Our Season and Going Forward

Gents:

As disappointed as I was with today's result I ended up looking at the brighter side by the time i finished walking our dog. We had a lot of very good games this year and everyone contributed to our success all year. We had some highlights and terrific moment that we hared together and i could feel the camaraderie on the team as we all got along and rooted hard for each other. I loved being on the mound with you guys and I am sure Mike ,Jim and Tim felt the same.

One aspect that was noticeable was we all put the team first. I can think of numerous incidents; Charlie coming out last week for Chuck to run and giving up his at bats but cheering Chuck on, X giving up an at bat here and there ;and rooting on. Players volunteering to have guys play in the field and get some time.. all very positive and that attitude makes playing on our team enjoyable.

And it was a lot of fun! Isn't it great to wake up on a sunny morning and have a game ahead of us to play! I for one have to say I enjoyed it all year . We were in every game but the early Cardinal loss. So lots of good baseball with great guys---not bad for a summer activity!

Jim and I extend our thanks to you guys who all traveled a lot and showed up demonstrating your commitment to the team . Your commitment made running the team a breeze.

I hope you are all in for next year.

Go Red Sox !

Sunday game is at 9am in WILTON

Stamford field is unplayable so the game will be in Wilton .

Sunday aug 23rd Playoff Game vs Mets

We take the field for infield/outfield warm-up at 835am Sunday at Westhill HS field. This field is not in as good shape as our home field so this warm up will help us get adjusted. There is no place for pitchers to warm up either at Westhill HS so we will take infield first and then outfield to allow pitchers to throw a few from the mound while we are taking outfield.
I was annoyed when the Mets opted to play there and decided the best action is for us to simply go beat them. We will lead off with Roneil and Bobby U and score some runs right away.
I am sure everyone is excited to play -We have all been playing well and evidenced by our play on Tuesday night we are peaking at the right time. I can envision all of us having our best game this weekend!
Saturday weather forecast is for rain but I just chatted briefly with Roneil and if it is not raining early sat , we will be on the JV field Sat at 8am for an hour to do a little practice/prep/long toss for Sunday. Join us if you like . I hope some oher players show to throw BP .We will be done by 9am.
See you Sunday !

Playoff Game this Sunday Let's Win!

Terrific play last night in our preparation for our playoff vs. the Mets. We did well in all facets of the game especially hitting where everyone hit the ball hard last night. Danny lined the ball every time up, Johnny Liz fought off three pitches and then lined a hard shot to left. Chuck banged a double and a single while Roneil again rapped out three or four hits including a bomb over the head of the left fielder. Alex drilled the ball up the middle and Jose ripped the ball. Tim took a couple pitches for the team but they took one as well in the next inning. Travis hit the ball hard and closed for us last night after Jim got us started and I threw in the middle.
We play this Sunday at 9 am down in Stamford . I tried to get them to play in Wilton as we have a much nicer field so we will just have to beat them down there.

We have been playing well and will need to just keep hitting fielding and pitching like we have done.
We are looking forward to this game very much and are pleased to be entering this battle with you. We have had some solid performances this year and can expect to play well Sunday
I will be at the Wilton HS on Saturday at 815am for an hour to get a little BP( I do not plan on throwing bp though as I want to be fresh Sunday) and maybe some infield if guys are there. I appreciate the effort we all made last night to come out for a scrimmage game. II think that effort will help us get off to a good start Sunday.
On Sunday there will special focus on the pre game rules. We will take infield a little after 830 so lets show up at 8-815am and be ready to get infield and prepare . We will be the visiting team.

Let's Win!

One last note: we have played our last Home game for this season as week 2 of the playoffs is scheduled for Mead Park in New Canaan and at Unity Park ( we played the Marlins up there early in the season). Let's take a minute to thank Jim for getting the field ready for our games and handling the finances to pay the umps each week as well as handling the baseballs ( of which we go thru a lot ) .

Directions

Westhill High School Merritt Pkwy: Get off Exit 34 (Long Ridge Road, rte 104) and go South towards Stamford. A bit more than a mile on the Right will be Junar properties. Take a hard right and go up the hill on Roxbury. West hill will be on the right near top of the hill. The field is in the back so enter the school parking lot and drive to the back and you will see a softball filed and a baseball filed . If you see the football field you will find the baseball filed to the right of the football field

Next Game Tuesday night Aug 18th 745pm start

Gents:

We had an enjoyable scrimmage game on a hot muggy day up in Naugatuck.

There were a number of firsts in this win some of which noted here:

1) I played right field and there were no chances handled poorly

1a) ok there were no chances at all but there was always the threat of a ball wandering out there

2) Mike made his catching debut handling me for a couple innings and Tim

3) Bobby U made his catching debut

4) Tim S and made his catching debut handling Travis in the closer role

5) Travis came in for the 9th and struck out all three hitters he faced

6) Tim C made grab of sinking liner with slide catch in LF

7) Jim made his debut in CF and caught a fly ball

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Anyway Tuesday night we play a team from danbury at 745pm start. we have the lights until 1030pm. Jim will pitch the first 2 innings followed by me. Tim will pitch 2 and Mike 3 as he gave Travis an inning sat

Please let me know if you can't make this game . i hope everyone can make it to get some work in before the playoff game which will be sunday August 23rd and it looks like we will face the Mets. if you can not make the game and we are light i can grab a couple guys to fill in but i prefer we do the playing tuesday night.

We know Charlie is in North Carolina and thus unable to attend both this game and sunday's game. Please let me know if you are not planning to be there Sunday as well.

if we meet Tuesday and decide a sat am practice will be helpful we may try to weave that in as well for those that can workout for an hour early sat am

The first round of the playoffs is single elimination so we want to jump on the Mets early and pull away from there.

I am excited to approach the playoffs and know we have a great shot. If we put all the facets of the game together we can beat anyone. We need to pitch well, hit the ball run the bases and make the plays . We have done all of this during the year and everyone has contributed to our successes. We can do it now when it counts.

see you Tuesday night

Dave

Great Job Sunday : Next Event Aug 15t at Naugatuck

Gents:

We have to be happy with the weekend performance in sweeping our two games.
Virtually every player made contributions in each game and helped us win.

We rang up 22 runs and hit the ball as well as we have all year. Just about everyone had a hit and knocked in a run or two. Travis banged in the game winner in game 1 and Mike just missed a jack in game 2. Roneil was on base all day with hits and got the big hit to lead off the 8th and gave us the start to game winning rally. Bobby hit like he does every week and made the substituion of Chuck on the bases look like the right move with his base hit. Mike Jose and Johnny combined with Travis to make the middle of the lineup very productive banging around hits all day. Danny ripped a couple knocking in runs as well. All in all a nice showing and priming us for the playoffs.

Jim got us ahead in game 1 and Mike pitched very well in game 2 giving us a chance to win

Tim made a great play int he 7th grabbing the line drive and turning it into a DP--we had 3 DP's ont he day!

For this week we have a game up in Naugatuck starting at 4pm on Saturday.

Players can choose to get there directly ( directions below) or meet at the Merritt parkway commuter parking lot at exit 41. I will be at exit 41 at 230PM

from the Merritt heading North:

Take exit 52 to merge onto CT-8 N toward Waterbury
19.7 mi 10. Take exit 26 for CT-63/S Main St
0.1 mi 11. Keep left at the fork, follow signs for S MAINT St
141 ft 12. Turn right at CT-63
33 ft 13. Turn left at S Main St
0.1 mi 14. Turn left at Hotchkiss St
We should be able to see a field from there and the baseball field is behind a softball field

Rotary Park is the name of the field

If you are up there and lost call the coach on his cell (Bill Grabowski) at 203-525-9509 for help ( I have never been there)

The Naugatuck HS had a winning streak of 100 straight games back in earlier days.. Some of the players on that team will be playing Saturday.

As of now I am not sure how many are going as several are going to let me know I hope you do make it and use this as prep for our playoffs

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are not coming

We know Charlie and Bob Ryan are out and likely Roneil is out as well.

Tim C is in though and I think X is back from the mission Obama sent him to Turkey that somehow took priority over the Cardinals doubleheader.

We will plan on throwing all the pitchers during the game. Alex and Jose will do the catching

We know several are iffy but please let me know so we can be sure to bring a full team

Great job Sunday and lets keep it up so we are primed for the playoffs

Sunday Aug 9th DH vs Westport Cards at Wilton Varsity Field

Gents:

We may have Tim Collar back for these games but Bob Ryan is out.

Mike and Jim will be our starters

Let's sweep our way into the playoffs !

Please be there around 815 so we can get loose and take infield before the game

-

Best Regards,

Dave

Close but not enough--next Sunday 8/9 at Home vs Cards for DH

Gents:

Tim threw a great 5 innings and we held them to just 4-5 hits tonight.

But a couple lapses and a run here and there and we dropped a good game 4-1.

But it shows we can compete with the top teams and just need to bring all facets of the games to win

next action : Sunday at home vs the Westport Cards

Jim and Mike are the pitching starters for the Doubleheader with Tim and I ready for relief.

The DH concludes our regular season and we head to the playoffs for first game Aug 23rd against an opponent to be determined but likely between Mets, Phillies and Cannons in a single elimination game. we will prepare for this with a scrimmage in Naugautuck on sat aug15th and a night game in Wilton on Tuesday Aug 18th. we know Charlie is out the week of 16th to 24th but would appreciate your noting if you are not available for any of the activities planned for these dates. You all have been great in helping us know if you are out or not and it has made our role easy. we have tried to make sure everyone that shows plays and we think it has worked well thus far. It has been fun so far i think we all agree- I wish we were playing again tomorrow night !

Please let us know if you are not available for any of these games going forward

Congrats to Tim and great effort tonight!

Terrifc job vs Mets: Let's go hard tomorrow night ( Mon)

Gents:

Terrific job in all facets of the game today, We played great defense. Travis made some outstanding plays , Danny Johnny and Chuck and Hot Rod caught everything in the air. Bobby U stepped in for a few nice plays at third and Roneil grabbed everything his way. Alex caught well calling some nice changeups and curves to keep them off balance and Charley just missed throwing out a stealer at second. Jim closed up for 4 nice innings. The bats were the big story today. We came alive with men on and some big hits by Jose and Johnny broke the game open in the 5th driving in Roneil, Bobby and Travis. Tim later blasted one to end any notion of a Mets comeback and all around solid performance today. Chuck added a double and Danny had a couple hits today as well. X did the job in the field handling a few chances at 1b.

Tomorrow night we have Tim ready to give Monroe his best effort. Lets give Tim the same support in the field and at the plate we had today. This game should be a good match for us and offers us a chance to ratchett up our game to the next level.

Game starts at 745pm, lights on until 1030pm.

As I mentioned I may be a bit late getting to the game but Charley will drive

Thanks for making this a nice birthday win!

Best Regards,

Dave