The Blue Jays put the finishing touches on a busy weekend with their final 5:00 p.m. game of the season Sunday, May 6, at Westland Middle School.
Dylan Yoon, Braden Poon, Gavin Ferguson, Charlie Knowles, Ethan Yu, Sam Berman, Jack Raymond, John Wyatt, Dylan Edwards, Ryan Groban, Justin Conner and George Roggie had fun before, during, and after the game.
The final score was Cardinals 10, Blue Jays 4.
May 6 Game Report
Ethan Yu came to the game ready to play and lead the Blue Jays' offensive attack. His sparkling 3-for-3 batting line included a hot line drive double to right center field and two singles. Ethan scored a run and collected his first RBI of the season in the third inning.
A very intelligent player, Ethan also made the best base running play of the afternoon when, with 1st base open, he decided to stay at 2nd base rather than run into an out when the ball was hit to the shortstop. Good decisions like that have helped Ethan to score five runs in three games this season, a total that ranks among the team leaders.
George Roggie had a spring in his step after making a running stab of a line drive in left field to end the top of the third inning. George's terrific catch appeared to ignite an offensive rally in the bottom half of the inning. George added an unassisted out when he fielded a ground ball at shortstop and beat the runner to 2nd base for a force out in the fourth inning.
George turned in an efficient performance at the plate. His 3-for-3 day included three solid singles, a run scored, and an RBI. George leads the team in the latter category with eleven runs batted in so far this season.
John Wyatt continued to pound the ball in the game with the Cardinals. John knocked singles in the second and third innings. He also collected an RBI. John's robust .800 batting average is good for second on the team after three games.
John played his typical sound brand of defense in Sunday's game. Above, he monitors the proceedings from left field. John made two fantastic stops at 3rd base, including one in the top of the sixth inning that nearly ended with a spectacular out at 1st base.
Charlie gave the Blue Jays a spark at the bottom of the batting order, making good contact in both of his trips to the plate. He added a single and a run scored to the Blue Jays' third inning rally. A kid who obviously loves to play the game, Charlie leads the Blue Jays in hitting so far this season with a .900 batting average.
Ryan Groban has given the Blue Jays fantastic production in the lead-off spot all season. Sunday's game was no exception. Ryan pounded two singles and scored a run, his team leading sixth of the season, in the third inning.
A versatile fielder, Ryan has spent much of his time at the shortstop position this season. He did a great there once again in the game with the Cardinals.
Justin Conner has worked hard in practice to improve his defense. In Sunday's game, he turned in a technically sound effort at 2nd base. Justin fielded a tough grounder and threw perfectly to Sam Berman at 1st base to complete the final out of the first inning. The coach also noticed that Justin did a great job executing his assignments, going for the ball when it was hit to the right side of the infield and covering the base when the ball was hit to the left.
Justin has been a gifted hitter since he was in kindergarten. Take a look at that swing! It's a natural wonder; the coach deserves no credit. Justin hit a hard single in the third inning and was robbed of extra bases in the sixth when the Cardinals' right fielder made a great stop and throw to 1st base.
Jack Raymond knows a thing or two about bad luck. For the second time in three games, Jack hit what was probably the hardest line drive of the day, only to find that he was once again the victim of an at 'em ball - he hit it right at 'em. One of these days, Jack is going to fire a liner that finds a gap. We look forward to that very much because Jack deserves it!
Jack again did an excellent job in the field. Above, he stands ready at the pitcher's helper position. Sunday's game featured lots of long counts. Paying attention became difficult at times. Jack did an outstanding job!
We love to watch Dylan Yoon play the catcher position! Nobody pops up from the crouch and seeks out foul balls with more gusto than Dylan. He nearly caught one in the game with the Cardinals. This is something that we haven't even practiced. Perhaps we should!
Dylan's maturation process at the plate took another step forward in Sunday's game. Above, Dylan prepares to rip a double in the second inning, the first extra base hit of his baseball career! Dylan also delivered an RBI.
A multi-sport athlete, Sam Berman continued to work his way back into baseball in the game with the Cardinals. He notched his first hit of the year, a single in the fifth inning. There are sure to be many more to come!
Sam contributed a fine defensive play at 1st base in the first inning when he caught a great throw from Justin Conner to complete an infield assist. Sam also did a nice job giving the outfielders a target so that they could get the ball back to the infield and hold the opposition to singles.
Braden Poon always does a good job when he plays at 1st base. He fielded a difficult grounder and beat the runner to the bag for an unassisted put out in the fifth inning. Braden also played well at 3rd base, stopping a hard grounder that could have easily gone for extra bases.
Braden took some aggressive hacks in his three trips to the plate. Always willing to pitch in and help, Braden then took it upon himself to dig up the stakes and remove the bases for the coach after the game. Thanks, Braden!
Gavin Ferguson had the look of a hitter following his outstanding performance in last week's game. Once again, he watched the ball and swung the bat well in the game with the Cardinals.
Gavin's defensive contributions seem to increase with each game. He played heads-up defense again Sunday, stopping a grounder at pitcher's helper and retrieving a well hit ball in right field.
The Blue Jays were happy to welcome back Dylan Edwards this past weekend after a rainout and a bout with the flu forced him to miss two weeks. Dylan showed the type of spirit that we have come to expect, turning in an excellent performance at catcher and keeping his head in the game at pitcher's helper and in the outfield.
Dylan swung the bat well, too. He made good contact, fouling off multiple pitches in his final trip to the plate. We have no doubt that Dylan's short-term future includes a breakout hitting performance!
Sportsmanship
After the game, the Blue Jays congratulated the Cardinals, a very nice (and big) group of 3rd graders that hit well early in the game and made key plays in the field that thwarted potential late inning rallies.
Family Circus
Tom Yu is always deserving of a high five. The yeoman baseball coach helped the players during warm-ups, coached and umpired at 1st base, carried equipment, helped the catchers get suited up, and probably did myriad other helpful things about which we are unaware.
Derrick Raymond has been a frequent and highly valued contributor this season. Above, Derrick shouts instructions to the base runner from the 3rd base coaching box. Derrick also carried equipment and helped the catchers get suited up.
Having Brian Ferguson at the game was an unexpected bonus for the Blue Jays. Brian was kind enough to stay in town and offer to help, so we showed our thanks by giving him the most thankless job of all, bench coach. Brian handled it with efficiency and good cheer, keeping the players in their batting order and helping them get to the correct positions. Thanks, Brian!
Thanks to the Poon Family for keeping score. Torsdon handled the early innings...
... and Susan took over for the later innings.
They are the reason we know what happened!
James Yoon continued to work behind the scenes to help us get photos of each player. That's James taking a picture from the other team's bench in the photo above.
We appreciate the photos. The players appreciate the post game snacks and drinks that James and Connie Yoon provided!
Jamie Groban offered to help, so we gave her two jobs. She took even more fantastic photos and helped the players put on the catcher's gear.
Thanks, Jamie!
As usual, Kevin Conner quietly went about doing the little things that enable the players have fun. That's Kevin helping out with the gear in the photo above.
Go Blue Jays!
Thanks for a fun weekend of baseball!
Let's look forward to next Saturday's practice and Sunday's game with the (black) Tigers!
Coach Steve
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