Sheer Disappointment

District Tournament
Wills Park
Alpharetta, GA

Game 1: Lost 13-9 against the Sandy Plains Cougars who we beat to win the Hobgood Showdown
Game 2: Won 21-4 in three and a half innings agains the Midway Wolverines
Game 3: Lost 11-8 against the Buckhead Braves

In the District Tournament only 10 players bat which means four players get rotated in. We found out that Jayson made it as one of the 8 starters and that he'd be batting lead off as well. Good to know that his performance has landed him a solid spot on the team.

We headed up to Alpharetta on a Thursday night fighting the traffic for over an hour. The boys seemed lethargic and unfocused. Seems to be the same story for most Thursday evening games this season. It was hot and sticky to top it off. We played the Sandy Plains Cougars who we had defeated to win the Hobgood Showdown. They were definitely out to set the record straight and they beat us pretty confidently. We made a lot of mistakes in the field and our boys weren't able to pull it together. Jayson played well at pitcher getting 8 out of 18 outs but no one man alone can win a baseball game.

Friday night was a different story and a different opponent. The Midway team struggled throughout and we railroaded them. The boys were hitting consistently and the Midway team's fielding was weak. Jayson played pitcher again and we held them to only 4 runs. It felt good to win one but we knew the road to making it to A State was a tough one.

Saturday put us up against the Buckhead Braves whom we lost to in the first tournament of the season. It was a close game early one but once the boys thought they were behind, it just fell apart. We weren't hitting as well (Jayson included) and we made mistakes in the field -- costly ones. The game ended in a heart-breaking loss which meant that we wouldn't qualify for the A State Meet in Rome. The coaches were devastated. The boys rallied around the thought that this meant they might be able to win the B State tournament and that Chattanooga would be a lot more fun than Rome.

When you face a tough loss like this the best thing for all is to look for the positive and hold on to it.