2007 RL: Softball Dynasty

[primelord]

So last year I started keeping a dynasty of my softball season. Unfortunately I didn't keep up with it all the way through, but I am planning on doing better this season. If anyone is curious about last year's version here is the link:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=49922

I'll give a quick recap of how the season finished up last year. As a reminder our leage is divided up into 3 levels. Our Sunday team started off playing in the 2nd division and won that division in a tight race with another team in the first session. After that we got moved up to the top division with the team that finished 2nd and two of the teams in the top division got moved down.

We had a rough go of it in division 1. Most games we were very competitive with the teams up there, but in the end we lost a bunch of close games. We ended up going 4-8 in division 1 and finished 3rd out of 4th. So we were moved back to division 2 for the 3rd session along with the team that finished 4th.

The 3rd session was cut short because of large number of rainouts. So we were only able to get 10 games in. We put a severe beating on our competition in the 3rd session. I guess getting demoted pissed us off. We won the majority of our games by the mercy rule and finished the session 9-1. We had already clinched the division going into the last week and the only game we lost was the very last game of the season when we played everyone out of position.

Out Wednesday night team had a much rougher go of it. Starting in division 2 we were pretty out matched all season. We won a couple of games, but unlike our rough patch in division 1 on Sundays, in this league we were pretty clearly outmatched. Just as an example we played a team who's pitcher had already hit two home runs in the game and the team was at the home run limit. So the next home run hit was an out. To try and keep the ball in play the pitcher went to the right side and hit another homr run down the right field line. Trying not to hit a home run he hit one to the opposite field. It was rough.

We were demoted to division 3 for the last session of the year and I won't spend much time on it. Because of the rain outs we only played a total of 8 games and we missed two of them because of a scheduling mishap on my part. The games we were there for were riddled with teams not having enough players on the other team. Overall that session was a mess.

So to sum up our Sunday team pwned and our Wednesday team was teh suck.

[primelord]

I am missing about 3 weeks of my hitting data, but early in the second session a guy who was filling in for our team ended up giving me a score book so I actually have my stats for the last 34 games I played.

Looking back at where I left off I was hitting .492 which is a bit lower than I would like. In the final 34 games I ended up going 56 for 106 which ends up being a .530 average. Which gave me a .510 average for the year (minus the 3 weeks data I am missing. We will assume I hit at least .800 during that sretch )

I would like to hit closer to .600 for the year, but in the end I am quite happy with .510.

[primelord]

Just like last year I will run through our arsenal of bats. I have made a few trades in the off-season so we have some new toys to play with. I am adding the average ratings from the bat reviews at softballfans.com. All ratings are out of 10. Pop is how well the ball jumps off the bat. Distance is pretty self explanitory. Sweet spot is a rating on how big the sweet spot is on the barrell. Keep in mind all of these bats are very high end bats so really they are all going to get good ratings.

Worth May120 Mayhem
34" 26oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.46
Distance: 9.36
Sweet Spot: 9.50

This bat got absolutely fire hot by the end of the year last season. I would say a good 80% or so of the team used this as their game bat. You wouldn't think the difference between 26 and 27 ounces would be much, but it is easy to feel when swinging the bats. I much prefer the lighter bat. Alas Graham and I broke this bat our 2nd time out hitting this year. It was still under warranty so we have a new one now, but it will obviously take some time to break in and get it back to the level last year's was at.

2004 Miken Freak+
34" 27oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.47
Distance: 9.44
Sweet Spot: 9.43

According to the ratings this bat has slightly better pop and distance than the booger. At this point it also probably the most broken in of the bats we have. I have been hitting in BP very well with this bat so far this year. The heavier bat can be a bit nicer in that it comes through the ball cleaner, but still I even feel like I am swinging it just a tad slower than the 26 oz bats. It also is a bit more end loaded than the May120 so it actually feels heavier than it is. It's a fantastic bat though and may start out the season as my gamer. It is great shape too since it was barely even used last season.

Miken Maniac 585
34" 27oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.28
Distance: 9.23
Sweet Spot: 9.14

Ah how the mighty have fallen. I loved this bat 2 years ago. However when we broke it before the season last year that led to the purchase of all the new bats we have. I have probably swung this bat 12-15 times since I got the return back for the broken one. It's a good bat and a few of the guys on our team still swing it. They feel confident with it since they hit well with it when it was our main high end bat. It's just a notch below our other bats though. I will likely never swing this one again.

2006 Worth Jeff Hall Mayhem 120
34" 26.5oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.44
Distance: 9.48
Sweet Spot: 9.35

This is the limited edition version of the booger (May120) up above. It is also the first of the 3 new bats we have this year. For the most part it is the same bat as the May120. However it has a .5 oz end load to it that makes it come through the ball cleaner. I haven't swung it in BP yet, but I would imagine once it starts to break in this will be the bat I use for most of the season. They don't make any more of these bats. I had to trade my Synergy 2 to pick one up.

2007 Worth Jeff Hall M7 120
34" 26.5oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.37
Distance: 9.40
Sweet Spot: 9.51

Easton recently stopped making their Cnt+ bats. We had one of those that we bought for $250 last year brand new. It's a pretty popular bat and an interesting situation has occured. Since Easton no longer makes them the value on them has gone up. They are selling used for $300. The thing is we never liked that bat very much. So we took advantage of that and traded it for a brand new JH M7 120. This is essentially the 2007 model of the Jeff Hall bat above. It supposedly swings a bit different than last year's model. So I figured we would hedge our bets and get both models and see which one we liked the best.

2007 Worth Jeff Hall M7 98
34" 26.5oz


SBF Ratings:
Pop: 9.42
Distance: 9.22
Sweet Spot: 9.57

The Sunday and Wednesday teams play in an ISA sanctioned league. That league allows bats that are rated at 100 mph and above. However the Tuesday and Thursday night team I will be playing on for a buddies work team is ASA regulated and they only allow bats that are rated at a max 98 mph. So I traded my Easton CNT Flex for the ASA version of the Jeff Hall M7. As you can see it has the lowest distance rating and one of the lower pop ratings of all the bats we have. However it has the largest sweet spot of all those bats so it should also be the most forgiving. This should be an excellent bat for my ASA games.

If you couldn't tell I have grown a pretty strong affinty for Worth composite bats. I have also soured quite a bit on any of the bats made by Easton which is why I traded all 3 that I had. They aren't bad bats and ratings wise the Cnt+ stacks up with all our other bats very well. In the end though they have a far more balanced feel to them and I just prefer the end loaded bats quite a bit now.

[primelord]

Tuesday Night League: Game 1

So the softball season got started for me tonight. We were supposed to have games this past Sunday, but they were rained out. Once again this year I will be playing on Tuesday nights with my buddies work team. A bit ironic considering he is not playing on this team this year.

If you read any of last year's thread you will know that this team is not exceptionally good. The league as a whole is not super strong though so they are in most games, but they don't win a lot. My buddy not playing this year is a big loss too. He has developed into quite a hitter and will be missed on this team.


The game started off pretty slow. For many people playing tonight it was the first time they had swung a bat or fielded a ball since last season. This league gives me a bit more trouble than my other leagues because it is a called strike zone instead of a carpet league. They let pitchers get away with a much higher arc in this league. Our offense sputtered through the first few innings and we booted a few balls in the field and quickly found ourselves down 6-0.

In the 4th we had a big inning offensively though, sparked by the bottom of the order which is a real weakness on this team. The bottom 3 hitters all got consecutive hits and the top of the order capitilized and we tied the game up at 6. After getting the other team 1-2-3 in the next inning we took our first lead 7-6 in the bottom of the 5th.

Our opponents tied the game up again in the top 6th, but we again extended the lead to two runs in the bottom half and we just needed to hold them for the win in the 7th. Unfortunately the wheels really fell off in the top of the 7th. We gave up 3 home runs in the inning as well as a bunch of base hits and just like that we were down 13-9. We went with a 1-2-3 whimper in the last of the 7th and the season got started off the way it finished last year.

I had a pretty good night overall. In my first at bat I absolutely crushed a ball that would have been a certain home run, but hooked about a foot foul. In this league there is no fence in left field and I had beat the left fielder badly with that swing. Unfortunately it was just a long strike and I got under the next pitch and flied out to left. In my next at bat I took an out side pitch over the 2B head for a single and I finished up the night with a hard hit ball that ate the 3B up and turned into another hit. So 2 for 3 in my first night out. Could have been worse.

I played pretty well defensively too. I made a few good snags at 2B as well as saving several runs on an over the shoulder catch running into foul ground from first. I always want to win, but honestly I really use these other leagues as more practice for my Wednesday and Sunday teams. So even though we got the loss it was a pretty good night for me.

Tuesday Team Record: 0-1
Season Stats: .667 AVG (2/3), 0 runs, 0 RBIs

[Poli]

Bad start for us and for me.

I went 1-6. Unless it's "I got on base so it's a hit". I caused two forceouts at second.

Groundout to short.
Foulout.
Groundout to short, runner forced at second.
Flyout to right center.
Groundout to short, runner forced at second.
Base hit to left.

1 run scored, 1 RBI.

No chances the first game. 1 error, 1 putout, 2 assists in the second.

3 booted balls as well, I just got lucky with 2 of them.

And I'm banged up. I imagine I won't be the shortstop when I get back.

[Travis]

Good luck with your new season. I'm very curious to hear your impressions of the ASA level Jeff Hall as that's the bat I'm considering depending on how reviews of this years Anderson's go (I have high hopes for the new composite and the RTK).

[primelord]

Wednesday Night League: Games 1 and 2

So things looked fairly bleak from us just from watching the other team take batting practice. About 7 of their guys showed up early to take some BP before the game. 6 of those 7 were hitting multiple HRs in BP. Little did we know that we hadn't seen anything yet.

The ballpark we play at one Wednesday nighst has 3 divisions. We did not fare exceptionally well last season so we were in division 3 which is the lowest division. I hate for it to sound like I am whining, but there really is no reason for the team we played last night to be in division 3. I have never seen any team in any of the divisions I have played in over the years including the top one hit with the power that they hit with last night.

Our league has a 3 home run and then one up rule. This means that any team can hit up to 3 home runs. After that any home run they hit is an out until the other team gets to 3 home runs. Then each team can go one up before they are counted as outs again. Our opponents hit 2 HRs in the first inning of the first game. In the 2nd inning after hitting their 3rd home run the next two consecutive batters ended up making outs on HRs. 3 consecutive HRs, two of which they were trying not to hit. I think they hit another 4 or 5 all for outs in the first game. It was sick.

When they weren't hitting home runs they were pretty successfully peppering the ball all over the filed on us. They were specifically abusing our lF Bill. Dropping line drive after line dirve in short of him. And then when he would move up blasting it over his head. We adjusted to a rover defensive position late in the first game and actually had some success with it. It slowed the bleeding at the very least. The final score really doesn't matter so much, but we got shelled.

The good news is overall as team we actually hit pretty well. For the most part we played well in the field too. We put up 11 runs in the first game which usually would give us a pretty good shot to win. So I am very encouraged for the rest of the season.

The second game was more of the same. They got to their 3 home run limit almost immediately and made several more outs on home runs. Thier cleanup hitter (who it tunrs out was in my high school graduating class) was ridiculous. He hit a home run in every single at bat except one. (Most of them for outs) The one at bat he didn't hit a home run he used a wood bat. In his final at bat of the night they were up by a lot and you could tell he just decided to say F it and was going to hit the longest out he possibly could. I measured his last home run on Google earth. It was in the 375-385 foot range.

Again we hit pretty well as a team in this game. We were a bit shakier on defense, but nothing really to get worried about. In the end we were beat pretty bad again, but put up another 10 runs so I was probably as happy as you can be in an utter ass whooping.

As for myself I was very happy with my hitting. In my first at bat I hit a hard ground ball that ate up the 3B. My 2nd at bat I hit a nice hard line drive, but it was right at the LF. My 3rd at bat came right after the inning we switched to the rover defense. The other team made the same switch. However when we play that defense I put one of our better OFs in right field. They left their worst OF in that position with no help due to the shifted defense. I knew if I could just get a ball out there I could beat him. I lofted a ball over his head for a double. 2 for 3 in the first game.

In the second game I hit a screamer knuckle ball up the middle for a single. I then again took advantage of the shifted defense and hit a short looper into RF for another single. My 3rd at bat I hit the hardest ball I hit all night. A rocket line dirve, but once again right at the LF. In my final at bat I got on top of the ball too much and hit a fairly weak grounder to 3B and was thrown out easily. So my last at bat of the night was really the only one I was on happy with. 4 for 7 on the night.

Ardent was a bit rough on himself in his recap above. While he did go 1 for 6. Several of those he just got under or just got on top of a bit too much. I think he will make a solid addition to the team. WSUCougar had a fantastic night at the plate. He was crushing the ball all night. I believe he went 6 for 7. I can only remember him making one out in his last at bat and even that ball was a hard hit line drive, but just right at someone. I was very impressed.

Wednesday team record: 0-2
Season stats: .600 AVG (6/10), 2 runs, 2 RBIs

[primelord]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

And I'm banged up. I imagine I won't be the shortstop when I get back.

You most likely won't be, but it's not because of your play last night. Our regular shortstop is out of town for the first couple of weeks. He will be back by the time you are back.

I thought you did fine. Theyw ere hitting the ball very hard and you kept everything in front of you. That's more than a lot of guys in this league will do.

[primelord]

Originally Posted by Travis

Good luck with your new season. I'm very curious to hear your impressions of the ASA level Jeff Hall as that's the bat I'm considering depending on how reviews of this years Anderson's go (I have high hopes for the new composite and the RTK).

I am quite happy with the JH98 so far. The Tuesday night team is an ASA league so that is my gamer in that league. I crushed that first ball with it Tuesday night. It has a noticeably bigger sweet spot than the regualr JH. I think I am going to be very happy with it.

[Travis]

Sounds like some serious muscle heads in that game. We play with those sort of HR rules at quite a few tourneys and I can't remember the last time we made more than 1 or 2 outs in a game once we hit our limit. Certainly wasn't a case of not having the power to do so (usually hit the limit by the third inning), but just not having to showcase for the sake of showcasing I guess. If I was on their team, it wouldn't last long as that sort of thing would drive me nuts.

On the JH98, does it seem to get pretty good carry or better for line drives? How dramatic is the end load? Sorry for all the questions, but even the 4-6 inches of snow we're getting today can't dampen my enthusiasm for ball right now

[primelord]

Originally Posted by Travis

On the JH98, does it seem to get pretty good carry or better for line drives? How dramatic is the end load? Sorry for all the questions, but even the 4-6 inches of snow we're getting today can't dampen my enthusiasm for ball right now

Well since I only have one game under my belt with it I don't want to make any definitive statements, but it seems to have plenty of carry to it. I am sure when they are both broken in it won't be able to drive with the regular JH, but already it feels like it has more pop to it than my Synergy Flex did even when it was well broken in.

The end load is fairly pronounced. I prefer a more end loaded bat though so it feels good to me. When I swing the normal Mayhem I can tell the difference though.

[Poli]

Originally Posted by primelord

You most likely won't be, but it's not because of your play last night. Our regular shortstop is out of town for the first couple of weeks. He will be back by the time you are back.

I thought you did fine. Theyw ere hitting the ball very hard and you kept everything in front of you. That's more than a lot of guys in this league will do.

I'm a serviceable catcher.

[primelord]

Sundat Afternoon League: Games 1 and 2

So we finally got the Sunday season started today. We are pretty familiar with two of the teams in the league. One of them we beat out on tie breakers for a league championship last season. Our opponents today though we had never played before.

The first game was an interesting one. The opposing pitcher threw a pitch with a lot of backspin and was particularly good at getting it to drop right on the front oft he carpet for a strike. A tough pitch to hit. For me he also threw a much slower ball than normal. I know that seems odd being slow pitch softball and all, but my timing was horribly off with him.

We didn't play terribly defensively in the first game, but we did have a few mistakes here and there. When you combine that with the fact the other pitcher just had our number and they were hitting well it all added up to a blow out loss for us. I believe the final score was 11-2. A pretty frustrating game as I know we can hit, but this picther just had us stumped for some reason.

The second game was a completely different story. They switched pitchers and that was easily their biggest mistake. I think we would have ended up getting ot the first guy anyway, but we seemed to take our frustrations out ont he new guy. We came out and scored 6 in the first inning. We also hit two home runs in that inning. Our opponents got one in the bootom of the inning and we tacked on anotehr in the 2nd to make it 7-1 after 3.

In the fourth inning the other team added 3 more runs and were starting to close the gap again. We decided not to stand for that and put up 7 more runs in the 5th after batting around and hitting our 3rd HR of the game. We tacked on 4 more in the 7th for good measure and finished the game with a pretty dominating 18-5 win. A tale of two games.

From what I know of the otehr two teams in the league this team is probably better than both of them. So we can clearly play with everyone in this league. I think we have an excellent chance at our 3rd division championship in the last 4 sessions on Sundays.

I had a pretty so so day. In my first at bat I was horribly fooled by that weird slow back spin pitch and hit a ball very weakly, but it went foul. The next pitch I actually hammered and with a bit of help from the wind drove it over the LFs head for a double. I thought I had that pitcher figured out, but in my next at bat I was way out in front of a pitch again and weakly popped out to LF. In my final at bat of the first game iot was more of the same. Way out in front of the pitch and it led to another weak pop out. 1 for 3 for the game.

I hit the first ball pretty well for a line drive single up the middle. In my 2nd at bat I got on top of a pitch and hit a pretty slow roller to SS. After the SS bobbled the ball I ended up with a hit. My 3rd at bat I wanted to take the ball the otehr way and did, but it was a short looping hit into short right field. Effective but not what I was trying to do. In my final at bat of the game I grounded into a double play. So I went 3 for 4 for the game, but really only hit the ball well once. Still I will take it. I pretty solid 4 for 7 on the day.

Sunday Team Record: 1-1
Season Stats: .588 AVG (10/17), 3 runs, 2 RBIs

[primelord]

One of the early stories of our season is WSUCougar. He certainly hit well last season, but he seems really locked in so far this year. He went 6 for 7 on Wednesday and then after a pretty rough first game today (which everyone on our team had a rough first game) he went 5 for 5 in game 2. I have Chris hitting .733 (11/15) on the young season. Very well done!

[primelord]

For those following this thread, just an FYI. We had a bye week on Tuesday and our Wednesday night games were rained out. I have a game Thursday night at 10, but the weather doesn't look like it is going to cooperate for that one either. So we may not play again until Sunday.

[Poli]

2 for 5 for me today. 1 error, 1 putout. 1 run scored, 1 walk.

two line drives to left, the deep flyout to center, the foulout (gah!) and the grounder to short that forced Coug out.

[Poli]

I should probably be fired.

Spoiler

I was hoping for rain so I can see the season finale of Lost.

Ain't no way I'm watching it when I get home tonight.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

I should probably be fired.

Spoiler

I was hoping for rain so I can see the season finale of Lost.

Ain't no way I'm watching it when I get home tonight.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO @ you

There's an 0 fer coming up in your future

[Poli]

4 of 8. 3 runs scored. No errors, no chances.

[Poli]

Puts me at 7 of 19 on the year I think.

[Poli]

Well, the past 2 games in Fenton I went 1 for 9...2 walks, 4 runs scored, 3 RBIs...my 1 hit being a weak double (I took the bag when the ball scooted away, but I'll take whatever I can get).

Then I went to Oklahoma for Will's tournament and went 7 for 8...2 HRs, 1 triple, 4 singles. 7 RBIs, 2 runs scored.

15 for 36 I believe at this point.

[Poli]

2 for 6 today down in Sun Valley (Pevely) with a walk. I forgot, I walked once in Oklahoma as well. Friggin hit the ball to the right center fence only to have it caught. Probably would have gone out in Fenton. Dag nab it.

Hit the ball well all but one time, pop out to first...I went line drive hit to right center, fly out to left center, pop out to 1st, deep ball to renter, fly out to right, base hit up the middle, and walk.

1 run scored.

17 for 42 now.

[Poli]

2 for 7 down in Sun Valley, not bad considering the news I got today. 4 putouts in the field and one error. 2 runs scored, 1 RBI.

19 for 49.

[Poli]

Took some time off with my knee banged up.

Played last night, went 2 for 5, 3 walks. I love not playing with a mat behind the plate. 1 run scored.

I also played 8 of the 10 positions, making a out of some sort at all but catcher and right field.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

Took some time off with my knee banged up.

Played last night, went 2 for 5, 3 walks. I love not playing with a mat behind the plate. 1 run scored.

I also played 8 of the 10 positions, making a out of some sort at all but catcher and right field.

It is definitely hard to go from a mat league to one that doesn't use it. When I lived in Cali when I was younger I played in three leagues and all used a different strike zone. Mat, called from the side and the third if the ball hit the Plate.

Here in Arizona it is mostly Plate only leagues.

[Travis]

Any of you guys getting in on the first wave of Matrix's being released from Anderson? Just got my order put in today with a supplier from around here, should get my stick by the end of July, just in time for the big Edson tourney.

How are you finding the Jeff Hall (ASA version) to be working? A lot on my team are loving it, but I'm not sure if it's the lighter weight or the balanced load to it, but I haven't swung it all that well so far. Seems pretty forgiving, but my swing has been messed up all season trying to compensate for a knee injury as well.

[Poli]

I'd love to get a new bat, but I'm guessing it's not going to happen. Heck, I still need to get the Wicked I loaned out before I went to Africa.

I'll keep that bat in mind, thoguh.

[Poli]

7 of 9 tonight with errors counted as hits. 6 runs scored, 3 RBIs. 3 putouts, 2 assists, 1 error.

Double to center my first time up, with a number of "energy" (my term for anything I hit that the fielder can't handle/throws away) balls in between.

Hit me up for a K as well. Yeah, a K. Actually, my second of the year. I got too picky with 2 strikes both times. I need to just swing. Forget taking that pitch for now.

2nd to last at bat I got another double, this to right center. Last as bat I flew out, some 280 feet to center field with the bases loaded and 2 out.

Friggin 20 feet.

[Poli]

28 for 63 on the year, including the errors as hits. I'd hate to think where I'd be without those.

[Poli]

3 for 6 today, with a k looking. I hate those guys that lob it up for those illegal calls. I hate it even more that I rarely get the call.

4 RBIs, 1 walk, 3 runs scored.

[Poli]

31 for 69.

[Poli]

Seemed like forever since I last played.

3 for 8 today...in 4 games. 1 double, 4 RBIs, 4 runs scored, 1 sacrifice fly, 4 walks.

34 for 77.

[Poli]

My left calf began to cramp with about 3 innings to go in the last game. After I walked with 2 out, I began to run when the ball was hit but fell to the ground when both calves cramped. I sat out of the field until the last inning, as I went in as the closer catcher to knock this game out (I like to joke that I keep track of my ERA as a catcher).

After the game I walked to the car and tried to kick my shoes off when both calves not only cramped, but super cramped up. I couldn't even stand up. After a few minutes, they relented and I got in the car and drove home.

My body was banged up from the 4 games and the cramps. My lower body felt mangled Thursday and Friday. I felt better on Saturday, but I needed to. I played in a tournament in Sun Valley.

Note to Rick: If you ever, ever pretend to make our team a tournament team we better pick up some studs to play with us.

We went 2 and a Q, allowing probably 45 runs and scoring 4.

I went 0-2. Yes, that's right. 0-2.

34-79.

[Poli]

5 for 6 today, 5 really well hit balls...and one super lucky swinging bunt with the bases loaded and 2 out. 1 walk.

2 RBI, 2 runs scored...thrown out at home as well.

At catcher, I should get credit for a strikeout, tagging out a runner at home, and catching a popout.

39-85.