Go BCC Blue Jays!: Blue Jays prepare to blast off against Astros

Seven Blue Jays had fun and learned a lot at practice Saturday, May 21 at Westbrook Elementary School.

Jeremy Robertson, Ethan Yu, Braden Poon, Sam Berman, Jake Schuman, John Wyatt and George Roggie honed their skills in preparation for Sunday's game with the Astros.

May 21 Practice Report

The Blue Jays worked a lot on catching and throwing. Above, Sam Berman delivers an accurate throw to his teammate during the new 10-catch drill.

Here, Sam does a great job, keeping his mitt up as he prepares to catch the ball. That's the best way to be safe and to catch the ball consistently.

Batting practice was brief because we worked primarily on fielding. Nevertheless, Sam needed little time to make good contact with the ball.

Sam is ready for the Astros!

George Roggie was Sam's partner during the 10-catch drill. Above, George prepares to make another great catch! He also caught two fly balls during fielding practice.

George delivered fantastic throws throughout practice. He and Sam we so good during the 10-catch drill that they ended up playing catch while standing about 70 feet apart!

George also enjoyed a successful turn at bat. His final hit was a towering line drive to left field that probably would have been a double if he had hit it in a game.

John Wyatt improved his catching by leaps and bounds because he focused on keeping his mitt up. John then took what he had learned in drills and applied it during fielding practice. John's stint at 1st base was outstanding!

John consistently delivered accurate throws, too! Above, he prepares to toss a perfect strike to his partner during the 10-catch drill.

John's heads-up base running helped his teammates learn how to get the ball back to the infield as quickly as possible whenever it's hit to the outfield.

John blasted three great hits during batting practice. Two line drives, one to left field and the other to right field, were particularly impressive.

Jeremy Robertson was John's partner for the 10-catch drill. Above, Jeremy demonstrates great form while throwing the ball.

Jeremy improved his fielding skills quite a bit during Saturday's practice. Here, he keeps his mitt up as he prepares to catch a throw from John.

Jeremy has improved all of his baseball skills this season because he has come to practice and worked hard every week.

Great job, Jeremy!

Jeremy has made a habit of clobbering the ball in batting practice. He continued that trend, smacking hard hits to shortstop and left field.

Braden Poon has always demonstrated solid fundamentals with the glove. Here, he prepares to catch a throw from his partner during the 10-catch drill.

Braden also did a good job at 1st base during fielding practice.

Here, Braden delivers another accurate toss. Braden worked on making throws that can be caught by his teammates at close range.

Braden demonstrated good power during batting practice. He slammed two grounders to the shortstop and blasted a towering shot to left field.

The Astros need to look out for this guy!

Jake Schuman has a very strong arm. He learned in practice that he doesn't need to use it on every throw.

Jake did a great job adjusting his release point and developing greater accuracy on different types of throws.

Jake has really improved his consistency in the field by catching the ball with his mitt up. Above, Jake demonstrates the proper technique.

He also does a great job using his long arms to catch throws that are not quite on target.

We were very impressed with the way that Jake identified the force outs during fielding practice.

Jake's hitting is getting better every week. He pounded two line drives to center field in Saturday's practice.

Ethan Yu arrived in time to put in some quality work during fielding practice. Above, Ethan listens as Coach Steve explains why it is important to get the ball from the outfield back to the infield as quickly as possible.

Ethan also made a terrific unassisted put-out at 3rd base!

Ethan made a nice adjustment during batting practice, choking up on the bat to give himself a better chance to make contact.

The results were outstanding. Ethan delivered three solid hits after he choked up.

Value Added

Unfortunately, we did not get a photo of Torsdon Poon at this week's practice. However, we assure you that his appearance has not changed all that much since last week, when we took this photo.

This week, Torsdon caught during batting practice, ran the bases (much more swiftly than Coach Steve) during fielding practice, and pitched in wherever and whenever he was needed.

Thanks, Torsdon!

Blue Jays bring the Heat