Emotions...

I feel like I have been on emotional roller coaster the past few days. High high's and Low Low's, and a little bit of confusion thrown in the mix. I really want to reflect on this season, but more so the relationships that I have developed with the kids on this team.
We lost our first round series this weekend, and our season is over. I will come back and reflect a little more later, once I settle down and process whats happened. It still has not sunk in, so I'll keep it short for now. I am so proud of our guys, but still in disbelief that our season is over (but thats the way it goes). Here is a pic of our seniors with the coaches....



I'm back, and here are a couple of things I want to talk about while they are fresh in my mind...

First, I guess it is playoff mentality (whatever that means... i guess win at all costs), but I was very disappointed to see an opposing coach trash one of his pitchers arms by throwing him extensively back to back days. This made me feel good about our approach in taking the opposite stance and seeking to keep our kids future first and foremost in our philosophy as coaches.

Second, I feel that we got away from what we do, and what we have been successful at as the season winded down. Things like...
- hitting the ball on the ground with short compact swings
- throwing strikes, working ahead in the count
- pitching and defense setting the tone
- not depending on the long ball, but being scrappy and taking advantage of what we're given (see game 1 of playoff series)
- not striking out and putting the ball in play at all costs
- paying attention to detail in our take 3's after games / practices

this was our approach at the beginning of the year, and this is why we were successful.
Not taking anything away from what we have done, which was unbelievable, and that which I have never experienced as a coach, but as a coach I feel like we could have done better in our overall approach as the season winded down. Again, I am as proud of these guys as any I have ever coached, and these guys have taught me as much as I have taught them.