Week Two - The real season begins - D-backs 7 - Angels 4

The hard part about being a coach at the rookie league level is knowing whether or not your kids really understand what you are trying to tell them. It's a trust thing. As a coach, you trust that in order for your kids to enjoy the experience, for your kids to get the most out of the game, that they know what to do when called upon. I'm not always the best at projecting what I'd like to see out on the field. I guess that comes with experience. Reinforce the basics, re-assure the kids that even when they have made a tough play, that they will be ok, that they remember what to do and how to do it.

A lot of good things happened yesterday. Our hitting is exceptional. With that I am still trying to get our "best" batting order happening. Adam hit a huge home run, and if I had managed it properly, our score-line would have been a lot bigger. My fault there. It's a thing where adjustments will probably happen all year long. Still, saying that, we need to get a balanced lineup where our weaker hitters won't be a "black hole" to the team. A lot of teams are tempted to put their best hitters 1-6 and then leaving the back end very "light" I want us to have a chance to score runs every inning.

On defense, we need to continue our work on the infield. Too much pressure on Thomas is happening right now. He will improve and make better decisions... he's a gutsy kid and wants to succeed. I also want the throws to first to be better. William does a good job, and I will work this week on the throws to him and getting him to be aware of where the ball is. Also, Thomas will need to make himself available on every throw that goes to William so that the ball gets back to him ASAP!!! Whew.... it's a lot to do!

On the outfield, we didn't have a lot of things going on. Tristan and Aidan both had chances, and did well getting the ball back to the infield. Liam will  be a key here. As a middle "cut-off" I want everything hit up the middle to go through him. His voice and leadership will be key. In all we will be focused on our guys making good throws and good decisions with the ball.

7-4 Was the final score. I'm pleased with what we're doing going forward. We have 2 HUGE games coming up the next 2 weeks. The Yankees and Dodgers will be the critical points in our season. 

All hands on deck!!! See you all on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.