The story starts last Monday when, during fielding practice, James took a bad hop to the right eye. We were sufficiently concerned that we took him to Urgent Care to get checked out. No fractured bones, no concussion, no damage to the eye, but he did have a shiner. He was back the next day in batting practice hitting soft toss. Then the day following he was hitting the machine. Then the day after that he was back to flyballs and infield workouts. It says something when you're back at it so soon after you're in Urgent Care.
So his team played his first tournament game yesterday and were blown out. They were relegated to the losers bracket and played their first elimination game tonight.
Tonight, his team was down 6-1 after the first inning and scratched and clawed their way back into the game. James came up in the fourth inning and hit a sharp grounder to second that kicked off the fielders' glove and brought in two runs. That tied the game and put his team ahead by a run.
The game see-sawed into the last inning (6th) when James came up in the bottom half of the inning with no outs and runner on second. He swung and missed and then took two balls, and then hit a scorcher down the right field line that was at most 12 inches foul. So, with the count to 2-2, he went the other way and roped a line drive into left field to drive home the winning run.
His coach picked him up and threw him in the air and caught him. The League President picked up Taoster. I hugged the safety officer and called him "big boy" and hugged other people I've known for years but not well. Overall he was 3-3 tonight with a walk.
I've captured what I think is the walk off but it came out really blurry. Maybe someone else has a better picture.
Here's the game changer write up...
H.'s Walk-off Seals the Deal in Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars Victory Over East Altadena All-Stars
Central Altadena LL
Coast All Stars seized victory in dramatic walk-off fashion, thanks to a
walk-off double at the end of the game to topple East Altadena
All-Stars. The game was tied at 11 with Central Altadena
LL Coast All Stars batting in the bottom of the sixth when James H
doubled on a 3-2 count, scoring one run.
Central Altadena LL
Coast All Stars earned the victory despite allowing East Altadena
All-Stars to score six runs in the first inning. The offensive
onslaught by East Altadena All-Stars was led by #21, #35,
#10, and #9, all sending runners across the plate with RBIs in the
inning.
East Altadena All-Stars got on the board in the first inning. #21 singled on a 1-1 count, scoring two runs.
After East Altadena
All-Stars scored one run in the top of the second, Central Altadena LL
Coast All Stars answered with one of their own. East Altadena All-Stars
scored when #12 doubled on a 3-1 count, scoring
one run. Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars then answered when Tanner
S grounded out, scoring one run.
Central Altadena LL
Coast All Stars tallied five runs in the fourth inning. The offensive
onslaught came from singles by Christian Z, Chase B, and James, by
Tanner, and a double by Rocco S.
Henry R led things
off on the mound for Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars. He went one
inning, allowing six runs on six hits and striking out two.
#21 was on the mound
for East Altadena All-Stars. He lasted two innings, allowing three hits
and two runs while striking out three. #10 and #12 entered the game
from the bullpen, throwing one and two-thirds
innings and one and one-third innings respectively.
Central Altadena LL
Coast All Stars scattered 11 hits in the game. James, Chase, and Rocco
each managed multiple hits for Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars.
James led Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars
with three hits in three at bats. Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars
tore up the base paths, as five players stole at least two bases. Henry
led the way with three. Central Altadena LL Coast All Stars didn't
commit a single error in the field. Eric S had
the most chances in the field with seven.
East Altadena
All-Stars racked up 12 hits. #21 and #9 all had multiple hits for East
Altadena All-Stars. #21 went 4-for-4 at the plate to lead East Altadena
All-Stars in hits. #21 led East Altadena All-Stars
with three stolen bases, as they ran wild on the base paths with ten
stolen bases.