The Banks finished their season with another win against Conway Springs, their
7th win in a row, and ended with a 8-4 record. Any way you look at it, that's a
great come-from-behind story. Congratulations Banks!
As I wrote last week, I haven't kept detailed defensive records, so I'll stick
with the basic and obvious observations I've made from the dug out over the
past 12 games to make our team recognition announcements. Basically, these
are "no-brainers" .....
Pitcher of the Season : Nick Becker. I've said it once, and I'll say it again; when
Nick was "on" he was the best pitcher in the league. That's no small statement,
considering the outstanding pitching we had to face this summer. Now, we all
know he wasn't always "on", but neither were the other pitching stars from the league.
Gold Glove Award - infield : Nick Becker at catcher. When he wasn't pitching for
us, he was stopping everything thrown to the plate and throwing out base runners,
right and left.
Honorable Mention : Banks' infield, who teamed up for some
pretty solid defense and impressive put-outs when we needed them most....
Orry King (1B), Dutch Brownlee (SS,3B), Trevor Nance (3B,1B), Weston Eckerman
(3B,SS), Payton Baker (2B,3B,SS), Alex Langford (2B), Andrew Linnebur
(3B,SS), Andrew Horn (2B)
Gold Glove Award - outfield : Houston Sober (CF) Great speed and catches.
Offensive Player of the Season :Andrew Linnebur. Took himself off the disabled
list (knee) to give us the boost we needed to start our 7 game winning streak
. (see offensive stats).
Team MVP : Nick Becker. Besides his pitching and catching achievements,
he had the best offensive stats on the team (see offensive stats). But Nick's
greatest contribution to the team was his leadership. He is a great role model
for his younger teammates. He showed up and played hard at every game.
He is a great ball player and has been a pleasure to watch from the dug-out. From
myself, Coach Day, Coach Kelly, and The Banks players, thanks Nick!
Rookie of the Season : Weston Eckerman. Terrific talent and baseball "smarts"
from a 13 year old. You were a valuable late addition to The Banks.
Teammate of the Season: Cameron George; Great attitude, hard work that
paid off at the plate. You were the reason we won some big games.
OFFENSIVE STATS
The most recognized offensive baseball award is batting average. But from
my experience in coaching youth baseball, "on base percentage" is probably
more important and more revealing as to a player's performance at the plate. I've
also listed other key stats that highlight offensive abilities: walks, strikeouts,
and runs scored.
Here is an explanation of the abbreviations below: PA= plate appearances
(# of times you came to the plate and finished an appearance) OB= on base
(# of times you made it safely on base after your plate appearance, whether by
a hit, error, base on balls, hit by pitch, or dropped 3rd strike). OBP= percentage
of plate app. you got on base (OB div. by PA) AB= official at bats (walks and
sacrifices are a couple examples of plate appearances that don't result in
official at bats, and aren't factors in your batting average). BA= batting
average (# of legitimate base hits div. by official at bats) W= walks (bases on
balls or hit by pitches) R= # of runs you scored by touching home plate this
season (not RBI's). K= # of times you struck out at the plate this season. Note:
although RBI's (runs batted in) are an important stat, I didn't record clearly
enough to list those stats.
06.29.10 - Banks 16Lions 06
The Banks avenged another early season loss by defeating The Lions Tuesday
night at 9th Street. The Lions beat up on us pretty hard during our 2nd game
of the season back on June 2nd. Then our rematch got rained out on June
8th. But we took advantage of the make-up game, and proved we could play
with any team that had beat us this season. The only team we haven't beat at
least once is Medicine Lodge; and its a pretty good bet we could handle 'em
if we could've rescheduled our rain out.
Nick Becker pitched the entire game for The Banks, and had a no-hitter
going through the 5th, when Jalen Macias hit an RBI single down the 3rd base line.
Becker then walked the next 3 Lions, and Gage Dunn brought in 2 more runs with
his first hit of the night. At the end of a long 5th inning, Becker struck out their
#2 hitter for the final out of the game.
The Banks' offense had another good night at the plate, combining for
12 hits and drawing 10 walks. Nick Becker and Vincent Ast were the sluggers
of the game, combining for 5 of The Banks' hits in their 6 at bats.
Banks hitters: Becker 3/4(double); Ast 2/2 with a walk; Orry King 2/4; Payton
Baker 1/2(double) with a walk; Andrew Linnebur 1/2 with 2 walks; Houston
Sober 1/3 with a walk; Trevor Nance 1/3 with a walk; Cameron George 1/4;
Alex Langford walked once and scored; Dutch Brownlee drew 3 base on
balls and scored each time.
Our last game of the season (already?) is Thursday night against Conway
Springs at Sellers Park (6:00). It seems like we're just starting to fire on
all cylinders. I'm not sure I'm ready to step on the brake yet. We have won
our last 6 games after going 1-4 to start the season. If we beat Conway
Springs Thursday, we'll end up with 8-4 record. Too bad we can't have the
post season tourney. We just might've been the team to beat.
I haven't been keeping detailed defensive stats, but I plan on posting
our final offensive stats, along with some individual recognition
awards after our last game.
06.28.10 - Banks 17South Haven 08 The Banks decided to to change the line up and have a little more fun in South
Haven on Monday night. Alex Langford played 1st base. Vincent Ast played 2nd.
Houston Sober played shortstop, and Cameron George played 3rd base. While it
wasn't exactly an errorless ball game, there were some pretty impressive plays.
Good job guys.
We also used a bunch of pitchers. Weston Eckerman started
the game. Trevor Nance pitched 2 and 1/3 innings. Then Andrew Horn,
Orry King, and Payton Baker all spent a little time on the mound; or should I say
on the rubber (there is no hill in South Haven).
Nance had the most success, allowing no runs on no hits while facing 10 batters.
The fenceless outfield saw plenty of activity, thanks to Banks sluggers, Andrew
Linnebur and Nick Becker. Becker hit a double and a triple that would've hit the
fence at Seller's. Linnebur hit it deep enough to touch em all, with his 2 run
homer in the 1st inning.
Also getting extra bases for The Banks were
Vincent Ast and Andrew Horn, both with doubles.
Banks Hitters: Becker 2/2 with 2 walks; Linnebur 2/3 with a walk; Horn 1/2
with 2 walks; Cameron George 1/2 with 2 walks; Ast 1/3 with a walk; Alex
Langford 1/3 with a walk; Trevor Nance 1/2; Payton Baker 1/2; Orry King 1/3
with a sacrifice bunt (Dutch was coaching 3rd at the time).
I think everyone had a little fun; even the South Haven players. I think they
appreciated our "less than aggressive" game plan.
Thanks to the South Haven players, coaches, umps and fans for the great,
small town ball game atmosphere... You guys also have a great concession stand!
06.24.10 - Knights 05 Banks 06
Another exciting game for the baseball fans at Sellar's Park. Nick Becker
had 4 innings available. During those 4 innings he had thorough control of
the game, and left the mound at the end of the 4th with a 4-1 lead, having
struck
out 10 of the 16 batters he faced.
Dutch Brownlee came to the mound in the 5th and quickly struck out the
bottom of The Knights order. Brownlee then struck out the lead off hitter
in the top of the 6th, but got in some trouble with a hit and a walk, facing the
2 and 3 hitters.
Trevor Nance and Andrew Horn were called to the mound
to try and hold the lead against the meat of The Knights' order, but a
couple of hits, a walk, and some untimely carelessness led to a tie game
after The Knights' half of the 6th.
Houston Sober would draw a base on balls to start the bottom of the 6th,
then steal 2nd and 3rd. Dutch Brownlee would bring him home for the
winning run with his 2nd hit of the night, a double to left field. The game was
called in the bottom of the 6th (time limit).
Big Defensive plays of the game : Houston Sober made an outstanding
running catch in right-center field that saved 2 runs.
Orry King made a great
dig from a low-thrown put out at 1st base to record the last out of the game
for The Banks
Banks hitters: Brownlee 2/2 with a walk(3RBI); Eckerman 1/2 with a walk; Horn
1/2 with a walk; Sober 1/2 with a walk; Nance 1/3(RBI); King 1/3(RBI)
Way to keep fighting Banks ! Great game !
06.22.10 - Merchants 01 Banks 16 The tables turned from our previous meeting with the Merchants. Their
pitchers were the ones having trouble finding the strike zone this time, and
their self-destruction compounded from there.
The Merchants' pitchers allowed 15 walks and only recorded 1 strikeout. If
you hand out that many free bases to any team, a poor outcome is almost certain.
The game was "called" before the 3rd inning was complete, citing a run rule
(15 after 3). Actually, as I tried to explain to the umpires and opposing coach,
the only run rule in our league is 10 after 5. The 1 hour 45 minute time limit
would've legally stopped the game about 15 minutes later .... but calling it
during the 3rd? Oh well. No one in this league is about pouring salt on
anyone's wounds. I guess the reason I wanted to keep playing (besides the
league rules), was the fact that The Banks also had to endure 10-0, 14-0,
even 16-0 shutouts this season. One of those games, we were completely
shut out, with not even one Banks base runner. Then when we get a chance
to bat all 10 of our hitters 2 or 3 times in a game, its "called" in the 3rd inning.
I'm not trying to pretend I'm the most noble coach in the league. But I have
been coaching youth baseball longer than most. I've been on both sides of
many "blowout" games, and contrary to others' opinions, positive things can
come from such experiences, regardless of which dugout you're in. There is
nothing positive about quitting, even when you're getting pounded. And there's
nothing positive about taking the bat out of a player's hands in the on-deck
circle,who has spent most his time on the bench.
Nick Becker pitched all 3 innings very well: He faced only 12 Merchants' hitters,
allowing one run on 2 hits, recording 5 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Banks hitters: Linnebur 2/2(walk); King 1/3; Langford 1/2(Error, 2RBI)
Cameron George's hitting/scoring streak extended to 4 games: 1/2 (2RBI),
1 run scored.
Chris Craig, John Huck and I are trying to work out a re-match
with the Lions, as our last game was rained out. The Lions are the only
Wellington team we haven't played twice.
06.21.10 - Banks 17 Conway Springs 04 The Banks' offense finally proved it could score a lot of runs Monday in
Conway Springs. Granted, Conway's defense helped pad our scorebook with
6 errors, but we still pounded out 15 solid hits. Among them were several for
extra bases, including Weston Eckerman's 3 RBI in-the-park home run, and Nick
Becker's grand slam that sailed deep over the left field fence.
It was a pretty close game through the first 3 innings, as we held a narrow
5-2 lead. Actually, their starter deserves some credit for shutting us down in the
2nd and 3rd. In all, their 2 pitchers struck out 6 of us while only walking 3.
But the flood gates opened in the 4th and 5th as we piled on 12 more runs, thanks
in no small part to Becker's and Eckerman's 7 RBI's.
The Banks' pitchers did a good job keeping Conway's offense in check. Andrew
Linnebur, Trevor Nance, and Andrew Horn held Conway to 4 runs on 5 hits,
while striking out 5 batters.
Banks' Hitters: Becker 3/4 (HR); Horn 3/4; Nance 2/3;
Linnebur 2/4; Eckerman 1/3 (HR); Dutch Brownlee 1/2 with a walk; Orry King 1/4;
Cameron George 2/3 ...Cameron has a 3 game hitting/scoring streak in progress
(4/5 with 5 runs scored)..... But Cameron's most outstanding stat of the season is
3-1-1 .... That's how many emergency vehicles raced into Orscheln's parking lot
Monday afternoon to rescue Cameron; 3 police cruisers, 1 ambulance, and 1 fire
rescue truck (lights and sirens blaring).
While waiting for the rest of the team to
meet there, Cameron decided to "take a nap" on the grass right-of-way south of
Orscheln's parking lot. Apparently, a Good Samaritan with a cell phone called 911
and reported someone had collapsed next to Highway 160 in front of Orscheln's. I
had to explain to the policeman that Cameron didn't really need an ambulance. He
was only taking a nap. So what if he was sprawled out like a big dead man on his back
only inches from the highway, with the blazin' sun beatin' down on a 97 degree afternoon.
That's gotta be one for The Banks all-time record book. If only the paramedics and
police officers were as amused as the rest of us.
06.17.10 - Banks 06 Kiwanis 05
A long-needed win against a strong team is like a double bonus for
The Banks;
especially against the team that had embarrassed us 16-0 and 14-0
in our first two meetings.
We tasted a little blood in the top of the 1st by
scoring 3 runs. But as expected, The Kiwanis' powerful bats answered back,
and tied it up with 3 runs on 4 hits against starter, Dutch Brownlee in the
bottom of the 1st. We added another run in the 2nd, but The Kiwanis took the
lead in the bottom of the 2nd with 2 runs on 3 hits with Becker on the mound.
But that's all they'd get. Becker settled in for the rest of the game; and with
some spectacular help from The Banks' infield, along with 6 strikeouts, he would
allow only 3 more baserunners. None of them crossed the plate. We got the 2
runs we needed in the top of the 4th. Payton Baker drew a base on balls and
advanced to 3rd with a steal and a wild pitch. Alex Langford drove him home
with an RBI sacrifice. Cameron George then singled, and eventually scored
what would be the winning run off Andrew Linnebur's 2nd hit of the game.
Great game for The Banks. Great game for the baseball fans at Sellar's Park,
no matter who they were pulling for. One of the best games I've ever seen
from the dug out.
Key factors in the victory
Nick Becker on the mound... essentially shut down the Kiwanis hitters after
the 2nd inning. Good strategy, pitch selection, composure, leadership.
Andrew Linnebur's addition to our line up... expected to miss entire season
to knee injury, but took himself off the DL early to give our offense a shot in the
arm. Dang! How fast can you run when you're healthy????. Got on base 4 out of 5 at
bats since returning (only one walk), stole every base on the diamond, and scored twice.
Banks' infield... especially the 6-3 vacuum cleaners, (SS) Dutch Brownlee and (1B)
Orry King. You guys rose to the occasion Thursday night. Not to discount Trevor
Nance (3B) and Payton Baker (2B). We needed every put out you guys recorded.
Weston Eckerman catching for Becker... key put out at home that saved our
one run lead.You answered the challenge Thursday night.
Cameron George
(EH)... 2 for 2 in last 4 at bats with 2 walks. Scored on 3 of those 4 appearances,
including what became the winning run against The Kiwanis.
Banks' hitters... Linnebur:2/3 (3/3 error); Eckerman:1/1 with 2 walks;
George:1/1
with 1 walk; Becker:1/2 with 1 walk; King:1/3 (2 RBI).
06.10.10 - Banks 00 Merchants 10 More of the same trouble for The Banks..... shaky pitching and pitiful
offense.
Noah Macias did a good job on the mound shutting down the Banks'
bats. He recorded only 2 strikeouts, but walked only one. It was a combination
of Macias keeping our hitters off balance and our hitters executing poorly (again).
With only 2 Banks' hitters striking out and only one drawing a walk, you
think we would've given The Merchants defense plenty of action. But The
Merchants who got the most action from our bats were their pitcher and catcher.
In fact, the top of our order was retired on 5 out of 8 at bats by either popping
up to their pitcher or catcher, or grounding out to their pitcher.
We had a total of 6 baserunners all night; one from the walk (Brownlee), one
from a Merchants' error (Eckerman), and 4 from hits: Orry King 2 for 2, Brownlee
1 for 1, and Becker 1 for 2.
Of those 6 baserunners, one was carelessly
picked off, 2 were thrown out on baserunning mistakes, and 3 were
LOB in scoring position..... not exactly the best way to get our money's worth.
As for The Banks' pitchers (Brownlee, Becker, and Horn), we recorded 5 strikeouts
but also walked 5 and allowed 9 hits. From our recent experience, it could've
been worse (enough said). But needless to say, we're probably gonna have to
score more than 0 runs to be in any ball game.... a lot more.
Next game vs South Haven at Hibbs-Hooten, Monday at 8:00.
06.03.10 - Banks 00 Kiwanis 14
Experience and composure have a lot to do with the performance of young
baseball players....probably more so than with other sports. In big challenges,
inexperience will
often lead to a lack of composure; or worse yet, intimidation.
We were encouraged
with our first two wins during The Memorial Weekend
Tourney. But we were intimidated
in our first loss to the Kiwanis in the tourney's championship game.
To put it mildly, we were intimidated even more Thursday night by the
same
Kiwanis team.... even before the first pitch was thrown.
I have to give credit to Coach Weiss and his players. We've tried to compete
with
them twice, and they were better than us in every way. But its hard for me to
believe
they're good enough to shut out The Banks' hitters while scoring about 15
runs both times
we've faced them.
We'll run onto the field every game this
summer with a winning attitude.
But we all know some games are going to be
uphill battles. Those are the games that
show our true character. I'm not
disappointed The Banks got pounded twice by a very talented and strong team. But I am disappointed we allowed ourselves to be intimidated.
What we lack in experience,
we'll have to make up for in composure. Because when we're intimidated, we're going
to defeat ourselves.... no matter who our opponent is.
If there were any positives for The Banks that came from Thursday night's game, it
was Orry King up there battling on the mound for a losing cause. All the Banks' players
owe him a lot of respect for keeping his composure.
I also have to acknowledge The Banks'
infield again.The balls that stayed in the infield were handled nicely. Alex Langford made an outstanding stop up the middle at 2B to get the first out of the game.
Its way too early to
lower our expectations We've won 3 of our first 6 games. Let's keep our heads up. 06.02.10 - Banks 05 Lions 13
Control was hard to come by, as The Banks' pitchers struggled all night to find
the strike zone.
Too many walks and some timely Lions' hits was too much to
overcome, as The Lions handily defeated The Banks 13-5 in only 4 innings (time limit).
It was also a bad night at the plate for The Banks as Anthony Arellano, The Lions' starter,
did a good job of shutting the bats down. The Banks scored all their runs off walks
and Lions' errors.
Only two Banks' hitters managed to hit the ball with any authority
Wednesday night. Orry King hit a sharp grounder that led to a Lions' infield error, and
ended up scoring one of the Banks' rare runs. Trevor Nance's deep fly to left field had
extra bases written all over it until Zach Rayl, The Lions' left fielder, jumped high to
make an outstanding catch that ended The Banks' 2nd inning.
06.01.10 - Banks 11 Knights 06
Dutch Brownlee started on the mound for The Banks, pitching a one-hitter
through 5 and 3/4 innings with a 6-1 lead. But the Knights' bats finally came
to life, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th, all with 2 outs.
Nick Becker came in in relief to record the final out of the 5th with
a strikeout.
The game was tied 6-6 going into the top of the 6th, when
The Banks' bats came to the rescue, knocking in 5 more runs on 5 hits.
Andrew Horn was called upon to close out the game for The Banks in the
bottom of the 6th. He did just that by shutting out The Knights and preserving
the hard-fought victory.
The game was called after the 6th inning due to time limit.
The offensive standouts for The Banks were Nick Becker and Andrew Horn. Becker
went 4 for 4 at the plate. Horn went 3 for 3 with one walk. Other key hits came from
Orry King, Weston Eckerman, and Houston Sober.
The Banks' infield provided the defensive highlights of the game.
Becker(C), Sober(2B), Eckerman(SS), Trevor Nance(1B), and Payton Baker(3B)
helped Brownlee keep The Knights off the bases for most of the game. Brownlee
faced only 10 Knights hitters in the first 3 innings, thanks to 4 ground-outs and
3 infield pop-ups.
BANKS OVERVIEW
The Wellington Banks started practice this spring with bad news from two of our
three 15 yr olds. A knee injury will keep Andrew Linnebur off the field the entire
season. Logan Woodbridge has a back injury, and probably won't return to our
line-up until the middle of June.
Both, Linnebur and Woodbridge remain valuable assets to the team by helping
out in practices and games.
Nick Becker is the only active 15 yr old, and has
quickly taken on the responsibility of team leader, both on the diamond and
in the dug-out.
The Banks' 14 yr olds are Houston Sober, Andrew Horn, Alex Langford,
Orry King, and Cameron George. They've all had to rise to the occasion, due
to the 15 yr old injuries.
Though rookies at Hibbs-Hooten Field, The Banks' 13 yr olds are all starters,
and will be key factors to the outcome of our season.
Trevor Nance, Dutch Brownlee, and Payton Baker have been playing ball
together since they were 9 years old, and know what it takes to be successful
as a team.
Another 13 yr old, Weston Eckerman, was a late, but welcome addition
to our roster.
Due to absences and injuries, Weston was called upon to be a key
contributor during the pre-season, Memorial Weekend Tourney. Without ever
practicing with the team, his performance played a big part in helping The Banks
advance to the championship game, last Saturday.
The Banks team is coached by Mark Brownlee, Kelly Carter, And Bill Day.
