Holy Bowl victory 2010

The rivalry between St. Augustine HS and Cathedral Catholic HS in San Diego is huge. I have a lot of friends that go to CCHS, and we really like to beat each other. The sports program at CCHS is enormous, which makes it even more fun when Saints wins.

Last Friday was the annual football match up, and it was big this year as it would determine league champ and playoff rankings. Saints jumped out to an early lead, holding off a late CCHS surge to win 28-21 (details here). It is the first time the Saints football team has beat CCHS since I have been at Saints.

Felt good, and hopefully Saints baseball will have similar success this spring.

Here is a highlights video (Saints in Purple).

Baja baseball

My dad sent me this photo of baseball being played at an area called Turtle Bay that is in Baja California, Mexico. I can only imagine how baked hard that field is.

Race for the Cure San Diego 2010

There aren't too many things that get in the way with my game schedule, but last weekend I was not able to play in my games because I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure San Diego 2010.

The Susan G. Komen foundation helps raise funds and awareness for breast cancer, and the Race for the Cure is a 5K Run/Walk at Balboa Park. I read where over 15,000 people registered, raising more than $400,000.

My mom is a breast cancer survivor. I am very proud of her and wanted to do the walk with her and my family. There is an incredible amount of energy along the route with all the families and friends. I was glad to have taken a part in it.

  

First rain

It is just only October in San Diego, but the rain delays have begun. It was sunny on Friday, and it was sunny Saturday afternoon and Sunday, but it was raining hard enough Saturday morning to cancel my Halos game on Saturday and my Warriors game on Sunday.

Video - pitching sample innings

Here are two sample innings from the Arizona Junior Fall Classic 2010. They are edited to include only each pitch for the batters I faced in these innings.

Sample 1


Sample 2


Click here for additional details from the tournament.

Video - Arizona Junior Fall Classic 2010

When I committed to attending the Arizona Junior Fall Classic, there were two things that I wanted to learn:

1) How I would do when put in a situation where I don’t anybody. The team was assembled based on nationwide tryouts, and I was meeting everybody for the first time at the tournament. I was flying alone for the first time, was rooming in a hotel with a teammate I just met, and was living within a five day schedule without any parental support.

2) How I would compete at the tournament level. This event attracts the top teams, and I figured I would be facing some pretty nasty pitching. Also, since I was attending as a pitcher, I was eager to see if my focused training since August would give me the tools to battle against the big bats.

I am happy to report that it all went really well. I survived and thrived, met a bunch of good guys on the team, and was coached by guys with MLB experience (Jimmy Johnson, Josh Muecke, Brice Cutspec). I am eager to continue my training, and look forward to the rest of the fall season.

Here are a few sample videos from the tournament.

Introduction



Pitching



Hitting

Arizona Junior Fall Classic Roster & Schedule

Getting ready to go to the Arizona Junior Fall Classic.

A list of all the participating teams is online.

I will be flying out tonight. Here is my team. Here is my schedule

Freddy "Sez" Schuman

When my family went to New York this past summer, we went to a Yankees game and the guy in the picture was sitting in front of us. We didn't know who he was, but he was pretty unique. Turns out he is a famous Yankees fan. His signs were kind of weak, but he also had this big frying pan that he would bang. He let us bang it too. He gave us his newsletter, and he also had a website.

Unfortunately, he died this week. Here is a story from ESPN:

Freddy "Sez" Schuman, the longtime New York Yankees fan who made a tradition out of bringing signs to Yankee Stadium and encouraging the crowd to cheer by banging together a spoon and frying pan, has died at age 85.

Schuman died at Lenox Hill Hospital on Sunday afternoon after suffering a heart attack on Friday night, according to longtime friend Chuck Frantz. A hospital official confirmed Schuman's death.

"It's a sad day for Yankee fans and for anyone who knew Freddy," Frantz said.

Schuman, who was known around the ballpark as "Freddy Sez," often walked around the stadium during games with an inspirational message for the Yankees written on white posterboard. He also would bang a frying pan and a spoon together to encourage fans to make noise. He attended most Yankees home games.

Heal my mind and body

Most sports can deal with winter except for baseball. Some early San Diego rain cancelled some training and one of my games this past week, and what I could have done was stopped by a nagging cold I have had. The good news I guess is that my body is getting some rest, and that my cold is getting better.

The Saints baseball players are now scheduled for yoga on Monday and Wednesday (along with a practice on Friday). Maybe this will help heal my mind and body.

Life is a gift

My friend Irish and I wanted to do something to memorialize our fellow Saintsman Bryan Goebel, who died last week. We didn’t know him, but felt that what happened was such a tragedy that it should not be forgotten.

Last Friday he and I made up shirts that we wore to our high school football game, and spread the word that we were planning on making more. Today we met with Principle Horne, and the school is helping us push through a 100+ shirts that we will distribute this week.

The mission isn’t to make money, but to help people remember that life is a gift.

Countdown

There are only two and a half weeks before I leave for the Arizona Junior Fall Classic, so today my dad and I mapped out a training schedule that will hopefully give me the training I need while still insuring my arm is fresh for when I leave on October 20th.

Busy

I didn’t think today was going to work out but it did. I had a 9am game with the Halos at Hickman Field (Saints home field),  and then a noon game with the Warriors at Rancho Buena Vista High School, which was about 40 minutes north of Hickman. Fortunately the Halos game went by fast, and the Warriors game was delayed.

The Halos were giving all the pitchers an inning, but I passed as I knew I would get time on the mound with the Warriors. Instead I played First, Second, Third, and the outfield corners. I have played all those positions before, but I don’t think I have ever done it in one game.

My trip to the Warriors game was well worth it, as I had three scoreless innings on the mound, and had a two RBI hit to help pad the lead. Felt comfortable from the wind up but need to keep working on throwing from the stretch.

Pretty tired now.

Bryan Goebel - RIP

Live & Learn

As happy as I was to pitch the complete game last Saturday, I paid the price afterwards. I was fatigued during my pitching lesson on Wednesday, and really struggled during an inning of work yesterday with the Halos. I had a game today with the Warriors, but when I leaned they had enough players, I decided to stay home and rest.

It was a good lesson on how I need to do a better job of balancing the amount of pitches thrown and the recovery time needed. I am still building up my stamina, but I went too far this time, and as a result it took too long to recover.

Juggling

I feel really lucky to be working with two good teams right now. I usually don’t like doubling up, but fate intervened this time.

The San Diego Warriors are a new team, but the head coach and a lot of the players are people I have been with for a lot of years. The foundation of the team is from Cathedral Catholic High School, but there are players from some other schools too.

The San Diego Halos are also a new team, but its roots are from my school, St. Augustine High School. Everybody on the team is from Saints, which has typically not had an organized program in the fall for their JV/Varsity players. But now we do.

Both teams are playing in the San Diego Travel Baseball League, but for some reason they never play each other. Maybe saving the rivalry for the spring season, and saving me from deciding which team to play for.

Complete game

Played yesterday for the San Diego Warriors at the Santee Sports Complex. We were scheduled for two games, and I got the ball for the opener. All the work this past week paid off as I went the complete seven innings. I am not sure about stats, but I gave up only one earned run in the 3-2 victory.

Felt really good during the game, and am happy with how well my arm feels today. Can't wait to give my pitching coach Justin James the good report. Here are some photos taken by Dana Goulet.

From the wind up.

From the stretch





Recognition

I got a pretty nice email today:


Lars,

I wanted to give you a quick heads up that you were named as one of the top 2 underclassmen we saw on August 10th at UCSD. Here is the official notice:http://baseballfactory.com/aboutus/press.asp?pk_news_press={71C8E30D-9C78-407E-BA09-78B9E077D68B}&year=2010&month=8

Congrats! Keep working hard. We look forward to having you out in Arizona next month.

Regards,
Patrick Wuebben
Player Development
Baseball Factory

The right way

One of the teams I am playing on, the San Diego Warriors, had their first game today of the fall season. I started the game and pitched the first three innings. While the first inning was perfect, the next two were not. I wasn't sure what to do, and never figured it out until after the game.

That's when a coach from the opposing team, Bill McClurg, gave me some corrections. Coach McClurg was my coach seven years ago at Tecolote Youth Baseball, and it is always nice to see him along the baseball trail. Anyway, his advice made perfect sense, and gave me something to work on this coming week.

Time to get serious

It's official...I am going to Arizona!

Now that I have made the committment to go to the Arizona Junior Fall Classic, I have decided to get serious with my training. This will come as a pleasant surprise to everyone around me. I am getting connected with my old pitching coach Justin James, who is now coaching at Point Loma Nazarene College. I will be working on my hitting at San Diego State University, will be playing in a fall high school league, and have a daily work out routine geared for pitching.

Feels great to be motivated.

Great report

On Thursday, August 12th, Patrick Wuebben from The Baseball Factory called with my evaluation from the tryout. I wasn't sure what to expect, though I had thought the tryout went pretty well. His report was very encouraging.

Since I didn't have a chance to train before the tryout, I decided to pass on the infield review and focused my energy on the following:

60 yard dash

Pitching

Hitting

He said my running wasn't too fast, which came as no surprise. He said my hitting looked good and that I appeared to have a plan. I remember thinking during the hitting that I was pleased at how well it went since I hadn't picked up a bat in weeks. Nothing too long, but all solid line drives to the whole field. But it was my pitching that really got their attention.

I never have been checked for speed, but he said my fastball was at 84 mph. Based on their comparisons, that is pretty good for a 16 year old. They liked my change up, but wanted me to to increase the differential a bit more. I was pretty happy with that report since I have never worked too hard on that pitch. They liked my curve the best, saying the tight spin, late break, and speed differential made it a real plus pitch.

They also liked my form too. I was tall, my arm motion was clean, and I finished really well. They said a lot more than what I am writing (but I recorded it), but all in all it couldn't have gone much better, especially since I was not very prepared for the tryout.

The icing on the cake was their invitation for me to attend the Arizona Junior Fall Classic on Oct. 20-24. Apparently this is a great training event that exposes players to scouts and college coaches. It is a pretty big step and something that me and my parents will have to discuss.

National Tryout Event

On August 10th I attended the Under Armour® Baseball Factory National Tryout at UCSD. I wasn't sure how it was going to go since I had been away on vacation and returned just before the event. It was a four hour event where they scouted us on all the areas of the game. Here are some photos from my pitching tryout.


Warming up while I wait my turn. I'm the guy on the left.



My dad told me later that '27' was his lucky number



Coaches taking notes on technique and checking speed with radar gun.

 

From here to where

I will be a junior in high school this fall. Baseball is my sport. And I want to play in college. I thought it might be good to have this blog to help people see what I am doing. Because it is going to get interesting. I hope.