ASE Pee Wee Baseball: ASE Team News

Coming into the season, the 2009 ASE team has once again some big shoes to fill. We finished last season at 16-1 and are an incredible 47-2 the last three seasons and have won 3-straight City and League championships to show for it. We have a new group this year with only 3 returners back from last season. We have some talent but we are very young. This will be a fun group to coach and it’s always neat to see how a young group improves over the season. I am really looking forward to the 2009 season. See you on the field!

We started off the 2009 season tonight with a rare 1-1 tie against a pretty good Kohl's team. Several of our kids hit the ball well, but Kohl's made some really nice plays in the field. After we held Kohl's scoreless in the top of the 1st inning, Nick Martin got us going with a single to right field. After a Tyler Gunter strikeout, Josh Perkins would double to right field to score Nick, giving us a 1-0 lead. Trace Dillinger then grounded out to 2nd base and Kohl's kept Josh from scoring on the play. Ryan Smith woud then strikeout to end the inning.

          Kohl's led off the top of the 2nd with a strikeout but then put together a couple of hits to tie the game at 1. Josh Perkins would make a nice play and throw to Trace at 1st base for the third out of the inning and this one would stay tied. The rest of the game saw both teams manage a few hits surrounded by a bunch of strikeouts. It was very clear that both teams need a lot of batting practice.

       I was proud of our kids tonight. We did some really good things out there, but still have a lot of work to do. We'll get better and continue to have a good time. I forgot to hand out picture notes tonight, but we do have pictures on Monday night @ 6:30pm. Please have your child on time for pictures. See you all then!

At times it looked as if both teams should have taken everyone off the field besides the pitcher and 1st baseman. Both teams very very busy at those two positions in this game. Cricket jumped on us early scoring two runs in the top of the 1st inning. One from a monster home run over the fence that landed in the Wal-Mart parking lot :)

We came right back at them in the bottom of the inning, as Nick Martin led off with a single and after a Josh Perkins strikeout, Gabriel Leding brought Nick to 3rd base with a single up the middle. Trace Dillinger then came through with a big RBI single to give us our first run of the game. Little did we know at that time but that would be the only run we would get. The rest of the game we could not keep the ball away from Cricket's pitcher. We had several kids hit the ball well, but it always was right at him.

We returned the favor to him as our pitcher, Josh Perkins had 9 putouts in the game himself. He, along with Trace teamed up to send most Cricket's batters back to the bench with their head hanging. What a great game played by both of those kids on defense. Nick Martin also made a very nice play to throw one of Cricket's batters out at 1st base.

Cricket added a late run to make the final 3-1, but this one was all about the defense. Both teams played really well defensively and I'm sure both will improve at the plate as the season goes along. I was really proud of our kids effort tonight. We will practice on Wednesday night before returning to action on Thursday night @ 7:30 versus YMA.

We jumped out in this one and looked as if it would be easy for a while. Nick Martin and Josh Perkins led off the game for us with back-to-back singles. Gabe Leding then knocked in a run with an RBI single. Trace Dillinger then singled to knock in another run and suddenly we were up 2-0. Travis Chaffey kept our rally going with another single to give us a 3-0 lead. I got a little greedy on the play and got Trace thrown out at 3rd base. After an Ethan Moates single, Tyler Gunter and Sergio Ramirez both went down swinging to end our half of the inning.

     YMA came right back at us in the bottom of the 1st. After a strikeout to open their inning, a hard hit double to right field put them in business. Another hit would score a run and make the score 3-1. Two straight strikeouts would end their half of the inning and after one full inning of play we held a 3-1 lead.

     The 2nd inning would not be so kind to us. Ryan Smith grounded out to the pitcher and Kinsey Martin and Kiki Clark both went down swinging to end our half of the 2nd inning. YMA took advantage and cut into our lead in the bottom of the inning. They used back-to-back singles to get their rally going. After a couple of strikeouts, it looked as if we might get out of the inning with our 2-run lead still in tact. Their next batter then got a big 2-out hit to left field scoring a run to make the score 3-2. Another strikeout would end their half of the inning and after two full innings of play we clung to a 3-2 lead.

     The strikeout bug remained in our dugout to begin the top of the 3rd. Zeb Gattis went down on strikes but Nick Martin picked him up with a double to put us back in business. After a Josh Perkins strikeout, Gabe Leding singled but Nick was unable to score on the play. Trace Dillinger then grounded out to 1st base to end our scoring threat and we went into the bottom of the 3rd with a slim 3-2 lead.

     YMA's first batter struckout and then we made a major boo-boo. A groundball to Josh up the middle was fielded well, but Josh threw low and Trace couldn't come up with the snag and suddenly the tying run was on base. YMA's next batter singled and the game was tied. Another hard hit single to left field would score the winning run and they would pull this one out with a late rally 4-3. Congrats to YMA on a good played game. We will continue to work hard in practice and get better as the season goes on. I'm still very proud of our kids effort. We just couldn't catch a break in this one tonight. See you all at practice on Wednesday @ 5:30.

Thursday night against Rashaad's, ASE only managed two hits in the game. The result would be a 5-0 loss to the #1 team in the league. The game might have been a lot worse but our defense was up to the challenge. Plays from Josh Perkins, Trace Dillinger, Gabriel Leding and Nick Martin kept the game close. Travis Chaffey also made a great play on a pop up and threw to Josh who assisted in turning a double play. Our bats just could not get much going as we had a season high 8 strikeouts in the game.

          Saturday against Monty's TV would be a much different story. We came right out hitting the ball and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. Nick, Josh and Gabe all singled and Trace kept the rally going with and RBI single. Ethan would then groundout to the shortstop but Gabe and Trace would score on the play to give us the 3-0 lead.

          Our defense was up to the challenge in the bottom of the inning as Josh Perkins and Gabriel Leding both made good plays to hold Monty's to just a single run in the inning. The top of the 2nd would see the strikeout bug enter our dugout. Sergio and Kinsey both went down swining, but Kiki picked them up with a single. Zeb would then strikeout to end our half of the inning still holding a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, it was the Trace Dillinger show! Monty's first batter popped up to Trace and their second batter would groundout to him at 1st base. Monty's next batter hit a ball to Nick Martin who then threw to Trace for the final out of the inning.

          Tyler Gunter led off the top of the 3rd with a single and Nick Martin would knock him in with a single of his own. Josh then came through with an RBI single and suddenly it was 5-1. Gabe and Trace both went down swinging, but Ethan Moates picked them up with an RBI double to extend our lead to 6-1. Ryan Smith would then single and Sergio Ramirez then knocked in Ethan to put this one out of reach at 7-1.

          Monty's managed a couple of runs in the bottom of the 3rd but it was too liitle too late in this one, as ASE got their first win of the season with the 7-4 victory. Great job to all our players and a huge thank you to all the parents that helped out while Jodie and I were out of town. Thanks to Sergio, Erica, John and anyone else who helped. I really appreciate it!

After a good hitting performance against Monty's on Saturday I knew we would probably hit the ball well again tonight. We did just that, but just couldn't get quite enough runs to pull this one out. After a scoreless 1st inning by both teams, our bats came to life in the top of the 2nd. After Trace Dillinger grounded out to the 2nd baseman, Ethan Moates doubled and Ryan Smith would knock him in as he grounded out to 1st base. Sergio Ramirez went down swinging and we would cling to a slim lead.

          Kohl's would manage a couple of hits surrounded by a couple of good plays from our defense and their final batter would come up with two outs in the inning. Since they only had 8 players, that final batter should have been called an automatic out, but I made the decision before the game to not force them into taking that as an out. I felt it was the right thing to do and it sure came back to bite us in this one. With two outs, they rattled off 4 straight hits to score 5 runs and take a 5-1 lead going into the top of the 3rd inning.

          After a scoreless 3rd inning by both teams, we got our bats going again in the top of the 4th. Nick Martin and Travis Chaffey both singled and Gabe Leding scored Nick with a single of his own. Trace kept the rally going with a run scoring single and suddenly it was 5-3. A got a little greedy on the play and got Gabe called out at home plate, despite the catcher never tagging him with the ball, the umpire called him out. Ryan would then groundout to 1st base for the second out of the inning. Sergio then hit a hard ball to the left side of the infield and Ethan was tagged out running to 3rd for the final out of the game. Kohl's held on for the 5-3 victory. I was proud of our kids and especially proud of the way we hit the ball tonight. We may not be winning a lot right now but the kids are improving and having a good time doing it. The wins will come. We are not that far off from rattling off some W's.

Sorry for the late updates here the last few games. Been having some computer problems at home. First let's get to our game last Thursday against Forsgren. In this game we came out hitting the ball and didn't stop until the game was called. Nick Martin and Josh Perkins got us started in the bottom of the 1st inning with back-to-back singles. After a Gabriel Leding strikeout, Trace Dillinger singled up the middle to score both runners and give us an early 2-0 lead. Ethan Moates then continued his hot hitting with a single to score Trace. Ryan Smith and Sergio Ramirez both battled at the plate but went down swinging to end the inning.

          Forsgren was not able to score in the top of the 2nd inning as they managed a few hits but could not stay away from that strikeout bug. In the bottom half of the inning we followed their example, as all three batter struckout. Kinsey Martin, Kiki Clark and Zeb Gattis

          Forsgren got their bats going a bit in the top of the 3rd. They managed a couple of hits and used an error by us to pull within 3-2. It could have been worse but Josh Perkins and Trace Dillinger made a nice play to keep Forsgen from scoring more. The bottom of the 3rd we came right back at Forsgren and extended our lead. Tyler Gunter got things going with a double and Nick Martin would knock Tyler in with a double of his own. Josh Perkins then grounded out to 1st base, but Nick hustled all the way from 2nd base to score on the play, extending our lead to 5-2. After a Gabe Leding strikeout, Trace and Ethan both singled and Ryan Smith would do the same to give us a 6-2 lead. Sergio went down on strikes and the time limit was called with us grabbing the 6-2 win.

          We hit the ball really well in this game and played good defense. We still have some of our kids at the bottom of the order that we need to get going. Once we do that, we will be tough to beat. Great job in this one ASE!!!

ASE kept their hot bats going tonight and used them for a 6-0 victory over Phillip Taylor. We came right out hitting the ball in this one and never looked back. Phillip Taylor's lead-off batter went down swinging, but their next batter would then single. Josh Perkins and Travis Chaffey would then team up to record the second out of the inning and it looked as if we would escape without them scoring. Their next batter would then single and Josh would hustle to tag out one of their runners right before he touched home plate to record the final out of the inning.

          The bottom of the 1st we would get our bats going. Nick Martin would show why he's our leading hitter as he singled to get us in business. Josh Perkins then hit a hard line drive to left field and Gabriel Leding followed that up with an RBI single to score Nick. Ethan Moates then went down swinging then Travis Chaffey grounded out to 1st base, but Josh would score on the play to give us a 2-0 lead. Tyler Gunter then ended the inning as he went down on strikes but not before we had taken a 2-0 lead after one full inning of play.

          After a 2nd inning that saw neither team do much at the plate, the top of the 3rd, Phillip Taylor managed a couple of hits. Our defense did a great job of holding then to singles and not allowing a run to score. Three of their batters went down on strikes and they left the bases loaded with the time limit winding down. I knew if we could manage a few hits we could put this one away. After a Zeb Gattis striekout, Nick and Josh got therally going with singles. Gabe then went down on strikes, but Ethan got the 2-out rally started with a big single up the middle, scoring Nick on the hit. Travis then came through with a big time hit up the middle, scoring two runs to extend our lead to 5-2. Tyler Gunter kept the rally going with another RBI single to put this one away. Sergio then fouled off several balls before singling a ball up the middle. The time limit expired and the umpire called the game with us notching the 6-0 win.

          Our top 6 batters hit the ball really well and our defense was solid enough to keep Phillip Taylor from scoring. Travis did a great job of filling in for Trace at 1st base and our bats lead us to victory. Great job ASE, we are really proud of you!

Just when it looked as if YMA had us down for the count, our kids came alive and fought back in the last inning to make this one interesting. There was not much to cheer about for ASE in the first two and 1/2 innings. YMA had us down 7-1 and the time limit was expired. The bottom of the 3rd our bats would come alive and for a while we had that old ASE spirit from years past.

          Kinsey Martin really got our crowd excited as she hit a very hard ball to left field and used a YMA throwing error to round the bases for an inside the park home run. After a Zeb Gattis strikeout, Nick Martin singled to left field. Josh Perkins then went down swinging and it looked as if our rally would not happen. But our kids would not quit in this one. Travis Chaffey singled and Trace Dillinger would single to score Nick to make it 7-3. Ethan moates then kept his red hot hitting going with a 2-run scoring single to left field and suddenly it was 7-5. Tyler Gunter kept the rally going with a single down 3rd base line, but a Ryan smith groundout would end our rally and end the game. what a great comeback by our kids and I couldn't have been prouder of them. YMA is un-defeated and in 1st place in the league and our kids took them to the wire tonight. Great job ASE and let's go get Coach Scott on Thursday night.