2011 Team One West Showcase

I was invited to the Team One West Showcase in Costa Mesa, CA on July 9-10. When the pitching schedule was announced, I was really happy to have the starting slot in the very first game. Since I would only be pitching at the showcase, my commitment was to drive up Saturday morning, throw my two innings at the 10:00am game, and then would get back to San Diego by noon. Pretty sweet!

As much as I want to do well at these showcases, so do the batters. I didn’t see the other team during their batting practice, but the first batter gave me a wakeup call that they came to hit. I tried to get ahead with a low fast ball on the first pitch, which he promptly sent into center field. Okay, time to sharpen up!

It went well after that, and I nearly got through my two innings without a run scored. With runners on first and third, I caught the runner on first off the bag, but the defense bit too hard on him and let the runner on third score. I am pretty sure my high school coach would have had ‘words’ for the infield on that play.

I have been working with my pitching coach on my fastball, and we made a slight change to my delivery. The adjustment has proven itself in practice, but I have not had enough repetition yet and tend to take a little pace off my fastball in games to help with placement. I guess there is never a good time to work on things, but I must keep improving my game.

Here are videos of the two innings I pitched.

First inning

Second inning

2011 Firecracker Classic Tournament

The So Cal Dirtbags played in the 2011 Firecracker Classic Tournament (18U), hosted by USA Premier Baseball. The schedule was for July 1-6, which falls on top of my favorite holiday of the year... Fourth of July.

Since I am now a starting pitcher, my weekend schedule improved dramatically when my coach said I just needed to be at the third game on July 3rd. And it gets better. Even though this is an Orange County tournament, the third game would be at San Diego State University... in my town of San Diego.

The first three games were pool play, and the Dirtbags had lost their first two games. For the third game we were matched against the ASD Bulldogs, and they were 2-0. We were going to have to win by a lot, and pray a bit as only two teams from our pool would advance.

I pitched the first three innings, where the only run I gave up was in the second inning after hitting the leadoff batter. It was looking like a very costly mistake when we had yet to score a run, but luckily our bats came alive in the bottom of the third inning, and we rolled to a 3-2 victory.

Unfortunately, our game score wasn’t enough for our team to advance out of pool play, but it was a privilege for me to pitch on the same mound as Stephen Strasburg and countless other Division 1 players. After sitting in the stands at Tony Gwynn Stadium, I was pretty stoked to be on the other side of the fence.

Oh, and the Bulldogs went on to the Finals where they lost to the San Diego Gamers.

First start

I have working to become a starter for the So Cal Dirtbags, and my good relief performances over the past couple weeks earned me the opportunity against the San Diego Gamers on June 25.

I had been working with my pitching coach this past week, and this game was the first chance I had to try some of the adjustments we had made. Well, it didn’t go so well, and I gave up a couple runs in the first inning. The adjustment was to speed up my fast ball, and while it definitely worked, I will need more repetition to improve on my location.

I ditched the delivery change for the second inning and didn’t give up any more runs. It felt good to pitch five straight innings and throw 74 pitches.

BaseballWebTV.com

On June 11-12, I attended the Perfect Game Sunshine West Showcase in Chula Vista, CA. And today I got an email saying that video clips from the event had been posted to BaseballWebTV.com.

Skillshow, Inc. was contracted by Perfect Game to video all participants, and they can provide a recruiting video for an additional fee. Since we felt we had enough video, we passed on the $275 fee.

If you don't pay the fee, you get an email pointing you to their site where these three clips are posted:

Running

Hitting

Pitching

On a tear

I have been on a bit of tear since the high school season ended. I’m probably jinxing myself by this post, but I have to report on the good and bad results. And these have been good.

In two weeks I have pitched in four games or showcases, throwing nine innings with no earned runs.

Class of 2012 showcase - one inning

Perfect Game Sunshine West Showcase - three innings

So Cal Dirtbags league game - two innings

Prospect Wire West Coast Finals 18U - three innings

Prospect Wire West Coast Finals 18U

On Friday morning, my dad and I left San Diego and made the 6 hour drive to Scottsdale, Arizona for the Prospect Wire West Coast Finals 18U (June 17-21, 2011). With the temperature now having climbed over 30 degrees, the So Cal Dirtbags met at the team hotel for our meeting at 5:15 pm to go over the tournament schedule, and then departed to the Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training facility for our first game at at 7 pm.

Because this was only my second game with the team, I knew my role was only going to be as a reliever. As the first game went on, our starting pitcher, Kiki Medina, pitched exceptionally well but our defense had a little trouble and we lost 5-3. The second game was at 4 pm on Saturday the 18th, where both offenses were really on point and both team’s run total exceeded double digits. Eventually, the tie breaker rule came into effect and we won the game.

As both games rolled on, I was kind of disappointed that I was not put in the game but this was just like my high school season and I knew I had to be patient and make sure I took advantage of all the opportunities I was given. The last game of the pool play was when I finally got my shot. As our starting pitcher, Robbie Schmit threw four innings of one run baseball, I was called upon in the 5^th to finish the game off; and that’s exactly what I did.

I threw three innings, struck out six, let up one hit, no walks and no runs scored. We won that game 9-1, but our previous games kept us from advancing to the playoffs of the tournament. While I was disappointed for our team, I knew that I had completely seized my moment. Throughout this tournament, my patience was further tested, but I feel like I continue to succeed so that if I do become one of the starters, I will not look back.

Below are some photos and video.

This game went extra innings before we won. I'm #42.

Either I'm pitiching really fast or my dad has the camera on the wrong setting.

Fifth inning


Sixth inning


Seventh inning





Good meeting

After countless conflicts, I finally got to my first game with the So Cal Dirtbags on Tuesday, June 14th. We rotated through four pitchers during the game, and I was the third to take the mound.

At one pont after I got away with hanging a curve ball, a coach I hadn't met came to the mound. He introduced himself as Greg McSparran, and said he was my pitching coach. It was kind of a funny time to be meeting him for the first time, but he gave me some good advice that helped me finish off two scoreless innings.

Overall it was a good outing and a chance to meet my teammates prior to the Prospect Wire West Coast Finals 18U this weekend.