I found a couple of pictures of Nicholas during his early baseball career. In 2004 he had made The All Star Team and played in a weekend tournament in Crawfordsville, IN. The picture is of him (and the homerun ball) after a 2 out, 2 run, game tying home run in the bottom of the last inning. He had 2 other opportunities in other games in the regular season tournament to either win a game or tie a game but was left on deck. Both of those times he slammed his bat into the ground. After having a talk with him about attitude it was discovered he really, really, really wanted to get up there and bat. This is where together we came to the conclusion "he loves pressure".
Crawfordsville, IN Tourney 2005
Friday, June 1, 2007
Nick is rocking this baseball season!
Nicholas closing this one out and earning himself a huge, huge save!!!
In the very last inning we have an 8-5 lead and Nicholas has 3 innings left so we at this point are saving him. We get an out, 2 more outs and we win without using Nicholas. 2 straight singles puts runners on 1st n 2nd. Next guy up rips a triple down the 3rd base line and brings in 2 runs making the score 8-7 in the bottom of the last inning. Can't wait any longer now, coaches bring him in, after all, we have to get to the championship game. Bottom of the last inning with a runner on 3rd and 1 out he comes in. NOW THIS IS BIG TIME PRESSURE!!! I don't remember what he ran the pitch count to on the 1st batter but he struck him out which is pretty much what you have to do in this situation. I do remember vividly the pitch count on the next batter. Nicholas got behind in the count 3-0 and I'm thinking to myself that he absolutely does not want to put the winning run on 1st with a walk, it opens up so much more offensive options for the opposing team. He battles back and struck the guy out from a 3 ball n 0 strike count. Broncos WIN 8-7!!!!!!!!! And on to The Championship game!!!!!
In an ironic turn of events in a game at Westfield, IN, Nicholas was benched during a game for attitude. He was pitching and the opposing team was scoring on him. In an exchange of communication between him and coach, Nicholas responded back inappropriately. He was benched! Now, the rules call for all kids to bat regardless. As a parent I felt the benching was needed for a quick attitude adjustment. As we came to bat and got a couple of runners on I saw Nicholas step into the batters box. I thought a benching was a benching and he should not have been allowed to bat. Rules are rules I guess. Needless to say with 2 runners on he sent a tremendous shot over the left field wall for a 3 run home run. It landed on another field, approximately a 325' shot.
In his rec league he has dominated opponents this year from the mound. Pitchers are allowed 3 innings per game at this age. He has pitched 20 innings and has given up 4 earned runs on 6 hits. he has 43 K's against 11 walks. He is 5-1 as a starter which has only been the last 5 games. He was the closer before these games. His last victory came in the 1st round of the tournament. We finished 5th in the division out of 6 teams so we had a No. 5 seed and played the no. 2 seed. Nicholas started and gave up 2 UNearned runs in the 2nd inning. No earned runs for his 3 innings, had 5 K's and walked 3, gave up 4 hits. At the end of his 3 innings we had a 6-2 lead.
The rec season has come to a sad end for Nicholas' team. We lost in a game that turned out to be a tremendous battle between pitchers. This was a loss to the no. 1 seeded team. Nicholas started on the mound and pitched his alotted 3 innings. 1st inning was a bit shaky as he had 1 out and runners on 2nd & 3rd. he was able to battle back and leave those runners stranded. In his 3 innings he gave up 2 hits, walked 2, struck out 5 & gave up 0 runs. At the end of 3 innings it was 0-0. Our pitcher gave up 3 runs in the 4th inning which were the only runs scored in the game.
For the season Nicholas pitched 23 innings and here are his stats.
Munster Tourney 2007!
I have been far far behind in posting information about my son's baseball season. As you can see from previous posts he had a stellar season last year. This year he has also been playing on a tournament team and has traveled most weekends and played some of the top teams both in the nation and the state. This is Nicholas' 1st year on a tournament team and is in his 1st year in Pony League in the rec league here in Lafayette. Over the past couple of weekends he has began to pick up his level of playing against the intense competition in these tournaments. More about those stats in a bit.
His rec league stats are phenomenal, especially his pitching stats. All of this will be updated soon along with a pitching and batting story coming out of The Munster Indiana Tourney on the weekend of June 8, 9, 10. Below is a picture of his 2nd place trophy earned by his team who are named The Lafayette Broncos, a 13 year old tourney team established this year.
Picture above is Nicholas closing out a game under pressure and getting a big time save. Here's the story: At Munster where they play against a higher level of players. He went 10-16 at the plate with 4 doubles, a triple that landed in an apartment complex lawn, well beyond the home run wall they had taken down. Pitching here they were allowed 7 innings total for the weekend. He is their No. 1 pitcher so the idea is to save him as many innings as possible for the championship game. But of course you have to get there first. In the game to get into the championship game we had used up our No. 2 pitchers innings and we have other pitchers that sort of get us by. His rec league stats are phenomenal, especially his pitching stats. All of this will be updated soon along with a pitching and batting story coming out of The Munster Indiana Tourney on the weekend of June 8, 9, 10. Below is a picture of his 2nd place trophy earned by his team who are named The Lafayette Broncos, a 13 year old tourney team established this year.
In the very last inning we have an 8-5 lead and Nicholas has 3 innings left so we at this point are saving him. We get an out, 2 more outs and we win without using Nicholas. 2 straight singles puts runners on 1st n 2nd. Next guy up rips a triple down the 3rd base line and brings in 2 runs making the score 8-7 in the bottom of the last inning. Can't wait any longer now, coaches bring him in, after all, we have to get to the championship game. Bottom of the last inning with a runner on 3rd and 1 out he comes in. NOW THIS IS BIG TIME PRESSURE!!! I don't remember what he ran the pitch count to on the 1st batter but he struck him out which is pretty much what you have to do in this situation. I do remember vividly the pitch count on the next batter. Nicholas got behind in the count 3-0 and I'm thinking to myself that he absolutely does not want to put the winning run on 1st with a walk, it opens up so much more offensive options for the opposing team. He battles back and struck the guy out from a 3 ball n 0 strike count. Broncos WIN 8-7!!!!!!!!! And on to The Championship game!!!!!
In an ironic turn of events in a game at Westfield, IN, Nicholas was benched during a game for attitude. He was pitching and the opposing team was scoring on him. In an exchange of communication between him and coach, Nicholas responded back inappropriately. He was benched! Now, the rules call for all kids to bat regardless. As a parent I felt the benching was needed for a quick attitude adjustment. As we came to bat and got a couple of runners on I saw Nicholas step into the batters box. I thought a benching was a benching and he should not have been allowed to bat. Rules are rules I guess. Needless to say with 2 runners on he sent a tremendous shot over the left field wall for a 3 run home run. It landed on another field, approximately a 325' shot.
In his rec league he has dominated opponents this year from the mound. Pitchers are allowed 3 innings per game at this age. He has pitched 20 innings and has given up 4 earned runs on 6 hits. he has 43 K's against 11 walks. He is 5-1 as a starter which has only been the last 5 games. He was the closer before these games. His last victory came in the 1st round of the tournament. We finished 5th in the division out of 6 teams so we had a No. 5 seed and played the no. 2 seed. Nicholas started and gave up 2 UNearned runs in the 2nd inning. No earned runs for his 3 innings, had 5 K's and walked 3, gave up 4 hits. At the end of his 3 innings we had a 6-2 lead.
The rec season has come to a sad end for Nicholas' team. We lost in a game that turned out to be a tremendous battle between pitchers. This was a loss to the no. 1 seeded team. Nicholas started on the mound and pitched his alotted 3 innings. 1st inning was a bit shaky as he had 1 out and runners on 2nd & 3rd. he was able to battle back and leave those runners stranded. In his 3 innings he gave up 2 hits, walked 2, struck out 5 & gave up 0 runs. At the end of 3 innings it was 0-0. Our pitcher gave up 3 runs in the 4th inning which were the only runs scored in the game.
For the season Nicholas pitched 23 innings and here are his stats.
55 K’s
14 walks
ERA is .64 giving up 4 earned runs for those 23 innings
5-1
1 save
Nicholas trained at this facility in 2007!Munster Tourney 2007!
Back to back HR's, this one a grand slam
An incredible display of power and clutch hitting!!!!
Nicholas is winter training here 2008!!!
After struggling Friday night with his swing in a double header in which he looked terrible swinging the bat Nicholas came thru big time in todays game. In Fridays double header Nicholas, while batting had his arms far too high and had the barrel of the bat pointing downward instead of upward forcing him to take an extra movement in his swing. We chatted Friday night and got him back to his Nicholas swing where his upper arms are straight out and the barrel of the bat is pointing to the sky but angled backwards. A picture in FLICKER (perfect stance) in the link below and named McCaw Tourney.
Nicholas went 2-4 today with a hard smash to 2nd base for a ground out on his 1st at bat. On this hit I knew he had his swing back. Next time up with runners on 2nd & 3rd he sends a towering shot over right center for a 3 run home run & into a 15-20 mph gusts of wind. Now I know his swing is back!!! 3rd time up in the game bases are juiced, Nicholas sends a line drive shot over left/center wall for a grand slam!!! His 1st back to back home run game. 4th time up believe it or not bases are loaded again but unfortunately he struck out facing a brand new pitcher. For the day he had 7 of the teams 13 runs batted in. Tomorrow are the finals and they have yet to use him on the mound.
Back to Back Home Runs!Nicholas went 2-4 today with a hard smash to 2nd base for a ground out on his 1st at bat. On this hit I knew he had his swing back. Next time up with runners on 2nd & 3rd he sends a towering shot over right center for a 3 run home run & into a 15-20 mph gusts of wind. Now I know his swing is back!!! 3rd time up in the game bases are juiced, Nicholas sends a line drive shot over left/center wall for a grand slam!!! His 1st back to back home run game. 4th time up believe it or not bases are loaded again but unfortunately he struck out facing a brand new pitcher. For the day he had 7 of the teams 13 runs batted in. Tomorrow are the finals and they have yet to use him on the mound.
Nicholas is winter training here 2008!!!
Nick gets media coverage
Nicholas (Nick Stone) and his team got some media coverage over their games up to that point. Unfortunately the team lost the tournament and under several controversial situations. More on that later. The season is now over & what a season it was. Nicholas played close to 60 games of baseball this year and he claims he loved every minute of it.
Newspaper coverage!
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