Minor division - CARDINALS


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MINOR CARDINALS NEWS AND PHOTOS

Angels 6, Cardinals 8

Entering into the final game of the regular season, the Cardinals were looking for the opportunity to continue to show the improvement and “never give up” attitude that has been the cornerstone of this team. After giving up one run in the first inning to the Angels, the Cardinals had the opportunity to tie the game in the bottom half of the first with hits by Jack Moore and Trevor Griffiths. However the Angels starting pitcher showed the metal that he is made of by striking out the next three hitters leaving the score 1-0.

The second inning was not polite for the Cardinals defense, who allowed 5 runs to score, making the score to Angels 6, Cardinals 0 after two full innings of play. The Cardinals D tightened up with an impressive inning that was pitched by Izzet Kosar, retiring the side in order while making one of the best defensive plays of the game taking a sure extra base hit away from the Angels by catching a sharp line drive up the middle for the out.

In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals were able to get on the board. With one out, Derek Morhar hit a shot to right field for a single, followed by a huge two run home run by Jack Moore, to cut into the lead 6-2. Can the Cardinals say “ice cream”? The Cardinals had the opportunity to reduce the lead further with hits by Trevor Griffiths and Mark O’Brien, but the Angels were able to get out of the inning with two consecutive outs.

Making his second pitching appearance of the year was lefty Jack Moore, who pitched a scoreless fourth inning while striking out one, holding the lead to Angels 6, Cardinals 2 going into the bottom of the last inning. Would the “never give up” theme continue? Ashton Lebsack lead off the inning with his second hit of the game, which was a double to left. One out later, Sam Tomlinson had an RBI single which scored Ashton, making the score 6-3. After a quick out, that brought up Matthew Wilhelm with two outs and the Cardinals down by three runs. Matthew showed the kind of improved hitting that makes the entire team proud, hitting an RBI triple to center field, scoring Sam and making the lead 6-4 bringing up Derek Morhar. Derek has also shown great improvement in hitting over the last half of the season, and hit an RBI double, scoring Matthew from third and making the score 6-5. It was then Jack Moore’s turn, who followed his earlier single and homerun by hitting a double scoring Derek, tying the game at 6-6. With time running out in the game, Trevor quickly hit a triple (Trevor’s third hit of the game) that scored Jack allowing the Cardinals to take a 7-6 lead, the first lead of the game for the Cardinals. Mark O’Brien finished the game by hitting an RBI single that scored Trevor making the score Cardinals 8, Angels 6. It was at that time that the game was called due to time. An excellent comeback win for the improving Cardinals team and a promising stepping stone going into the playoffs.

Mother’s Day

In lieu of having a practice on Mother’s Day, the Cardinals decided to do something special for the Mothers and their Sons by having a Mothers v Sons baseball game. With the Mothers of course being the Home team, the rules were pretty relaxed as Nigel Griffiths was responsible for pitching and blocking for the Mothers and Coach Griffiths the catcher. The Sons took a quick 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Moms showed that they were not going to be pushed around, scoring 4 in the bottom of the 1st making the lead 7-4. The Sons scored 5 more in the second inning, but the Moms scored 9 in the bottom half of the 2nd and took a 13-11 lead after two. But the Sons weren’t done, showing that although they love their Mothers very much, they weren’t going to lay down and scored 6 runs taking what would seem to be an insurmountable 17-13 lead going into the bottom half of the last inning. But the Mothers weren’t a bunch of shrinking violets and fought back by scoring 4 runs making the final score Sons 17, Mothers 17. Throughout the game, the Sons and their siblings enjoyed juice, cookies and donuts while the Moms and Dads enjoyed drinking “OJ” and watching their children have a blast. All in all it turned out to be a great Mother’s Day outing for the Cardinals with memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. We hope all of the Mothers enjoyed a very fun and relaxing Mother’s Day!!!!


     
     
   

The Cardinals entered the game against the first place Marlins on a high after their previous game against the Yankees, but the Marlins quickly reminded the Cardinals why they are in first place. In the top of the first inning, the Marlins scored four quick runs against the Cardinals, showcasing their excellent batting lineup, until pitcher Trevor Griffiths took matters into his own hands by striking out two of the last three hitters. Showing the world that the Cardinals are a team on the rise, they quickly had runner on first and third with one out with two rips to left field by Jack Moore and Trevor Griffiths. The Cardinals were able to score a run with a fielder’s choice RBI by Wyatt Chang, but were unable to break through with a bigger inning, ending the first with the score of Marlins 4, Cardinals 1. In the second inning, it was Ingi Hong’s turn to pitch, and boy did he pitch well, striking out two of the four batters that he faced while giving up no runs. After the Marlins scored one run in the top of the third, taking a 5-1 lead, prospects for the Cardinals started to look a little bleak. Bleak until the Cardinals took up their bats in the bottom of the third that is. With one out, Jack Moore, Trevor Griffiths, Mark O’Brien and Wyatt Chang all had huge hits for the Cardinals. These hits, to go along with Ashton Lebsack’s fielder’s choice RBI allowed the Cardinals to score three runs and cut the lead to 5-4. After no runs were scored by either team in the fourth inning despite a hard hit double by Seth Karner to right field, the Marlins were able to score one more run in the top of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the last inning. But the “never give up” attitude of the Cardinals yet again showed up with a one out hit by Mark O’Brien. Wyatt Chang followed with a fielder’s choice out to third base, bringing Ashton Lebsack up with two outs and a man on first. Ashton promptly lined a two out double to left, cutting the lead to 6-5. That brought up Ingi Hong who had a masterful at bat, fouling of pitch after pitch in a nine pitch at bat, but unfortunately his hard hit shot to second base was masterfully caught by the second baseman to end the game. In the end, all of the Cardinals players and coaches were very happy with the way that they played the game and realized that had two defensive plays gone differently, they would have won. In addition they are realizing that given all of their hard work and keeping things fun that there is no team in the league that they cannot compete with and cannot wait for the playoffs to begin. Go Cardinals!!!
 
 
       

 


Cardinals 1, Red Sox 10

Opposites Day
After some recent success, the Cardinals decided to change things up by having “Opposites Day”. The Cardinals decided to have even more fun than they usually have by reversing the batting lineup as well as having a few of their players making their debut at new positions. Although the end results were not what the Cardinals were hoping for, nobody could doubt that the players thoroughly enjoyed the changes that were made for this game on a bright Saturday afternoon. The Red Sox started the game by scoring a quick three runs off of pitcher Trevor Griffiths and the Cardinals defense who had to deal with two hard hit balls down the third base line which third baseman Matthew Wilhem did his best to stop. Matthew’s hard work was unfortunately not rewarded, but the Cardinals were able to clamp down on defense and get out of the inning. The second inning belonged to Seth Karner who was making his second appearance of the year as pitcher, but first full inning outing. Seth’s debut was against one batter with whom he struck out, and this outing was just as successful as he was able to pitch a scoreless second inning. In addition, making his pitching debut was Jack Moore in the fourth inning. Jack showed that, although giving up three runs, he completely enjoyed his debut and is hopeful to improve in the future.
 

 


Cardinals 3, Angels 14    

It was a tough day for the Cardinals against a very hard hitting Angels team. After finding out that one of their leaders, Wyatt Chang, would be out indefinitely because of a football injury, things started off well for the Cardinals, with Jack Moore scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first, scoring on an RBI single by Izzet Kosar. Although the Cardinals had first inning hits or walks by Moore, Trevor Griffiths, Kosar and Ashton Lebsack, they were only able to score the lone run because of the tough Angel’s defense. The Angels came back with four runs in the first and three more in the second, taking a 7-1 lead, most of the runs being scored on deflating 2 out RBI hits. The “never give up” attitude of the Cardinals once again was on display, with the Cardinals scoring 2 runs in the fourth cutting into the lead to 7-3, but once again, the Cardinals were the victim of the two out RBI hits and coaches pitching, with the Angels scoring seven more runs total in the last two innings. All totaled, of the Angels 14 runs, 8 were scored with two outs. Highlights included a great defensive play at third base by Matthew Wilhem who prevented what most likely would have been at least a double as well as a backhanded stop by Ingi Hong at second base. In addition, both Derek Morhar and Sam Tomlinson had base hits on the hardest hit balls that they have hit this season. In the end though, the Cardinals know what they need to do to improve and are showing the commitment and desire to do so and can’t wait to put that on display in our next game.
  


Giants 3, Cardinals 12    

Overview
The Cardinals played by far their most complete game of the season. Playing in their fourth consecutive home game, starting pitcher Trevor Griffiths relied on the solid defense that was backing him up to go along with his dominating pitching, using just 10 pitches to shut down the top of the Giants order as the Cardinals held the mighty Giants offense to no runs. The Cardinals offense rewarded the defense by scoring two quick runs in the bottom of the first with RBI hits by Wyatt Chang and Izzet Kosar which scored Jack Moore and Mark O’Brien. In the second inning, Ingi Hong made is season pitching debut and showed the world that he will be a force to be reckoned with by striking out two Giants while pitching a scoreless second. Again, the Cardinals offense rewarded the defense by scoring a run in the bottom of the second on hits by Sam Tomlinson, Seth Karner which allowed Matthew Wilhem to drive in the third run of the game with an RBI single making the score 3-0 after two. In the third and fourth innings, it was Mark O’Brien’s turn as pitcher, holding the Giants scoreless for both innings while getting out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth while striking out two. The Cardinals broke it open in the third by scoring five runs and taking an 8-0 lead. Jack Moore lead off with a solid hit up the middle followed by a hit by Trevor Griffiths which he was able to stretch into a two run home run. Afterwards, Wyatt Chang, Mark O’Brien and Izzet Kosar all scored, with Izzet scoring on Ashton Lebsack’s sacrifice ground ball. Trevor Griffiths took the mound again in the fifth inning and again showed his efficient and effective pitching technique, holding the Giants to zero runs on a 1, 2, 3 inning. Cardinals though were not done on offense, scoring four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, once again starting at the top of the order. Jack Moore and Wyatt Chang had their third hit and scored their third run of the game each, to go along with runs scored by Trevor Griffiths and Ashton Lebsack allowing the Cardinals to take a 12-0 lead going into the top of the sixth. Izzet Kosar then made his second pitching appearance of the season and showed great promise for the future. Although the Giants did not quit and scored three runs in the inning, Izzet bore down getting the final out on a ground out that Wyatt Chang was able to gobble up and make a quick throw to Ashton Lebsack to end the game.
  

 

Cardinals 2, Yankees 5    

Overview
The Cardinals played another great game up until the end, but once again were snake bitten in the last inning of play which prevented a win. The Yankees jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Trevor Griffiths clamped down, striking out the last two batters to finish the inning and then pitched a scoreless second inning. In the two innings that he pitched, Trevor struck out six batter, including five in a row. The third and fourth innings was all about the dominating pitching performance by Mark O’Brien, who gave up no runs while striking out six Yankees as well (including the last three batters that Mark faced), to keep the game close at 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning. It was the bottom of the fourth when the Cardinals bats came to life, starting with a leadoff hit by Jack Moore. Jack thought about stretching the hit into a double and was then caught in “no-man’s land” between first and second. What ensued was an impressive eight throw pickle by the Yankees first and second basemen. While the crowd was screaming “Go to first!!!”… “Go to second!!!!”, the throw eventually wound up going into left field and Jack was able to use his speed to score on the play. It appeared as if the crowd on both sides thoroughly enjoyed watching that play unfold. Jack was followed by hits from Trevor Griffiths and Mark O’Brien, enabling Izzet Kosar to drive in the second run of the inning with a solid hit tying the score 2-2 after four innings. The Cardinals had some trouble on defense in the top of the fifth against a very tough Yankees team behind the gutty pitching of Ashton Lebsack who was able to take matters into his own hands by striking out two batters, but the Cardinals were just unable to stop the might Yankees team in the end. Other Cardinals who had hits throughout the game included Sam Tomlinson and Seth Karner.
 

 

 



Marlins 9, Cardinals 4

The Cardinals ran in to a very formidable appointed today against the Marlins. As opposed to other matchups, the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after the first inning, with RBI hits by Wyatt Chang and Ashton Lebsak scoring Jack Moore and Mark O’Brien in the first inning. The tough Marlin team then came back to score three runs in the second and third innings and 2 runs in the 5th to take an 8 – 2 lead going into the sixth inning. The usually potent Cardinals offense was stymied by the excellent pitching and defense of the tough Marlins team, and even though, after the Marlins scored yet another run in the top of the sixth to take a 9-2 lead, the “never surrender” attitude of the Cardinals once again was on display as they scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a key two run homerun by Izzet Kosar.

Highlights
The Cardinals were led offensively by Sam Tomlinson who had two key hits, Wyatt Chang had two hits, including a big time double in the sixth to go along with Izzet Kosar’s aforementioned home run. The Cardinals did run into a might Marlins pitching staff, who were able to hold the potent Cardinal batters to three hits over four innings.

Defensively, Trevor Griffiths and Mark O’Brien pitched dominating first and fourth innings respectively, with both striking out five batters each in the two innings that they pitched. Ashton Lebsak also showed the division that he is a force to be reckoned with, pitching two strong innings, stinking out three and showing some excellent glove work to boot. To go along with some great defensive stops from Matthew Wilhem and Ingi Hong, as well as great defensive backup movement from Seth Karner (to go along with Seth’s hard hit single to right in the fifth), Jack Moore played his first game ever as catcher in the fourth and loved it…Watch out Russell Martin!!!
Angels 1, Cardinals 7

It was the first home game in a while for the Cardinals, and the players were all very excited about that. Playing the Angels for the first time since their opening season defeat to the tough squad, the Angels came out swinging scoring a quick run in the top of the first. The Cardinals defense was able to control any additional damage when their starting pitcher, Trevor Griffiths struck out the last two players with the bases loaded. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Angels until the bottom half of the second when the Cardinals started hitting, scoring six runs, on key hits by Ashton Lebsak, Ingi Hong, Sam Tomlinson, Derek Morhar and Jack Moore. The Cardinals scored one more run on an RBI single in the third which scored Izzet Kasar. Things got a little dicey in the top of the fifth with the sun going down. The Angels where able to fight back throughout the increasing darkness, scoring seven runs, but the game was eventually called in the bottom of the inning out of safety concerns for the players. Olay…

Highlights
The Cardinals showed yet again that they are improving on defense, and only need to work on preventing the “big inning”. Trevor Griffiths and Mark O’Brien pitched two great innings each, with Trevor only giving up one run while striking out two, and Mark pitched two scoreless innings while striking out four. Ashton Lebsak and Mark O’Brien made some great defensive plays at shortstop and pitcher, including a hard throw to first base by Mark which made the first baseman, Jack Moore, wince with pain in his catching hand. OUT!!! In addition, Matthew Wilhem is showing great strides on the defensive side of the game, and almost made a great stab at a hard hit ground ball to him at third base. Although he did not make the catch, Matthew was able to knock the ball down and keep it in the infield which prevented runs from scoring.

Cardinals 16 Red Sox 4

The hard work and perseverance is beginning to pay off for the Cardinals, who put together their best and most complete game of the season. The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first, which almost turned into a huge inning. Unfortunately for the Cardinals though, they left the bases loaded on some outstanding defensive plays by the Red Sox. The Red Sox fought back to take a 2-1 lead after one, and it remained that way until the game changing third inning. In the third, the Cardinals batted around for the first time, scoring eight runs and taking a 9-2 lead. The Red Sox did not give up, scoring two of their own in the bottom of the third making the score 9-4. The Cardinals however buttoned down on defense, holding the Red Sox scoreless the rest of the way, while scoring seven more runs to make the final score 16-4.

Highlights
On the defensive side, both Trevor Griffiths and Mark O’Brien pitch two solid innings each, both striking out four batters while their teammates played solid defense behind them including great stops by Wyatt Chang at third base and Sam Tomlinson in left field. Wyatt and Ashton Lebsack both pitched well, both striking out a batter in the one inning that they pitched. The Cardinals pulled off their first double play of the game which went along with by far the best defensive play of the year for the Cardinals, Trevor Griffith’s diving catch of a hard hit line drive up the middle!!! Outstanding play…Another first defensively was Matthew Wilhem playing his first game at catcher in the fifth inning.

Offensively it all came together for the Cardinals highlighted by the eight run third inning capped off with Matthew Wilhem scoring the eight run of the inning. Highlights included four hit performances by Mark O’Brien, including a homerun, Wyatt Chang and Izzet Kosar, including Izzet’s first homerun; three hit performance by Jack Moore; and two hits each by Trevor Griffiths, Ingi Hong and Derek Morhar, included a huge double by Derek in the third inning.

Giants 7 - Cardinals 2

Giants started out fast, scoring all seven of their runs in the first two innings. After that, the Cardinals played tough and outscored the Giants 2 – 0 the rest of the game. Because of our Saturday game, the Cardinals had to use their pitchers sparingly and wisely. We are still working hard on our fielding, which the Cardinals played better and better as the game went by. There were two pitching firsts with both Izzet Kosar and Seth Karner pitching in their first game. Both showed great promise for the future, highlighted with Seth’s first career strikeout to end the game!!!

Offensively, the highlight of the game definitely came from Sam Tomlinson, whose two out hit drove in a Seth Karner for our final run of the game. In addition, other Cardinals who had hits included Jack Moore, Trevor Griffiths, Mark O’Brien, Wyatt Chang, Ashton Lebsack and Izzet Kosar. All the Cardinal’s played hard and once again showed that “never give up” spirit which is beginning to define them as a team.

Marlins 12, Cardinals 8

The Cardinals are making great stride in their overall defensive playing ability while their offense and “never give up” attitude remain strong. After giving up 3 quick runs to the hard hitting Marlins in the top half of the first, the Cardinals held the Marlins scoreless in the second and third innings. During this time, our offense was able to fight back to take a 4-3 lead heading into the fourth inning with key hits by Trevor Griffiths, Wyatt Chang, Ingi Hong and Izzet Kosar. The Marlins took the lead in the top of the fourth 5-4, but once again, the Cardinals did not give up, scoring two more of our own to retake the lead 6-5 after four innings. This time, it was the bottom half of the order who came through for the Cardinals, with key hits delivered by Derek Morhar and Kevin Gonzalez. Unfortunately, the Cardinals could not hold on to this lead going into the last inning, giving up 7 runs which gave the Marlins a 12 -6 lead.

This potentially deflating last inning, did nothing to diminish the Cardinal’s enthusiasm. Once again, Trevor, Wyatt, Ingi and Izzet came through with big hits to go along with Ashton Lebsack’s leadoff single. In the end, the Marlins beat the undermanned Cardinals 12-8 and the Cardinals look forward to the return of Mark O’Brien, one of our top hitting and pitching players, who was sidelined because of surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids. Get well soon…

Notes:
Defensively, the Cardinals took a big step in the right direction, regardless of the tough 5th inning. Trevor Griffiths and Wyatt Chang both pitched two gutting innings; Jack Moore played his best game at first base with key assists from Wyatt Chang and Ashton Lebsack; Seth Karner and Izzet Kosar are showing great enthusiasm and potential playing the always important catcher’s position; Ingi Hong and Matthew Wilhem did a great job backing up first and third base when they played their outfield position; and Sam Tomlinson and Derek Morhar continued their defensive improvement making plays at both third base and in the outfield.

Yankees 6, Cardinals 5

Overall a well played game by both teams with some clutch hitting and fielding brought in from both teams with the Yankees coming from behind in the 5th inning, two runs down, to win 7-6. For the Cardinals some of the highlights and firsts include:

  • Great pitching performance from Trevor Griffiths and Ashton Lebsack
  • a solid play by Matthew Wilhem in left field preventing a run from scoring in the third inning
  • A first for Izzet Kosar who played his first game as catcher in the fifth inning for the Cardinals
  • Aggressive hitting by Mark O'Brien, Trevor Griffiths, Wyatt Chang and Jack Moore who all had multiple hits

In the end, things are looking up with the team playing better each game, and are still working on late inning pitching and defense. We played a tough Yankees team who, like our boys, never gave up and we only wish we had more time to finish the game. The team is having fun, is happy with the progress and we look forward to our next meeting with the Yankees...

Angels 15, Cardinals 4

Highlights
To go along with his two hits, Jack Moore scored the first run of the 2010 LBLL season on a fielders choice ground ball hit by Mark O'Brien. 1st inside the park homerun was hit by Mark O'Brien, a shot to right center field and a close play at the plate where Mark slid under the tag. Mark O'Brien, Trevor Griffiths and Wyatt Chang all struck out two batters each pitching in the one inning that they pitched.

The overall summary is that our team in general were taking some really good hacks at the ball and were aggressive at the plate. A lot of contact was made on the ball even though they didn't fall for base hits. In addition, on the field, we made some good plays, but look to enhance our defensive skills as the season progresses. At the end of the day, the boys had a good time and are looking forward to take on the Red Sox...Go Cards!!!

 

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