The FC Pilot’s 2021 season adventure continued last night at a balmy Larry Walker Field.  Fielding a team of 8, the Pilots kept close to the first place Whitecaps in their last of three meetings with this 14U league juggernaut.  And while we fell 11-1 the good guys secured 15 outs, limited our infield errors, made some great catches in the OF, and tested out some new pitchers and pitches to take with us into the second half of the season.

The lads gave Damian a standing-O in our post game circle for his performance behind the plate catching the entire game – 4 pitchers – 110 pitches – 2 foul ball outs – warm ups – all while wearing the equivalent of a fuzzy winter coat on a 100 degree day.  Unreal grit out of #5 and his team of dedicated Pilots that you get to read about right now …  

Pilot Bats:  We had some great at-bats against some solid pitching last night.  One of the Whitecaps hurlers was tossing everything at us – fastball, curveball, beachball – we saw it all.  Jayden banged out 2 solid base knocks straight up the middle, Ben found some green space with a first pitch single to shallow left center, and Kevin R managed to tuck a deep drive to the left field corner a few inches inside the foul line.  I was impressed by every single at bat, however.  Damian just about took my head off with a foul ball ripped right up the third base line.  The FCP did not give away a single pitch over the 5 innings of ball. 

Pilot Arms:  Kevin C found his way back up on the mound and showed off the work he has been putting in to get back to pitching form.  Great control and focus keeping the Whitecaps off balance and off the bases.  Ben, Gentry and Jayden chipped in to get us thru 4 innings of competitive ball.  Quick shout out to the newest member of the Pilots, Ben C’s curveball.  Yowza.  He induced a sweet swinging strikeout by uncorking an absolute beauty of a curve.  Welcome to the club BC’s CB!  Let’s see more of you!

Pilot Gloves:  Considering we were down a man in the outfield our effort level and results in the field were fantastic.  KR and Eli kept the damage to a minimum roaming the massive outfield.  Our fly ball practice is paying some dividends.  Ty and Gentry made some great plays at SS and 3B – and fired darts over to Ben and Jayden at 1B.  And Damian just crushed it behind the plate, catching 2 sky high foul balls in that sun and that heat.  Awesome.

Next Up:  We’re out of town for a soccer tournament so no practice this Friday.  If you’re able please get out there for some catch and keep growing those muscle memories of any pitch you’re working on.  I mentioned to the lads that depending on schedules I may try to get a family style whiffle ball game going on Sunday for anyone looking to run around a ballfield for an hour or so.  Pilot Dads vs Pilot Pilots sounds pretty fun – with family members welcome as well?  Look for more details from me soon.  And I’ll have more info on our double header on Monday.

The 8 Pilots that were out battling last night at Lincoln should be super proud of the effort and attitude they brought to that game.  The score is completely irrelevant in that one.  We played some great ball and did so as a tight group of ballplayers.

Great evening and rest of the week – best of luck with that cast party tomorrow Bradyn - and go Pilots!

Coach Chris