D9 Game 3: Red West Shuts Down Kirkland American

Redmond West 5 Kirkland American 0

They say it takes flawless ball to get a "W" in All-Stars, and that's what our boys were tonight, "Flawless!" From Alex's 17 outs (84 pitches) of shutout ball on the mound to Devon's straightaway center homerun (at least 218 feet) to error-free play from behind the plate to the infield and into the outfield.

And we have to to give a nod to the error-free play. Highlights included:
A Ben to Justin to an incredibly outstretched Drew double play (he was nearly doing the splits).
A smooth barehand beat him by a nano-second play by Justin to Devon at first.
Sam N.'s quick reflexes on a comebacker to the mound and over to first for the last out of the game.

Additional highlights at the plate included:
Gavin went 2-2 reaching base all four at bats (walking his two other at-bats)
Sam L. went 2-2 with a deep triple (off the fence, at least 215 feet)

D9 Game 2: Eastlake Bats Too Much

Eastlake 14 Redmond West 3

Despite great efforts on the mound from Gavin, Drew and Aiden, and a little rally in the 4th to close the gap to just five runs, Eastlake's bats proved to be too much for our boys.

Highlights included:
Ben went 2-3
Sam L. had a nice triple

On a side note, many of you know that baseball is a sport filled with superstitions. On Saturday night, two of our boys decided to try one out. Gavin and Sam L. were together and had a wishbone to pull apart. Of course their wishes seemed like a no-brainer...a win against Eastlake. Couldn't ask for better odds, huh? Well, not so fast. Following the countdown...3...2...1...go, they both quickly pulled their end. And up shoots the middle of the wishbone, straight up into the air, with neither boy pulling the top part to their side.

Lesson learned: guess we won't be touching a wishbone for tomorrow's game.

D9 Begins: West Tops Rival North

Redmond West 8 Redmond North 5
Game 1 - WIN!! Great Job to ALL the players!!
The game begins with the traditional Pledge of Allegiance and Little League Pledge. Here are some of the highlights:
In a real clutch play late in the game, Alex S. makes a great tag at third to get the runner out!! With two runners on, Matthew fires up a fourth inning rally with a "Sweet" double. Then the bats came alive. Why we always wait to make our move this late in the game, I do not know.:)

Matthew was strong behind the plate, catching ALL 6 innings.
Sam L. went nearly four innings shutting them down after the first couple.Alex "AA" A. then did his job keeping his pitch count low and taking us to the 6th inning, followed by Sam N. who shut it down for the last couple outs.

Additional highlights:

Matthew went 2-3 with two doubles; Ben was 2-4 with a double; and Gavin and Justin both hit doubles.