The Phantoms win another game! They have now won 4 in a row and are steamrolling the opposition with offense. This is a fun team to coach, no bad attitudes to deal with and players who want to play no matter what position they are placed in. I can’t ask for anything more.
The team in green had 14 hits, 7 walks and 10 runs scored, while Olympic Paving officially had 5 hits, 7 walks and 6 runs scored. Chris had a nice triple, Ryan & Ian each had doubles and we had 11 singles from Chris, Ryan, Reilly, Benji, Caesar, Ian & Alex R.
As of this game all of our eligible players have now pitched an inning. Alex B started us off in his pitching debut, he gunned down the 1st batter with 3 pitches. He would end up with 2 K’s for the game! Chris continues to be our ace with 2 K’s and 0 hits in 1.1 innings. Reilly had some trouble in the 3rd, but Ian helped him out of jam with a side ending strikeout in 5 pitches.
Benji also had his season debut pitching the 4th, his fielders Ian and Christian helped him with 2 outs and he got a swinging strikeout to end the inning. Christian closed out the 5th with a 1-4 play with Ryan and 2 strikeouts to end the game.
I’ve noticed that other minors coaches only put the same pitchers in every game. Although I have done that in a couple games this season, I don’t agree with it and my philosophy is to develop our pitching staff. The only way for the players to learn is to have all of them pitch in a match. PLL minors is a developmental division and our goal as coaches should be to get them ready for majors not focusing on wins.
Fielding wise the Phantoms took better care of the ball, but we still had some errors that cost us runs. I do like the aggressiveness that our catchers are showing to throw the runners out at 3rd base. The team as a whole is improving in moving when the ball is pitched and not just standing around.
Alex R was our MVP with a self double play by catching a pop fly and tagging 1st base when the runner didn’t tag up in the 3rd inning. Our 1st double play of the spring.
I will be focusing on pitching, plays to 3rd base and introducing bunts at our next practice. My hope is to try it out soon.
Our next game is Saturday 4/10 against Showcase Sports at 3:00 pm on Lynndale Field 2. Should be a good match. See you there. Go Phantoms!
Final Score: Echelbarger 10 – Olympic Paving 6
