Lost a wild one in the tourney

We lost a wild one in the tourney 4-3. Thought we might have to use Nick to pitch again. Our starter walked batters, hit batters until it was 3-0 with 0 outs in the 1st and bases still loaded. Changed pitchers, bringing in a senior and finally got out of that jam. 2nd inning they get another unearned run on walks & hit batters. 4-0 end of 2. We get a rally in the 6th to make it 4-3 end of 6. 7th inning Nick is 4th batter in the order. He has thrived on this scenario in the past and has always either won the game or tied it with clutch hits in the past, including a home run on a couple of ocassions. Clearly a HR was not going to happen because of the use of wooden bats. Two outs now & the batter before him gets on, steals 2nd. The stage is set!!! Nicholas battles to a full count, fouls off a couple of pitches in that full count, fouls off a couple more after the count went full then sends a fly ball into deep center. The wind (40mph gusts blowing in from right field) held it up long enough for the center fielder to make a play on it. All in all it was a decent run as we won the league but finished 2nd in the tourney.

Tourney time

Nicholas got the call to start the 1st game of the season ending tourney. This surprised me a bit as I was thinking he might come in and close this game out. He has never started a high school game on the mound. Needless to say Nick Stone (my son) was on fire. As he has done on the previous 1st 2 batters he had faced when entering a game, he struck the batter out on 3 pitches. In his 1st complete game he had I think 8 strike outs, gave up 1 hit, gave up 2 walks, 0 runs. He now has 16 K's, 4 walks, given up 2 hits, gave up 0 runs, has 2 wins & 1 save as a rookie high school pitcher. He pitched 9 full innings of high school baseball.

The team will play in the championship game today at 4pm!

GO CARDS!!!!

High school league season ending

The high school league that Nicholas played in at Loeb Stadium is coming to an end. Today was the last regular season games. Nicholas had good solid contact on his 1st at bat after we worked on his batting stance yesterday. A grounder to the shortstop that resulted in a fielders choice so he ended up on 1st. He then proceeded to steal 2nd and later score. He got a good solid base hit down the 3rd base line in a later inning.

In the last inning & his team leading 4-2 he made a spectacular diving catch in center field to get the 1st out and prevent a potential rally by the opposing team.

Next week the tourney starts and he has a 10am game at beautiful Loeb Stadium.

Go Cards!!!

1st high school pitching win

By Larry
Nicholas had a terrible day at the plate. But, they brought him in to pitch in the 2nd game with the team down 4-2. He pitched inning 5, 6 & 7. He struck the 1st batter out on 3 pitches. Then proceeded to strike out the side in this the 5th inning on 13 pitches. We're still down 4-2. In the 6th he struck out the 1st batter, walked the next, got a fly out to center, struck out the last batter. He now has 5 strike outs in 2 innings. End of 6 we trail 4-3 now. In top of the last inning our team gets 6 runs giving us the lead 9-4. Last inning he strikes out the 1st batter, the next batter gets a single, the next batter hits into a double play to shortstop to end the game. Nicholas gets his 1st high school pitching win!In 4 innings of high school baseball as a 14 year old pitcher Nicholas has given up 0 runs, 2 walks and has 8 strike outs!!! Averaging 2 K's per inning. He has given up 1 hit. He has 1 win, 1 save & 0 losses as a high school pitcher!!!

My son and big time baseball

Well, Nicholas and his Squires Team finished their season about 2 months ago. It came to an end in a round for The Pony World Series. Since school has started and Nicholas being in the 9th grade recreation baseball as he once knew it is over. It's high school baseball now which means BIG TIME BASEBALL. Since school started his high school baseball coach has put him on a weight program and has the pitching coach working with him 2 days a week.

Ironically Lafayette has a high school fall ball league at beautiful Loeb Stadium just across the street from our house. It's every Tippecanoe County kids dream to play here because it has been the host site for The Colt World Series!!! Known world wide because kids ages 15-16 from countries like Puerto Rico, Mexico and other distant places play a tourney here every year in August.

Nicholas wanted a chance at the age of 14 to play against regional high school standouts. Several players in this high school league have already played for Colt World Series Teams.

In his 1st 2 games of the year he had a couple of grounders to the infield for outs and a walk, some stolen bases & some routine plays in the outfield. In his 3rd high school game he got his 1st RBI, a ground out to 2nd that brought in the runner from 3rd.

In is 4th high school game his stats changed drastically. Subbing in n out because of lack of experience he went 2-2 at the plate. He had a double early then a bases loaded double that brought in 3 runs!!! Two tremendous shots to right center and deep.

He has been desperately wanting to pitch which surprises me some and yet doesn't. Nicholas has always loved pressure and at the age of 14 he's certainly getting that here. He finally got to pitch his 1st inning, closing out a 10-0 lead. He struck out the 1st batter on 3 pitches, walked the next batter, who stole 2nd. Got a fly out to center, a wild pitch sends the runner to 3rd. Up comes the 4th batter and playing against this level of players I was ready for the wheels to fly off. He struck the batter out, game over and his 1st high school pitching save!!!

Loeb Stadium

High School Fall Ball

TCBA tourney champs

By Larry

Nicholas' highly touted baseball team has just won their league tournament. This league consists of teams from 4 surrounding counties. The team has been on fire lately winning games of 16-1, 15-1, 4-3, 13-1 & The Championship game 4-0. They had to beat a strong McCutcheon Team who had beaten them twice this year. Nicholas has recovered from his knee injury and has been so-so at the plate. In the 4-3 win, he had a sacrifice fly to deep right field with bases loaded in the bottom of the last inning to bring in the winning run. Next up is THE PONY WORLD SERIES which Lafayette could very well host the 1st round.

GO SQUIRES!!!!

Knights classic

By Larry

The Knights Classic ended with our Squire team finishing 2nd. We lost to Lake Central in the final game 4-1. Nicholas was injured during the entire tourney with his knee. He did get to DH and had some singles, a triple and one double. Entirely out of pitchers in the final game Nicholas asked to come in and close the last inning of the championship game giving up a walk, a double that brought in one run. He struck out 2 batters and we could not get any runs in the bottom of the 7th and lost 4-1.

We are now in our league tournament and Nicholas' knee has healed and he's back in the starting line up. Struggling a bit at the plate he did send 2 shots deep into right field. The last one with bases loaded, one out in the bottom of the 7th inning. The sacrifice fly brought in the winning run, a walk off (LOL) 4-3 win.

Nicholas did come in to close out a game a few days earlier in which we led 16-1. He threw 13 pitches, striking out the last 2 batters for a save.

Our tourney

By Larry
Having our tourney this weekend 20th-22nd at CC High School field. We play 2 games on Friday, the 1st at 5:30pm against Delphi. In league play we are on a losing streak now. We have blown late game leads in the last 2 games. We finished 3rd in a tourney at Cincy this past weekend out of 14 teams. Nicholas has been on fire at the plate. He went 4-4 in one game with 3 doubles and a single. He went 3-4 in another with a double and 3-4 with 3 singles in another in that tourney. He pitched the final game for 5 innings giving up one run as we 10 runned that team in 5. Monday night he went 3-3 with 2 doubles and a single and reached base on a dropped 3rd strike.

Last nights game was frightening in that in the 1st inning with 2 runners on Nicholas hits one down the 1st base line and deep. It should have been a stand up triple but on his approach to 3rd his brain sent 2 signals to his body to slide or stand (LOL) and he attempted both. In the ugly slide he twisted his body around and it threw him in some sort of wild direction twisting his knee, it was ugly. These were the 1st runs of the game. He limped into home on another single and we ended up with 5 runs. After sitting a few minutes it tightened up I guess and he said he was not going back in. We led most of the next 3-4 innings but in the bottom of the 5th our lead started to dwindle. As it did I saw Nicholas up pacing the dugout and stretching the knee. Then a disastrous inning in the bottom of the 5th put us behind 9-6. Nicholas told me he was going back in. I asked coach and he said no. Nicholas started to do sprints up n down the 1st baseline to the fence. Top 1/2 of the 6th he told coach he was going back in. He got the ok and was lead off man in the top of the 6th. He drills a single to right field which begins a rally. The team responds & gets 2 runs for a now 9-8 score.

The bottom of the 6th they threaten a bit by getting a double with only 1 out. The next 2 batters I get to see 2 incredible plays that once the inning was over would rally us more. There's one out and a runner on 2nd. A foul tip that pops up and to the left of our catcher only about 6-8 ft. in the air. All he has time to do is lunge to his left from his crouching position and reach out in desperation. He pulls it off in an incredible catch for the 2nd out now. The next batter up our pitcher sends a wild throw into center field in a pick off attempt at 2nd. Nicholas is in center and he's covering it as he should. He comes up firing to 3rd. Now, I look at where the runner is at in relation to Nicholas' position. Noway, nohow is he going to get the runner. In a perfect strike our 3rd baseman didn't have to move his glove an inch and just as he caught it the runner slides into the tag for the 3rd out.

BUT!!! We couldn't muster a run in the top 1/2 of the 7th.

Ohio tourney

By Larry
The team finished 3rd in this Ohio tourney with 3 wins and 1 loss. Nicholas, in another game went 3-4 with a double and 2 singles. He also pitched the last game and gave up 1 run in 5 innings in which we 10 runned a team.

In a game last night at Dayton, he had 2 doubles and a single. In the last inning we were down 3 runs and had 2 runners on. Nicholas sent a shot down the right field line and well over the wall but foul. this would have tied the game, instead he had a double for an rbi. He is not batting clean up for The Squires!!

Cincy tourney

By Larry

Big tourney in Harrison OH. The team won their 1st game by a score of 21-6. Nicholas was on fire with 3 doubles. The 1st 2 doubles bases were loaded and he cleared them for 6 rbi's. Another double brought another 2 rbi's. He later got a single that brought in another run. 4-4 for the day with 9 rbi's. All 3 doubles were off the wall in right/center.

The rest of the games were postponed due to rain.

Squires baseball

By Larry

The Squires had a big game with a team that hammered them earlier in the season. Benton Central, the leagues top team with a record of 7-1 was the opponent. We scored early. Nicholas had a single into right field first time up, hit into a double play and grounded out. With The Squiers leading 7-0 in the 5th inning, Nicholas comes up with bases loaded. A hard shot into the left center gap for a double clears the bases for a 10-0 final. (10 run rule)!!!

This makes Benton Central 7-2 & The Squires are 6-2 in The TCBA League.

Big tournament at McCaw Park this weekend.

Go Squires!!!!!!!!!!!

Squire baseball

Been a couple of weeks since I have posted about Nicholas' baseball games. Struggling a bit with the bat this year as his stance & swing have been a bit off. A little work at the academy and a chat with his coach and things certainly have changed. A 2 run blast that as soon as it left the bat knew it was gone. Next time up a deep shot that backed the center fielder up against the wall but was caught.

The Squires are now 5-2 in league play. They have a game Thursday night and a tourney in Lafayette at McCaw Park this weekend.

GO SQUIRES!!!!

Brand new baseball season for Nick

Nicholas will be playing for a new baseball team this year. It is a travel squad for his current school, Central Catholic. Last year CC won The Class 1-A State Baseball Championship. Below is a link that will provide some interesting info for youth baseball. First game is April 13th, 2008.

Go Squires!!!!
Nicholas' baseball team, The Squires!

Baseball season for Nick is on

Quick report of Nicholas' 1st 2 games of the season!! We started off the season 2-0 with both wins coming against Harrison. Nicholas is playing the outfield this year & really for the 1st time in his career. He had filled in on about 2 other times for like an out or 2 last year. Got off to a rocky start as they popped one up to him in center and he missed it. 2 innings later he got another chance and came through. 1st game he had no bat to speak of as he struck out 2x and grounded out to the infield. Had a single late in the game.

Pitching, it appears he is the absolute closer. The change in his delivery this year looks funky. They brought him in in the bottom of the last inning with the score 13-8, no outs, bases loaded and Harrison had just scored 2 runs. His 1st 2 warm up pitches struck in the grass infield about 3/4 of the way to the plate. I thought oh man!!! He proceeded to make a wild pitch to let in a run. (remember last year during rec season here in Lafayette he did the very same thing, then never gave up another run for like 20 innings. He shut em down getting the next 3 batters for a save and a final score of 13-9.

(Playin on Harrison's High School BB field)

2nd game, 4-4 at the plate with 2 doubles that went about 330'. The first was a towering shot to right/center (HRun wall was 361') that fell about 5-10' shy of the warning track. This thing might have had serious contention of going over had he not hit it so freaking high. It like towered over the lighting system. These 2 doubles brought in a total of 4 rbi's. He had another single for an rbi later, then another single.

He had his 1st diving catch in left field on a diving backhand to rob a player and saved a couple of runs. Had a single hit to him with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd. That runner tried to score from 2nd on a hit n run and Nicholas fired a perfect strike in the air from left field to nail the guy at home to end the inning.

Brought him in to close the 2nd game in the last inning after Harrison had just scored 2 runs to make it 10-7 and 0 outs & bases were juiced. He left those 3 base runners stranded for a final of 10-7 & another save.

On to the championship game

McCutcheon Tourney

Played 1 game Friday night and won against McCutcheon. Nicholas went 2-4 with a ground rule double that bounced once and went over the fence. Never pitched as they didn't need him.

2 games today and the 1st I know little about as I had to work. We lost against a prominent tourney team Pony Express 2-0. From my understanding those 2 runs came on an error so they were unearned which means this must have been an incredible game to watch. Nicholas pitched the last inning and had a 3 up 3 down inning. Unsure of what happened at the plate but surely not much.

2nd game today I was working but in touch with a friend via cell phone and at the same time finishing with a possibility of getting back to see some of the game at Wea. Bill told me Nicholas bounced a double off the wall in the 1st inning for a double and 2 RBI's. I had called him. He called back a few minutes later and told me he had just been robbed when he backed the center fielder up against the wall. The player got a glove on it but it bounced out for a double. I got there in the top 1/2 of the last inning, we were down 10-8 and batting. Bill told me Nicholas had had another double in the previous inning off the right center wall. We exploded for 15 runs in this inning!!! Nicholas had 2 base hits in this inning for a 5-5 day at the plate. They brought him in to close & did this with authority. A K-out, a fly out and a measly grounder to the 2nd baseman. For the 1st time since his drastic mechanics change pitching he had good form consistently.

McCutcheon tourney champs

What an incredible game to have watched from a youth baseball standpoint. Pony Express (who gets their players statewide), undefeated in the tourney and the team that beat us 2-0 yesterday was the opponent. We jumped on em early and had a lead of 1-0 at the end of one. They scored 3 runs in the 2nd to lead it 3-1. That score stood until Nicholas had a game tying 2 run double into deep right center with 2 outs in the last inning. (7th). That score stood for the next 4 innings & into the 11th when in the top 1/2 we got a run. Then Nicholas had a 2 run single into right center to make it 6-3 at the end of 10 1/2 innings. We have to hold em, so in comes Nicholas to close it & I'm pacing big time. Got a fly out to center. Puts a guy on with a walk and the next scenario I think is a coaching error. The next batter drills one over the left fielders head for a run scoring double. I thought the left fielder was way to shallow for their No. 2 batter because with a runner on and only one out, you want to keep everything in front of you. It's now 6-4 with one out and a runner on 2nd. Nick strikes out the next 2 batters, their No. 3 & No. 4 hitters in the order for his first tournament (travel squad) championship and the teams 1st tournament championship this year!!! Also awarded were National points towards a national ranking!!!

Bill Lodde (who owns The Igloos in town & has a son that catches) ran onto the field and got a ball from the umps, gave it to me to give to Nicholas for a game ball.

I had been thinking all week about this CC team and the losses they have incurred. They have lost 3 games by 1 run each. They lost 2-0 yesterday to a prominent Pony Express Team with both of those runs coming on an error. But, I was thinking that this team is really pretty good.

Feelings?? I ran up to the pitching coach and grabbed him for a hug and had to thank him for what he has done with Nicholas. I knew the change had to be made with his wind up and delivery to make it any further in baseball as a picther. This is the 1st year I've ran into coach's that actually teach. The Bronco coaches at some point should have corrected his wind up n delivery. And to have the patience to allow him thru the hard times in those 2 games in Indy when he got whipped. To know he was the guy. Besides, he is the brother to Nick Vukas' wife, who owns Nick's Bar & lord knows how much more I had made them rich in the past. Her and I talked at Dayton in detail about the times there and their other bar in Bloomington..Jake's.

Tournament Champs!!!!!