The 3rd and 4th Baseball team ends great year with a win!

The 3rd and 4th Baseball team CN1 ended the season with a win and a 3rd place finish in the Nevada Tournament. The Royals end the year with an outstanding 13-4-1 record. On another picture perfect night for baseball (who would have thought we would have any with all the rain early in the year), the Royals playing some of the best team ball of the year beat the Collins Maxwell team 5-2 in the consolation final. Offense, defense and pitching were all on display for the Royals as they jumped out to an early lead and made the pitches and plays that assured them the victory. Brady Stoeffler got the Royals off on the right foot by setting down the CM1 batters 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st, inducing 2 infield pops and a strikeout. Brady had some help from his defense on the pop-ups as Garret Tiarks snared the catch on an extremely high pop that he and Grant Tiarks both seemed to have a play on. Garret also caught the second one, this one more of a line drive, that was headed to right field. In the Royals half of the 1st, they served notice that they were going to be aggressive at the plate as Tanner Clatt rapped a sharp hit to 3rd. Had he not slipped coming out of the box, would have been safe at first. Garret Tiarks stepped in and delivered a long drive to right-center field that resulted in a home run. Grant Tiarks, not to be outdone by his younger brother, then stepped in and stroked another long drive to about the same location with the same results: a home run. The next batter, Brady Stoeffler, drove the ball to center field where only a sliding stop by the left-center fielder kept that ball from rolling a long way. Ben Pepper was up next and stroked a ball to 3rd that the 3rd baseman made a nice play on and forced the runner at 2nd on a very close play. Hunter Beard then finished the hit parade in the 1st with a nice single to center. In all, the Royals got 4 hits, 2 runs in 7 at-bats in the bottom of the first. For the game, Tanner Clatt was 1 for 2 with a single and scored 1 run, Garret Tiarks was 2 for 2 with a home run and a triple (that scored on an overthrow), scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI's, Grant Tiarks was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's on a home run and a single, Brady Stoeffler was 2 for 2 on 2 singles and a run scored, Ben Pepper was 1 for 2 on a single, Hunter Beard was 1 for 2 with a single, and Chase Carlson reached base after being hit by a pitch. Brady Stoeffler pitched well again for the Royals as he pitched 3 innings, allowed only 2 hits, 1 run and struck out 6 of the 12 batters he faced, Grant Tiarks came on in the 4th and pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing 2 hits, 1 run and struck out 1 of the 5 batters he faced. Tanner Clatt came on in the 4th and struck out the only batter he faced in the 4th for the final out stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd to quelch the CM1 threat. Tanner pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing 0 hits, o runs and struck out all batters he faced! Defensively for the game, Garret Tiarks had the 2 putouts in the 1st and Grant Tiarks had an assist on a come-backer at the mound to Tanner Clatt for the putout. Grant also had a putout at first on a ball he knocked down and made a diving reach to first to tag the bag ahead of the runner. The "almost" play of the year came on an absolute rocket of a hit by a CM1 batter down the 3rd base line to the fence. Hunter Beard, racing from his left center field position to back up the play, showed off his arm strength by hurling the ball to the infield perfectly hitting his cut-off, shortstop Garret Tiarks, who wheeled and threw a strike to catcher Brady Stoeffler, who applied the tag to a surprised batter just a millisecond too late. It is a play like this one, and a baserunning play made by Brady Stoeffler, who was on 2nd base when a ball was hit to 3rd and bluffed the 3rd baseman into believing he was going to run, allowing the batter to be safe at 1st without a throw, that tells us coaches this group of kids has a good grasp of the game and how it should be played. I had a wonderful year coaching these boys. They were all very dedicated and truly played as a team up and down the roster. They are a fun group to coach and the parents should feel very proud -- they are outstanding young men. If they stick together and keep working at it, the future of Colo Nesco baseball looks very bright. I would like to thank all the parents for getting your kids to practices and games and for dealing with all the rescheduling that had to go on this year. Also a big thank you goes out to my fellow coaches - Randy Stoeffler, Mike Price, Marlin Beard, and Brad Pepper - you made my job much easier and provided positive, knowledgable coaching to the kids. Thank you to both Colo Rec and Nesco Rec for all their support, with a special thanks to Jon and Sandy Cutler and Kami Perry and Joel Niemeyer for all their help throughout the season. Lastly a thank you to all the wives of us coaches who make it possible for us to coach. A special thank you to my wife, Amber, for keeping stats, all the logistical work to keep me somewhat organized, and for generally putting up with me and all the baseball equipment that graces our dining room during the season. (Remember: pictures Tuesday, meet at 6:20pm for awards!)