combined strikes. Chris started the game facing 3 batters, 8 strikes, 2 strike outs, 0 hits, 0 walks and 0 runs. Ryan pitched the second facing 4 batters, 9 strikes, 3 strike outs, 0 hits, 1 walk and 0 runs. Jordan pitched 3 innings facing 18 batters, 46 strikes, 8 strike outs, 7 hits, 2 walks and 4 earned runs.

We have Defense! Christian had a 4-3 play with Benji in the first inning. Alex B caught a grounder at first base to tag the runner out to end the 5th. Christian had a 4-3 play with Ryan to get the 1st out of the sixth.

We have Bats! Christian lead us off with a lead off single, Chris drove him in with a first pitch triple. Sean has an RBI double to score Chris and Benji drive Sean home with a double. Chris leads off the third inning with single, Jordan moves the runner to 3rd but is thrown out at 1st, Sean drives Chris home with a single. Sean steals home on a error to the pitcher and Ryan takes 1st base on a catchers interference. In the fourth inning Ceasar gets walked, Ian hits an RBI single, Jack hits an RBI single, Alex B is walked, Chris hits an RBI single, Jordan hits an RBI single and Sean drives in the 5th run to end the inning.

Alex R was our MVP of the game. I told him that he would get the game ball if he struck out the last batter of the game and he did! He had a 1-3 play with Ryan in the sixth and hit a single in the 5th.

We have Style! The team showed real character on the field today and commanded the game from the first pitch. We have one more regular season game before the playoffs and the Phantoms look ready to play.

Our next game is Wednesday, May 26th against Distinctive Glass at 7:00 pm on Lynndale Field 2. See you there. Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Showcase 4 – Echelbarger 10

Sometimes the ump makes the wrong call and that’s baseball… In a controversial call on the last play of the game, the Phantoms lose, but technically won the game. We have to remember that the minors level is a developmental division, we don’t keep track of wins or loses and standings.

Yogi Berra once said that “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical…” I’m not sure if the Phantoms are too confident or if they are just getting bored. In the last couple of games, the team in green hasn’t been ready mentally to play baseball. The kids are quiet on the bench, not cheering for each other and not playing like a good team.

The Phantoms had a season low of 6 hits and 14 strike outs for the game. Sean contributed with a double in the sixth inning. Chris, Sean, Ceasar and Ian had singles. As a team we were held to 5 base on balls.

Alex R was our starting pitcher going 1 inning facing 5 batters with 1 strike out, 0 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs given up on a throwing error. Chris pitched the second facing 7 batters with 0 strike outs, 5 hits, 0 walks and 1 run given up. Ryan pitched the third inning facing 5 batters, 1 strike out, 2 walks and 0 runs. Ian pitched the fourth facing 6 batters, 1 hit, 3 walks and 2 runs given up. Jordan pitched the fifth facing 3 batters, 2 strike outs, 0 hits, 0 walks and 0 runs. Christian started the sixth struggling to find his control walking 3 batters, 1 strike out and 3 earned runs. Sean closed us out with 1 strike out and 1 walk.

We had a couple good plays in the game. Sean caught nice pop up at 3rd base. Chris had a 6-3 combo with Ryan in the first inning. Alex B started a 9-4-1-6 with Christian, Chris and Sean. Chris had 1-2 with Jordan and a caught a line drive a pitcher in the second. Ryan had a pop-up at pitcher and Sean caught a pop-up at short in the third. Ian had a 1-4 with Ryan, a pair of 1-3’s with Jordan in the fourth.

Jordan was our MVP for the game. He had the 1-2, two 1-3’s and 1-3 with Ryan at 1st base in the fifth inning and 2 strike outs facing 3 batters. Jordan had a double in the 3rd and was hit by a pitch in the fifth.

In the last play of the game, Sean with the count of 2 and 2 pitched to the lead off batter Michael #2 on Windermere. Michael hit a grounder to 1st and Ryan caught the ball and immediately ran toward 1st base. Ryan beat the runner by 2 strides and collided with Michael at first. Sean who was helping to cover 1st was base was blocking the view of the fielding ump and the runner was called safe. The go ahead run at 3rd came home and we lost the game. I would have contested the call with the home plate ump had it been a playoff game, but in the end it didn’t matter and there is another game to play on Monday.

Final Score: Echelbarger 7 – Windermere 8

Sometimes experiments don’t work out. I tried out kids in new positions tonight and we missed some opportunities on the field. The Phantoms end up loosing a good game and their record is now 10-3.

Alex B started us off pitching tonight facing 9 batters with 21 strikes, 1 strikeout, 3 hits and 5 earned runs in 1 inning. Jordan settled things down going 4 innings facing 18 batters with 50 strikes, 9 strikeouts, 6 hits, 1 walk and 2 earned runs. Sean started the 6th with 10 strikes, 1 strikeout, 3 hits, 1 walk and 4 earned runs.

Defensively we didn’t do much this evening. Routine plays were missed and there was no movement by the players. Sparta’s had some big hits, but our outfielders didn’t get under the ball to make the catches. Reilly got a ground out tag in the second at 1st and a 1-3 combo with Jordan at pitcher in the fifth. Ryan had an 8-4 play with Alex R in the third and Ian started a 8-4 tag at 2nd with Benji in the sixth.

The Phantoms bats kept us close tonight tying the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the 4th. But we couldn’t generate a 5 run inning to take us over the top. Jordan and Ceasar both had doubles tonight. We had singles from Ryan, Jordan, Benji, Sean, Jack and Ceasar. Sparta’s out hit the Phantoms 14 to 12 and held us to 3 walks.

The MVP of the game was Christian who had a nice game going 2 for 2 at bats with 1 walk. He had a hard hit RBI double in the 1st and an RBI triple in the 3rd. Christian closed us out with 8 strikes, 1 strikeout, 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 earned run.

Our next game is Saturday, May 15th against Windermere at 5:00 pm on Lynndale Field 2. See you there. Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Sparta’s 12 – Echelbarger 9

The Phantoms win again! Team Echelbarger is now 10-2 for the season and are being called the team to win it all by the other coaches in the league. However, we still have 4 games left in the regular season and other teams are improving as well.

The Phantoms only had 9 players and didn’t seem too interested in playing tonight. Maybe it was that this was the first 5:00 pm game we’ve had in a while and we’ve are used to playing the late 7:00 pm games. The first inning was a disaster for the team in green, missed opportunities and let Point B get 5 runs in.

We only used 2 pitchers and overall we had pretty good pitching after the first inning. Ryan was our starter facing 11 batters in 2 innings. He had 23 strikes, 2 strikeouts, 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 earned runs. Jordan pitched 3 innings facing 14 batters, 31 strikes, 5 strikeouts, 6 hits, 0 walks and 2 earned runs. Both combined for a league season second best 76 pitch count for the evening. The lowest pitch count for the season is 68 by Point B on 3/30 against Wilcox.

Team Echelbarger had 13 runs on the board with 9 hits, 13 walks and 3 hit by pitches. Point B actually out hit the Phantoms with 10 hits, but only got 2 walks for the game. Alex B lead us off again going 2 for 3 at the plate, 1 HBP, 1 RBI and grounded out in the 4th. Ryan contributed with a RBI double in the second.

Defensively Benji caught a pop fly to end the fourth inning and Jordan caught a pop-up at pitcher for the 1st out of the fifth frame.

Our MVP of the game was Reilly. He has been a solid first baseman for the entire season. He leads the team with 32 putouts for the Spring and 5 of those this evening. Reilly had three 1-3 plays with Ryan in the first and second innings. In the fifth inning had a pair of 6-3 plays with Sean. He was patient at the plate with 4 walks and 1 run scored. Awesome job Reilly!

I’m letting the kids play some positions that they normally don’t play in the next couple of games. We’ll also get one last look for the pitchers I haven’t identified for the playoff rotation. We’ll have at least have 5, maybe 7 players going for us on the mound in the post season. I like our chances.

Our next game is a 7:00 pm rematch against team Sparta’s on Monday, May 10th at Lynndale Field 2. See you there! Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Point B 7 – Echelbarger 13

A well executed game by the Phantoms this evening. They had pitching, defense and offense. Team Echelbarger goes into games believing that they will win.

I stated at the beginning of the season that our objectives are to have Fun, learn the game of Baseball, have good sportsmanship, provide a positive environment and measure our success on our improvement and the above. Not wins and losses. I think we are moving in that direction.

Teams are selected by blind draft in the minors division. I only knew what I was getting with my assistant coaches kids. The rest of the team was unknown. After observing the team after first practice, Coach Jeff and I talked about how we really needed start with basics. Throwing the ball, catching and proper batting techniques.

Those first few practices were pretty rough, but the boys were eager to learn and put in the effort to practice what we coaches were teaching. The Phantoms have come a long way since then and everyone is contributing as a team. I would argue that we have the best defense on the field, have great pitching and we’ve always had awesome bats. They ARE the team to beat going into the post season.

Ryan was our starting pitcher going 2 innings facing 9 batters with 15 strikes, 1 strikeout, 3 hits, 2 walks and 1 earned run. Jordan pitched 2.2 innings facing 11 batters, 32 strikes, 5 strikeouts, 3 hits, 0 walks and 0 earned runs. Sean pitched 1 inning facing 3 batters, 7 strikes, 1 strikeout, 1 hit and 1 earned run. Christian closed out the game again.

Everyone contributed on offense tonight, we had 14 hits, 7 walks, 8 RBI’s and 10 runs scored. Alex B got his first start at lead off going 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. We stole home a couple times and took extra bases with runners in scoring position. I’m pretty happy with our aggressive base running and taking a base on every passed ball.

The Phantom defense was in top form. We got all 18 outs for a six inning game. Just about the entire team had a play tonight. In the 1st Alex R had an incredible diving catch with on the knees 4-3 play with Reilly. Reilly had a nice catch at 1st for the tag for the 2nd out.

In the second inning Jack had a 5-3 play with Reilly. Jordan had a pop-up play at pitcher in the fourth. Sean had 1-2 with Alex in the sixth and Christian also had a 1-2 with Alex to end the game.

Our MVP of the game was Benji. He took one for the team with a first pitch HBP (Hit By Pitch) and scored. Benji and Sean had a 2-5 play to end the first, he had a 2-1 play with Ryan in the 2nd, Chris and a pair of 6-3’s with Benji in the third and a 1-2 with Sean to end the 5th. A great defensive game for ‘G’!

The Phantoms are learning the game of baseball. They are running their own drills before games with only suggestions from the coaches and are continuing to practice after our time is over. They have really become a team and it’s a pleasure to watch them grow.

Our next game is 5:00 pm, Wednesday against Point B on Lynndale Field 2. See you there. Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Echelbarger 10 – Interbay Foods 2

The Phantoms win an intense game against a very good opponent. Harbor Square came out firing to get 5 runs in the 1st inning. With the cards stacked against us, I fired up the Phantoms and they took the lead in the 3rd inning. For the most part I like to observe games and let the kids play baseball, but sometimes you have to motivate the players when they are down. I really believe that these kids can win any game as long as they believe in themselves!

The game should have ended at the top of the 5th due to time, but the umpire in chief said that we should play until lights out. Unless it’s tournament time, I think we need get the kids home on a school night.

Our bats remain our biggest asset as we had 11 hits, 9 walks, 8 RBIs and 9 runs. We were pretty aggressive on bases and Chris got thrown out at second by their catcher. We backed off on the delayed steal for the rest of the game.

Defensively we had a couple mistakes on the field, but we managed to get some good plays. Chris got a 6-4 play with Christian in the 1st inning. Christian had a 4-3 play with Reilly in the 2nd. Alex R had a 2-1 play with Chris to end the top of the 3rd. Alex R also had a 2-1 play with Christian to end the game.

We had an incredible double play to get 2 outs in the top of the sixth. Ryan caught a line drive at shortstop, threw to Alex B at first base who then threw to Alex R at catcher. Alex R proceeded to chase down the runner back to third and tossed the ball to Ian for the tag out. 6-3-2-5 DP!! That was awesome baseball!

Benji started us off pitching the 1st and got in trouble early. Harbor Square has some big bats and got 5 big hits off him. Chris came in the pitch the 2nd and 3rd facing 8 batters with 25 strikes, 4 strikeouts, 3 hits, 0 walks and 2 earned runs. Jordan pitched the 4th and 5th facing 7 batters with 18 strikes, 6 strikeouts, 0 hits, 1 walk and 0 earned runs. Christian closed out the game, but wasn’t consistent and got 3 hits, walked 3 batters and 1 earned run.

Jack was our MVP of the game. He hit the ball all 3 times he was at bat. Jack drove in a run in 2nd for a sacrifice RBI, a 2 RBI single in the 3rd and a single in the 5th.

Since we didn’t complete the game, the score had reset back to the previous innings score and we won the game! We are now 8-2 for the season and look pretty good to get things worked out before the start of the playoffs.

Our next game is Saturday, May 1st, 2010 against Interbay Foods on Lynndale Field 2 at 7:00 pm. See you there! Go Phantoms!

Final Score: Harbor Square 8 – Echelbarger 9