Game Ball!

The first of two game balls for Saturday goes to Liam. He earned the game ball party because of a well played game where he showed his consistently improving batting (four-for-six) and was strong in some key defensive positions. But Liam also earned the ball because he is the team's most improved player of the year. Liam started the year in pure rookie status. Since then, he's improved significantly with his catching and throwing and has become a reliable hitter.

The second game ball for Saturday goes to Tim, also for cumulative performance over the season. Tim has played from behind a little this year because of his age, but he has become an integral part of the team. Management has actually been scouting Tim's progress over the past few years and he has become much more attentive in games, and had a great put-out from the pitcher position on Saturday. He's developing a very nice batting swing that I think is going to explode next year. Thankfully, he's signed to a long-term contract.

Yesterday's game saw both teams slightly short staffed, which meant each player got a lot of at-bats, and they sure did take advantage of it. Thanks again to our top-notch statisticians, I can show the entire lineup:

Danny, six-for-six, 1 Double
RJ, six-for-six, 1 Double
Kyle, six-for-six, 1 Double
Sam, five-for-six
Matthew, five-for-six, 1 pre-announced "ball killing" to right center.
Will, five-for-six
Nick, six-for-six
Liam, four-for-six
Tim, oh-fer at the plate, 1.000 for effort.

Lots of top-notch plays in the field, including some great defense from our pitchers with Tim and Matthew both making put-outs, and the Berlin brothers hooking up for a pitcher to first put-out. Our defense posted a three-up, three-down fifth inning.

Not to gloat too much, but we played this team pretty evenly at the start of the year. Saturday was a different story, and we were without some very important players.