If playing baseball isn’t hard enough…sometimes it’s just hard to stay awake. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
An 11U battle reminded those present that despite being a simple game in principle, baseball is still hard to play. The Delphos Dream capitalized on St. Henry’s hard lesson learned for a 12-3 win.
Two lessons learned, or remembered, on Friday evening at the Minster Classic:
- Baseball is hard.
- Baseballs are hard.
A stray foul ball reminded me of the latter by striking me square in the back, knocking the wind out of me. At Minster’s Four Seasons Recreational Park, the back-to-back-to-back-to-back fields create a foul ball bomb zone akin to London, circa 1941. I doubt I was the first or the last victim of the weekend.
Alan Brads writes OHSAA sports and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
But more relevantly, baseball is hard. It’s often simple, but don’t confuse simple with easy. Watch enough MLB and they start to make it look so easy … unless you’re watching the Reds.
But the Minster Classic is a different story, and one that you and I can relate to if we think back far enough. Fielding ground balls is easy-peasy from a third-person perspective. But don’t you remember what it was like when you were ten years old and the pressure mounted as the ball sped at you? It’s not complicated. It’s just hard.
Even in the heart of one of Ohio’s finest baseball regions, where players frequently garner praise for their grasp of the fundamentals, there were plenty of signs that baseball is still hard. Even in Auglaize, Mercer, Allen, and Shelby counties.
Even the easy parts are probably harder than we remember for a kid.
Delphos Dream’s 11U claimed a 12-3 win by doing the so-called easy things well enough, and capitalizing when St. Henry didn’t.
Sometimes…when it’s raining…when everyone’s watching…it’s just hard to pick it up. Even when it’s not moving.
“We hit the ball really well,” said Jace Brinkman, who’s played with many of his teammates for about five years. “We had good defense, and pitching went really well. That’s pretty much it.”
Delphos’ Ryker Metzger hit a leadoff single in the top of the first, stole second on a wild pitch, then scored when a would-be ground out turned into a triple’s worth of throwing errors.
The future Blue Jays kept their heads on a swivel on the basepaths to take full advantage of an avalanche of errors. They were tagged out on the basepaths just once despite nickel-and-diming extra bases all evening.
A steady rain in the second and third innings only served to make the ball more difficult to handle.
Lincoln Buzard scored his second run of the day to kick off a big fourth inning that sealed the deal for Delphos in its opening pool play game.
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“My favorite part of the game was when my friend [Ryker Metzger] hit a double,” catcher Cam Hummel said. “It got us all excited and we scored a whole bunch. We play better with our friends because we’ve been around each other since we were born.”
After the two-run double, the Dream continued to pounce on the opportunities afforded them. Their final five runs of the game scored on plays including errors.
The last few feet are the toughest…a St. Henry base runner crawls to reach home plate at Friday’s Minster Classic.
“We finished how we finish all the time,” Brinkman said about shutting down St. Henry after taking a lead. “You gotta play good defense, and defense wins games.”
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The winners didn’t go without their own share of miscues. I say baseball is hard but not complicated, but that might underestimate how goofy pre-teen boys can be. Delphos had a runner called out after reaching second base when it became apparent he had batted out of turn.
Catcher Cam Hummel caught two runners in a rundown with timely pick-offs.
“Ever since we started kid pitch, if they get a little too far out, I’ll throw it,” Hummel said.
But both Redskins snuck out of the danger.
Thus is the essence of Little League. It happens. And if there’s a time to be making mistakes, this is it. Five years from now, we’ll see who put in the reps to get impeccable at the simple stuff. There’s nothing thrilling about fielding 4,000 ground balls in a summer. But who’s dedicated enough to do it, anyway?
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Nearly everyone at the Minster Classic has the privilege of playing with their friends. Which friend groups will spend the summers turning double plays, and which will spend it playing duos on Fortnite? Not to say either is right or wrong, but in a half decade, you’ll plainly see who’s who.
After all, there are a lot more routine plays to be made than spectacular ones. And 11U mistakes keep you off the field in high school no matter how hard you hit the ball.
Girls just want to have fun…Minster’s Audrey Hess lets fly during softball competition with New Bremen.
Elsewhere at the Minster Classic, Fort Loramie’s 9U Redskins came back from a 6-3 5th inning deficit to walk it off 7-6. Aidan Wical scored the winning run.
“In the first inning, it felt like we were gonna end up losing, and then we came back and won,” Wical said. “Our energy changed. It went from down low to high.”
Wical said he’d remember the game for “10 to 15 years.”
On the other side, despair set in as Delphos’ first baseman threw his glove to the ground. Despite a great effort, he couldn’t quite reel in the throw on the game-deciding play. Frustration’s no sin in competition. Baseball clearly means something to him, and that’ll do him well.
He, too, might remember the game for 10 to 15 years too, and maybe it’ll inspire him to get some reps. Not a bad idea.
Baseball is hard.
After the game stop by for a winning ‘Big Buy’ at The Spot, in Sidney…presenting sponsor of the Minster Classic!