December 14, 2004

The 2005 schedule has been posted, and this is the first update I've made on the site since July. Forget the fact that my computer was down for two months and I now have a job in New Hampshire - neither of those are very good excuses, right? I honestly don't know what I'll be doing this spring, if anything, but I'm hoping to keep the schedule up to date and continue maintaining the stats. In case anyone still reads the site, I hope you're all doing well. I'm living in Hanover, N.H., and I'm the intern in the sports information department at Dartmouth College. I'm the contact for field hockey, swimming and diving, women's ice hockey and baseball, and I also travel with men's basketball. A short description of my job is that I do stats, press releases, publications and articles for these teams. Right now, women's hockey is ranked No. 2 in the nation, so that's pretty exciting, and I'm going to California with the men's basketball team on Sunday for a couple games, including one at Stanford. Thus far I've traveled to Ohio, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania for events, and I'll also be traveling to New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island (I think) and Cali (as I said) for events by the end of college baseball season. Anyhoo, check out the schedule and take care. Hope to catch up with everyone come spring time.

July 8, 2004

Oh, that's right, you never thought you would live to see it, but it is now time to deliver - as promised - the 2004 Colchester High School Varsity Baseball Recap. With this, I have officially fulfilled all assistant coaching duties which I had set out to complete this season. I've been writing this for the better part of a month, and I'm happy to finally see it completed. If any of you guys want to comment on this recap, drop me a line at javy@sover.net, and I'll even drop you my IM screen name, if you want. I'll be leaving for Dartmouth College to work in its sports information department next Saturday (July 17), but I'll still be checking e-mail and talking online. Have a good summer everyone, and good luck to all of you ball players with school, baseball and life.

2004 COLCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY BASEBALL RECAP

TEAM STUFF
  • In looking back, I will concede that this season wasn't the best ever. We went 4-14 overall, including 3-12 in the Metro League. We set some of the less-desired records as a team, including shattering the strikeouts record. Our hitters K'd 149 times in 468 at bats, or once every 3.1 ABs, breaking the 1997 team's record of 131. Just for comparison's sake, the 1997 team had 477 ABs in 126 innings over 18 games; we had 468 ABs in 128 innings over 18 games. We also collected 96 hits, the fewest since the 1978 team had 88. However, the 1978 team also played three fewer games, so we actually had the fewest hits per game (5.3) in program history, eclipsing the 1983 team's 5.4 hits per game. We also batted .204, easily the lowest ever. The 1997 team had batted .216 to hold that record. In addition, we tied the program records for most losses (14) and most losses at home (7). But we also did some remarkable things, though they weren't records, so they might be overlooked by the casual observer. But my job is to point those little things out. We recorded the fourth-most triples in program history with seven, and they were the most since the 2000 squad had nine. And with six sacrifice bunts, including three in our final two games, we had the seventh-most ever. Defensively we were superb, once again. We were 10 assists short (171) of last year's record (181), and we were one of only eight Lakers teams to commit fewer than 50 errors (49). Only the 1982 team, which went 16-3, played more games than we did and committed fewer than 50 miscues. We accepted 583 total chances, the fourth-most ever, and tied last year's squad for the seventh-best fielding percentage (91.6%). And look at some of our single-game team efforts: On May 14, we tied a team record by hitting three triples in a game for just the fifth time ever - and somehow the third time against Mount Abraham alone. We didn't commit a single error in four different games, something which is very difficult to do in high school even once in a season. Our defense also collected 10 assists in a game 11 times. Our pitchers walked only 53 batters in 121 innings, and with just 2.9 per game, we allowed the sixth-fewest walks per game, thanks in part to the accuracy of Shelby Nolin and Travis Frenette, who combined to walk just 15 in 72 innings! Then let's also look at those games with BFA-St. Albans. Those two one-run wins (7-6 on May 7 and 6-5 on June 4) comprised 50 percent of our victories, and both came up at Collins-Perley Sports Complex. During the program's 29-year history, the Lakers defeated a team twice in a season only 27 times, including just eight times since 1989. This is also just the fourth time we beat a team twice by one run each time. Here's the complete list:
    Year Team
    1980 Mount Abraham
    1983 Missisquoi
    1983 Vergennes
    2004 BFA-St. Albans

    Yep, that's right, this was the first time since 1983 we beat a team twice by one run. And this was the first time ever that we defeated that team at the same venue both times. It's hard enough doing it twice, but the fact that we did it both times at their place is a pretty awesome feat.

  • I always like to take a look back and see where we could have improved our stats during the season by taking away a few bad innings. Opponents this season didn't have a lot of huge innings against us, something which had plagued us in the past. In fact, the most runs we allowed in an inning all year was five - it happened three times, and twice all five of the runs were unearned. In fact, let's start with just the second South Burlington game, where they scored 13 runs, all earned. In a high school game that's just amazing. Our team's ERA was 4.11 this year, and if you take away those 13 earned runs and those six painful innings, the ERA drops to 3.53. But let's also take away each inning this year in which we allowed four or more runs (in this case, the maximum was five, as mentioned above). In those nine innings, our ERA was 17.11, and we allowed 44 of 82 batters to reach on either a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch. Exactly one fifth (30) of the 150 hits we allowed in 121 innings this year came in those nine innings alone! Subtract those nine innings from the season total and we end up with a 3.06 ERA, 120 hits and 81 runs allowed, and 169 base runners in 112 innings.

  • We also had some first inning troubles this year. After not allowing a run in the first inning of the first game of the season, we allowed at least one first-inning run during 10 of the next 12 games, then none in the final five, beginning with Kyle Burkhard's gem at Centennial Field against St. Johnsbury. In those 10 innings, our team's ERA was 14.00. In the other 111 innings we pitched this year, our ERA was 3.22.

  • I guess I should also address that sad, lonely inning when we didn't score all year: the second. Yes, somehow we neglected to realize during the course of our 18 games that we're not only allowed to score in the second inning, let alone put runners on base, but it might just help us win some ball games. Only 14 runners reached base that inning this year, and just five via a hit. Seven reached scoring position, but obviously all were stranded. We also had 23 Ks that inning, comprising 42.6 percent of the 54 outs. Our batting average was a paltry .086 (5-for-58), and we reached base at a .172 clip.
  • As was a trend the coaching staff noticed for much of the year, we seemed to run into every single Metro League left-handed pitcher possible this season. With that in mind, I decided to break down our success against lefties as opposed to righties. Our batting, slugging and on-base averages against each were comparable, and the hits, walks and strikeouts per inning were all similar. However, the eight lefties we faced went 5-1 against us in six starts while spinning five complete games, including two shutouts. The 21 righties went 9-3 with three saves and five complete games in twice as many starts (12) as the lefties. During a stretch from May 14 to 27, the four Southpaws we faced went 4-0 with four complete games and a shutout, compiling a 1.75 ERA over 28 innings with 27 strikeouts and seven walks, holding us to a .204 batting average and .255 on-base percentage. Here's the complete breakdown:
    Throws G W-L Sv ERA IP GS CG SHO R ER H 1B 2B 3B HR K BB HB AVG SLG% OBP H/I K/I BB/I
    Lefty 8 5-1 0 1.47 43 6 5 2 21 9 34 27 4 3 0 41 17 1 .210 .272 .289 0.79 0.95 0.40
    Righty 21 9-3 3 2.25 84 12 5 0 37 27 62 50 7 4 1 108 38 7 .201 .260 .300 0.74 1.29 0.45
    Totals 29 14-4 3 1.98 127 18 10 2 58 36 96 77 11 7 1 149 55 8 .204 .264 .297 0.76 1.17 0.43

  • Now let's look at one-run games, daily stuff, and just basically miscellaneous things from the season. We went 2-2 on Fridays, tying the school record for wins on Fridays and setting the record for most Friday games with four, surpassing the 1979 team's old record in the process. But we also went 1-5 on Thursdays, tying the 1977 team's Thursday loss mark. And with an 0-5 mark on Saturdays, we tied the mark for Saturday losses while going winless on Saturday for the first time since 1992. I kid you not, I track this stuff. In one-run games, we went 3-2, with all three wins coming away from CHS. There were those two at BFA, and the one at Centennial. The home losses were a 1-0 loss to Milton and a 9-8 loss to South Burlington. That one-run loss to Milton was just the sixth 1-0 game in the program's 489-game history, and four have ended with Colchester on the losing end. This must have been Milton's revenge for our first 1-0 win, which came at their hands in May 1981. This year's 1-0 loss was our first in a decade, when we hosted Winooski on May 28, 1994. Then there's also this year's 10-0 loss at home against North Country on May 22. It was the first 10-0 shutout at home since May 18, 1994, and this marked the first time since 1996 that we got shut out twice at home in a season. However, back to the three one-run wins away from home: In program history, there have been 18 one-run wins away from home, and three came this year. That's 16.7 percent of all one-run wins away from CHS in program history coming this season. Amazing. Previous to this season, there had been a grand total of 11 one-run wins away from home since 1983, the only other time a Lakers team won three one-run games away from home.

  • There's a Web site that I go to called Baseball-Reference.com (located at www.baseball-reference.com), which is probably the coolest Major League Baseball Web site out there. It has historical information for every team and player, dating back to the beginning of time as far as pro ball is concerned. However, the reason I mention the site is because they have this equation called the Pythagorean winning percentage, which calculates what a team's record should be based on the number of runs it allowed and scored. Straight from the site: "Pythagorean winning percentage is an estimate of a team's winning percentage given their runs scored and runs allowed. Developed by Bill James, it can tell you when teams were a bit lucky or unlucky. It is calculated by (Runs Scored x 1.83) / [(Runs Scored x 1.83) + (Runs Allowed x 1.83)]. The traditional formula uses an exponent of two, but this has proven to be a little more accurate." With a 4-14 record this season, our winning percentage was .222. However, our Pythagorean winning percentage (according to the 58 runs we scored and 120 we allowed) is .326, which would be roughly 6-12 in an 18-game season.
  • I've also been thinking recently about the 2000 team, the one which came within a few good innings of a state championship title, and how defense tended to be its undoing during the state final and for some games that year. But I knew the team had strong offense and pitching, and I was thinking how the last few years we've had somewhat comparable pitching and even stronger defense. So in order to try to prove myself right, I decided to take a look at the average season of the past three teams (readjusted for a 20-game season, which was what the number of games the 2000 team played) and compare it with the 2000 squad. This might prove absolutely nothing, but I wanted to see how similar we have been (statwise) to the 2000 squad since the offensive juggernaut known as Jason Carey '01 graduated:
    Offense
    Season(s) R H XBH RBI BB K SB AVG SLG% OBP H/G R/G
    2000 185 212 62 155 92 93 52 .359 .519 .446 10.6 9.3
    avg 2002-04 84 117 23 61 74 143 46 .223 .282 .330 5.9 4.2
    Difference -101 -95 -39 -94 -18 +50 -6 -.136 -.237 -.116 -4.7 -5.1

    Defense
    Season(s) A E TC F%
    2000 142 61 591 .897
    avg 2002-04 185 57 642 .911
    Difference +43 -4 +51 +.014

    Pitching
    Season(s) W L ERA CG H R ER K BB BR R/I H/G R/G BB/G
    2000 14 6 2.92 9 128 88 54 155 50 187 1.4 6.4 4.4 2.5
    avg 2002-04 7 13 3.83 8 153 123 73 105 63 228 1.7 7.7 6.2 3.2
    Difference -7 +7 +0.91 -1 +25 +35 +19 -50 +13 +41 +0.3 +1.3 +1.8 +0.7

    What I get out of this analysis is that, with a much smaller strikeout total coming from our pitchers, our defense has had to make that many more plays in the field (about 50 more per year), and it still has outperformed the 2000 team's defense by leaps and bounds. The offense is another story entirely, as we've tended to K about 50 more times per season and collect 100 fewer runs and hits apiece. Of course, all of the guys on the 2000 team could hit in their sleep, so it's difficult to compare that team's offensive prowess to any other. But even 100 fewer RBIs just reveals the lack of clutch hitting and, though I didn't list it, we've averaged nine sacrifice bunts the last three years while the 2000 team had only three. That's more small ball, thanks in part to the teams averaging a batting average 136 points lower than the 2000 squad's. On the pitching end, the strikeout total doesn't trouble me much, but I'm happy with the fact that the bases on balls numbers are similar. In fact, if you break down the hits per inning and walks per inning, you get 0.99 hits and 0.39 walks in 2000, and 1.15 hits and 0.47 walks in 2002-04. Not that huge of a difference. The ERA is almost a run higher, but let's think about this: the 2000 squad had Justin Bissonnette '00 (an established starter) and Travis Clairmont '02 (one of the best CHS pitchers ever in the midst of one of the best pitching seasons in 20 years), as well as Addie Dion '00 and Travis Miles '00. The 2002-04 squads had an older Clairmont and Jess Mattison '02 in 2002, and Shelby Nolin in 2004, the only three starters with much varsity pitching experience coming into those seasons mentioned. Complete games are nearly identical, thanks almost entirely to Shelby and Jess, who were both workhorses.

  • The following is a presentation of the results of me finally breaking down some of the weirder stats that I had going through my head this year. These had to do with what our team's batting average would have been without Mike Wasko (yikes!) and, as I was noticing all year, Kyle Burkhard's base on balls total as a pitcher was comprising about half of our staff's total. "Had that ever happened before?" I wondered. As it turns out, his 26 walks fall just short of making up half of our 53 walks as a staff, but his walking 49.1 percent of all batters we walked this year is the largest percentage in program history, just eclipsing Alan Hill's '97 1996 percentage of 47.4 (27 of 57). Ironically enough, the player who had the lowest team-leading walk percentage (Jamie Young '89, 25.9% in 1988) actually had more walks (29) than Burks had this year! Of course, Burks was on a staff where only 53 batters reached via a free pass. Young and his teammates dished out a team record 112. Of course, Burks also pitched masterpieces in his final three starts, going 2-1 with a 1.05 ERA in 20 innings, allowing five runs (three earned), 18 hits, 12 walks, and 13 strikeouts. He also threw 338 pitches during those games. Damn! Back to Mike, though, and my pondering as to whether subtracting a team-leading batting average had ever had as profound an impact on the team's average in program history. Verdict? Wasko's the winner ... by a hair. In 2001, Jason Carey '01 batted .654 for a team which hit .310. Take out his average and they're a rather mortal .271 (mind you, a team that hasn't had Jason Carey hasn't batted that high since 1995!). That's a drop off of 39 points. However, Mr. Wasko just beats that record. His .571 average, the highest by anyone in program history not named Jason Carey, came on a team which batted .204, by far the lowest team average ever. Take out his contributions and we're a .162-hitting team, which is a 42-point drop off. Meanwhile, Mike's team-leading 28 hits comprise the largest chunk of a team's total hits ever. He collected 29.2 percent of the team's 96 hits, blowing away Gary Lefebvre's '76 record of 21.6 percent - set in the program's initial season of play in 1976! Gary had 24 of his team's 111 hits and paced the squad with a .444 average.
  • Here's a game-by-game breakdown of how we progressed defensively and regressed offensively:
    G# PO A E F%
    1 21 9 6 .833
    2 39 20 9 .868
    3 57 28 9 .904
    4 75 36 14 .888
    5 96 41 17 .890
    6 117 51 19 .898
    7 138 62 23 .897
    8 156 72 23 .908
    9 177 84 26 .909
    10 198 95 29 .910
    11 219 102 31 .912
    12 237 112 31 .918
    13 258 127 35 .917
    14 279 139 35 .923
    15 297 144 37 .923
    16 318 155 45 .913
    17 345 165 46 .917
    18 363 171 49 .916
    G# H AB AVG
    1 9 30 .300
    2 16 55 .291
    3 17 79 .215
    4 25 107 .234
    5 32 135 .237
    6 35 159 .220
    7 42 188 .223
    8 46 213 .216
    9 53 238 .223
    10 59 265 .223
    11 64 289 .221
    12 70 317 .221
    13 73 340 .215
    14 75 362 .207
    15 81 387 .209
    16 86 414 .208
    17 94 449 .209
    18 96 470 .204

  • After Mike Wasko's record-setting defensive campaign as a junior, his assist total went down a bit this year despite the pitchers serving up a similar number of grounders as last year. Our defense recorded 47.5 percent of our 255 outs in 2003 on ground balls, and Mike contributed with 77 assists. However, Mike's assists total dipped a bit in 2004. Despite recording one more putout and the same number of errors this year, he recorded 29 fewer assists (48) despite the defense recording 44.3 percent of our 264 outs on grounders. Last year he had 0.63 assists per inning; this year he had 0.40 per inning. At the same time, D.J. Edwards picked up 25 assists during 73 innings at third base last year, 0.34 per inning. This year that average dropped off to 0.30 per inning, as he collected 31 helpers in 102 innings at third. Looking at the bigger picture, we had more diverse defensive help this year. Three players besides Mike and D.J. had 10 assists last season; that total rose to five players this year, as the team's assists total - excluding Mike and D.J. - rose from 79 to 92. It's nice to have a stronger supporting cast, but it's also always nicer having the ball hit to those sure-handed players. Just turns out our best defensive infielders have been on the left side the past two seasons.
  • This was the third year in a row that no player made 10 errors. The last player to hit that magical number was Jason Carey '01 in 2001, with 17. Jason was a great hitter, tore up the Metro, but wasn't a great defensive shortstop as a senior (after committing only 11 errors in his first two years). In 18 games as a senior, he committed those 17 errors, one every 1.06 games. Turns out he's been a fine outfielder at UVM. Conversely, Mike Wasko committed 21 total errors in 46 career games, one every 2.19 games. Here's a breakdown of the span during which each player committed their final 17 career errors:
    Player Games Chances F% Hits Avg
    Jason Carey 18 77 .779 34 .654
    Mike Wasko 38 192 .911 48 .397

    PLAYER STUFF

  • Right about now, I'd like to go through the players one by one (of those who remained at the end of the year) and point out those little stats or favorite moments from the year that haven't been mentioned yet. I'll start with youngest and work toward the oldest:

    THE FRESHMAN THE SOPHOMORES THE JUNIORS     THE SENIORS

    Personal Reflection
  • For the longest time, I've been trying to think of how to best inspire the players and make them realize exactly who and what they are representing each time they put on a Lakers jersey. Yes, obviously each player is representing himself, his teammates, his coaches, and even his family, to some extent. But they're also representing their team, their school, and their classmates. Lastly, and likely the last thing I would expect them to realize, is they're representing their town. What's that "C" stand for on the cap? It's not for a union or private high school, it's for a school which happens to belong to the town. Each time you put on that jersey, you're representing your town. I did some research, and of the 20 Division I teams, we are one of only six which represent a single, solitary town (or city). The rest are either union high schools or essentially union high schools (12), or are private, Catholic schools (2). Here's a breakdown, including enrollment (based on a 2003-04 report compiled by the State of Vermont Department of Education). For my own purposes, schools like Essex and BFA-St. Albans, which draw from a number of towns but don't call themselves "union" high schools, have been classified in the "union" category:
    Size School Classification Enrollment
    1 Essex HS Union 1,596
    2 Champlain Valley UHS Union 1,302
    3 Mount Anthony UHS Union 1,238
    4 BFA-St. Albans Union 1,172
    5 Rutland HS City HS 1,142
    6 Burlington HS City HS 1,108
    7 St. Johnsbury Academy Town HS 1,076
    8 Mount Mansfield UHS Union 1,069
    9 North Country UHS Union 1,045
    10 Brattleboro UHS Union 1,001
    11 South Burlington HS City HS 974
    12 Spaulding HS Town HS 970
    13 Hartford HS Union 804
    14 Middlebury UHS Union 754
    15 Colchester HS Town HS 749
    16 Missisquoi Valley UHS Union 683
    17 Harwood UHS Union 649
    18 Lamoille UHS Union 603
    19 Rice Memorial HS Private 462
    20 Mount St. Joseph Academy Private 195

    Yep, our school has the sixth-lowest enrollment among Division I baseball teams, with the next biggest single-town school having over 200 more students. And when I look at the fact that we've consistently drawn from between 650 and 750 students (thus, about 300 to 400 males) during the nine years I've been a part of the program and have fielded a competitive team on a pretty consistent basis, that makes me pretty proud.

  • I was realizing a couple weeks ago that much of my life has to do with sports, and my introduction to organized youth baseball in third grade was the beginning of it all. But it wasn't simply being introduced to one of the most complex, yet satisfying, sports known to man - it was the love I found in the sport, and that can be credited greatly to my first two coaches, Butch Antell and John Welch. They were my Farm League coaches in third grade, as I played for the Braves in the spring of 1990. But even now, I look at my life and realize how much of it has been built upon that early and continued love of baseball. Due to it, I've met many of my friends, but I've also acquired my interest in other sports and their statistics, my sports memories, and my job. Playing summer softball in Richmond stems from the desire to keep on being competitive. As I move on to another phase of my life, this was simply something I was reflecting upon. The love affair never really ends.

  • So, seriously, what the hell am I gonna do next spring? (OK, besides go to work every day at Dartmouth.) I mean, I'm going to wake up one April morning and realize I'm not going to be headed to baseball practice at Saddlemire Field, or to some high school in the middle of nowhere in the fine state of Vermont. That saddens me, to a point, but also makes me realize what I've gained over the years while being affiliated with the Colchester High School baseball program. I had spent nine consecutive years in the program, one less than Coach Phillips. I started out at a freshman who was the fourth-string second baseman on JV for Coach Phillips, back when he was JV coach. I didn't play much - four at bats and about two starts - and was cut from JV as a sophomore. And, in the most ironic of twists, that began my odyssey into keeping stats. Riding the pine for a few years during all-stars had already afforded me the opportunity to learn how to score a ballgame, and I asked Coach Saddlemire - the varsity coach at the time, as well as my sophomore science teacher - to talk to Coach Phillips about me keeping book on JV that year. I recall this came the day after I had been cut from JV. Some wounds heal slowly, and I'm amazed that I 1) was able to keep book for Coach Phillips that year, 2) played another year of JV under him as a junior, and 3) was never a jerk to his face about him cutting me. All I could do was try to make him regret cutting me by doing as well as I could on the field. And, no, I was never a stellar player while on the high school teams, but I was good enough and worked hard enough to make varsity. That and seniors weren't ever cut when I played. While I had a choice of where to play as a junior - JV or varsity - I figured JV was the better place for me. And once I finally did make varsity as a senior, I was just happy to be there and still be on a team. (All I can advise you guys who play now is to not take anything for granted. Enjoy your time on varsity, but always keep working toward getting better.) The 2000 season, which was half occupied by the end of my freshman year of college at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, I came back and essentially just kept stats for Saddie, but the following four years were an exercise in everything from stat-keeping to learning how to hit ground balls (result: poorly) to thinking about in-game management to writing the lineup. I went from just a stat guy to becoming a stat guy who also happened to be looked upon as a coach (at least by some, and hopefully by many). This spring was the first I spent running drills each day during the preseason, and that was a learning experience in itself. (But we love those scorpions, don't we boys?) I realize now more than ever that I enjoy being affiliated with this program because I am allowed to try to shape these young men the way I see fit - teach them baseball skills, teach them life skills, if they want to listen. Tell them about my life; talk with them sometimes as if I was still a ballplayer; always lend an open ear, but try to impart wisdom as only someone who has studied and played the game for a number of years longer than them could. You'll never mistake me for a coach who knows everything; I still feel as though my place is with nose firmly in scorebook, even after five years of coaching. But I've learned an enormous amount about the game from Coach Phillips - both life lessons he didn't intend to teach me back in 1997 to the coaching tips I picked up from 2001 to 2004 - and have been fortunate to get to know him not only as a colleague but as a good person. Neither of those seemed to be likely scenarios when I played for him. Wounds heal, and the last four years I spent coaching alongside him were a blast - win or lose. Though it's always nice to see the look on his face when his Lakers win.

    As I write this recap, I've just begun on page 39 in Word. I'm about to hit 15,000 words, and I've put roughly 50 or 60 hours into compiling all of this information and writing what I have. I know it sounds tedious, but it's pretty fun (yep, sounds like a sick idea of fun). But with everything I've done in the past few years, this comes as a bonus to get to wrap the season up in words, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. (I already have a life, but thanks for the suggestion.) I don't know what I'll be doing next year for the program - hopefully keeping stats from a good 80 miles away for Coach Phillips and still posting some stuff online - but I know I will no longer be coaching. And while I hope to witness some more happy moments in the program's young history, I have a slew of memories. When I look back at my time with the program, I remember my first game on JV as a freshman in 1996 - I grounded a ball through the shortstop's legs in my first high school at bat - and my final game as a player on varsity in 1999, a one-run, road playdown loss in which we blew a two-run lead with two down and no one on in the last of the seventh. I remember my first and only varsity hit - the game ball sits on a mantle in my room - and running down the first base line, dropping as many expletives as possible, watching the ball sail and drop in front of the right fielder with two down in the bottom of the seventh. I ended up starting a three-run rally in the seventh that day. Thus, we only lost 17-5. I remember playing at Centennial Field and starting at second base, playing all seven innings in the field and making an over-the-head catch while running with my back toward right field, just taking my glove and blindly grabbing for something behind my head as the ball descended. And I remember the relief and shock when I caught it. And the relief and shock from when we scored eight runs in the top of the seventh that day to erase a 6-0 deficit. (In the seventh inning that day, I became glued to my lucky spot on the concrete, just outside the dugout. Lucky spots are underrated.) I remember my favorite games from coaching varsity - the 2000 playoff run, the 2000 state championship, a 20-8 win at BFA in 2001, beating Milton 7-0 at Doubleday Field in 2002, knocking off Rice with a seventh inning rally on D.J.'s suicide-single in 2003, and our wins over CVU and BFA in 2004. I'm not supposed to say who my favorite players were - that's sort of like choosing among your own offspring - but I'll never forget Jason Carey's sweet swing, Travis Clairmont's nasty offspeed pitches, Dusty Fregeau's laser, Kevin Lilley's split-second transfer from glove to hand, or the gutsiness of guys like Jess Mattison, Tyler Critchlow and Jamie Moore. Or the endless hard work of guys like Justin Haight and Adam Hammond. I'll never forget certain moments in time: Rikki Albert diving for a ball and coming up with a whole lot of grass in his braces - but no ball in his glove - in 2001; Jamie Moore's unbelievable diving catch into the left-field corner off Kyle Brault at Doubleday in 2002; standing in the first-base coach's box and watching Jeff Boyer set the career hit-by-pitch mark, having Jason Carey celebrating about the record while Jeff grumbled all the way down to first. There are always the frustrating moments - the walk-off losses, the booted routine grounders, the strikeouts looking - but with the good come the not-so-good. Thus, so is life, as well as baseball.

    I guess it's time I move on, at least for now. I'll always be around, and I hope to keep catching games when I can. While also thanking Pat for letting me return to the dugout each spring, I have to thank my dad and sister for their support since 2002 and for understanding that this has been my passion each year. My mom died in late 2001, and I still remember the night she, the Clairmonts, the Careys, and I were standing out in front of the high school in May 2001, celebrating the fact that the school board was going to allow us to name the baseball field after Saddie. We were all planning out May 22, the day we were going to dedicate the field - district and school administration showed up for the dedication, as well as some former players, and we had a nice ballgame atmosphere with a public address system and a grill. My mom was born in 1949, and that's been why I've worn No. 49 each of the last few years. The uniform reminds me each time I put it on of her, and the ball field has been a sanctuary of sorts. Everything is OK at the field, and I don't have to think about real life, if only for those few hours I'm there. During that time, it's all about baseball, all about the high schoolers applying their knowledge - including hopefully some stuff we've taught them - to a game, a game which we all are obsessed with and love. I've been fortunate that Pat has brought in assistant coaches the last three years who were somewhat young like me and had a passion about the game. (And somehow, at 5-foot-7, I think I was as tall, or taller, than coaches Leone (2002), Tarigo (2003) and Russell (2004)!) But seeing them truly embracing the coaching role, and watching the players adjust to their coaching styles each year, was an enjoyable process and experience. Coach Phillips and I were the constants the last four years, and I was proud I could be a constant within this program.

    I have to thank everyone for the fun I've had, and for the opportunity to be in the dugout each year, take the long bus rides, visit historic venues such as Centennial Field and Doubleday Field, and see these student-athletes develop both as players and people. This is a part of my life I'll always remember quite fondly. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of it. Good luck to the 2005 Lakers, I hope to see you all at some point in the near future.



    Final count: 47-plus pages in Word; 17,406 words; and 75 to 80 hours writing. God, how I do love my statistics.

    July 7, 2004

    Yep, the 2004 Recap is still coming along. I found something out today regarding the whole catcher's interference issue which will finally clear up any confusion on the issue (not that any of you were confused or even cared to be confused, but I sure was). This comes straight from a friend of mine, Saint Michael's College Associate Athletic Director Chris Kenny: "I consulted with a buddy of mine who is an official scorer with the Phillies, and he confirmed for me that the rules have changed a bit in terms of scoring [catcher's interference]. He says it happened around 2000, when interest in the BPA (bases per plate appearance) stat really began to pick up speed. Catcher's interference has become a stand-alone stat. It does not count as an at-bat (as always), but also no longer factors into OBP or BPA. It's a stat that hangs out there - something that happens in a game, but statistically, we pretend it never did!" For me, that summed it succinctly, and hopefully it does for everyone else, too.

    June 29, 2004

    Almost done with the 2004 Recap, all I have to do is add my $.02 and proof read it. That'll take a while - it's 40 or so pages long in Word - but it'll be worth it. Also, I took some time to look up the single-game team records for doubles, triples and home runs, and the three triples we hit on May 14 against Mount Abe tied that record. Check the Record Book for the updated records. As a side note, during the research I did for Matt La Roe's writeup, I found that Andrew Folley '01 was not credited in the stats (by me, sadly) with the outfield assist he picked up against Milton on May 19, 2001, as the other end of a double play. All 2001 and career statistics have been adjusted accordingly.

    June 23, 2004

    OK, as I am knocking on wood and crossing my fingers, I can confidently say my week of computer problems has come to an end, and I have resumed writing the 2004 Recap. I should also mention that this past weekend, Mike Wasko participated in the Twin State Classic and had at least a couple hits, according to the writeups in the Burlington Free Press. Congratulations again to Mike for making the team and representing not only his school but his state. In other I-keep-promising-all-of-you news, the season recap will be up one of these days. I guess I sort of need to get it done within a reasonable amount of time, because I'm going to be moving in mid July and beginning my job as an intern in the Dartmouth College Sports Information Department. Even found an apartment down in Hanover, thanks to the Dartmouth Housing Department. So I'm making strides, but CHS baseball will never be far from my mind. I'll have to take my jersey and hang it from the wall or something. So, to recap: apartment and job - check; Wasko - still doing good stuff; 2004 Recap - soon.

    June 13, 2004

    Ah, it feels so good to have the OBP and OBPA/BFR thing done. Everything is now corrected and has been posted online. The record book and career stats also have been adjusted accordingly. Now I'll continue my attempt at completing the 2004 Recap. Also, I want to lend congratulations to our seniors who graduated yesterday. I find it funny how I'm writing about their careers and will always remember them as high school ballplayers, but now they get to tackle college or the real world. Good luck to them all, and I hope to see you all around.

    June 10, 2004 (Even Later)

    As I'm going through all of the Excel files I have for single-season and career statistics, I'm realizing I also had "OBPA" for pitchers, which simply was On-Base Percentage Against. I calculated this by dividing base runners (who reached on either hits or walks, or were hit by a pitch) by total batters faced, but now I've realized - thanks to the whole OBP thing not including sacrifice bunts - that I can't calculate the OBPA without knowing how many sacrifice bunts each pitcher allowed. Thus, I've decided to change this category to "BFR," which is for Batters Faced Reaching (on either a hit or walk, or when hit by a pitch). While the calculation hasn't changed, what it represents has. It's not the opponents' on-base percentage, it's really the percentage of batters who reached via a hit, walk or plunk. So this stems from the whole OBP fiasco. Read below if you don't know what I'm talking about. The Web pages will be updated in the next few days, and I'm strongly considering just posting the career statistics files as PDF documents. If anyone opposes, please let me know now, or forever hold your peace. I've also re-posted this season's stats in PDF form to be accurate, but the Web page stats aren't correct just yet. Stay tuned.

    June 10, 2004 (Later)

    Wow, OK so I just found out some disturbing news (for me, everyone else will probably be happy). Apparently on-base percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of hits plus the times hit by pitch plus walks by at bats plus walks plus times hit by pitch plus sacrifice flies. That is, (H+HB+BB)/(AB+BB+HB+SF). Notice nowhere in there did I use the terms "sacrifice bunts" (Sac) or "plate appearances" (which are AB+HB+BB+SF+Sac+Catcher's Interference). Since about 1997 when I first began doing stats, I had always thought OBP was calculated by this: (H+HB+BB)/Plate Apps. Yeah, I'm wrong. So anyone who ever sacrificed a guy over a base (Taylor, I'm looking in your direction) have an inflated OBP. Anyone without a sac is unaffected, but I now have 29 years of single-season stats to clean up, as well as the career stats and possibly some records. I feel like an idiot, but if you all bear with me on this one, then I'll have it done hopefully by early next week. The odd thing is, this discovery was made possible by Sean Burns reaching on that catcher's interference on Saturday. That threw me for a loop, and I kept trying to find out whether that helped or hurt his OBP. As it turns out, it's neither. It counts as a plate appearance but neither counts as an at bat nor a time on base, so no biggy. The whole OBP thing, however, is a biggy, and I apologize. But please, if anyone notices anything that terrible in the future, please let me know. I'm never above consulting a rule book, which is obvious now - I've consulted a few in the last 12 hours. Just give me some times to cover my butt with the OBP thing and I'll be ready to roll again.

    June 10, 2004

    Sorry for not having written or updated the Web site with text in a while. I was busy updating the career stats and record book, but I hadn't been in writing mode until now. Over the last year or so, I also promised a 2003 recap and 2004 preview, neither of which were delivered. I feel 2004 must have a recap, and the preview wouldn't have served the team justice in the end. Thus, once I'm done with the playoff reviews I plan on sitting down and writing a lot for the 2004 review. But let's jump right into the playoffs, starting with our dramatic play-in victory against BFA-St. Albans.

    Friday, June 4: No. 19 Colchester at No. 14 BFA-St. Albans. In a Division I Play-in game played at the Collins-Perley Sports Complex, we were the slight underdogs, just as we were last year as the No. 18 seed playing at No. 15 MSJ. And just like last year, we knocked off the higher seed in a play-in game by a single run, 6-5. This wasn't just drama the two teams delivered - this was a game that never felt like it would end, and when it did it seemed like we'd escaped in one of the most unlikely possible ways. I thought we were in good shape, up 2-0 in the first inning. Sean Burns singled before the incomparable Mike Wasko tripled him home. After Taylor Newton received his record-tying eighth career plunk with two down, a double steal brought Mike home. Meanwhile, on the other side of things Shelby Nolin was cruising along thanks to smart pitching and some crafty defense. With a runner on first and two down in the second, one of BFA's left-handed batters sent a soft bloop toward the left-field line, but third baseman D.J. Edwards laid out to snag it with a backhanded grab before it could fall and cause damage. With there being two down, it could have turned into an RBI double and set the stage for a two-out rally. In the third, Shelby mowed through the 8-9-1 batters, setting each down looking on strikes. However, BFA broke through in the fourth to take the lead. With runners on first and second and one down, they received an RBI single to cut the gap to 2-1, and the throw to the plate allowed runners to advance to second and third. Right fielder Joey Goldsbury made a nice reaching catch while sliding in to retire the next batter, but Shelby hit his second batter of the inning to load the bases. Shelby induced a routine grounder out of the next batter, but Wasko's throw from shortstop pulled first baseman Joey Doud off the bag, allowing the tying run to score. Shelby walked the next batter on a full count to force home the go-ahead run before he K'd the following batter to end the inning. Down 3-2, we tied the game in the top half of the fifth. D.J. led off with a four-pitch walk and stole second. After Burns' groundout advanced D.J. to third, Wasko followed with his second run-scoring hit of the afternoon, a well-placed single through the hole on the right side. The tie was short-lived, though, as the Bobwhites pulled ahead again in the bottom of the inning. With one down, their No. 3 hitter slammed a long double to the left field corner and moved to third on the next hitter's single. He scored the go-ahead run even after Shelby fielded a tapper back to the mound, looked him back and threw to first for the out. The ensuing batter - the starting pitcher, in fact - padded his lead with an RBI single on the next pitch. The sixth inning was rather quiet, as each team sent only three batters to the plate, and we went into the top of the seventh - the potential final half inning of our season - down 5-3. Somehow it didn't feel like that, though. I don't know what the players were thinking on the bench, but I didn't feel an air of despair come over them, and I certainly didn't have the impression that it was going to take nine strikes to end our season. It just felt like any other inning during any other game, and everyone's calmness - or nervous energy, whichever each player had at the time - contributed to one heck of a comeback. Shelby led off with a grounder through the hole on the left side for a hit. And neither the Burlington Free Press nor the St. Albans Messenger made mention of the fact that Aaron Thibault courtesy ran for Shelby, but he did. D.J. followed with a hard shot to the shortstop, who I believe mishandled and sort of lost the ball around his feet, just long enough for Thibs to reach second and D.J. to reach first. I credited D.J. with a hit. Then the poor shortstop got another chance on Burns' grounder, but he mishandled that one, too, loading the bases with no one out and Wasko coming up. I actually said to Coach Flynn at that point they should walk him. Not that I'm second-guessing their coach - that would have been a ballsy move, and I remember the Diamondbacks did it to Barry Bonds a few years ago and it ended up working out in their favor - but Wasko always seems to put the ball in play. He's uncanny like that. Sure, it would've made the game 5-4, but to that point our 3-4-5 hitters, those immediately following Mike, were a combined 0-for-8, and they eventually finished 0-for-12. Heck, why not? Oh well, BFA got what they wanted: another grounder to the shortstop, who flipped to the second baseman for the first out of the inning, forcing Burns at second. It was a given that Thibs would score from third on the play, but D.J. hustled all the way around from second to tie the game. For some reason I feel like I'm missing something in there, like a throw to the plate which D.J. beat, or another miscue in the middle infield. But give D.J. credit for getting all the way around to tie the game. With one down and Wasko on first, Goldy fought through a five-pitch at bat before being retired, and Brad Frieberg tapped one to the third baseman, who made a nice play to put Brad out and send the game to the bottom of the seventh. Here's where the drama really began. Forget the top of the inning, this is where we got our breaks and continued to keep our season alive. With one down, Shelby hit his third batter of the game before allowing a single to left on the next pitch, which held the runner at second. That's key, because it set up the next play. The following batter, the relief pitcher who stood to get the win should BFA push a run across in that inning, smashed a single to left, which looked from the dugout like it ricocheted off D.J.'s shoe top or glove, and which brought the runner from second chugging around third looking to score and end our season. At that point I anticipated he'd score, and I recall wondering whether I should score that a hit or error, and what D.J.'s reaction would be to that scoring decision. (That and recalling that the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons all had ended on walk-off hits, too. I assumed that's what had just happened here.) I wasn't watching the runner, instead watching Burns cleanly field the ball in left and come up throwing. Then I saw where the runner was and noticed catcher Lucas Mullally blocking the plate. And I don't remember it all clearly, but I know Lucas caught the ball, and I know I wasn't the only one in our dugout or on the sidelines pointing to home plate as if to help the umpire with the "out" call. This appeared to have been a controversial call to some. To us, it was out No. 2 in the bottom of the seventh. Heck, we weren't even out of the woods yet, either. With runners on second and third and two down, the starting pitcher, who by now couldn't get a decision because of the blown save, smashed a ground shot to D.J., who dove and fielded it on the forehand, got up and threw him out at first. As they say, "Defense wins ball games." In this case, defense helped us from losing a ball game. It was a superb inning of defense, one which gave us new life. Then we went down in order in the eighth and put on another solid defensive display in the bottom of the inning. After a leadoff single and stolen base, Shelby retired the No. 8 man for the first out. The No. 9 hitter followed with an infield single to D.J., moving the winning run to third. The runner on first followed by taking second base unopposed. However, on the best defensive play of this particular inning, Lucas grabbed a bunt or slow roller - I really don't remember which - off the bat of the leadoff man and dove to tag out the runner trying to score from third, who tried jumping around the tag. With two down and runners on the corners, BFA had their runner from first take off for second, trying to get us to throw the ball away and allow the runner from third score, but Shelby stood there and patiently watched him take second before going after the next batter (I'm pretty sure this is when it happened, and not when there was one out and runners on the corners. Correct me if I'm wrong). With an 0-1 count, he tapped a grounder to Wasko, whose throw to Doud beat the runner for the final out. Then we went to work with the bats. Shelby led off by hitting a grounder to the left side which I was sure was going to go through into left field, but I have to give credit to the shortstop, who began the game on the bench and had a tough seventh inning, for ranging to field the ball and make a strong throw to first. I heard some people say Shelby being called safe was another controversial call, but I didn't see it that way. I sure thought he was safe, but if he didn't truly beat the throw, then at least him making the play close at first convinced the umpire he was there in time. Aaron once again courtesy ran, and D.J. sacrificed him to second. Burns then hit a fly to center, and Aaron tagged and just beat the throw to third, putting him there with two down. This time Wasko was intentionally walked, and it worked to BFA's disadvantage. Before the pitcher could toss a pitch to Goldy, Wasko began walking off first toward second. As everyone on the BFA bench yelled for the pitcher to step off the rubber and go after Wasko, the pitcher's front leg flinched - causing all four of us Colchester coaches to point and yell, "That's a balk!" - before he stepped off. Again, I'm told some people thought this balk call was controversial, as well, but the poor kid simply got caught by the same play his team was notorious for running. In fact, in our first meeting at their place, BFA pulled that same play while Shelby was pitching, and he balked a run home. Aaron scored the go-ahead run on the balk, and we nearly added another run but Goldy's liner up the middle was snagged by the pitcher for the final out. Then, surprisingly, BFA's 3-4-5 hitters went down in order in the bottom of the inning. The first batter popped a 1-0 pitch to Wasko in shallow left, the cleanup hitter floated a 1-2 pitch to Doud at first (a shorter first baseman probably wouldn't have caught it) and the No. 5 hitter and eventual losing pitcher grounded a full-count pitch to D.J., who threw to Doud to complete a heck of a game. Nine strong innings from Shelby, his second complete-game win at BFA this season. His second one-run win against BFA. In this game, Shelby faced 41 batters, allowing 10 hits and only one walk while striking out six on 127 pitches. In 16 innings against BFA this season, he allowed 17 hits and 11 runs, though only six were earned, giving him a 2.63 ERA. He walked only one batter and K'd 12 while throwing 220 pitches, or nearly 14 per inning (and about three per the 73 batters he faced). Other highlights from this game (besides the aforementioned defensive gems) include D.J.'s offensive effort, going 2-for-2 with two runs, two stolen bases and, arguably most importantly, his perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt. Mike Wasko also went 2-for-4 (ho hum) with four RBIs, and Shelby had those two huge singles, which allowed Aaron to score both times as a courtesy runner. In fact, our 1-2-8-9 hitters combined to go 7-for-15 while the 3 through 7 hitters went 1-for-20, with Joey Doud's single the only hit. Not being critical, just pointing it out. I mean, we won, right? Right. So there. Our defensive effort - including one error and 10 assists on 38 total chances - was a heck of a departure from our previous game against Middlebury, in which we committed eight miscues in the final five innings on only 31 chances. Our defense shined on this day and propelled us to the next round. This win moved us to 4-0 all time in play-in games. Too bad play-ins will be discontinued by the Vermont Principals' Association (essentially the governing body of all high school athletics in Vermont) after this spring season. Also, this moved us to 2-0 in Franklin County this season. We finished the season 2-12 in Chittenden County, our home county. Maybe we should relocated all home games to Collins-Perley, where we've lost only once in seven games since 1993. BFA finished the year at 6-11 and we improved to 4-13. On to the playdowns...

    Saturday, June 5: No. 19 Colchester at No. 3 Rutland. Never had we won a road playoff game on a Saturday. Never had we played playoff games on consecutive days. Never had we played Rutland High School. Never had we lost in Rutland County. The first trend continued but the latter three came to an end today, as we lost to powerhouse Rutland, 5-1, at Giorgetti Park in Rutland during a Division I Playdown. They averaged 9.1 runs during a 13-3 regular season, plating 13 runs six times. However, they were held to five runs or less only five times, going 2-3 in those games. And we did our part to limit their offense, as Matt La Roe gave a splendid effort in only his second varsity start on the mound. In five-plus innings, Matt allowed eight hits and five runs - all unearned - while walking three. He came out only after the leadoff hitter in the sixth inning lined a shot off his thigh. Except for the one idiot fan who yelled, "Way to hit the ball," after Matty got nailed, Rutland also had a nice show of fan support on Saturday. Respectful, too, for a crowd that came expecting to see Rutland destroy us. But we played a heck of a game with one of Vermont's heavyweights. And our defense came to play early on, too. In the first, their starting pitcher smacked a one-out double, but second baseman Taylor Newton made a nice play on the next batter, snagging a line drive before doubling up the runner. In the second inning, their cleanup hitter led off with a double, but new second baseman Sean Burns caught a liner on a hit-and-run and flipped to shortstop Mike Wasko, who stepped on second to complete the DP. Matty proceeded to walk the next two batters, but right fielder Aaron Thibault made a nice running catch going toward the woods to end the inning. However, Rutland took advantage of a couple defensive breakdowns in the third. Their No. 9 hitter - one of their better hitters, actually, with a batting averaged topping .500 - led off with a hit, moved to second on an error and to third on a ground out before scoring on a passed ball. Their pitcher then tapped an infield single and stole second before coming home when Matty threw away a pickoff attempt into center field. After allowing a hit to the next batter, Matt rebounded by inducing a grounder to third baseman D.J. Edwards and a pop to Burns to end the inning. Down 2-0 going into the fourth, we were still hitless against their pitcher, Kyle Massie. That is, University of Vermont-bound Massie, who hopes to walk on to the team ... as an outfielder. Quite a ballplayer and pitcher, and on this day he was dominating us early with his heat, likely the best we saw all year. He allowed only two of our first 10 hitters to reach, both on errors, and struck out seven in the first three innings. However, Wasko led off the fourth with a single, extending his hitting streak to 10 games in which he had an at bat. After Massie's errant pickoff attempt allowed Wasko to reach second, Joey Goldsbury and Brad Frieberg each followed with well-placed sacrifice bunts, and Wasko scored to cut the deficit to 2-1. And that was as close as we got, as a couple miscues and a bleeder in the fifth broke the game open despite Matt almost getting himself out of trouble. With two on due to a hit batsman and an error and none out, Matt fielded a sacrifice bunt for the first out and induced a grounder to D.J., who looked the runner on third back at least twice before gunning the ball across the diamond for the second out. However, and I believe I have this in the right order, one of Matty's pitches to the next batter hit the front of the plate and popped all the way to the backstop, allowing the runners to move up a base each, and making the score 3-1. After a full-count walk put runners on the corners with two down, the batter who walked took second without a throw, and the next batter floated a ball into shallow right between Burns, Thibault and center fielder Goldsbury, allowing more two runs to scamper home. That made it 5-1 as we went into the visiting half of the sixth. Burns hit a bloop single into right off their top reliever Rob Turner with one down, but after stealing second he was left stranded. As I already mentioned, Matt allowed a leadoff single off his thigh in the sixth and almost recovered in time to throw the runner out, but Shelby Nolin came on from there to close out the inning. Anyway, that runner didn't last too long. On Shelby's second pitch, catcher Lucas Mullally gunned him out, making that runner the first our catchers threw out all year, during our final inning in the field, no less. Shelby allowed a double with one down but retired the final two batters without incident. Turner got our 4-5-6 batters out on grounders in the seventh, and that's how our season ended. We didn't flame out, we were simply overmatched by their pitching. On the day, we K'd 10 times - all against Massie - and grounded out 10 times, never hitting even a pop up into playable territory. Their pitchers were good, and we amassed only Wasko and Burns' singles all day. They, on the other hand, didn't strike out at all and had only five ground outs. Ten of their outs came in the air or on a line. (Don't try adding that up and getting 18, because I didn't include the caught stealing or the line-drive double plays.) I was proud of how hard we tried, and there was no shame losing to this team. We had nothing to lose, and I imagine many teams around the state were surprised by this score, expecting a No. 3 seed to put up at least 10 runs on a No. 19 team. But the pitching was there, and it showed. Matt came through huge in a big game, pitching a great game despite only one start all year. We finished the season at 4-14, tying the 1978 and 1990 program record for losses, while Rutland lost their next game and finished 14-4. Game Notes: We're now 5-10 all time in playdown games, but just 1-9 on the road ... Matt pitched well as a reliever, posting a 2.16 ERA in 9-2/3 innings, but he also pitched well in his two starts, putting up a 3.01 ERA in 9-1/3 innings with six walks and seven strikeouts. However, in the 14 innings we batted during his two starts, we picked up one run (unearned) on five hits. That kind of offensive support, regardless of the stellar pitching performances, won't win you ball games. However, our offense was good to him when he came on in relief. During the opposite half of the innings he pitched in his four relief appearances, we scored eight runs - all earned - on 12 hits. ... Nope, it didn't result in an out, but D.J. made one heck of a diving effort on a foul ball during the game. I remember watching a pop up coming down a few feet out of play and thinking it was going to land as just another harmless foul ball, and then all of a sudden D.J. slides in head first, coming with an all-out dive trying to catch the ball. He landed a couple feet short, but I was duly impressed by the effort. I also think the Rutland fans were impressed by the dive and the attempt. ... Poor Kyle Warner. He's been called up to varsity now twice in his two years of high school, and he just doesn't seem to make it through many pitches before somehow being sent back to the dugout. As a pinch runner as a freshman, the first pitch thrown while he was on base resulted in him being put out on a fielder's choice. Then against BFA during the playoffs this year, he was caught stealing as a courtesy runner after probably only two or three pitches. Then against Rutland, he went in to left field in Shelby's spot while Shelby was warming up to pitch. He lasted three pitches, then Shelby reentered the game to pitch. Maybe (hopefully!) next year, Kyle. ... I'm sure this will be repeated in the season recap, but I might as well mention it now. Not only did Mike finish his career on a 10-game hitting streak, he reached base in all 16 games he batted this year either on a hit or walk, and you'd have to go back to May 27, 2003, to find a game where he did not reach on either a hit or walk. So that was 20 games in a row he either got a hit or walked. However, during the 44 games during his two-and-a-half year career in which he batted, he never failed to reach base, either on a hit, walk or error. Never. Yep, that might be a record, but I don't know who would track that sort of thing.

    June 6, 2004

    Postseason summaries and complete 2004 season recap on the way. Also, congratulations to Mike Wasko for becoming the Lakers' sixth Twin State selection and for being named to the All-Metro First Team. Kyle Burkhard and Joey Goldsbury were named All-Metro Honorable Mentions.

    "It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring when everything else begins again and it blossoms in summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive. And then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops." -- A. Bartlett Giamatti, former MLB commissioner.

    June 5, 2004

    It's early Saturday morning, and I'm still proud and impressed about our play-in win over BFA-St. Albans on Friday. I'll get to that more when time permits, but right now I'm finding directions for parents to follow to Rutland High School, where we'll be playing a playdown at 4:30 p.m. today. Bus leaves at 1 p.m. I'm also trying to do some scouting, but stats and whatnot are up. Let's keep the momentum going, boys. See everyone on the bus.

    Directions to Rutland High School: Get on I-89 and take it to Exit 13, and then hop on I-189 to the intersection with Route 7 at the light in South Burlington (across from TGI Friday's). Then the easy part: take a left and stay on Route 7 until you reach Rutland. When entering Rutland, I'm told you might see a Wendy's, a rare sight in this state. Once in Rutland, there should be signs for Woodstock Avenue/U.S. Route 4 (East). Turn on to Woodstock Ave/Route 4 East and follow it for a little less than a mile to Stratton Road, which will be on your right. Follow the road to the high school. I'm not sure about parking or where the field is, but if you've made it this far by following my terrible directions, then you must have good survival skills and will likely be able to find the parking lot and field. According to mapquest.com, the ride from South Burlington to Rutland is about 70 miles, so by bus this will probably take us about two hours. Hope to see you all down there. If these previous directions are confusing or you don't trust them (would I really lie?) and you'd like to follow the bus, we're pulling out at 1 p.m. sharp from the Colchester High School parking lot.

    June 3, 2004

    Today's play-in game with BFA-St. Albans was postponed until tomorrow due to bad weather in their parts. Instead, we'll head on back up there tomorrow for the game. The bus still leaves at 2:30 p.m., and the game is still at 4:30 p.m.

    June 2, 2004

    Tonight was a big night off the diamond for five of our varsity ballplayers. Three received awards at the CHS Sports Awards Night while a pair graduated from Essex Technical Center. As an aside, I felt really proud seeing those guys get awards tonight. Sort of like a proud papa. Well, back to on-field information: The bus will leave CHS tomorrow promptly at 2:30 p.m. for our 4:30 p.m. game with BFA-St. Albans at Collins-Perley Sports Complex in St. Albans. For those parents trying to find their way up there, it's right off Exit 19 off Interstate 89 (the first St. Albans exit). Go off the ramp and take a left at the first light, then the Complex is on the right. And then it's a matter of winning. Should such an accomplishment occur, I will find directions to Rutland High School and post them for Saturday. As I look at the forecast at 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday, scattered showers are expected to begin at 4 a.m. on Thursday and not end until 6 p.m. Looks like we *might* not get the game in on Thursday, but it's supposed to be clear after the rain right on through until Friday evening. So we'll see. Stay tuned to the site and to tomorrow's announcements.

    June 1, 2004

    Official playoff information: No. 19 Colchester will travel to face No. 14 BFA-St. Albans in a Division I Play-in on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Collins-Perley Sports Complex in St. Albans. Be there.

    Team Capsule - BFA-St. Albans: BFA-St. Albans sports a 6-10 mark, with its only win versus a team over .500 being a 4-3 victory on May 20 at home against Harwood, a day after Harwood used 21 runs of its offense on Burlington. However, the same day Harwood battered BHS, BFA took Essex to extra innings before losing, 5-4. The Bobwhites began the year 1-6 before winning five of their final nine regular-season games. Their wins came against Mount Abe, Rice, St. Jay, Harwood, Milton and Burlington. They went 3-5 at their home field at Collins-Perley Sports Complex, getting outscored 52-34 in the process. Overall, they got outscored by their opponents this year by the narrowest of margins, 99-87, an average loss of approximately 6-5. BFA tied for ninth in the Metro with a 6-9 league mark. Among the pitchers we could see are Wes Shover, who I'd assume we'll see on Wednesday, and Ben Howrigan and Mike Conger, a tandem which allowed seven runs - all unearned - while K'ing eight in our 7-6 win on May 7, our first W of the season. Their big bats appear to be Conger and Mike Greenan, but when we faced them their Nos. 7 and 8 hitters combined to go 3-for-6. They also committed seven errors, including two in the outfield.

    Team Capsule - Colchester: We come into Wednesday's game toting a 3-13 record and our first last-place Metro finish since 1988, and just the fourth basement placement since the program's inception in 1976. The thing I notice most in this match up is that BFA allowed so many unearned runs in our last meeting - all seven, as I mentioned above - and we received so many contributions from so many people. We recorded seven hits from six players, including everyone from five through eight. The trouble spot during our last meeting was us blowing a 6-2 lead by allowing four runs - only one earned - with two down in the fifth, but we redeemed ourselves by taking the lead for good in the top of the sixth. Two-out runs have plagued us all year, and BFA plated ALL SIX of their runs with two down on May 7. We jumped out in front, 2-0, in our last match up, and that will obviously be important again this time. In all, we are 6-5 all time at Collins-Perley, having last lost to them there in 1997, 2-1. We have won six of seven games overall since that loss, and nine of the last 11. We have never faced them in the postseason, but we are 3-0 all time in play-in games. The last time we defeated a team twice in a season was in 2001 against Middlebury. However, only ONCE has a Lakers team defeated a team on the road twice in a season: 1981, when they knocked off Lamoille on May 18 and then again 10 days later in the playoffs. Both wins were by 4-2 scores.

    I'm looking forward to it, as it's an eminently winnable game. If we bring our "A" game, there's no reason to think we can't run away with a win. However, considering our most explosive offensive output of the year - eight runs on nine hits - came in our opener, there's reason to believe that either we won't hit Wednesday, or the offense is overdue and will break out in a huge way. I'd prefer to believe in the latter. Now for a review of our last two regular-season games:

    Thursday, May 27, at Rice: The game was tied at 1 before Rice scored three in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good in a 6-2 win. It was our ninth loss in 13 trips to Rice all time. Mike Wasko continued his torrid hitting with a 3-for-3 game - yes, a batted ball hitting a runner counts as a hit - to go along with an RBI and a double. Joey Doud, Shelby Nolin (double) and Lucas Mullally each contributed hits. Shelby went the route on the mound for his fourth complete game in five starts. He K'd nine and walked only two. As has been a struggle for us this year, five of their runs scored with two down.

    Saturday, May 29, versus Middlebury: Thanks to a single and three errors, we hopped on top of Middlebury, 1-0, in the first inning, and Travis Frenette was twirling a two-hit shutout going into the fifth. Then the seven man led off the fifth with a bloop hit over the right side of the mound, which spun away from Travis. Then with one out, third baseman Joey Goldsbury dove for a ball which, if he doesn't touch, shortstop Mike Wasko might turn into an inning-ending double play. Then the leadoff hitter singled through the right side when first baseman Joey Doud was one step too late getting off the bag. However, the game only stood tied with the based loaded and two down when a pop was hit to Wasko, hands down the best defensive shortstop in the league. But the overcast sky was just bright enough for Mike to lose the ball in the sun, allowing the eventual game-winning runs to score. Yep, that ironic play sort of sums up the year for us. Make the pitch you need to get out, get a routine pop, and then the best defensive player on the team gets hindered by Mother Nature. Go figure. (This is a good time to point out that I am not criticizing anyone for those plays in the fifth - Travis would have needed to make a spectacular play in order to get that runner, Goldy made the right play by going for a ball hit his way and trying to cut the ball off, and Mike just plum lost the ball in the sky. We heard him saying he couldn't see it on the pop by the previous batter, too, so sometimes there's only so much you can do. And Joe Doud held the runner for one second too long. No one thing made the inning bad - but everything combined made it a difficult inning.) Middlebury actually began to hit the ball in the sixth, scoring five runs on three hits and three errors. Then they tacked on another one in the seventh, putting the finishing touches on a 9-1 Middlebury win. Before I forget, I must thank the baseball players' parents, who put together the barbecue for the players and coaches. There was so much food ... I hope someone found a nice home for the cake! But it was appreciated by all of us, especially after a long day at the field. In the end, Mike finished the day 2-for-3 with a pair of swipes, Goldy provided a first-inning knock and a steal, and Lucas Mullally went 2-for-3 with a steal in his first game of the year behind the plate. He and Goldy are fighting for the title of "Ultimate Utilityman": Each have appeared at catcher, second, and all three outfield positions this year, with the only difference between the two being Lucas' one game at first and Goldy's two at third. Both are versatile, there's no question about that. Lucas used to pitch and could play third, and Goldy had put down shortstop and first on his sign up sheet earlier this year, so they could be very valuable at a handful of positions next year. However, they'll have to push hard to catch Tom Dicesare '95, who only played varsity as a senior in 1995 and appeared on the mound, behind the plate, at every infield position, and I believe in the corners of the outfield. That's eight positions. Lucas and Joe have each appeared at six. Anyway, during the game we committed eight errors and K'd nine times. Those are the negatives. That and during the game we tied the school's single-season record with 131 strikeouts. But there are better days ahead, and if we would swing the bat more - 48 of our K's have been looking (36.6 percent) - we'd put more pressure on the defense. And that's how we'll have to work in order to beat BFA-St. Albans on Wednesday. This was also the eighth time we had scored two runs or fewer in a game this year, the most since the 1997 squad did so 11 times. And while I had referred to the 1997 team as the "Hitless Wonders" the last few years, the 2004 Lakers actually are averaging the fewest hits per game in program history (5.38) and have the lowest batting average (.209). But we're still averaging half a run more than the 1997 team, which I should instead begin calling the "Scoreless Wonders." That's more apt.

    May 30, 2004

    So apparently there are 20 teams in Division I after all... Thanks to Ted Ryan from the Burlington Free Press for tipping me off that Lamoille Union High School is D-I. I'm rather embarrassed that for a little less than two months I've been confused on how many teams are in D-I, especially after having asked the authorities on the issue and being told 19. So I'll put my pride aside here and be happy to announce that we will take neither a road trip to Newport nor Rutland, but St. Albans. We are the No. 19 seed and will take on No. 14 BFA-St. Albans on Wednesday, likely at 4 or 4:30 p.m. More later, and I'll have some game updates. But this is the good news for now!

    May 25, 2004

    Ah, being 3-11 never felt so good! Kyle Burkhard was on top of his game for the second straight start, and despite another offensive outage, we knocked off St. Johnsbury today, 2-1, at Centennial Field as the visiting team. D.J. Edwards walked to lead off the game before Mike Wasko drove him home on a hit-and-run single. Yes, D.J. scored all the way from first on a single to shallow right field. After St. Jay tied it in the second, we scored the winning run in the fifth when catcher Joey Goldsbury's grounder to first scored D.J. with our second run. Overall, Wasko and D.J. did well offensively - Wasko went 2-for-2 with an RBI, a double, two walks and two steals, and D.J. stole two bases, scored both of our runs and walked three times, narrowly missing the 28-year-old school record of four - but the rest of the team went 0-for-19. However, there were some good plate appearances in there. Taylor Newton got hit twice and is now one plunk shy of the single-season and career records, Kyle laid down a nice sacrifice, and Travis Frenette's hustle forced a high throw at first base. The rest of the positives can be left to talking about Kyle and our defense. Kyle retired the side in order in the first for the only 1-2-3 inning of the day. In the other six innings, he craftily (is that a word?) worked out of jams, sometimes thanks to the D. In the second, he faced a bases loaded situation with one down before striking out a batter and inducing a pop to Travis at first. In the third, Kyle allowed a one-out single, but center fielder Matt La Roe gunned him down trying to stretch it into a double. In the fourth, Kyle faced another one-out, bases-loaded jam but K'd a batter and got the final hitter to fly out to Matt. In the fifth, runners stood at first and second with one down before second baseman Robbie Yarnell fielded a grounder and flipped to Wasko at short, who tagged second and threw on to Travis to complete the inning-ending double play. It was just the fourth double play we had turned in 91 innings this year. However, the next inning ended with another twin killing, as Wasko caught a pop and doubled up the runner at second. Wasko has had a hand in all five of our DPs this season. In the seventh, St. Jay's pitcher reached on a one-out infield single, barely beating the throw after Wasko made a nice play up the middle. The next batter's full-count bunt was fielded by Kyle, whose throw just beat the rap at first. With two down, Kyle's 2-2 pitch in the dirt was swung on and missed, and Goldsbury blocked it cleanly before throwing on to Travis for the final out. This game marked the third time in the last six games we didn't commit an error, as our cumulative fielding percentage rose to .923. That places you guys as the fourth-best defense in the program's 29-year history! Obviously the percentage can go higher or lower at any point, but that's where we stand currently. Of course, our offense isn't faring as well, though it is reaching numbers of historic proportions. Our team batting average fell eight points today, and our .208 batting average is eight points lower than the lowest ever. However, our on-base percentage climbed three points to .312 due to two hits, seven walks and two hit batsmen (well, really only Taylor), and we'll be hard-pressed to break the record low of .272. We're also 14 strikeouts away from the 1997 record of 131, and we currently have the fewest total bases (99), runs batted in (33), singles (59) and hits (75) ever. Our two runs scored allowed us to catch and pass the 1997 team's record low of 47 runs. We're holding strong at 48. Game Notes: This was our second one-run victory this year, both away from Colchester High School. Only the 1988, 1991 and 2002 teams collected all of their one-run wins on the road ... Overall, this was our 50th one-run win all time and the program's 203rd win ... The win moved us to 1-2 on Tuesdays this season, guaranteeing us of not becoming the first team since 1990 to be winless on Tuesdays ... Coach Phillips picked up his 25th career victory on Tuesday in his 67th game, becoming the third CHS coach with that many, but the second-quickest to 25: it took Ron Matthews 35 games, and Dave Saddlemire had been next with 70 games ... If we win one more game, we will be guaranteed to not tie the single-season losses record ... Our win over St. Jay was the seventh in 17 meetings all time, but the fourth in our last five meetings, and seventh in nine ... We're now 8-10 all time at Centennial and 11-11 at neutral sites ... This was just the third game since the beginning of the 1996 season that we won despite scoring only two runs. The others were also 2-1 victories: May 23, 1998, over CVU at Centennial Field; April 30, 2002, at Missisquoi in nine innings.

    I decided to break down Kyle's career pitching performances and compare his last two starts with his other five appearances (which actually included a relief stint in the mean time against South Burlington last week). Here's what I came up with:
    G W-L ERA IP GS CG H/I R/I K BB HB BR/I Pitches/I
    2 2-0 1.00 14 2 2 0.93 0.29 9 8 0 1.5 16.6
    5 0-3 7.88 16 3 0 1.25 1.69 10 19 4 2.7 21.2

    Essentially, he's been "on" lately. Good time for it, too, as we make our playoff push. With our win and Hartford's loss to Woodstock, we've moved from the cellar (No. 19) up to No. 18. There's an outside chance we'll finish 16th, but that would require wins in our final two games and maybe a lower-level team like ourselves (i.e., Hartford, North Country, Rice, and the like) losing a key game. The win also moved us into a tie with North Country for 15th in the Metro, and if Rice lost to South Burlington on Tuesday, us three teams would actually all have moved into a tie for 14th. We'll head over to Rice for a Thursday game at 4:30 p.m. They were 16th in D-I coming into their game today, and a loss actually would have dropped them to 17th. If they lost and we knock them off on Thursday, we would likely vault all the way up to 16th, putting us in position to host a play-in game next Wednesday. It's a far reach to believe things would fall into place for us to cruise on to the playdowns, so I'm going to confidently say that no matter what, we'll be playing a play-in game next Wednesday, either at home (fingers crossed) or at one of these fine secondary schools: Mount St. Joseph - again! (Rutland), BFA-St. Albans, Rice (South Burlington), North Country (Newport) or Hartford (White River Junction).

    Side notes go here: sophomore Joey Goldsbury is tied for the team lead in RBI with senior Mike Wasko. The only time a sophomore led the team in RBI was in 1979, when sophomore David Lavigne tied senior Rick Bergeron with 10 apiece. But David finished up his schooling by attending Milton HS as a senior. Hopefully Joey won't follow suit ... junior Mike Graves is now skunking all of you in the points program. And this from a kid who missed two games last week. Gravy has 205 points, with the next active player (Robbie Yarnell) collecting 134 points. I'm thinking you guys should receive something if you receive 100 points, even just something small, while the winner would get something bigger. Brad Frieberg has 125, D.J. Edwards has 106, and Joey Doud (95) and Sean Burns (78) are rapidly approaching 100. Sean, a freshman, actually has 10 more points than all five seniors combined (68). He's just making you guys look bad! Good for him.

    As a graduation gift, my grandparents got me a digital camera. I finally decided to get it up and running today, and the result was bringing it to the ballgame. Click here [ed. note: see the Tradition page] to see some pics from before and after the game today, including the players chowing down on Mrs. Nolin's fine baked goods. If you lose this link in the future, the pics can be found under the "Miscellaneous Pages" on the "Pictures & Stories" page.

    May 22, 2004

    Alright, time for a wholesale update, as I have yet to write about our last three games. With a rain out on Tuesday, we were forced to play three games in the last three days, losing all three by a combined 30-5 score. We are now 2-11, last in Division I, meaning we're on track to be traveling for a play-in game on June 2. This is also the last season that every team gets in the playoffs - the Vermont Principals' Association will only allow the top 16 teams to reach the playoffs next season, which I think is a good move - so thank goodness for that. Of course, at this moment (7:58 p.m. on Saturday night) we'd travel to Mount St. Joseph in Rutland for a play-in. Again. Last time we were 2-11: May 19, 1990, after a home win over Middlebury. Then the team lost its last three games, tying the single-season school record for losses with 14. Unless we win one more game, we will break the program record for losses, forget just tying it. Also, dating back to last season, we've lost 14 of our last 17 games. The last time we did that poorly during a 17-game run was during a 2-15 skid from May 1, 1990, to May 1, 1991. We're also on track to become the sixth team in program history to not win consecutive games at some point during the season. Having allowed 30 runs in the past three games, I found that the last time we allowed that many runs in three consecutive games was during the first three games of 2001, all losses, when we saw 47 opposing runs score.
    I'll end with some miscellaneous notes and facts I've been looking up: One more loss at home would tie the 1978 and 1988 teams' mark of seven home losses ... We've lost seven of our last eight games at home over the last 356 calendar days after winning two in a row in three days previous to that. ... The North Country loss was our second home shutout loss of the season. The last time we had been shut out twice in a season was 1997, and it hadn't been since 1996 that we had suffered two home shutouts. ... The South Burlington game was our third played on a Friday this season, making us just the third Lakers team to play that many Friday games. We're the first team which played on three consecutive Fridays. We went 1-2 on those days. ... I looked this stuff up Friday night and revised it after today's game: We've allowed 94 runs this season, including 47 with two out. Thus, 50 percent of the runs we've given up have been with two out, which is a big number, but that's not even the kicker. We've scored 71.7 percent of our own runs with two down (33 of 46). ... Of our 46 runs, 30 have been scored from the fifth inning on. NONE (i.e., zilch, zippo, zero) have been scored in the second inning this season. Maybe that's because we only have three second-inning hits this season. (Please take this with a grain of salt - my sarcasm can sometimes be overbearing. Just roll with it.)

    We're scheduled to face St. Johnsbury on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Centennial Field, which will be our 18th trip to the home of the University of Vermont baseball team and the Vermont Expos since 1990. We're 7-10 all time there and have faced St. Jay once. The recap of that game is one of my prouder pieces of writing on the site, straight from the Memorable Moments page (under Miscellaneous Pages), from May 23, 1992: "St. Johnsbury traumatizes visiting Colchester with a 14-run second inning, drubbing the Lakers by a 16-7 score. Starting pitcher Jeff Pecor pitches one-plus innings and allows 11 runs." Sounds like a tough game for Jeff. Hopefully we won't have as rough a game, because it's the last week of the season and we can, nay, need, to start winning ballgames. Or at least start playing like a team capable of doing so. I know I bring the knowledge of the program's records to the table, and for that I almost feel like I should apologize because everyone knows these records or could find them on the Web site, and I wonder whether they're concentrating on them too much. The one record I and, I'm sure, coaches Phillips and Russell don't want to be associated with is the program record for losses. But that's where we're headed if we don't win another game. 2-11 is bad, but 2-15? Come on, now. The 1978 and 1990 teams couldn't field or pitch, and we could hit the 1978 team into the ground (of course, now they're all 40-somethings, so I'd hope we could outhit them). Hopefully you guys also still have enough positive energy and good spirits and faith in your team left so that will be one record left untouched this year. No reason we can't win a couple this week and get some momentum going into the playoffs. See you all Tuesday. Bus time will be announced Monday at practice.

    May 18, 2004

    DIVISION I STANDINGS NOTE - I just found out today that despite what is listed on the VPA Web site, Springfield is NOT a Division I baseball school; it is Division II. Thus, there are 19 teams in Division I, not 20. I have adjusted the standings accordingly. I'd like to thank Windsor High School Athletic Director Bob Hingston for bringing this to my attention, and VPA Director of Student Activities Bob Johnson and Rutland Herald Sunday Sports Editor Carleton Laird for their help. I apologize for any confusion.

    I'll have Freebird up for one more day, then I'm taking it down. So act now! Also, our game with South Burlington was washed out today. It will be made up on Friday at 4 p.m. at SBHS. This means we'll play Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but South Burlington will actually now have to play Wednesday through Saturday. Crazy! The last time we played a game on three consecutive days was from May 11-13, 2000. This actually was concluded by a Saturday doubleheader, so four games in all were played in about 48 hours, with CHS winning all four at Colchester High School by a combined score of 41-11. We're 15-11 all time during games we've played within one of those three-day stretches. If we do get the game in, this will mark just the third season in which we had three Friday games, and the first time we played on three consecutive Fridays.

    With soooo much time on my hands, and with our recent 1-0 loss to Milton as inspiration, I got a tad bored and decided to look up all the 1-0 games we've played during the 29 years the program has existed. Here's what I came up with:
    In all, that's six 1-0 games, five of which occurred at CHS, and a 2-4 record in those well-pitched games.

    May 16, 2004

    Before I get into the game summaries for CVU and Mount Abe, I want to thank everyone for chipping in for buying me that cake and the card. I really appreciate it, and it was such a nice gesture by all of you. I love this time of year because of coaching, but it's an added bonus when I can be around such great guys as yourselves. It's one thing to merely be around good ballplayers; it's even greater to be around good ballplayers who are fine human beings, too. So thanks, guys, it was a nice surprise which I'll remember for a long time.

    OK, so we came into Thursday's game with CVU toting a 1-7 record as the No. 19 team out of 19 Division I teams, and 15th in the 16-team Metro League. CVU, the defending D-I state champ which had compiled a 7-1 mark, came in tied for second in Division I and tied for first in the Metro. Junior Joey Doud had no career varsity hits to his name. Our last win against them had come eight games ago on May 23, 1998, at Centennial Field. And then, *poof*, everything changed - we knocked off CVU, 8-3, for arguably the biggest win in Coach Phillips' four years as varsity head coach. It also has to rank up there with some of the biggest wins in program history. We dug ourselves a nice little hole, that's for sure, as CVU's first two batters reached in the first inning, with one scoring on an error and another on a wild pitch. But with runners on the corners with one out, pitcher Kyle Burkhard induced a groundout before K'ing the final batter looking. They added another run in the fourth to push it to 3-0, and we looked rather flat to that point - two Lakers reached base in the first four innings, including Mike Wasko twice. In the fifth, things looked troublesome when a CVU runner reached second on a one-out error, but catcher Joey Goldsbury nailed him trying to move up to third on a wild pitch, and Kyle battled back from a two-out walk with another strikeout before his offense got him back in the game. In the bottom of the inning, Joey Doud sparked our first rally by picking up a one-out single to right for his first varsity hit before Lucas Mullally singled and Matt La Roe walked. Wasko plated Doud with a sac fly to make it 3-1, and Goldsbury picked up an RBI by beating out an infield single before Matty scored to knot the score when the third baseman threw away Goldy's hit. Kyle wriggled out of a sixth inning jam thanks to more slick defense. After a one-out single and stolen base, CVU's starting pitcher lined a shot to Wasko at short, who flipped to Sean Burns at second to complete an inning-ending - and momentum-swinging - double play. The bottom of the inning didn't start promisingly, as a walk to Shelby Nolin was sandwiched between outs. But Joey Doud started another rally by staying back on an 0-2 curveball and just plopping it into center, moving Shelby to third and starting what became our most important rally of the year. After Joey stole second and Lucas walked, Matty received a four-pitch walk to drive in the game-winning run, but the rally didn't end there. Wasko beat out an infield single to make it 5-3, Joey Goldsbury's floater to the second baseman was mishandled and allowed two more runs to score, and Wasko came home on a passed ball to complete the scoring. Kyle then went to work in the seventh, using eight pitches to mow through CVU's 1-2-3 batters to finish off his gem. In tossing 125 pitches, Kyle picked up his first career varsity win. He allowed five hits, five walks and one earned run while striking out five batters in a gritty effort. Offensively, we had some solid at bats in the late innings, especially considering the fact we plated all eight of our runs with two down, much in the manner that MMU scored all five of its runs against us on Tuesday with two down. Matty scored twice and drove in the game-winner, Wasko went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and six fielding assists, Joey Doud went 2-for-3 with two runs while also making 12 putouts at first base, and Lucas smacked a single, walked twice and scored twice. GAME NOTES: We had lost four straight at home to CVU since a 3-2 win on May 21, 1994 ... the reason I was saying to some of the guys that we couldn't consider the game over, even with two down in the seventh and us leading by five, was because of the final game of my high school career - it was at CVU in the Playdowns, and we led 5-3 with two down in the bottom of the seventh and they had no base runners. Yet they scored twice in the inning and won it in nine innings. Sucked. I know it's cliche to say "it ain't over til it's over," but unfortunately it's true ... this win got us back to .500 all time against CVU at 14-14. The recent struggles had dropped us below .500 despite beginning our series with them by winning seven of the first nine match ups (7-2), nine of the first 14 (9-5), and 13 of the first 20 (13-7) ... in terms of big regular season wins, this one has to rank up there with our 1999 win over a very strong Essex team, the 1998 blowout of Rice, the 1995 game in which the Lakers clinched the Metro South title in the first season of its existence, and the 1980 contest when the Lakers snapped Missisquoi's 20-game winning streak. Obviously there were other big regular season wins during the past 29 years, but I wasn't around for all of them (I won't even pretend I was) and have to think that most Lakers teams which had such a poor record did not knock off a team with such a good record by such a lopsided score ... this win brought us up into a tie for 12th in the Metro and a tie for 16th in D-I. That was before the Mount Abe game, of course.

    So we followed up the biggest win in years with a 9-4 loss on Friday to Mount Abraham, also at Saddie Field. It might have been a combination of us putting all of our effort into the big Thursday win, the fact Mount Abe didn't play its regularly scheduled Thursday game, or the fact that it was hot as heck, but we sure didn't have our "A" game. We placed exactly one runner on base in five of the first six innings before finally breaking through with three runs in the seventh, but by then a comeback was rather tough. We allowed runs in the first inning for the seventh time in 10 games, digging a hole we never could climb out of. It was relatively close - just a 4-0 deficit - until they plated four runs before committing a second out in the sixth inning. Mike Wasko continued his torrid hitting, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and tying a school record with a pair of triples. He became the seventh Laker to do so, but just the third to do it at home. Otherwise, we were pretty lacking offensively, though Jeremy Ringuette picked up his first hit of the year - and second of his varsity career - in the seventh when the right fielder made a valiant all-out diving effort of Jeremy's poke to right center but couldn't come up with it. Kyle Burkhard also tripled. On the defensive side, we made three miscues but also had some nice plays and efforts. Burkhard, he of the 125-pitch complete-game pitching performance the day before, gutted out seven innings in equipment behind the plate and made a spectacular catch after laying out for a fouled off bunt attempt. Taylor Newton, Wasko and Travis Frenette also joined together to spin an inning-ending double play in the first to bail starting pitcher Shelby Nolin out of a jam. On the mound, Shelby fielded five balls, making nice plays at first each time. We hit the road on Tuesday to face South Burlington, another tough team which we lost to on opening day, 9-8, after rallying from a 9-2 hole. GAME NOTES: Wasko became the first Laker since Craig Bessette '95 on May 13, 1995, to triple twice in a game, and the first to triple twice at Colchester High School since John Bond '83 on April 22, 1982. However, this was the first time a Laker tripled twice at home since fences have been in place. Coach Saddlemire told me he first placed a fence in the outfield around the 1983 season ... Wasko's seven total bases were the most by a Laker since Justin Bissonnette '00 smacked two doubles and a triple on June 7, 2000, in a Division I Semifinal game ... the last time the Lakers hit three triples in one game was April 18, 2000 ... our three triples in that one game tied or exceeded the season total of 11 Lakers teams since 1976 ... if the season ended today, Wasko would have the third-highest single-season batting average and on-base percentage in program history and the fourth-highest slugging percentage ... the last time we were 2-8 was on May 4, 2002, after splitting a doubleheader at Centennial Field. The Game 2 victory was the first of six over our next seven games, and we finished 7-10 overall after a playdown loss ... why has Wasko's batting average ballooned to .567? He's 10 for his last 12, and he has reached base 13 times in his last 17 plate appearances. Overall, he has reached base 26 times in 37 plate appearances (including errors and fielder's choices), an astonishing 70.3 percent of the time.

    May 13, 2004

    One of the coolest days of my life. Working on less than four hours of sleep after packing my dorm room all night, I graduated from Saint Michael's around noon before getting to the field in time to watch the best 2-7 team in the state knock off 7-2 CVU, 8-3, to snap a seven-game losing skid to the Crusaders dating back to 1999. It's also our first win at home against CVU since 1994. I'll write more later - it's been a long day! - but Joey Doud picked up his first two varsity hits in the fifth and sixth innings and was very instrumental in sparking rallies in each inning. Mike Wasko went 3-for-3 and Kyle Burkhard tossed a complete-game gem, allowing only one earned run, five hits, and five walks while K'ing five on 125 pitches. Out of the 19 Division I teams, we had been No. 19 and CVU was tied for second. In the 16-team Metro League, we were 15th and CVU was tied for first. This was quite a big win, and many positives came from it. On to tomorrow, when we host Mount Abraham at 4:30 p.m. Let's keep the momentum going, fellas. Believe me, I'm quite proud of your effort today and the fact that we didn't get a gift victory here: We worked for it and earned a big win. Let's keep building as we approach the postseason. See everyone on the field.

    May 11, 2004

    We dropped our seventh game of the season today, 5-3, at Mount Mansfield. It's actually our eighth loss in nine games dating back to last season. We played well, but MMU came up with some clutch hits. In the first, their starting catcher blasted a three-run homer with two down, and in the third he had another two-out RBI before scoring on the next batter's hit. Thus, all five of their runs came with two outs today. Travis Frenette went the distance for us on the mound, and after 10 of the first 16 batters reached base, Travis allowed only one of the final 10 batters to reach. Even then, he erased the base runner by picking off the courtesy runner. We had flawless defense after committing four miscues on Friday. Offensively, we were a tad lacking, banging out only four hits, though the stats don't reflect how well we hit the ball. Taylor went 0-for-2 but hit a hard grounder up the middle which the shortstop scooped up, and nailed a liner at the second baseman. Lucas hit a hard fly ball to left which the fielder made a nice catch off of while falling down. Otherwise, our hitting stars were Matt La Roe (home run) and Mike Wasko (two doubles). Matty banged a one-out solo shot to straightaway center field for his first career home run, which cut the gap to 5-3 after we had trailed 5-1. Kyle Burkhard also had an RBI single.

    We're halfway through the season, and a couple things should be pointed out. Matty leads the team with four RBIs. The fewest number of RBIs to lead the team was eight, which two players had in 1986. We're on pace for the most strikeouts in a season, the second-fewest RBIs since 1978, the fewest hits since 1983, and the fewest total bases since pre-1980. Of course, we're also on pace for the most triples since 2000, and our 90.8 percent fielding puts us among the top 10 fielding teams of all time, at least thus far. Our pitching has been pretty solid, too. With 20 bases on balls through eight games, we're on pace to issue the fewest walks since the program's initial season in 1976.

    I've also decided to take a look at the other five teams which began their respective seasons 1-7, and how they looked in the first half of the season versus their overall finish. What do we get out of all of this seemingly pointless analysis? The same thing I get at the halfway point each season. We can duplicate our first half, using solid pitching and defense and poor hitting to finish 2-14 going into the playoffs. Or we could be like the 1987 team that went 4-4 down the stretch. There's even the 2002 team, which Mike Wasko was a part of, which started 0-7 and completed the regular season 7-2, only to fall in the first round of the playoffs. We have had weak hitting the past few years, but we've been able to scrap together those runs when we've needed them. We've also been blessed with solid defense and effective pitching; look at the 2000 team which went to the state championship: it had poor defense - they committed the most errors since 1988 - but the most prolific offense ever. Pitching was also very solid. If we could get some timely hitting and keep hitting the ball hard, then we could make a push. When I look back at the teams with the really bad records - records which we are approaching - from more than a decade ago, I see characteristics which we don't share. In 1988, the team went 3-13 and topped 10 runs in a game three times ... and allowed 10 runs eight times. That squad's 6.62 team ERA is still the worst since the 1977 team's record high, and the 78 unearned runs they allowed thanks to a shoddy 86.1 percent fielding effort are a record. The 1990 team finished 2-14, highlighted by allowing 10-plus runs in half of its losses. When the ace of the staff goes 0-6 with a 4.92 ERA and the staff records as many walks as strikeouts, you know you're in trouble. Thus, I don't see us being the stereotypical 1-7 team. I certainly don't see us being a 1-15 team, or even a 2-14 team. We have the talent to be better, if not always the skill and good fortune. We have a solid pitching staff, one of the best infield defenses in the league because it's anchored by the best shortstop in the league, and a slew of capable hitters, some who have been hitting better than others lately. We have gotten some of the tougher teams, like Essex, Spaulding, Harwood, and MMU out of the way. That's not to say Mount Abe, North Country, or Rice will be pushovers, but I think we'll play right with them, if not surprise the heck out of them and really beat up on some of them, simply because of how we've played with teams like South Burlington and MMU already. See everyone out on the field on Thursday. This is the final piece I'll write for this Web site as an 'undergraduate. When I see you all next on Thursday, I will officially be a college graduate, barring any unforeseen circumstances! Then I'll start being able to come to practice again. Let's get psyched for the big CVU game and give them a little surprise. I can't imagine they fear us. I'd love to jump all over them and make them wonder what the heck happened. Get ready for Thursday.

    May 9, 2004

    First, to get some of the more important pieces of information out of the way: With that important information out of the way, it's time to update the last few games. I'll start with the Essex game, which occurred quite a while ago, it seems:

    May 8, 2004

    School is over, and I'm on campus will little to do until I graduate on Thursday. I've also had a nagging cold, so I've done little with the site in the last week. With that in mind, I plan on updating the site to include highlights from the Harwood, Milton and BFA-St. Albans games today. I also have some information regarding our break up dinner at Pizza Putt in early June and a Kids 'n' Cops thing we're doing on Monday at practice. Check back.

    April 30, 2004

    We lost at Essex on Thursday, 12-5. They jumped on us quickly, scoring an unearned run in the first, and three runs in each the second and third innings. In fact, they scored in every inning, just the fifth time a CHS opponent has done that, and the first since Harwood in 2001. However, this was only the third time a team batted as many as six times against us and scored each time. Kyle Burkhard was the hard-luck loser, allowing only one earned run among the seven he allowed. We'll be back on the field on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Harwood at Saddie Field. GAME NOTES: Thursday's game will be televised on the Adelphia Channel, channel 74, on Sunday at 8 p.m.; Monday at 10 p.m.; and Tuesday at 7 p.m. ... Mike Wasko (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) and Taylor Newton (2-for-4, 2B, and a hard-hit ball that was dropped by the RF) continue to tear it up ... Taylor's six hits (in 12 at bats) have nearly equaled his 2003 total of eight (in 41 ABs) ... Wasko's steal of home was our first since Chris Corrigan '02 did it on a double steal against MMU on April 16, 2002 ... I couldn't tell you who last stole home on a straight steal, though Jason Carey '01 tried it in consecutive 2001 games but was gunned down both times - he looked safe on at least one of them ... Joey Goldsbury also continues to do well at the plate, hitting safely five times in 12 at bats after a 2-for-4 day on Thursday ... Matt La Roe smacked hit second triple of the year on Thursday, becoming the first player since Luke Laroche '00 and Ty Pratt '00 in 2000 to hit two triples in a season ... Pratt (three triples in 1999) and Tom Hergenrother '96 (three triples in 1996) have the highest single-season three-bagger totals since 1995 ... we have now lost five straight to Essex since a 16-13 win at their place in 1999 ... this was also the fourth consecutive time we allowed 10-plus runs to the Hornets ... we allowed our 16th unearned run on Thursday in just our 22nd inning in the field; last year we allowed our 16th in our 51st inning in the field ... Saturday's opponent, Harwood, has been a tough team for CHS over the years: We have lost four games in a row to them dating back to May 15, 1982, a 10-2 win over the Highlanders ... that was 8,021 days ago ... after Saturday, we will have faced the four opponents against which we have our worst all time records (BHS 6-18, Harwood 3-9, SBHS 7-27, EHS 4-22).

    April 28, 2004

    Here are updates for the last two games. With all the craziness of my final three weeks of college, it's been difficult to find time to update stuff. I'll be working to be more timely.

    Against Burlington on Saturday, we allowed three of the first four Seahorse batters to score, and shoddy defense down the stretch allowed three unearned runs to score as we lost, 6-2. Kyle Burkhard, who was roughed up in the first inning on the mound, redeemed himself by launching a third-inning double and scoring to cut the deficit to 3-1. We got to within 4-2 in the fifth after Lucas Mullally's sac fly plated D.J. Edwards, but we got no closer. Matt La Roe was lights out in relief, going five full innings while allowing no earned runs and striking out three. Mike Graves came on in the sixth and worked around an unearned run to have a successful inning. During the game, Kyle also made a nice grab in the outfield, gliding over to catch a sinking liner with both hands before going airborne and jackknifing. Gravy also made a nice catch on a floater over the mound against his first varsity hitter. Mike Wasko smacked a pair of singles and almost beat out a routine grounder to second. Game Notes: By appearing on the mound, in right field and at second base, Kyle became the first Laker to appear at three different positions in a game since Tyler Critchlow '02 played all three outfield positions on May 7, 2002 ... Travis Clairmont '02 also appeared on the mound and at first and third base a couple times during his junior and senior years ... we left five runners on base - all in the fourth and fifth innings - including four in scoring position ... after allowing three runs without getting an out, Kyle technically has no ERA - or, at the very least (by my understanding), it's infinity ... after this game, 10 of the 15 runs we had allowed were unearned ... the 10 unearned runs we allowed scored in the first 13 innings of the season - we didn't allow our 10th unearned run until our 26th inning last season.

    On Tuesday, we lost at Spaulding, 4-1. It was our first loss in six games to the Crimson Tide since a 1-0 loss at their field in 1994. All of the game's scoring came in the first inning. After Wasko reached on a one-out error and Lucas reached on a two-out walk, Taylor Newton came through with a bloop single to left to drive in our lone run. He was the fifth Lakers batter of the game. The final 23 were unable to duplicate his feat, and we were one-hit for the first time since April 27, 2002, when we lost a 3-1 game to St. Johnsbury in a neutral site game at Burlington High School. Kevin Lilley '02, another left-handed hitter, picked up our only hit and drove in our lone run on the same swing. Spaulding countered with four runs in the bottom of the first, as seven of their first nine batters reached base off Shelby Nolin. Beginning with the final out of the inning, however, Shelby finished the game by retiring 16 consecutive batters. In the process, Mike Wasko equaled and surpassed Travis Hilton's '98 career assists record of 101. Mike now has 102. The funny thing is it took Travis 52 games - three full seasons - to set the mark, and Mike was only playing in his 31st career game on Tuesday. He and second baseman Joey Goldsbury solidly anchored the middle infield on Tuesday, as each assisted on four plays in leading us to an error-free ball game. This after we committed nine errors in our first two games. Tuesday's game was our first since last May 31 against Middlebury at Centennial Field in which we did not commit an error. You'd have to go all the way back to May 22, 2001, to find our last errorless game on a high school field. That was also against Spaulding, a 7-1 win on Saddlemire Field Dedication Day at Colchester High School. During Tuesday's game, we left another six runners on base, including four in scoring position. Just still waiting for that clutch hit. As a positive aside, our pitchers have held the opposing five through eight hitters to a .171 batting average thus far (6-for-35). Of course, the guys occupying the other five spots in the order are hitting .313. During the past two games, we've held the bottom five hitters in the order to .120 on 3-for-25 batting.

    So there's the update on the games. As always, stats have been posted, so enjoy those. In other news, I now have a belt. Yay. At 0-3, we're now 3-15 in April since the beginning of the 2001 season. On Thursday we travel for a 4 p.m. match up to Essex, against whom we are 4-21 all time since first facing them in 1982. We've been outscored during our past three meetings, 40-7. Our last win at their place was a crazy 16-13 victory during my senior year in 1999. There's also no fence, last I knew. That always makes it interesting. I actually will sit down and write a season preview soon (maybe it'll be more of an update) and then also talk about how we haven't defeated Harwood, our Saturday opponent, in something like 10,000 days. I find useless facts like that amusing, if you didn't know already.

    April 23, 2004

    By the end it hardly felt like a loss. Yes, we lost our season opener to South Burlington on Thursday, 9-8, despite a furious rally and some clutch hitting. However, six errors led to seven unearned runs, and we ostensibly handed the game to the Rebels, the defending Division I runner-ups. It really felt like three games in one. First, we led 2-0 and were holding their bats in check for the first couple of innings as Travis allowed only two of the first eight batters to reach. Then there were the innings when our defense floundered and they capitalized, outscoring us 9-0. Finally we have the last two innings, where we rallied to within a run and left the tying run on first in the bottom of the seventh. Down 4-2, the inning that really undid us was the sixth, where they had two on and two down without having scored a run before our defense imploded. Three straight hitters subsequently reached on miscues, and we suddenly trailed 9-2 after a two-run double down the left-field line. The thing that made this game even seem salvageable in the moral victories department is we rallied. Recent teams might have rolled over and died; this one rallied furiously. Taylor singled with one out in the sixth before Joey Goldsbury picked up his first varsity hit and moved Taylor to third. After Joey stole second, D.J. walked to load the bases for Matt La Roe, who crushed a triple to left-center field to clear the bases. He later scored on a wild pitch, cutting the gap to 9-6. After Shelby completed his third inning of work with a 1-2-3 seventh, we again chipped away. Kyle singled with one out, Taylor plated him on a double, and one out later Joey picked up his second hit to drive home Taylor. That was as close as we got, but it felt good to be in that game at the end after having trailed by seven. I think it gives us something to look forward to on Saturday. Taylor ended the day 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, and Matt picked up his first two varsity hits while scoring twice. However, at the same time, we basically allowed South Burlington to walk all over us for a couple shaky defensive innings. This also didn't follow the pattern of how teams have been under Coach Phillips, especially in the past two years: The 2002-03 teams averaged 6.3 hits per game and 3.0 errors; on Thursday, we had nine hits and committed six miscues. For their parts, Travis and Shelby pitched well. In his first varsity game, Travis drew the start, walking none while K'ing two and allowing one earned run in four innings. Shelby also allowed a lone earned run while striking out four in the final three frames. We face the Seahorses at Burlington on Saturday at 11 a.m. That's our first of 15 consecutive Metro League games. Now for some random notes, which is something I might begin doing this year instead of weaving it into the actual text of the game writeup.

    NOTES: Matty's triple was our first since Kevin Lilley '02 smacked one on May 21, 2002, at Spaulding, a good 20 games ago. Our last one at home was by Jason Carey '01 on May 22, 2001, also against Spaulding on Saddlemire Field dedication day. That was 38 games ago. The 2003 was the first in program history where no one tripled. ... The last time we allowed as many as seven unearned runs in a game was during Coach Phillips' very first as a varsity coach. Eight unearned runs crossed the plate on April 21, 2001, when we hosted CVU in a 22-7 loss. Of course, three of those 22 runs scored on wild pitches while CVU was up by at least 12 runs (this is fact - the 2001 book is sitting in front me as I type this). ... We allowed seven unearned runs in the first six innings Thursday. It took us nearly 20 innings to allow seven last season. ... We have been above .500 for a grand total of eight days during Coach Phillips' four seasons, the last being after we knocked off Middlebury during the play-ins on May 26, 2001, to improve to 9-8. ... We haven't won our season opener since April 18, 2000, in a 10-0 win over BFA-St. Albans. In fact, 1999 and 2000 were the only seasons since 1997 that CHS won its season-opening game. ... The last time we lost a game when scoring eight runs was May 16, 2000, at CVU. We lost 15-9. What a terrible streak we have going against CVU, they always seem to post that many runs on us nowadays. That was 63 games ago. Now, to put things in perspective, during my senior year of 1999 we scored at least eight runs and lost four times, all within a 13-game, 38-day span. You can do the math here: pitching was bad, hitting was not. ... Mike Wasko is four fielding assists shy of tying Travis Hilton's '98 career record of 101. Travis did it in 52 games, giving him an average of 1.9 assists per game. Mike has recorded 97 in 29 games, leaving him with an incredible average of 3.3 per game. He could very well tie and/or break the record on Saturday. ... Taylor is chasing a record, as well. Rick Harrison's '80 five sacrifice hits are the career standard at CHS, and Taylor is sitting on four. OK, it's not as glamorous as when Hank Aaron was chasing Babe Ruth (I recall the announcer saying "He's sitting on 714" right before Hank launched the record-breaking 715th home run of his career), but it's a cool record, nonetheless. And it's one he wants. Of course, I wanted it as a senior, but I was never called on to lay down a bunt. So it's his for the taking. But after his perfect performance on Thursday, he might be swinging away for a while. Just to refresh, he went 3-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and a double on Thursday. Last season, he went 8-for-41 with nine runs, three RBIs and nary an extra-base hit. In fact, he ended the season in a 4-for-23 slump. He looks much better thus far.

    April 21, 2004

    The fact is, words can't really describe Tuesday's scrimmage at Missisquoi. So many negative things happened during the 8-3 loss that even the positive things don't appear to outweigh them. Let's start off with the first inning, when Missisquoi's No. 1 pitcher walked the bases loaded to begin the game before wildly tossing his first pitch to Shelby Nolin off Shelby's cheek. I have no idea what the prognosis is on Shelby, but thank God it didn't hit him in the eye, just a few inches higher. So with him blooded and bruised, he visited the hospital with his mom. When I find out more, I'll post it. But I know we're all hoping he's OK. Either way, his RBI drove in our only run of the inning, as we went down in order following the beaning and a 10-minute delay. Our offense got going again in the fifth, as D.J. Edwards led off with a bloop single, Matt La Roe walked on four pitches, and Mike Wasko tripled them home with a shot to the right-center field gap. However, none of the ensuing three batters could score him. We also committed four errors, a few on relatively basic plays. Only three of Missisquoi's runs were earned, and the first three unearned runs actually scored with two down in each of those innings. Kyle Burkhard and Travis Frenette pitched well, combining for six strikeouts and only one walk, but they were hurt by those errors and other mental errors which didn't make their way into the scorebook. But it was good to get that all out of our system before the season officially begins. Some highlights include Kyle K'ing the ace pitcher who hit Shelby with the bases loaded in the third and Jeremy Ringuette's all-out diving catch in foul territory down the right field line to end a Thunderbirds threat in the sixth. Our regular season is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 4 p.m. at home against South Burlington, a team which we are 0-2 against all time on opening days, including a tough 3-2 loss at South Burlington last season. We're also 9-8 all time when opening the season at home. This is the first time we're scheduled to open the season at home since 2001, Coach Phillips' initial season at the helm of the program.

    Schedule change: The schedule for games to be played at Centennial Field was finally posted on the Metro League Web site, and it turns out we won't be playing Rice there, after all. Instead, we'll play the visiting team against St. Johnsbury on May 25 at 4:30 p.m. at Centennial, and then we'll play at Rice on May 27. If you think about it, the game against St. Johnsbury is almost a home game; instead of us traveling a couple hours to them, as originally planned, they'll travel a couple hours to Burlington, which is 10 minutes from the high school. Good deal.

    As I write this, there are about 40 hours left until the first pitch of the 29th season of CHS varsity baseball. I still plan on writing a tiny season preview, but I hope everyone understands their roles and comes to play hard and has a good time this season, win or lose. We want to win as much as possible, and we're going to do our best to find a way to win each game. The weather doesn't look great for Thursday, but we'll hold out hope that the game gets played. See everyone at Saddie Field on Thursday.

    April 18, 2004

    Having not been at the car wash myself, I don't know for sure how it went today. So until I hear otherwise, I'll assume it went off without a hitch. I had work obligations at SMC for softball, but a number of people said they would have gone to the car wash if I had. Oops. But I hope everyone had a good time raising money for the program. EDIT (4/19/04): CHS Baseball Boosters Chairman Mike Mullally, who has graciously volunteered his time to help us raise money, reports that we raised $723.19 from the car wash. This despite losing the final 90 minutes or so due to rain. That money is much-needed and hopefully was hard earned.

    Friday's scrimmage was a good one, for the most part, as we beat Milton, 8-5. The score is misleading, however. Up 7-0 in the third, we had a chance to push three more runs across due to wildness on the part of the starting pitcher, but we decided not to send runners at that point and loaded the bases without any outs. No more runs scored in the inning, and Milton put together a rally in the later innings. Mike Wasko continued his good spring, going 2-for-2 with two runs and two stolen bases. Starting and winning pitcher Shelby Nolin also struck out seven in 4-1/3 innings while lacing a two-run double. Matt La Roe smacked a double and, after a shaky first inning on the mound, faced only one hitter over the minimum over his final two frames. Robbie Yarnell had a solid all-around day, recording a hit, a run, an RBI, a stolen base and two walks, and he also made a nice backhanded play in the second inning before being the pivot man on a ground-ball double play to end the seventh. Joey Doud also laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt in the seventh. As a team, we drew eight walks while notching 16 fielding assists, one less than the regular-season single-game CHS record. The varsity coaches also took in some JV action after our game, and I was lucky enough to watch the youngins play for a couple of innings and complete a 20-0 victory. To be fair, Milton hadn't fielded a JV team since 2000 or so, and this was most likely their first game since then. Of course, this was also our JV team's first action of the spring, and they looked like a wrecking crew. Good luck to them, as they are the future of CHS baseball.

    As it stands now (4:07 a.m. on Sunday, April 18), our scheduled scrimmage for Tuesday at Missisquoi for 4 p.m. is still on, though the previously foreboding forecast of rain has subsided to merely a prediction of partial cloudiness and a high in the mid 50s. However, our regular-season opener on Thursday versus South Burlington at 4 p.m. at CHS is in jeopardy of postponement as we speak, with rain expected. I'll attempt to write more as the week progresses about records to watch, what to expect from our team this season (from my perspective), and why in my estimation this could be the best team Coach Phillips has coached during his varsity tenure.

    April 15, 2004

    Tomorrow's forecast calls for sun and highs in the mid-50s, just the right weather for our third scrimmage. We'll be facing Division II Milton, one of our Metro League brethren, at 4 p.m. in Milton. The bus leaves at 2:30 p.m., though Coach Phillips and I will be taking our own cars there. Be good for Coach Russell and Coach Flynn, who will be taking his JV team there, as well. They'll be playing on an adjacent field. Now that I think about it, I don't know why Milton's JV isn't coming to Colchester. Anyway, we're a week away from opening day, when we're scheduled to face South Burlington at home at 4 p.m. For the better part of the next week, temps should be in the 60s, and Thursday's weather looks clear right now.

    On Saturday, we're still scheduled to have our car wash at the Middle School. Varsity duty begins at noonish after the JV players finish up, and we'll go until 4 p.m. at the latest, I believe. Right before, we'll have a quick practice at CHS at 10:30 a.m. Sunday is our rain date for the car wash. And of course, what is in the forecast for this weekend, for Saturday and Sunday only? Thunderstorms! You thought I was going to say snow, didn't you? Be honest, now. I don't know what we'll do if it rains all weekend. That remains to be determined, I suppose.

    It's just about that time where ad and hit-a-thon money is due. The ads will be running in the program I'm putting together. Soon, I'll also be taking head shots of everyone and hopefully getting team pictures of the varsity and JV squads in uniform. This won't be as involved as last year, but it'll still be pretty in depth.

    Now for a quick update on the PDF files to which you'll find links at the top of the page. The Rewards Program page has been updated through Monday's scrimmage, and the team responsibility points leader is Chad Limoge with 24. I've also been doing my best to get the Metro League file going, and I'm going to be keeping track of Metro and Division I standings this season to the best of my abilities. That way we'll know where we (and all other D-I teams) stand at any given time. In past years, I've found myself scrambling around in early June trying to figure out where we stand, but this way should be easier.

    April 12, 2004

    I'm sure most of you players figured out hours before I did that our scrimmage was moved to today (I slept until 1 and received an e-mail about 45 minutes after I awoke regarding the schedule change and proceeded to hastily begin my day) since it's supposed to rain for the majority of the remainder of the week. Personally, I'm happy with most of what I saw today. First off, we won 12-4 over BFA-Fairfax, a Division III team. They held our bats in check for the first half of the game and capitalized on our miscues to lead 4-1 midway through four innings. However, we whittled the lead to 4-3 going into the fifth before blowing the game open with nine runs on six hits in the bottom of the inning. During the frame, Robbie Yarnell, Joey Doud, Mike Graves, Lucas Mullally, Shelby Nolin, and Colin Sadler all singled and either scored or drove in a run. In an extended top of the sixth inning, Shelby came on to face 10 batters and strike eight of them out. I would have to officially give Shelby credit for pitching three innings right there, during which time he only unleashed 36 pitches. During the game nine different players picked up hits and seven had an RBI. Today's four pitchers - Mike Graves, Kyle Burkhard, Travis Frenette and Shelby - combined for 14 strikeouts, which matches the team's regular-season single-game record (this, of course, does not really tie the record because it was a scrimmage). The nine runs plated in the fifth also matches the second-biggest inning in program history, as only CHS's 11-run fifth frame against Mount Abraham on April 13, 1985, exceeded today's fifth-inning output. Last time a team scored nine runs in an inning during a regular season game: my senior year, in my first varsity game on April 20, 1999, at BFA-St. Albans. I somehow lined into a double play during my first varsity at bat. Ask me about it; I'll give you all the gory details. We'll practice - inside, mostly likely - for the next three days until our scrimmage at Milton High School at 4 p.m. on Friday.

    Oh, and the wait is over: Coach Russell has been assigned No. 14. Thanks to those of you who placed bets. You'll soon be receiving your prizes through the mail. The number was the utility number last season, as four different players who received a varsity call up wore it. It's nice that it's found a permanent home for this season. Coach Russell is also the third coach in four years to wear the number. If anyone wonders how I know all this (besides the fact that I just remember this stuff), check out Uniform Numbers PDF.

    April 11, 2004

    Ever see those rare, crazy plays on TV that you never think you'll see live in a game you're a part of? I mean, I saw a triple play in a Little League World Series game once, and a couple times from MLB games on SportsCenter, but never in a game in which I was playing an active role. Thus, our first scrimmage of the season on Saturday ended on a triple play. That's about all you need to know about that. Our first scrimmage of the year went off without a hitch, basically because the weather was nice enough to hold, and we hosted MMU for a six-inning affair. We officially lost, 8-5, but we played well enough to hold a 5-3 lead going into the top of the sixth. We didn't hit too much, but Taylor Newton broke up the no-hit bid in the fourth inning with a hard shot that took an odd hop and bounced over the first baseman. We drew nine walks and K'd nine times, and with two on and no one out in the bottom of the sixth, Joey Doud smashed a hard shot up the middle, which kicked off the mound to the second baseman. He collected the ball, got the out at second and threw to first to complete the conventional double play, but the first baseman turned and gunned home to nail Matt La Roe trying to score from second. He looked fairly safe, but it's a scrimmage - we'll worry about poor calls once the season really begins. One hard-hit ball, three outs. Oh well, what can ya do besides laugh about it? Five of our pitchers worked today, with Shelby Nolin (2 IP, 1 H, 4K) and Kyle Burkhard (1 IP, 3 K) having the best success. I must also give props to utilityman Lucas Mullally for a great suicide-squeeze bunt. Lucas also played first base, second base and center field today.

    Guys also picked their numbers today, and I'm pretty sure we still have the Nos. 19 and 26 jerseys left, No. 2 used to exist but might not have been returned, and Coach Phillips has No. 14 kicking around somewhere because it was the utility number last year. With that in mind, one can only wonder, which number will Coach Russell choose?? The watch is on, folks. Place bets now.

    As you all need to every spring, us coaches need to get back into the swing of things, too. I'm building up my blisters after hitting grounders, but I obviously need some practice on those.

    Early-season team responsibility points leader: Kyle Burkhard, 7 points. Sight of the day: Mike Wasko warming up a pitcher while wearing his winter coat. He got two points for that one. The kid just knows how to dress warm. I've decided to begin giving two points for warming up the pitcher and two for warming up the left fielder. Let me know if you warmed up the left fielder on Saturday; I wasn't keeping track but will begin doing so. Of course, everyone gets -5 points to start the season since we forgot to bring out all but two helmets.

    April 9, 2004

    It looks like we'll be getting out for our scheduled scrimmage with MMU tomorrow. Remember, before the scrimmage you all have to come in at 8:30 to get ready to do the hit-a-thon. I'll be keeping book tomorrow, and just to get some stats going, I might put some stats together and also post them. Just to give everyone their fix until the regular season begins. As Coach Phillips mentioned, you guys will get some unis tomorrow - I don't know if this included jerseys and permanent uniform numbers - and hats should be in any day. The weather is looking good for tonight and tomorrow. The temp is expected to max out in the mid 40s tomorrow, but as of 4 p.m. on Friday, game time temp is expected to be 35 degrees with a 27-degree wind chill. In other words, bundle up. See everyone tomorrow morning.

    April 7, 2004

    So the schedule for the rest of the week has us practicing tomorrow from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. in the gym, and possibly even outside if it's nice enough. I'm told Coach Saddlemire got out there and dragged the infield today for the first time this season, so that's all set for now. Friday we won't practice, and then Saturday we'll come in early and do the hit-a-thon at 9 a.m. Then we'll scrimmage Mount Mansfield Union at home around 11 a.m. Can't wait to finally get out there and see you guys in action and see what we look like as an assembled unit out there. And maybe we'll have the hats, too. Still don't know offhand when those are coming in, and I'm still not sure about jerseys and what we'll wear for the scrimmages - probably just old pants and an old jersey will suffice.

    OK, so according to the weather.com forecast, which I seem to love quoting each time I do a roundup, we'll be having rain off and on through next Wednesday. And there's a chance of my favorite type of April weather - SNOW! - for Friday. It's either that or rain, depending on the air temperature (right? someone who knows something about science please correct me if I'm wrong here; I somehow worked my way around taking science in college). Anyway, there should be some rain/snow Friday night, but hopefully that will clear up before Saturday morning and allow for a dry field. Then the temps will get into the mid-50s next week, but some rain is expected. But I'm sure the forecast will change before then, so let's not look too far ahead. As it stands, I believe Saturday's JV scrimmage at MMU, which has terrible drainage at its field, has been canceled. Also on the JV front, I should have a freshman team schedule pretty soon.

    For those of you who didn't know, I've posted the scrimmages on the 2004 Schedule page. Here they are, now conveniently at your fingertips:

    Here's a repeat from the last time I updated the site (back when I posted that rant about the weather and DST): Each player (both varsity and junior varsity) is expected to raise $100 through the hit-a-thon or ad collecting. For the advertisement collection, you guys need to go out to local businesses and see if they'd like to sponsor the team. If so, get a logo from them, possibly on a business card or sent to me through e-mail, and it will be printed in the program I'm putting together, which we'll hopefully sell for a nominal price at games. Each business has the option of paying $75 for a full-page ad (8" x 10"), $50 for a half-page ad (8" x 5") or $25 for a quarter-page ad (4" x 5"). Pledging for the hit-a-thon and money for the ads are due to the coaches by THURSDAY, APRIL 15. For the ads, pick up a business card or something with a logo which I can easily scan in to the computer, or have them send a JPG or GIF to me with a high resolution (around 300 DPI) via e-mail at javy@sover.net.

    April 4, 2004

    I can't tell you all how excited I am that we're supposed to get about four inches of snow by Tuesday morning. I mean, I was starting to think that we'd have an abnormal spring and be able to play scrimmages and practice outside before our first regular-season game. But thank goodness Mother Nature has decided to grace us with her presence once more and take away a few days of nice weather, during which time we'd be able to see the grass. I mean, who really wanted those days, anyway? I'd much prefer holding practice inside any day. And then it's supposed to snow again on Friday and Saturday! I can't wait! Check out weather.com for all the exciting details! And while we're at it, isn't it great that Daylight Saving Time has begun and we only have a 47-hour weekend? I'm psyched that I began writing this at 1:45 a.m., and 30 minutes later it's 3:15! Who needed the 2 o'clock hour, anyway? Oi...

    Just an update regarding money collection and fund raising. Each player is expected to raise $100 through the hit-a-thon or ad collecting. This will cover sweatshirts (same design as last year, so not everyone needs a new one), jerseys (the JV uniform, which also serves as a varsity undershirt), mock T-shirts (long-sleeved undershirts) and socks. Any extra money will go toward paying for the new pitching machine and any other expenses we'll be facing. The hit-a-thon information was handed out, but the advertisement collection needs to go thusly: You guys need to go out to local businesses and see if they'd like to sponsor the team. If so, get a logo from them, possibly on a business card or sent to me through e-mail, and it will be printed in the program I'm putting together, which we'll hopefully sell for a nominal price at games. Each business has the option of paying $75 for a full-page ad (8" x 10"), $50 for a half-page ad (8" x 5") or $25 for a quarter-page ad (4" x 5"). Pledging for the hit-a-thon and money for the ads are due to the coaches by THURSDAY, APRIL 15. For the ads, pick up a business card or something with a logo which I can easily scan in to the computer, or have them send a JPG or GIF to me with a high resolution (around 300 DPI) via e-mail at javy@sover.net.

    Here's a random thought for the night, and it can apply for varsity and JV players alike. I've just been thinking recently about who's going to be playing where this year on varsity, and I'm sure some of you players have, too. It's likely that some players will play more than others, but I'd like to give some advice regarding players who think they will end up as bench players. Always practice hard and come to the field ready to play each day. Some crazy things have happened in the last few years with injuries, and on any given day we could need your services. And I'm not just referring to pinch hitting or courtesy running. For example, last season starting catcher Dusty Fregeau broke his leg early in the season and we ended up needing to use Kyle Burkhard - who hadn't caught since something like Little League - and Lucas Mullally - a guy who can play anywhere, but probably won't catch much as a fulltime varsity player - to backstop the team the rest of the season. In 2002, we had a player quit halfway through the season and another get injured with a couple games left. In 2001, we encountered situations with two players where we thought ailments might cause them to miss some time; fortunately they didn't miss much time at all. In 2000, Jason Carey broke a bone in his hand and missed half the season. And then, dating all the way back to my senior year of 1999, one of our best pitchers - arguably one of the best in the state - tore some knee ligaments during basketball and couldn't play baseball. Another pitcher quit during tryouts. Another player blew out his knee when his cleat caught in the ground on a big swing. Then Joe Malley's brother, Nate, fought injuries all year and ended up shifting around positions, and some of us so-called bench players filled the gaps. In 1998, a guy who was going to play some second base broke his collar bone and missed the season. And for those of you who know Ryan O'Hara, a basketball and football coach and a good friend of mine, you might be interested to know he got a concussion and other miscellaneous injuries after running in from the outfield and crashing into our shortstop while tracking a fly ball during JV practice in 1997. That year, our starting JV catcher also dislocated his elbow diving back into first base early in the season. Thus, anything can happen. This was just something that was on my mind which I cared to share. It's also something I hope some of you guys remember when you get discouraged about a lack of playing time. Make the most of the opportunities you are given, both during the game (on the field and in the dugout) and during practice.

    Some of you guys have asked, and here's the list of varsity uniform numbers that I know exist: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 33. I have no idea when they'll be issued, because it's not necessary we wear our green vests for the scrimmages. But rest assured you'll all have numbers by the opener on April 22. Some guys who had vests last year might still have them (I don't recall whether returning players were supposed to return them), but these are the numbers I am familiar with. So think about it. I always like to see guys get numbers which mean something to them, and I'm always interested in their stories behind their numbers.

    April 1, 2004

    I could say early-morning practice is cancelled the rest of the week ... I could tell everyone the we've been booted from the Metro League ... I could mention we're now going to exclusively play New York high school teams and be based out of Saranac Lake ... but no, I have nothing good for April Fool's Day. So all I have is a request for the varsity guys to e-mail me ASAP or print something out with answers to the following questions: nickname, favorite thing about baseball, favorite MLB stadium, favorite food, favorite band, dream vacation destination and dream job. If anyone has suggestions for questions, let me know at practice or at javy@sover.net. These questions will appear in the program. I'll get head shots of y'all this week, too. For all players - varsity and junior varsity alike - please let me know if your name is spelled correctly on the rosters and what you bat and throw. So I'll see everyone this afternoon at practice. Come prepared to run. And that's definitely not a joke.

    Completely as an aside, I decided to try to remember which uniform numbers we have on the vests. As you begin to think of which number you want to wear, here are the uniform numbers that I know exist: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 33. Usually I'd advise against wearing No. 13, but Shelby set some sophomore pitching records last year wearing that number. The truth is, the only number that seems to be cursed is No. 7. Hear me out ... the last player to wear that number full-time was Jason Carey '01, who set a slew of school records. In the two seasons since he graduated, each of the two players who chose the number during preseason ended up being ineligible during the season. In fact, when one of them lent the jersey to Jess Mattison '02 for a doubleheader in 2002, Mattison tied a school record in Game 1 with four errors ... then pitched six shutout innings in Game 2. And that's the last time the number appeared on a CHS player's back during a regular-season game. Cursed? Who knows. All I'm saying is we should either burn it or retire it. Or find someone to break the spell.

    March 27, 2004 (later)

    How indicative is it that we live in an insane weather state when we have a flood warning three days after having a winter weather advisory? God, I love Vermont. In looking at weather.com's 10-day forecast, there's a lot of rain, and on April 4 there's a chance of snow, but temps are holding steady at 45. So let's keep our fingers crossed that the snow will remain off the field and we'll be taking infield/outfield within a week or two.

    I have a little more time to write right now, so I figured I'd just echo some of the things Coach Phillips said during our individual meetings today. In particular, the fact that there are a lot of people vying for a finite number of starting spots. Here's the breakdown for the varsity guys on who has signed up for what: P-5, C-3, 1B-7, 2B-4, 3B-5, SS-4, OF-9. I'm not where exactly Chad plays, but I'm pretty sure we can add him to those vying for pitching and catching positions. Thus, nothing is set in stone, and everyone still needs to prove that they want to be playing this year. We all have an idea as to where people would like to end up, but prove it to us. We hope to have four scrimmages - a total greater than all the scrimmages we've played since my senior year of 1999 - and everyone will get a look in the field and at bat. And who knows, if there's an injury or something else where we need to fill a hole in the lineup, we'll have the guys who have been working hard fresh in our mind; make a good impression. Coach Phillips also mentioned captains will be chosen by him, not by the players this year. It's a leadership position, and we want guys to begin standing out as leaders among everyone.

    I'm also not sure how many people read the Web site - I know of at least one loyal reader, not sure how many more there are - so I'm not sure if the guys who were cut today read this site. They probably don't, but pass this on to them. Speaking from my own experience, it stinks to be cut. I went to CHS a number of years ago (at least it feels like it). After having essentially been a scrub and playing second base behind at least three others as a freshman on JV, I was cut as a sophomore. That's seven springs ago, but I still remember how bad of a feeling it was. I wasn't in any semblance of shape, and my skills needed work, which is not to say I wasn't working harder than some of the guys there and that I didn't want it more than some of the guys there. The day I was cut made for a pretty crummy afternoon - it was a weekday - but that night I decided I still wanted to be around the program, and I approached Coach Saddlemire, then the varsity coach and my science teacher, about keeping stats for JV. So I ended up coming back and keeping stats that year, and I kept playing baseball during the summer. That summer was the best I ever had in terms of finding my baseball skills. I was one of the best hitters on the team because I was more aggressive at the plate, and I was the team's starting shortstop all summer and one of the eldest two players on the squad. Therefore, I got to take a leadership role. I also must have hit .400. No fooling. Anyway, I came back the next year and figured I'd make varsity as a junior, but my skills were still at the point where I wouldn't play much on varsity - courtesy runner material, essentially - but could play on JV. It wasn't an easy decision, but I sucked it up and played JV that year. I also sucked up the fact that I played right field, a position to which I was unaccustomed and sucked at, that I was batting ninth, and I was platooning with a freshman. But I made that decision so I could keep playing regularly and try to get better and actually make a contribution. My contribution in the field was minimal; my highlight was making a weak relay throw from right to our first baseman, whose laser throw home nailed a runner trying to score. And I was something like 1-for-22, with that one hit coming when I dribbled a ball through the hole vacated by the second baseman, who was covering second on a steal. I'll bet I even missed the sign that it was a steal or hit and run. Anyway, in summation, it pays off to keep playing and keep trying to get better. I never expected to be a big-time contributor on varsity, though when I was a freshman I thought I was much better than I actually was. Funny thing is when I finally made varsity as a senior, I ended up playing in all but four games and ended up starting a few games at second down the stretch after being the late-inning defensive substitution as second most of the year. Even got a hit, which began a three-run rally with two down in the bottom of the seventh. So we only lost 17-5. Anyway, this can even be some story which might help you guys who think you'll end up on the bench all season on varsity: keep working, and try to maintain a positive attitude, and who knows what might happen. And since you've gotten this far, and if you did your math correctly, then you'll realize Coach Phillips was the JV coach who cut me. And now I work with/for him. Crazy, huh? Oddly enough, it started me on the road to keeping stats in high school, college and hopefully after college. Is that irony? 'Cause I think it is.

    With that anecdote out of the way, I should remind you all that Coach Flynn is now the JV head coach, and Coach Bob Russell is a new member of the varsity coaching staff. He's a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., and I'm sure many of you have seen him teaching. He's also a South Burlington native and played some varsity baseball over there. Might as well drop some info on the other two coaches. Coach Phillips has been coaching at CHS since 1995, so this is his 10th season as a head coach in the baseball program. He coached JV to a 69-23 record over six years before taking the varsity head coaching job in 2001 after Coach Saddlemire retired. His teams over his three varsity seasons have gone a combined 22-31, including 6-12 a year ago. Third is me, Coach Kessler. I'm a fifth-year senior at Saint Michael's College, though it's only my fourth year at the institution; I transferred from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh after one year (everyone say it, now: DOO-KANE). My first year helping out the team was in 2000, the year after I graduated from CHS. I essentially kept stats that year and helped out where I could, but I feel I have evolved much more into a coach during the past four years. This is my fifth and likely final year in the program, as my prospective career in collegiate or professional sports information will take me out of state. All three of us on varsity are looking forward to a good season, and this could be the best yet among teams Coach Phillips has headed up during his varsity tenure. So with the pleasantries out of the way, we'll see everyone next week at practice. Have a relaxing weekend. It might be your last for a while!

    March 27, 2004 (early)

    We set our rosters today for both varsity and JV. Currently, we have 16 guys on varsity and 20 on JV. For JV, that sounds like a lot, but we'll have a core group of a dozen players who will dress for every game and another eight who will rotate in and out. Also, athletic director Dave Bahrenburg and coaches Phillips and Flynn are trying to set up some extra games for those auxiliary players, which will be against freshman teams. Thus, I have posted the rosters and updated the all-time roster for varsity. The freshman schedule will be posted soon enough. I might have some inaccurate information for some of the guys on the rosters, so please e-mail me at javy@sover.net if you want to correct some of the info. One thing I'm concerned about is misspelling names (especially Matt La Roe's; is it with a lowercase "R"?). I'd drop you all my IM screen name, but some of last year's seniors abused that privilege when they were juniors, spoiling it for the rest of you.

    The next order of business is fund raising. We'll be doing a hit-a-thon, a car wash, and selling ad space for the program I've created. Actually, for all of you guys who have made varsity, answer these questions for me for the program: nickname, favorite thing about baseball, favorite MLB stadium, favorite food, favorite band, dream vacation destination, and dream job. I can be persuaded to change some questions if anyone has some viable alternatives. Again, drop me an e-mail if you could. We sold ad space in the program last year for prices between $50 and $150, but I don't think we'll sell them for that much this year. I'd figure it would be between about $20 for a quarter page to $75 or $100 for a full page. But Coach Phillips and I will talk about that. This fund raising will help individuals pay for some uniform parts - hat, sweatshirt, socks, mock T-shirt - and any extra money we raise will go back into the program and help pay for things the players can all use. Depending on how much money individuals raise, they might even get prizes. Stay tuned for more on that, and send Coach Kessler (that's me...) answers to those questions and/or corrections to the varsity or JV rosters. See everyone back in the gym Monday at 3:15 p.m.

    March 24, 2004

    Our April 17 scrimmage against a TBA team is now tentatively set for April 16 at Milton High School. On April 17, we will plan on holding a car wash. However, I'm not sure about the JV team playing Milton. More details as I get them.

    March 23, 2004

    Nothing big to report right now, just a mid-week update. Tryouts are going swimmingly, and we'll choose who sticks around on Saturday morning between 9 and 11. I'm not sure yet whether we'll assign players to JV or varsity at that time, but players will at least know whether they're still in the program or not. Only a few more days to go. Those guys who need a light at the end of the tunnel, it really doesn't ever end; if you're out of shape, keep working hard and you'll get into shape. But the fact is, everyone has to keep working hard until the end of the season. This is not the last time you'll all have to prove yourselves to us as wanting to play for the high school this year. And to the coaches, it's pretty obvious when players aren't trying hard or ready to give the maximum effort.

    Oh, and I swear we didn't have this much snow when I woke up this morning. According to weather.com, today is supposed to be the coldest day out of the next 10 days, maxing out at only 42 degrees. It should be in the 50s from Thursday on through until Monday, and some rain will help wash away the snow on the field.

    Also just checked out the Missisquoi Web site, and you can cross out "TBA" as our scrimmage opponent on April 20 and write in "Missisquoi." Since we host them during the regular season, we'll take a drive up to Swanton for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Thunderbirds as our fourth scheduled scrimmage. This will be our final tune up before our season opener against South Burlington on April 22. (FYI, this is about the time when I begin referring to the varsity team as "us" and "we"; however, according to the MVU site, our JV team will host Missisquoi that day at the same time.)

    March 21, 2004

    The age-old question of how many Lakers it takes to assemble a batting tunnel was answered on Saturday: nine players and four coaches. I understand Coach Phillips arrived at CHS around 6 a.m. and unrolled the net and slid in the first four arcs of piping and assembled it solo - to put that into perspective, Coach Flynn, Lance Nichols and I took probably 15 minutes to do the fifth and final arc combined. I can't imagine how long it took to get the other four done. Either way, we got the tunnel assembled and laid against the wall, and it's good to go for next week (providing no gym teachers or maintenance crew remove the structural masterpiece). Today also marked the final day of only pitchers and catchers trying out. Beginning Monday at 3:15 p.m., full tryouts will begin for the other position players. We'll be going at that time all week and will decide upon who makes the final cut next Saturday.

    Now, those of you who were around last year might recall I put together a comprehensive varsity media guide for my senior seminar project at Saint Mike's. Then we tried selling them and made a grand total of about $35 after I spent hundreds of dollars on printing up numerous copies. (Still have some in the garage - anyone want another copy? Going cheap...) This year, however, I'm simply putting together a program for the baseball teams. We'll again have both varsity and JV rosters and schedules, but the main components of the program still relate mostly to the varsity team. This is largely due in part to me just transferring a lot of the data from last year's guide to this year's program, and most of the info (records, series histories, miscellaneous stats) have to do with the varsity program. But I'm going to try to get some individual varsity pictures and team pictures for both teams together for the program, which will be about 16 to 20 pages. Unlike last year, it won't be put together as a book. This time around, I'm essentially doing a packet. I'll just take the sheets and photocopy them back to back, then staple. Simple process + practically no cost to create = some sort of profit (hopefully). Obviously I can't put stuff together yet for the mini bios for the varsity players (which will each take up 1/6 of a page), but I'll be having tiny questionnaires with the following pieces of information: nickname, favorite thing about baseball, favorite MLB stadium, favorite food, favorite band, dream vacation destination and dream job. If anyone has suggestions for questions, let me know at javy@sover.net. I've already spent 10 hours in the lab the last two nights getting this going, so this is one of two final pieces. The other: getting ads together. This time around it's up to the players to get ads for the program. That will be addressed next week, and I'll snap some photos for this publication probably next Saturday or the following week.

    One last thought: We've been lucky that the snow hasn't been piling up. We seem to have had overnight snowfall each night this past week, and somehow I always find that by noon it's all gone. We're even supposed to hit the 50s this coming week, so here's hoping for an on-time spring. Oh, and happy spring to everyone. Winter is finally over, at least in name. I hope everyone comes prepared to work hard next week and be in the frame of mind for baseball. The pitchers and catchers were all focused this week and did a great job getting their tasks done and getting ready for the spring. I look forward to seeing everyone else do the same come Monday.

    March 16, 2004

    Now that I've received the full March and April schedules, I've added to the practice schedule accordingly. All of the practice times through April are listed, including those early morning pitcher/catcher practices. I'm not sure yet whether I'll be able to attend the 6:30 a.m. sessions, but I'm sure the pitchers and catchers will be, right? Also, varsity has two scrimmages and two more tentative scrimmages scheduled: April 10 versus MMU at 11 a.m. and April 13 versus BFA-Fairfax at 4 p.m. The schedule calls for scrimmages on the road on April 17 and 20 against undetermined teams at undetermined locations. NOTE: I'll begin to refer to things as something the team will be doing, and very soon that will solely be in reference to the varsity team. If there are JV guys out there who check out the site, I'm keeping track of all of the varsity practices and all of the full team practices for the next couple of weeks before we split off into varsity and JV teams. Just keep your ears open, and talk to JV Coach Flynn if you JV players have questions about practice times.

    March 15, 2004

    Ah, the dawn of a new season. Pitchers and catchers report today at 3:15 p.m., and I believe we're allowed eight hurlers and four receivers at tryouts this week. Full team tryouts begin next week after school at 3:15 p.m. each weekday.

    As far as posting information goes, I won't be posting varsity and JV rosters until they're set in stone; I really don't want to get anyone's hopes up and make them think they've made the team already before tryouts begin. This year I'll still be keeping the varsity stats and practice schedule up to date in Excel and posting them in PDF format. I'm also planning on keeping the Metro League and Division I standings this year and posting them in PDF format. Check out Adobe's Web site to download Acrobat Reader so you can read those files.

    March 5, 2004

    Seeing as how the coaches met today, it feels as though baseball is already here. All I have is a couple updates. First off, we have scheduled two April preseason scrimmages, but you know how April weather in Vermont can wreak havoc on the schedule. Our 2004 season opener with South Burlington has been moved from Friday, April 16, to Thursday, April 22. It's still scheduled for 4 p.m. at CHS. Finally, our May 27 game against Rice will likely be played at Centennial Field. The Lakers will play the visiting team, and game time has yet to be announced. As for the season itself, we have 40 guys signed up for tryouts, quite possibly the most during my nine years as a player and coach in the program. Pitchers and catchers will report to the gym beginning Monday, March 15, at 3:15 p.m. And then we'll take off from there. Keep tuned in for more updates.

    March 2, 2004

    As I strolled through today's 4 a.m. rain shower, I couldn't help but think the snow might actually disappear in time to give us an early spring for the first time since I was in high school. Last year we got out and scrimmaged, but it didn't feel like a full spring. In 2002, I don't believe we had any time on the field before playing - plus we didn't play a single game at CHS. In 2001, it snowed deep into April. In 2000, I was in Pittsburgh for school for a while, but I believe the beginning of the season was postponed because of snow, forcing us to schedule two doubleheaders later in the season. During my senior year, the spring of 1999, I seem to recall things went off without a hitch. Anyway, today's rain also got me to thinking about the season, my fifth and likely final with the team as a coach. It will be Coach Phillips' fourth season, and we're hoping for the program's best results since 2000. Tryouts for pitchers and catchers, according to the Metro League Web site's composite schedule, can begin March 15 - that's less than two weeks away. All other players (those of us who were neither trained to pitch nor catch, but simply to be mortal and accept our inadequacies for what they are) should show up on March 22. I'll post times as I find them out, but plan for somewhere between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. as starting times. There are a few items of business that you (i.e., the players, parents, and possibly coaches who read this site) might want to know about. First off, mouth guards will no longer be required during games. Some of the coaches in the state finally came to the conclusion that - surprise! - mouth guards actually put the players at greater risk for injury by muffling their attempts at verbal communication (they might run into each other, basically). As for more local bits of news, former varsity assistant coach Brian Flynn will assume the reins of the junior varsity team after the departure of Jeff Mongeon. Assistant Coach Jeff Tarigo also didn't return this season after spending last spring in the dugout, but Coach Phillips told me we have another assistant coach to fill Coach Tarigo's place. Our plans for traveling to Cooperstown have also fallen through, though it's possible we'll be able to get a game at each the University of Vermont's Centennial Field and Saint Michael's College's Doc Jacobs Field. Stay tuned on that front, and check out the site every few days between now and March 15. More information will be rolling in soon.

    January 7, 2004

    Happy New Year to everyone who reads this during the winter months. With negative temperatures and snow out there, springtime seems pretty far off, but it's sooner than we think. With that sentiment, I have posted the 2004 schedule. We are planning another trip to Cooperstown, and it's possible we'll get a game at a college field around here, as well. Those components have yet to be added to the schedule, but they will when it all falls into place. For the composite Metro League schedule (for all teams), click here (courtesy of the Vermont Metro Baseball page). We open our season on April 16 at Saddie Field against South Burlington High School at 4 p.m., our only non-conference affair of the season. In 28 previous season openers, we hold a 10-18 record on opening day, including a 9-8 mark when opening the season at home. This is slated to be our third opener with South Burlington. The first was a 14-4 home loss in 1994, followed by a 3-2 road loss a year ago. FYI, tryouts for pitchers and catchers begin March 15, and all players who are interested in playing JV or varsity will begin on March 22.