July 5 Day 1 What did we do Monday Night? Watched the Pelicand get mercied...

The SS Seminole game left alot for us to build on. Solid pitching, great defense and the bats rally woke up. After getting back to the beach and a barbecue by the Master Bar B Q'er, Greg Z, the boys and dad headed off to catch the Myrtle Beach Pelicans game. The Pelicans as we later found out are the class "A" minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They were playing the Salem Red Sox. The stadium personnel were great, we ran into the group sales manager as we approached one of the ticket windows, Ten minutes later we had personalized tickets and off we went. Tonight was a bonus night as "Kids under 12 ate free" more soda, hit dogs and chips.

The evening was a cool 78 degrees, we had great seats that were already covered by the shade and the cool Carolina breeze made for a really pleasant evening. The attached link recaps the game tat was highlighted by Pelican errors, players crashing into each other and a play where the Sox scored 2 run on one passed ball. Kid named Clemens was on the mound for the Pelicans. We thought he was Roger's son until we bought a program into the 3rd inning. That was disappointing (and embarrassing) http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4042987

We also discovered the Westfield Blue obnoxious fan tonight. Jared, hopped up on sugar, caffeine and the energy of the game did a great job of rooting the Pelicans on with all of the sayings and phrases he has heard from the coaches over the years.....

1. Here we go boys!
2. That's not you, thats not you!
3. Hit the cut off,

Jared lead the boys in a rousing rendition of lets go Pelicans after the Sox went up 10-2 on a grand slam so stirring aka obnoxious that the 4 tattooed red sox fans in front of us started chanting Grand Slam! Grand Slam! Grand Slam after every cadence that Jared called.

Youth Baseball is Great

We also ran into the SSi Seminoles at the game and had a good time chatting with them but in a precursor to our upcoming games, when the kids told the Seminoles that we played the Titans tomorrow, the comment that came back was, "The Titans? They're outrageous!" A team that just scored 18 runs on us, called our next opponent, Outrageous.

July 5 - Day 1 of Tidal Wave

Lets Play Two!

6:00am rolled around early today. Boys were champs and got up, dressed in our Blue and Greys and ate breakfast. Scrambled eggs, Cheerios, bagels, banana's and fruit were on the menu with OJ, milk and Gatorade.

Breakfast was over, the boys bussed their own tables and headed outside into the sun and what became a very effective production line. Each boy got sprayed front, back and hands and we did not forget the ears. Into the vans at 645am...

The Vans

Took on lives of their own. There were 2 team vans and of course the Golden KIA. In one van, my van, driven by Matt C, we always arrived first. We had 5 players: Devin, Owen, Kyle, Harry and Liam. Makes you wonder why Liam did not drive with his dad and Jack C did not drive with his dad, makes you go, HUUUMMMM, but I digress.

Game 1 8am Westfield Blue Vs Tennessee Thunder from Knoxville at Westside Yards

The tourney started off as well as a coach could hope. Sharp singles from Jack C and Jake K and 2 stolen bases and the Westfield Blue was in business. We went on to score 1 but in precursor of things to come, we left the bases loaded. Jared started off great getting the leadoff hitter to pop out, followed by a sharp single to center. Up came the Thunder's Home Run Derby representative (he hit 8 monster blasts you might recall) and champion and the field fell silent. Ball one, strike one, foul over the back stop, strike 3!!!! e struck him out until we dropped the third strike and he reached safely......a precursor to the game. Maybe it was the first game jitters, maybe it was the fireworks going off til 3am, but the Blue struggled giving up 4 runs but also giving the Thunder 6 outs to score the 4.

Mono and Kyle threw the next 3 innings, the boys threw strikes and kept their composure under some pretty stressful plays as the drops kept coming: 6 more outs in the second, 6 in the 3rd and 5 in the fourth all made it a long morning. Chris C came on in the 5th to pitch a scoreless inning and set the Blue up for Game 2. Coach Mono and coach Rich were heard to days after the game. "Tennessee was a very good team. We know they thumped us and we probably should have lost but more like 7-1. 18- 1 was the final..... On o Game 2 and the Saint Simon Island Seminoles from Georgia.

Game 2 10:15am Westfield Blue Vs SSI Seminoles (GA) at Westside Yards

Smarting from the 8am drubbing from Tennessee, the Blue came out en fuego in Game 2. Chris C started the game and continued his mastery of the Southern teams as he set down the Seminoles in the first, allowing 1 run on a past pall and a swipe of home. The Blue's bast came alive and the Seminoles looked a little tentative in the field. The Blue started the game scoring 8 runs on 8 hits. Key its in the inning were Kyle's double to the right field fence along with 2 out RBI singles from Justin, Liam, Harry and Mono.

The Seminoles fought back tacking on runs as Chris, Harry and Kyle took command of the hill. Strikes were on order and we found ourselves down 12-8 going into the top of the 6th. The Seminoles had a few timely hits, the Blue made a few inopportune errors and a long home run to right gave the Seminoles an 18-8 lead. The Blue fought to the bitter end with a double from Kyle and another single from Mono leaving the bases loaded against the Seminole closer.

Fourth of July Musings from Myrtle Beach

6am came early this morning for the Westfield Blue Moms and Dads, (maybe earlier for Dave and Greg, the advanced scouting party who battled out problems with incorrect key codes, local cuisine (shrimp and grits, really?) bad directions and major life and death decisions altering decisions that could shape the success of the entire trip:

Duffy's or Harold's on the beach for adult refreshments????

In true Westfield Blue fashion, our tryst advance party did what any of us would do. They went to both.

It did look like the Blue players were up at the crack of dawn anticipating this year's 600 mile TRAVEL tournament. The crew arrived by mini van, Westfield taxi, and rumor has it that Len, Jared, Devin and J Rod arrived at Newark International via hovercraft. Funny how we all seemed to converge on the Continental Airline Group travel desk within minutes. The boys looked great in their collared shirts, carrying pillows, IPODS, back packs and steamer trunks.... and yet others had carry ons. But you should have seen the looks on the dads' eyes when the Westchester Lightning Team Rawlings 13u team showed up at the check in with us. Since it was Sunday am, I figured I'd have a chat with the big guy. My little prayer went something like this...

Dear God, its me, Mono, (Mono I):

Please protect the boys from injury and please also let the boys play to their capabilities, have fun and enjoy the trip.

Well, that's not really how it went, It really went something like tis:

Dear God, its me, Mono, (Mono I):

No, change that please don't let the boys get hurt, BUT PLEASE let the boys play outrageously. Let them play like they never have before. Let them swing their new 2 3/4 big barrel bats like thunder and Lord, please let the pitchers (especially my boy) throw the ball with great precision and with the speed and force of lightning. And Lord, if you cant see fit to come through on the thunder and lightning stuff, please, please please let this Westchester team that I am looking at in Newark Airport be 13u!!!

We all made it through security relatively unscathed although the TSA agents did take a good hard looks at a few of the Blue's birth certificates....Has anyone seen the upscale mall at Terminal C?

All was going well as we headed through the shopping gallery in the terminal. Who goes shopping at Newark Airport's Terminal C for upscale clothing? We almost lost a few boys (and dads claim ing to buy coffee) at Brooks Brothers and Brookstone. NJ has great clothing sales taxes, but this is ridiculous. Gucci, Armani, I even saw a PB Fitness wear outlet....

The flight was full and uneventful. Whoever booked the seats forgot to get all the seats together but the boys made due. Only casualty was Liam when Matt got bumped to first class. A number of Blue players did check in on Liam and had planned on sitting with him, but the middle seat and the size of the woman on the aisle lets just say did not work in Liam's favor. That being said, the flight was landing in less than an hour and we were off.....NOT....

In a scene reminiscent of the Seinfeld episode, we waited on line longer for the vans than we were in the air. I wonder if it had something to do with Matt L asking if it was still legal to drink and drive in South Carolina???? Just when we thought we were on our way, they could not find the second van, they had to clean the second van, they had to pull the second van around the airport. The parking lot attendant was nice enough but worked in South Carolina time, not 12 year old baseball coach who has 24 players and dads waiting to get to the beach, check out the house and out of the sun time.......

Just before noon we were off, Drivers Matt and Matt were in control and we zipped out of the airport and onto the highway. In what would be a pre cursor to the van travel throughout the trip the Matt C van arrived at Almost Paradise ahead of the Matt L van. (Likely did not have anything to do with the Matt L GPS not working though.....)

The welcome party was there to greet us and the boys. The ensuing chaos of boys looking for rooms and roommates, exploring the house checking out the game room, and to my horror the miniature pool, was muffled by the need for the dads to find the cold ones waiting for us thanks to the recon part's early arrival the night before. We had the beer, no food for lunch as Greg and Dave were attacked by a band of marauding South Carolina Gamecocks the night before who stole the cold cuts, condiments, veggies and humus they had secured the night before. Fortunately Dave and Greg were able to save the important stuff, Coors Lite, Gatorade and and Charmin.....

Seriously after a run to LGA food store we were in business making sandwhiches, pouring drinks and organizing the next run.

BASEBALL? That's why we're here

We had to be at Ripken, 30 mins away, for meetings, practice, parades and skills competition by 2pm and we were off. To outstanding thoughts when we arrived, (1) its hot (but cooler than NJ) and (2) all of these boys are BIG.

Practice was fun. We had 45 minutes to hit and do some fielding. There were hard coder teams that really knew how to run a condensed practice, then there was us. But in true NJ fashion, we got swings for all the boys and we found an empty practice field way, way, way down towards the end of the complex, Navin Filed. Cool field with dimensions of 203 to left, 310 to center and 182 to right. Trivia question, Navin field was the home to what Major League baseball team before their current stadium was built?

Practice was followed by a picnic for the boys and coaches, pizza, dogs, gatorade and Wendy's frosty's contributed to our white Westfield canvases (I mean jerseys). The boys had a blast!

The Parade

All of the teams lined up for the Opening Ceremony Parade, as the dads had the flashbacks to the Avis counter from earlier in the day. If was fun to see the other teams that we would play, a we met up with the Moorestown team, stood next to the Maryland Cardinals, Georgia Titans and the Miami Bengals. We also met the Rizza Rockers from Illinois. Finally we stood next to the only International team and our semi final opponent, the Whitby Chiefs, who in true Canadian fashion, carried in a big Canadian flag.

The ceremony was capped off by a coach's dance contest. Frank represented us well but had NO chance against the guy with the grey wig or the guy that did the splits. Those boys from Texas certainly came to compete....

Skills Competition

Turn 2

We were second up in the Turn 2 competition and struggled on the first round but Liam, Kyle, Jake K, Jared, Justin and Harry improved the second round and turned 4 double plays in 39 seconds, respectable but well off the 29 second record that won the event for the MAryland Cardinals.

Bean Ball

Bean Ball was a throwing accuracy event. Jack P, Eddie, Mono, Devin, Chris and Jake K cae up with an average of 8.8 score which was good for second in our group of 8 an for 4th overall. The object was to hit a dummy in the head, chest or body and each player was awarded points.

Home Run Derby

We saw some prolific home run hitters in this competition. The clean up hitter from the Tennessee Thunder. He hit 8 homers and all were BOMBS. Jack C gave it his best. The dads were happy to have it end quick so we could get headed back to the beach for fireworks.

The Fireworks

The house was 1 block off the beach, located in the Cherry Grove Section of North Myrtle Beach. A band of dads and all the boys headed to the beach for the fireworks around 9pm.

Coach Frank was the only one with foresight to bring a beach chair. The beach was mobbed with everyone facing north but thee were INCREDIBLE fireworks displays flashing south down the beach for miles. The boys were digging holes and occupying themselves as we watch the rockets red glare in the distance. By 10:30 we were convinced that the Cherry Grove fireworks were not going to go off as planned. Much o our surprise when they shot off at 11pm.......

Lights out was 11:30 since we had 2 early games on Monday. Recap on Day 1:

1. Travel: Smooth. We arrived safely, no one lost made it to field on time.
2. Ripken complex: As Chris C Sr said, Baseball Heaven.
3. House layout and location: Awesome.
4. Fireworks: Dramatic. Except someone forgot to tell the neighbors that we had an 8am game. Fireworks went off in the street until 3am....

Too bad no one told the neighbors as there were fireworks, M 80's, botto rockets going off until almost after 3am.......

The Eagle Has Landed !!!

Or was it "One small step for Greg and me, one giant leap for Wetfield Blue?"

The triumphant explorers rolled into Almost Paradise shortly after 9pm. Look out Myrtle Beach 2 wild and crazy guys from Jersey are in town....

Myrtle Beach or Bust!

Amid great hoopla and fan fare the the Westfield Blue Summer Road Trip has begun. The Gold KIA mini van pulled down Brightwood, headed on the 654 mile trek down I95 at 10:30am amid blue skies and throngs of well wishers lining the roads. Well, maybe not throngs, maybe just Simon, Matt, Mono, Roseanne, Dave, Matt and of course Westfield Blue's # 1 fan, Jim B.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin or Dave and Greg?

Its hard to draw a comparison to today's take off, part of me likened the preparation to what it must be like on the launch pad at mission control. Last minute prep work to make more room, remove seats (how many dads does it take to remove 2 removable seats from a South Korean made minivan? see answer below), arrange 500 bags of cargo in the precise way so that the re-entry vehicle wont skip off earth's atmosphere http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/spaceship-apollo-12.jpg goo(or in this case get us a ticket from Sheriff Buford T Pusser http://www.sheriffbufordpusser.com/BufordPhotos.html somewhere south of the NJ Turnpike.

Lewis and Clark or Dave and Greg?

The fans this morning must have felt the same way the American people did over 206 years ago when Lewis and Clark started their epic trek up the Missouri into the Louisiana Territory. Sending our expeditionary team ahead, a little short on provisions, a little short on style but more than enough grit, cigars and motivation must have been how Thomas Jefferson felt as the Lewis and Clark expedition set sail up the Missouri River into the Louisiana Territory.

Dave and Greg's Map

Trip from 141 Brightwood Ave, Westfield, NJ 07090-3919 to 212 30th Ave N, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582-1807

Lewis and Clark's Map

http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/section4/wacities/poindex.htm

Game 11 The Boys are Back- Westfield Blue falls 5-4 to Long Hill

While any loss is disappointing when you keep score, tonight' s result was not as important as the fact the Boys in Blue found their mojo again. Harry, Mono and Jake F combined to hold a strong hitting Long Hill team to 8 hits and 2 earned runs and 2 walks over 6 strong innings Friday night at Gumbert 3.

Blue lead most of the way and took a 3-0 with timely hitting and good base running. Liam and Eddie had timely 2 out RBI singles in the first and second and JY's sac fly to center in the third moved the lead to 3. LH came back in the 4th inning with some timely hitting and crafty base running of their own to tie the score.

The Blue were lead defensively with great outfield play from Devin "Z Glide", J Rod and Jack C. Despite the loss, Coaches Mono, Mack and Matt let the team know this was their best performance of the summer. Next up the Tennessee Thunder in Myrtle Beach. This will be the 100th Blue game over the past 5 seasons.

Game 9 A Win is a Win

The skies were grey and the Westfield Bue Ground Crew (Dave and Frank) did a great job getting the field in shape, not to mention their rendition of YMCA http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/. The Blue bounced back to end a 5 game slide behind the dominant pitching, aggressive base running and timely hitting.

Harry got the Blue off to a solid start in the first inning throwing strikes and the Blue defense made some plays. Mono came in to help end a 3 run Grey rally and throw 3+ dominant innings for the Blue. Mono said after the game, "I felt strong and probably should not have grooved the 1-2 fastball to Drew." He was right!

The Blue's bats continue to sputter having scored their first 4 runs on walks and steals and aggressive base running. Jack P and Jared came up with timely hits to start and finish the 6 run fourth inning rally. Mono got back to his swinging ways with a triple to the fence in right but was stranded on 3rd after some nifty fielding by the Grey.