[StLee]

After a little controversy in my first ever game (to be explained in my next post), I can say that I am a winning coach and already better than the Yellow Fever's The Herd in DSL career wins.

Our first game was against one of the league's founders, Bolg, and his Bus Drivers. For the game, we shot to an early lead with some great defensive play, but some late defensive lapses allowed the Bus Drivers to get back in the game. We were the road team. In the first, we put three on the board and the Bus Drivers went scoreless. Neither team scored in the second. In the third, we added three more and the Bus Drivers scored their first run to make it 6-1. Both teams scored in the fourth to make it 7-2. In the fifth, we scored two, but the Bus Drivers answered with four to make it 9-6. We scored two more in the sixth, but the Bus Drivers reached the maximum five runs to make it an 11 all game. We got three in the top of the seventh and held the Bus Drivers to a run, holding on for the 14-12 victory for the Honey Badgers.

This was our lineup in the game:
1 - Halbreich - SS
2 - Gonzalez - 2B/RROV
3 - DeBree - 1B
4 - Frank - CF
5 - Mary Kay - LROV
6 - Dustin - 3B
7 - Keeler - RF
8 - Lee - LF
9 - MJ - C/LROV
10 - McMillan - 2B
11 - Sundell - RROV
12 - Camille - C

DNP – Johnson

I definitely changed up what I planned to do when I drafted my team. First of all, I am one of the best third basemen in the league, but since my starting center fielder was out for the game, I decided to play LF (I was an outfielder in baseball) to help out our team. Dustin was supposed to be our 1B and DeBree was supposed to be a utility guy on defense. Based on the performance of the game, I decided to keep both DeBree and Dustin in those permanent positions and I will move around as needed throughout the season.

DeBree definitely impressed me the most on his defensive play. There were a couple of times where he hesitated to throw the ball, once allowing a run to score and another time allowing a runner to reach third, but I have confidence he will start to believe in himself more and trust his fellow players to make the catch. As a first baseman, though, he was top notch, catching everything that came to him, including a couple of off throws.

Halbreich also played well at SS as I expected him to do. He turned two 6U-3 double plays, which really sparked our defense early in the game. No one else really stood out on the day. For me, I had two fly balls hit my way, making both catches, but I did rush a throw on a tag up and it helped the Bus Drivers score a run in their five-run inning.

Here were the batting results. I apologize because I was pitching most of the time, so I don’t know the exact results of plays (GO 6-3, for instance):

1st inning: Visiting team
Halbreich – Double
Gonzalez – Ground out, Halbreich to 3rd
DeBree – RBI single, (HB 1-0)
Frank – 2-RBI HR, (HB 3-0)
MaryKay – Ground out
Dustin – Single
Keeler – Ground out

2nd inning: Leading 3-0
Lee – FO-7
MJ – ground out, 3U
McMillan – single
Sundell – Ground out, 4U

3rd inning: Leading 3-0
Camille – Ground out
Halbreich – Double
Gonzalez – Out
DeBree – RBI single, (HB 4-0)
Frank – 2-RBI HR, (HB 6-0)
Mary Kay – GO 5-3

4th inning: Leading 6-1
Dustin – HR (HB 7-1)
Keeler – GO
Babin – GO, 3U (I was trying to go over the 1B’s head because the RF was playing wayyyyy off the line, but I just didn’t hit it solid and was out instead of getting a four-bagger or at least a triple)
MJ – GO

5th inning: Leading 7-2
McMillan – Double
Sundell – Single
Camille – FC, 6-5, McMillan out at third
Halbreich – FC, Camille out at second
Gonzalez – RBI double, Sundell scored (HB 8-2)
DeBree – RBI single, Halbreich scored (HB 9-2)
Frank – FO

6th inning: Leading 9-6
MaryKay – GO, 6-3
Dustin – FO-7
Keeler – Single
Lee – 2-RBI HR, (HB 11-6. This time I got it like I wanted and just went over the RF’s head. I don’t always go opposite field, but I just saw no respect for my placement skills and tried to go down the line again. This time, I hit it spot on and saw the RF retreating and then looking up, and I knew I could keep running all day)
MJ – Strike out

7th inning: Tied 11-11
McMillan – Single
Sundell – Infield single
Camille – Infield single (sloppy field allowed the ball to die just past the plate)
Halbreich – RBI fielder’s choice, McMillan scored, Camille out at second (HB 12-11)
Gonzalez – RBI single, Sundell scored (HB 13-11)
DeBree – RBI single, Halbreich scored (HB 14-11)
Frank – FC, Gonzalez out at third
MaryKay – Ground out