So close... but...

The A League Championship Game
Rockies vs. Braves
Lost 11-5

Jayson started out at second again, hopeful that our winning strategy would work once more for us. Unfortunately, the Braves came out strong and quickly racked up three runs. We struggled hard to score two runs and fell behind. Jayson got a double and scored. The Braves led 5-1. To make matters worse, our starting short stop got out. Jayson stepped in for him at short.

Jayson played really well at short stop making all the plays and owning the in field as best he could. We continued to make mistakes and the Braves were inflappable defensively. While we were hitting they were catching everything imaginable and we continued to struggle in the field. By the third, the Braves were leading 8-2.

Jayson hit a triple, got an RBI and made it home for our final push but it just wasn't enough. The Braves continued to dominate the field shutting us down. The game ended with us in second place for the second year in a row. Jayson had one of his best games and showed that he could jump in when needed. The only challenge was that Jayson couldn't win the game by himself. It really does take the whole team!

So ends another season. But the good news is that Jayson earned a place on the A All-Stars team. We are so proud of all that he's accomplished and as a result, practice starts tomorrow and we have another six weeks of summer ball!

One Run

Cubs vs. Rockies

Won 9-10

What a game! To switch things up and ensure total coverage in the in field, Jayson is now playing second base. The strategy seemed to work since he got two outs in the first inning. He got a single and after the first, the Rockies were in the lead 3-2.

In the second, the Rockies closed down the Cubs with three straight outs. But the Cubs returned the favor and the score didn't change.

By the third inning, Jayson was back at pitcher and the teams tied up the score 6-6. The parents were losing it. The tension was rising rapidly. In the fourth inning, the Cubs scored two runs and took the lead. I started to worry. I had planned for us to get to the championship game and losing this game wasn't the plan.

Going into the fifth inning they were tied 9-9. They held them to no runs and somehow miraculously the Rockies scored in the bottom of the 6th to win the game by one single run! The crowd went wild -- quite literally and the parents could finally breathe again. We made it to the championship -- just barely.

The Road to the Championship

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies
Won 6-12

The first game of the playoffs and given our recent record, we were all a little nervous. The good news was that the boys were in the game in the field and batting. Jayson played pitcher, first and second. He had two doubles with three RBIs. More importantly, his defensive plays prevented the Diamondbacks from scoring about 5 runs which was the difference in the game. Several of the other boys stepped up their game to allow us to beat the Diamondbacks efficiently in five innings.

Next up... the Cubs.

The Cost of Striking Out

Marlins vs. Rockies
Lost 10-9

The last game of the regular season. We went in with a loss hoping not to continue that streak. Our team decided not to do batting practice and that made a big difference. The kids weren't hitting.

Jayson played really well in the field. He played pitcher, short stop and first base. He had several put outs. He caught one pop-up and almost got a double-play at short. In total he got 8 outs.

The problem was the other team out-hit us. At Jayson's first at bat, he got a single and made it home. At his second at bat, he got on base, but got an out at second. He hit a hard line drive that was caught by the short stop.

They played well but the Marlins out played them and again we had 7 strike outs. We ended the season solidly in second place. Playoffs start this week and we're having two batting practices. Hopefully that'll make the difference.

All Good Things Must Come to An End

Rockies vs. Cubs
Lost 4-11

Our winning streak ended today. It was a humid afternoon and we played the early game so the kids really didn't have time to rest. During warm ups, I began to worry watching our guys struggle to keep up with the ball. The Cubs didn't have the same issues. They were ready and roaring to go. They quickly took the lead 4-0.

Our team was missing balls in the in field which we haven't done all season. We also had 8 strike outs which makes it really difficult to stay in the game. By the end of the second inning, they were up 9-0. To make matters worse, the score board wasn't working either and everyone was having a hard time keeping up with the game. However, this was the one game we really didn't want to be reminded of the score.

In the third inning, Jayson got a double and an RBI, the Rockies finally scored three runs. In the bottom of the third, Jayson played pitcher and got two outs by throwing the second and then to first. There was a glimmer of hope for a moment but it didn't last. The inning ended with the Cubs leading 10-3.

Both teams scored one more run and then we called it a game. While we feel much better when we win, the Cubs deserved to win this one and we recognized that our winning streak would eventually come to an end especially when it's a long season and we play a lot of games.

Our final game of the season is on Saturday against the Marlins.

The Rules of the Game

Mets vs. Rockies
Won 5-13

We arrived to find that the Braves, the number one seeded team, lost to the A's. That meant that if we won this game, we would move up to the top of the standings. However, there seemed to be some drama about how the Braves were cheating because they weren't rotating their players.

During the first inning, Jayson played pitcher and got an out by throwing the ball to first. The Rockies brought in a few runs taking an early lead, 3-2. In the second, Jayson played pitcher again and caught a ball for another out. He threw the ball for first for the third out and the Mets weren't able to score any runs.

We rotated our players and Jayson played short stop. She got an out at 2nd and then threw to first just missing a double play. At bat, he hit a strong double and got two RBIs. The Rockies were leading 9-2.

In the fourth inning, Jayson sat out and we rotated our infield players per the rules of the game. The Mets were able to score a few runs and brough the score to 9-5. In the fifth, Jayson played pitcher again and got another out at first and again held them to no runs. The Rockies won the game 13-5.

One of the coaches mentioned that the score should have been a lot higher. I pointed out that the difference would have been a lot higher if we hadn't rotated our players. But we are playing by the rules of the game.

One More Win

Rockies vs. Mets
Won 15-8

The Mets still haven't won a game and while we feel sorry for them we don't be the ones to lose against them. Jayson started out in the first inning with a strong hit down the middle to get a triple and end the inning ahead 3-2.

Jayson hit a single in the second and we scored a few runs but weren't getting the lead that we wanted. In the third, Jayson played pitcher and got the third out with a throw to first. Neither side scored ending the inning with us leading 6-2.

In the fourth inning, one of our players hit a home run and we took the lead 11-2. Jayson played short stop and pitcher but didn't get much action. In the fifth inning, Jayson hit a grounder right to the pitcher and was out at first. The game was much closer than most of our recent games so we got to play the sixth inning. We gained another win, 15-8.

On a Roll

Giants vs. Rockies
Won 11-4

Back at the baseball park again. The boys had a lot of momentum from the night before and seemed to warm up quickly. Jayson played pitcher and caught two balls for two outs. At his first at bat, he got a single and made it home. The Rockies took the lead 5-1.

During the second inning, Jayson played short. He got an out at second and his team-mate got a double-play. With such strong in-field defense, the Giants weren't able to score. Uncharacteristically Jayson popped up the ball and it was caught. Several other players popped up as well which is very unusual for our team. Something must have been in the air.

The Rockies were on a roll and kept racking up the runs...9-1 at the end of the third and 11-2 by the end of the fourth. We ended the game early in just under an hour.