Coach Brian's Game #4 Blog

Game #4, August 3, 2010 (11 pm)

ESPN Wide World of Sports Field #23

Opponent: LA Bayou Bandits (Ruston, LA)

Game Summary

NC Bombers 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1r 2h 1e

LA Bayou Bandits 0 0 0 0 0 4 x 4r 4h 1e

NCB Pitching: C.Loeb, Q.Connolly (6) Catch: J.Reisinger

Losing Pitcher: Chris Loeb

Top Hitters: C.McGuire 1x3; Q.Connolly 1x3.

Bandits win the battle of the Southpaws.

Afternoon thunderstorms delayed our game last night. What was supposed to start at 8:30pm didn’t start until 11:00pm. After a scoreless 1^st inning, Aaron Pierce hit a 2-out shot to right field that was dropped (2-base error). He went to third on a wild pitch and then scored on ball in the dirt that only bounced about 6 feet away from home plate (great read!!!). Leading 1-0, left-hander Chris Loeb went right through the Bandits line-up. He retired the 1^st 13 batters before allowing a walk in the 5^th. Up 1-0 going to the bottom of the 6^th, Chris gave up his 1^st hit of the game to left-fielder Colton McSwain. After getting a soft-line out to 1B Quinn Connolly, their left-handed pitcher Dalton Horton drove a pitch to the right-center gap for a triple, scoring McSwain to tie the game-up. Their #10 hitter in the line-up, with the infield in, hit a ground ball that went through Connolly to give the Bandits a 2-1 lead. Lead-off hitter Chris Reid then doubled over Tanner Dodson’s head in left field (3-1 now), went to third on a single, and scored on a passed ball for a 4-1 lead. Connolly struck out 2 batters to end the unfortunate 6^th inning. The Bombers could only manage a walk by Matt Kelly before Chris Loeb ended the game on a ground-out to the pitcher. Bandit lefty Horton gave up only 2 hits (a Corey McGuire lead-off single in the 1^st and a Quinn Connolly line drive to right field in the 4^th) and 2 walks while striking out 6 Bombers. Loeb finished with 6 strike-outs and only 1 walk while pitching 75 pitches (51 strikes). Both starting pitchers were outstanding tonight. The Bandit hitters were able to put together one good inning which won them the game. The Bombers outfielders played their best game of the tournament last night. Tanner Dodson (LF), Corey McGuire (CF), and Isaiah Garcia (RF) recorded 7 put-outs on fly balls. They each made at least one outstanding catch.

On a negative note, starting third baseman David Mickle injured his left hand/wrist while diving into 1^st base. He had to come out of the game in the 2^nd inning and his status for the rest of the tournament is unknown.

Bombers are now in the loser’s bracket and face a tough schedule. Today we will play the loser of this morning’s (8am) game between the #1 DBAT Mustangs and the #8 Georgia Roadrunners. Game time is for 12:30pm. A Bomber win results in a game tomorrow (Thursday) at 10:15am.

Don’t count us out yet!

Coach Brian

Coach Brian's Game #3 Blog

Game #3, August 2, 2010 (5pm)

ESPN Wide World of Sports Field #23

Opponent: Legacy Baseball (Lafayette, LA)

Game Summary

NC Bombers 5 6 1 0 12r 8h 0e

Legacy Baseball 0 0 0 0 0r 2h 2e

NCB Pitching: A.Pierce, T.Dodson (4) Catch: J.Reisinger

Winning Pitcher: Aaron Pierce

Top Hitters: C.McGuire HR, 2 RBI; H.LoForte 1x2; I.Garcia 1x3; Mickle 1x2;

C.Loeb 1x1, RBI; A.Pierce HR, 4 RBI; J.Reisinger 1x2; R.Mets 1x2, 2B.

What a difference 9 hours makes.

The real NorCal Bombers showed up last night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Legacy Baseball gave us 5 runs in the top of the 1^st by walking 4 batters and making a huge 2-out error. With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Matt Kelly hit a ground ball to the third baseman who promptly threw it away to allow 3 runs to score (5-0). In the 2^nd, Ryan Mets reached 1^st on error to lead-off the inning. Corey McGuire hit a 1-2 fastball to deep right-center for a two-run homer (7-0). After a walk by Hank LoForte and a single by Isaiah Garcia, Quinn Connolly scored Hank with a deep fly to left field. With 2 outs, Chris Loeb walked and was followed by a deep home run by Aaron Pierce, scoring Garcia and Loeb (11-0 Bombers after 2 innings). That was more than enough for starting pitcher Pierce. He pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4 batters. Tanner Dodson pitched a scoreless 4^th inning, striking out the side as the game ended by mercy rule (12-0). Mykie Goudreau gave the Bombers their 12th run with a sac fly to score Dodson. After attempting to set the USSSA record for most errors in an Elite World Series (j/k), the Bombers found the right formula for defensive success: strikeouts. Seven of the 12 outs were recorded by strikeout. The Bombers bounced back from a terrible morning loss and awaited bracket play that starts this evening.

The Bombers finished as the number 5 seed in their pool of 8 teams (see below). For the double-elimination bracket to see who makes the final four, the Bombers open bracket play with the #4 seed LA Bayou Bandits who came into this world series with a 63-10 USSSA record. Game time tonight is 8:30pm (ET).

Pool A Seedings:

#1 DBAT Mustangs White (McKinney, TX)

#2 East Cobb Astros (Marietta, GA)

#3 AZ All-StarZ (Phoenix, AZ)

#4 LA Bayou Bandits (Ruston, LA)

#5 NorCal Bombers (Elk Grove, CA)

#6 Angels Baseball (San Antonio, TX)

#7 Raleigh Wildcats (Raleigh, NC)

#8 Georgia Roadrunners (Alpharetta, GA)

12-0 is so much better than 0-18

Coach Brian will update everyone on the game soon, so we will just have to patiently wait for that.

But my job as I stated earlier is side notes so for this afternoon it is the weather....what is up with the weather in Florida? It is so hot I can hardly think, and the boys with uniforms and having to play baseball I can't even imagine. Today right before our second game we got the storm warning horns and recording over the speakers telling to make our way to the main clubhouse...so far back at the front of the complex you can't even imagine.

Here are the boys during our thunder storm break.

The picture below is the boys during the game...can you see how hot they are? They are really pushing through this heat. I am really proud of the way they played this afternoon. Not only becuase they won but they really gave it all they had. They have to keep bringing it. EVERYDAY!

Until tomorrow....Alisa

Coach Brian's Game #2 Blog

Game #2, August 2, 2010 (8am)

ESPN Wide World of Sports Field #23

Opponent: Impact BBC Elite (Chino Hills, CA)

Game Summary

1 2 3 4 R H E

Impact BBC Elite 5 7 1 5 18 12 0

NC Bombers 0 0 0 0 0 0 8

NCB Pitching: R.Mets, H.LoForte (3), M.Goudreau (4). Catch: D.Mickle, A.Pierce (4)

Losing Pitcher: Ryan Mets.

Tough morning for the Bombers.

Our team played about as bad as a team can play. We started off the 1^st inning giving Impact 5 runs (1 earned) from 2 hits, 2 errors, and 1 walk. Impact pitcher Johnny Register made quick work of us in the bottom of the inning. In the 2^nd, Impact had 3 hits, 4 Bombers errors, a walk and a hit batter. Result: 12-0 Impact. Ryan Mets pitched way better than the score indicates. Only 1 run (of the 12) were earned. He threw 63 pitches, 59% strikes and 65% 1^st pitch strikes. We have to give credit to Impact as they put the ball in play and they played catch, which we definitely didn’t do. Not many positives to mention in this one. All 12 players got at least one at-bat as we only sent 13 batters to the plate in this mercy-rule shortened game. The Bombers are at a crossroad here. We have to find a way to play better catch (13 errors in 10 defensive innings so far) or we will be going home early. Our next game is 4pm vs. Legacy Baseball of Louisiana. Bracket play games will begin at 2:30pm tomorrow (Tuesday). I’m confident that we will bounce back today and finish Pool Play 2-1.

Coach Brian

Ugly ~ Awful ~ Terrible

My job for this blog I've decided are the side notes :) It was a horrible game this morning I'm not gonna lie, this afternoon will be better...it has to be.

My side note for the day is...Prayer. Each morning the boys have started off their days with a prayer. As a team we have many different religious beliefs but the boys and families come together in prayer. I LOVE IT! I love baseball I always have and now I have a son who loves baseball too (that's a bonus) but in reality all I want for my son and each of these boys is to grow up and be good men. Men that have their prioritys straight and beginning the day with a word of prayer is a great start.
Second game better be better....I know it will be our boys are awesome!

Coach Brian's Game #1 Blog

Game #1, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Field 24
Game Summary: 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Tm. Easton 0 0 1 2 1 7 11 8 6
NC Bombers 0 3 1 0 2 6 12 9 5


NCB Pit: Q.Connolly, D.Mickle (3), C.Loeb (4), C.McGuire (6), A.Pierce (6), M.Kelly (6)
Win Pit-Matt Kelly
Top Hitters: NCB--H.LoForte 2x3, 3B; I.Garcia 1x3, 2 RBI; Q.Connolly 1x2; D.Mickle 2x3; C.Loeb 1x4; A.Pierce 1x3, 2 RBI; J.Reisinger 1x3, RBI.


Better to win ugly than to lose pretty.
We had a 4-1 lead going to the 4th and a 6-4 lead going to the last inning (6th). Things got pretty ugly in the last inning. We gave up 7 runs to give them a 11-6 lead (4 hits, 4 walks, 1 hit batter, 2 errors) going to the bottom of the 6th. Jack led off with a single, Corey walked, Hank singled, Isaiah had a 2-run single (11-8 now), Matt walked, Hank scored on throwing error by catcher (11-9), Isaiah scored on wild pitch (11-10), 2 outs (David & Chris), Tanner walked & stole 2nd (second & third, 2 outs now). Aaron on a 3-2 pitch hit a hopper to the third baseman who threw it away to score Matt and Tanner. 12-11 Ballgame!!!!


We could have hung our heads after the 7-run disaster, but the boys kept fighting. Great job by Jack today catching all 6 innings (throwing out 2 runners) in 90+ degree heat with unbelievable humidity. After Quinn pitched, our staff really struggled today. Hopefully they got it out of their systems. Matt Kelly stole 4 bases today and picked up the win in relief. Hank hit a bomb triple to right center and scored on a bad throw. Tanner had a huge Sac fly to give us a 5-4 lead at the time in the bottom of the 5th. David Mickle had 2 solid singles. We were only 5 for 16 with runners in scoring position. We gave up 12 stolen bases and walked them 7 times and made 5 errors (ouch!!!). Bottom line is that we are 1-0 in pool play.


The skies opened up while walking to our cars today. It rained all afternoon, postponing the rest of the games. Our two games tomorrow (8am & 4pm) are still on-schedule. Today's rainouts will be made up on Tuesday. -
Coach Brian

Game #1 Photos and Updates

I took three pages of notes (small pages) to update the blog...what was I thinking?? Coach Brian did a great job and I felt reassured that I took good notes. Below is the picture of the boys coming out at the end of the game to celebrate the win. It was ugly though.Since I don't need to update anyone on the game I wanted to take a moment and give a shout out to all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, little and big brothers and sisters that have made the trek all the way to Florida to support these boys. It was a miserably hot day ~ it's a lot for the boys as well as all of these hot fans to get used to. Game 1 done ~ tomorrow is a new day they will be more prepared and ready to battle.