PICTURE PERFECT MECHANICS

  Good hitting starts with good mechanics.  Notice on Jake Parker's stance, that he is well balanced by having his feet a little wider than shoulder length apart.  This puts him in a good athletic position.  His hands are relaxed and positioned behind the ear opening of his helmet.  His chin is tucked into his front right shoulder, his eyes are fixed on the pitcher and his knees are slightly bent with his hips well positioned over his back-side.  His pre-pitch stance has put him in great position to hit the ball solidly.

Well Balanced And Focused.

"Squishing The Bug"-"Eye On The Ball".

  As the pitch is delivered, notice that Jake's stride of his right foot is short, but allows his hips to turn in order to get full extension of his arms as he delivers his swing.  His hips or his belt-line is now facing directly towards the pitcher.  Also, look at his back left foot; this foot position is know as "Squishing The Bug".  His foot has turned, and is now on the ball of his left foot.  This motion helps keep his weight back on his bent back left leg, with his front right leg straightened out.  This position taps into the power source of the biggest muscles of his body--the legs.  As Jake takes his swing, you'll see his eyes are focused on the ball, left hand on the bat is now palm up facing the sky, and as the swing plays out, he'll be able to see his bat hit the ball.  Practice these mechanics for 5-10 minutes daily, and you too can have "Picture Perfect Mechanics", and can become a better hitter.

SONS TAKE DOWN PREVIOUSLY UNDEFEATED RED SOX

Kevin "K.O." O'Neil

Danny "D.K." Keenan

Robert Dunphy

The Sons needed a complete solid effort in all phases of the game (pitching, catching, base running, hitting and fielding) and got it, against a very good Red Sox club.  The Sons jumped out on top with Tommy Hastry getting a solid single to left and then was driven in by Dom DePaoli's double, in which he ended up scoring as well on some clever base running.  In the bottom of the first, the Red Sox cut the lead in half 2-1, and then tried to score again on a single up the middle, but they were denied by a perfectly executed relay, DePaoli to Hastry to Parker at the plate for the third out.  After Danny Keenan's 3 strikeout inning in the bottom of the second , the Sons struck again, this time for 3 runs off the batting of Jake Parker, "D.K.", DePaoli, and Comeau.  "D.K." retired the side in the bottom of the third, but then in the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox tacked on two more runs, making the score 5-3.  In the fifth inning the Sons could not add to their run total, but Sons pitcher Dom DePaoli made sure the Red Sox were not going to add to theirs either, as he struck all six batters he faced to save the game in impressive style.  It must be mentioned that in the bottom of the fifth, the Red Sox sent to the plate their 3 best hitters, and Dom fired fast ball after fast ball and retired all 3 batters on only ten pitches (one being a "waste" pitch); certainly one of the best pitching efforts seen this year.  Hopefully the Sons can bring the same team effort to Saturday's game.  The Sons record now stands at 3 wins against 3 losses, and now hope to get above the .500 mark against Mooney Consruction.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE 5TH AND 6TH INNINGS

Jake "SullDog" Sullivan

What started out as a pitcher's duel, ended up being a barn burner with a flurry of runs scored by both the Sons and Duncan MacKellar Insurance.  The final score after the smoke settled was a 12-9 defeat at the hands of team Duncan.  In the first inning, Duncan scored a two out run on a misplayed ball, but couldn't manage anything more off the stellar pitching performance of lefty Jake Sullivan; but as we've seen so far this season, after a pitch count pitching change is made, anything can happen and usually does.  Duncan tacked on three runs in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead, only to have the Sons rally back with 3 of there own in the bottom of the frame, to make it a 4-3 game.  This is where it all goes crazy, as the next 9 out of 10 Duncan batters all reached base by way of a hit or walk, with 8 of those runners eventually scoring.  In the bottom of the sixth, the Sons now trailing 12-3, mounted an offensive assault of their own, scoring 6 runs to get it close, but it was just a bit to little to late, as Duncan recorded the last out of the game and ended the combined teams 14 run inning of the sixth.  Besides "Sully's" excellent pitching, Jake Parker, D.K., and Dom each had a multiple hit day, and nice defensive plays were turned in by Bobby O'Neil in center, D.K. at short and Jake Parker at catcher (on a text book foul pop up catch behind the plate).  Next on tap for the Sons are the Red Sox on Thursday night.  Hopefully with a solid 6 inning effort, the team can get back on the winning track.    



Bobby O'Neil

SONS BATTLE SAGAMORE PLUMBING INTO EXTRA INNINGS



Dom DePaoli and Tommy Hastry

Jake Connolly

Jake Parker




The Sons held a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning before league powerhouse Sagamore Plumbing tied the game and eventually won it in the seventh by a score of 8-3.  Dom DePaoli kept the Sagamore potent offense in check for the most part, allowing only one run through the fifth before he reached his pitch count maximum and had to give way to the young arms of Tommy Hastry and Jake Connolly.   Sagamore Plumbing took full advantage of the young inexperienced Sons pitchers in the sixth and seventh innings and tacked on 7 runs to run the score up in anotherwise close game.  In spite of the loss, there were some positives that came from this game; one being the solid hitting from the middle of the line-up continues.  Danny "D.K." Keenan, DePaoli, and Cam Comeau each had hard hit doubles in the game and some nice fielding plays were turned in by D.K. and Matt Parker.  It also should be noted that Jake Connolly showed some moxy coming in to pitch the seventh, as he recorded 3 strikeouts to eventually stop the onslaught attack of Sagamore Plumbing, in his first game pitching for the Sons.  The Sons face divisional foe Duncan MacKellar next on Sunday.  

IT AIN'T OVER TIL IT'S OVER---BIG COMEBACK WALK-OFF VICTORY FOR THE SONS

  It took the Sons until their final at bat in the bottom of the 6th to get an improbable come from behind victory friday night against Zuppardi Dental.  After trailing the entire game, and Zuppardi looking like they were going to coast to an easy victory, the Sons never say die attitude kicked into full swing and with two outs in the last inning got consecutive hits from Bobby O'Neil, Jake Sullivan, Matt Parker, Robert Dunphy, Jake Connolly, Jake Parker (his second of the Inning) and then finally the game winning walk off extra base hit was delivered by Danny Keenan (also having a 2nd hit in the inning)  to complete the amazing comeback victory.  It wasn't all about the offense though; outstanding fielding by Jake Sullivan in left, solid catching behind the plate by Danny Keenan and Dom DePaoli's slick fielding at first base, prevented big innings by Zuppardi.  The final score was- Sons 8 Zuppardi 7.


Jake Parker on the mound.

Dom DePaoli at the plate.

It must be mentioned that Alex Kennedy of Zuppardi Dental pitched an outstanding 5 innings, surrendering only 1 run to the Sons before he reached the maximum pitch count and had to exit the mound for a relief pitcher. The Sons have faced some early season tough pitching, and it doesn't look like that trend will end any time soon, as they will be going up against two quality teams this weekend; the first one being Sagamore Plumbing on Saturday and Duncan MacKellar Insurance on Sunday.

SONS BATS SILENCED IN 3-0 DEFEAT

The Sons faced Sacchetti Plumbing Wednesday night and were defeated 3-0.  Sacchetti ace pitcher Dave Irwin pounded the strike zone all night long and put down 17 of 18 batters by way of the "K".  The Sons did manage to get a couple of hits in the first inning by Danny Keenan, and Dom DePaoli, but they ended up being stranded on 2nd and 3rd, squandering a potential big inning.  After the 1st, the Sons couldn't manage to get things going as Irwin kept striking out batter after batter.  There were a couple of bright spots in the game besides the two 1st inning hits; Tommy Hastry made some stellar plays at third and Cam Comeau pitched three very solid innings of relief.  Hopefully the Sons can get their hitting attack back against team Zuppardi friday night. 

WEATHER COLD, SONS HOT IN SEASON OPENER

Jake Connolly's first career Little League hit in season opener

In spite of the cold, raw and wet conditions, the Sons baseball team came out hot in defeating the two time defending league champion Cardinals by a score of 10-2.  The Sons mounted a 13 hit, 10 run offensive attack in a game shortened 5 inning season opener.  In the first inning, the team had 5 consecutive hits that produced 4 runs.  In the second and third innings the Sons scored 1 run in each and then sandwiched another 4 run outburst in the fifth, highlighted by Dom DePaoli's first of the season home run.  Dom led the offensive attack with his 3 for 3 hitting performance and was joined by multiple hit teammates Jake Parker, Cam Comeau, Bobby O'Neil, Jake Sullivan, and first year little leaguer Jake Connolly each contributing 2 hits apiece.

On the defensive side, Dom kept the Cardinal bats quiet striking out all 12 batters he faced in his 4 innings of pitching.  As the conditions worsened and the baseball almost impossible to grip, the tandem of Bobby O'Neil and Jake Sullivan mercifully finished up the last inning to the pleasure of all the rain drenched fans, coaches, umpires, and especially the shivering players.  Next up for the team, the Sons will be facing Sacchetti Plumbing on Wednesday....weather permitting.