1st Place!!!

Last weekend, August 5th, a few guys from the Crossroads softball team and a few from Silver, joined the Red team to play in the tournament in Appleton. Their record for the day was 4-2. They took 1st place in the tournament. Gabe bought an extra box of cowbells for the event. Some of the cowbells were mishandled but all were returned and are usable for next year. The cowbells, or the red team, were responsible for 3 known finger injuries.

Make-up Game

The game against Life Church that was rained out earlier in the season is scheduled for July 31st at 7:15pm. Unfortunately, this is the last game of the season. This softball season was much more exciting than last year. I would say the only low point of the season was dropping 2 to Silver. That still hurts. Any comments on the season or any ideas for next year?

Yet Another Double-Header

Tonight we have yet another double-header. This one is against Life Church who we have not played yet. This should be the end of the double-headers and the rough part of our schedule. After tonight we will have played 10 games already. Life Church always has alot of fans that come to their games, so SUPERfans, you will need to be extra loud. For it will be a battle of fans as well as teams. (if that statement was redundant, whatever. I'm in a hurry). The cowbells will be brought.

Players be ready to compete because LC is not an easy team to beat. They have a very solid defense, so we will have to earn our hits. And their bats can put some over the fence. Defensively we will have to be even more solid than they are. Make proper throws, no dropping pop-ups, backing each other up and communicating. If we put together a New Life type of game and get them on their heels early, we should never look back and take both games from them.

Thats all for now.
The Coach

Big Double-Header

Tonight's games are against our in-church rival, OC-Silver. Our first game with them was an exciting one with your Crossroads team pulling off a walk-off win in the final inning. I think we are much more prepared this time around, but the Silver team is never an easy win. Hope plenty of Crossroaders show up tonight to root us on. We need to be louder than their fans.

After the game, once again, I was hoping the people that came can leave some comments of how the games went. If not, I'll just post again tomorrow with the results.

Players, be there at 7 if you can. And if someone can do some 7:15 game scouting for me, call me at 737-0093. I want to be extra prepared for our DH next week against Life Church, who we have not played yet.

The Coach

Standings

Here are the division 3 standings. I've got a handful of questions about how we're doing compared to the other teams, and what-not.


OC- Silver 10-3
OC-Crossroads 9-5
Life Church 8-4
Brookfield-Green 8-4
Calvary 3-9
New Life 0-12

These standings can be found at MilwaukeeRecreation.net . "Sports standings" should be center page. Click there and the softball standings are the only thing listed right now. Watch what date they updated it on, they are not always prompt. Our league # is MS-802. Its around the middle of the pdf file.

Players..... There will be practice tonight, provided it does not rain. Its in the forecast, but they're just guessing. Whitman Park on 52nd and Plainfield.

The Coach
End Communique

Total Team Effort

Almost everyone got on base in tonight's game, plenty of base hits, even a couple of homeruns. A pair of GRAND SLAMS from Tim. Basically everyone stepped up their game tonight. Only 1 error (of note) on defense, and offensively the on-base pencentage was .786, which is amazing. I was very pleased to see this especially after we had a week where we had not even one full practice. Good job guys!

There is no game on Memorial Day, so players, get prepared. The following week we have a double-header against our in-church rival Oak Creek Silver, and we'll need to be prepared. Especially defensively. But still hit the cages and try to make Thursday practices. I know Sunday practices are hard to make for some, but our turnout has been very low and I would like to see more players there if they are available.

Once again, for the people who could not make it, I was hoping some players could fill in their reflections of the game. It turned out to be a very lop-sided game, in favor of Crossroads. But my hat is off to the New Life players for keeping their head up and having a positive attitude thoughout the game. The final score was 27-1. I've been on the other side of worse beatings than that before, and I must say that it is tough to keep a smile on and have fun. But they did.

5-1
The Coach

Schedule repost
April 24 - 7:15 - OC-Silver W 14-13
May 1 - 7:15 - Life Church (rained-out)
May 8 - 8:15+9:15 - Calvary W 11-7 W 14-13
May 15 - 8:15+9:15 - Brookfield Green L 22-12 W 16-7
May 22 - 6:15 - New Life W 27-1
May 29 - Memorial Day - No Games!
June 5 - 8:15+9:15 - OC-Silver L/L
June 12 - 8:15+9:15 - Life Church W/L
June 19 - 6:15 - Calvary W
June 26 - 6:15 - Brookfield Green L
July 3 - Independence day (eve?) - No Games!
July 10 - 7:15 - New Life W
July 17 - 6:15 - New Life W

No Thursday Night Practice

Due to the men's ministries cookout tonight and many players telling me they could not make the practice, there will be no alternate practice tonight. Please do make an effort to hit the batting cages and maybe play catch, or do fielding practices with someone. I also will need a volunteer to run practice on Sunday afternoon, I will not be available.

The Coach

One Up, One Down

Well, we took one out of two in the double-header with Brookfield Green. In the first game, they jumped out to a quick, large lead and added some runs almost every inning. They had alot of extra-base hits, including some homeruns, and with a handful of errors on our end, they put us out of the game quickly. Offensively, we did not get going very quickly. It wasn't until the 4th inning that we put up a sizable amount, but it still wasn't enough to catch up. In the 4th, after some runs had already come across, we had the bases loaded and Tim hit an over-the-wall homerun for a GRAND SLAM! But the final score still was 22-12.

So we suffered our first loss of the season, but the team regrouped. Realizing that the night was far from over, we got focused and got ready to bat first in the second game. Our offense got off to a slow start, but our defense played much more solidly. After 5 innings, we managed to hold them down to only7 runs. We came up to bat with the score 10-7, and I urged the team to get some insurance runs. A 3 run lead on a team that put up 22 runs the game before, would not be safe. So the team responded. With the bases loaded again, Ryan came up to bat and launched one high into right-center field that hit the fence less than 6 feet from the top. With two outs already, the players were running on contact. The ball came off the fence with an odd bounce and the outfielder had to do some extra running to get it, but by the time he picked it up, Ryan was approaching third and getting ready to round it for home. The oufielder made a panicked throw which went over the cut-off's head and that gave Ryan enough time to come home for an in the park GRAND SLAM!

By the time the inning was over, we had six extra insurance runs to have a 16-7 lead. When Brookfield came up to bat, our defense held them to only 4 batters and no runs. So the final was 16-7. I was proud of the team to bounce back after a big loss, and the first one of our season.

As you can see, our team can put up runs. 14, 11, 14, 12, 16 (our first 5 games). There are teams in this division that know how to get base hits and run up the score, but our defense still needs work. So players; if you are available, try your best to be at this Thursday's practice. Fielding will be heavily stressed. Same with Sunday. If you can't make Sunday practices, please let me know.

Still a division best,
4-1

The Coach

5-15 Game Questionable

Tonight's game is questionable. With as much rain as we received over the past 5 days, our fields might be in poor condition and not ready to be played on. The field office does not have any info until 5:00PM. As soon as I find out whether or not there is a game, I will call everyone and let them know.

If we DO play, don't forget we have a double header tonight starting at 8:15, against Brookfield Green.

Thats all for now
The Coach

Should we be charging for this level of entertainment???

Ok. First off, the title is just a joke. But it does help you understand the level of excitement that our games are at. We did put together another final inning walk-off-hit-win in a game we trailed from the very 1st inning. The first game of the double-header we controlled from the beginning, and held a very good Calvary team to only 7 runs. Game 1 was 11-7 (W) and game 2 was 14-13 (W).

There is alot that can be said about these games....so if you missed them, was what YOU were doing THAT important? Once again, just kidding. I'm going to leave this post short (at least for now) and I hope the players will fill in their own personal highlights of the games in the comments to help you see what you may have missed.

For everyone that was there....I'm extremely proud of my team for sticking together and NOT giving up, even when things weren't looking good. And our fans, we've been hearing you, and we've responded.......OC Crossroads softball, a perfect 3-0.

The Coach

AP: Let's Try Another Field

As all of the guys know, at least the ones that came last week, our regular practice field is unavailable for Thursday practices. We will be trying the fields on 51st and Coldspring today. I'm told they are definitely available during the week, and I'm hoping they are. It will still be at 6:00, if you have any questions call me anytime after 4:30 (414-737-0093).

Yar.

Alternate Practices

It has been discussed by many of our players, that they would like a mid-week practice as well as our Sunday practices. And, some guys can't make the Sundays right now, but would still like to throw the ball around with some of the guys. This is by no means a mandatory practice, just a chance to get some extra work in. For now, the practices will also be at Cedar Hills elementary at 6:00PM on Thursday.

Also, a big congrats to the team for pulling off a big win against our in-church rival, Oak Creek-Silver! It was a good game by both teams but with XR having the last at-bats, we took advantage. Our defense held the score down in the final innings and with the strength of our batting, I knew the W wasn't far away. For those who missed the game.... you missed possibly the best opening day in history. I heard we had 15+ fans, though, which is still a good turnout. A quick recap of some of the highlights were: First of all, we had back-to-back homeruns. There were also two other hits that made it to the fence, and its still early in the season. Once all of our batters find their stride, I think we'll be putting plenty more over the fence. Second of all, all of our players made it on base. That I was extremely happy to hear. Complete team involvement. and third of all, defensively, we ended our last inning with a double play. Something we didn't see much of last year. Way to go, guys!

This next week we play at 7:15 against Life Church, who is new to our division/league. I caught a quick glimpse of their game (which was before ours) and it looks like they have some hitters. Some of my players said their defense was a little sloppy, which I hope we can take advantage of this upcoming Monday. Either way, I think it should be a good match-up, and we'll need to bring our A-game, or maybe suffer a loss. And thats why I'm pleased to hear that our guys want an alternate practice day. It gives us an edge on our opponents who may struggle to even get one good practice in a week.

1-0
The Coach

OPENING DAY!!!

Today is the start of the softball season and the Crossroads team's first game is against our in-church rival, Oak Creek-Silver. Silver had a pretty good season last year, losing a tie-breaker for first with a record of 10-5. One of those five losses was to the Crossroads team. Our team will have limited available players for tonight's 7:15 game, but should be enough to cover the field.

We are going to start the season off right. First with a win, then after the final game (Green plays at 8:15 and some of the XR players might fill in for this week) we will be heading over to Gille's on 76th and Bluemound for some food. I know this post is very close to game time and I will try not to do it again. But until I can figure some things out on this blog, here is the schedule.

April 24 - 7:15 - OC-Silver W 14-13
May 1 - 7:15 - Life Church (rained-out)
May 8 - 8:15+9:15 - Calvary W 11-7 W 14-13
May 15 - 8:15+9:15 - Brookfield Green L 22-12 W 16-7
May 22 - 6:15 - New Life
May 29 - Memorial Day - No Games!
June 5 - 8:15+9:15 - OC-Silver
June 12 - 8:15+9:15 - Life Church
June 19 - 6:15 - Calvary
June 26 - 6:15 - Brookfield Green
July 3 - Independence day (eve?) - No Games!
July 10 - 7:15 - New Life
July 17 - 6:15 - New Life

Expected temperatures are supposed to be in the 60's now but with some wind. Rain is possible, but expected to hold off into the overnight hours.

Plan your life...
GML

Beloit Snappers Game

On Saturday, May 6th, Crossroads will be going down to Beloit to see a Snappers game. I have it posted on my Crossroads Xtended blog as well. Its open to everyone in Crossroads, but I really wanted the whole softball team to go if possible. Just for the sake of observing some professionals, or semi-pros, and watching the player that matches your position(s) to help understand how to play your position a little better. There is a place to be for every player on almost any play, and the more we learn those positions, the better we can help each other and create a solid defense.

Tickets for the game will be $5.50, general admission, and the game starts at 4:00PM. We will probably be eating at the game, or getting a quick bite to eat in Beloit after the game. So it will be a relatively low cost day. If you are on the team and need a ticket, there are some other players on the team that can help with the cost. More details will follow.

End
GML

Practice & Schedule

As for the schedule; I have not yet received the official schedule for the softball season. As soon as I get it, I will post the entire schedule, times and opponents. If I can, it will be listed under the links or archives on this page's right side. All I know right now is that the first game is on April 24th, sometime between 6:30 and 8:30 (ish). I will also try to post the following Monday's game time on one of the white dry-erase boards in the Crossroads room.

As for practice; there is no practice Sunday, April 16th due to it being Easter. Players, try to get to the batting cages sometime this weekend, if possible, or early next week. Or both. And since the weather is getting nicer, call up some of the other guys and throw the ball around for part of an evening/afternoon, if your schedule permits. Do what you can to get prepared for the season start. No one likes playing their first game tight and out of shape. If you DO, OC-Green still needs players.

Superfans; since there is no practice, you need to start screaming more at your television, or cat. Even sing some Chevelle or 12 Stones, if you are a fan. Keep your voice loose. We will not accept cracking voices on the evening of April 24th.
Also, a dozen black cowbells have been ordered. I still have not received them, but they should be in soon. They aren't large, but thats fine because I don't want them ringing throughout the neighborhood. We are looking for a logo for them, maybe just the current logo inside a softball outline, I don't know.

That is all for now.
GML

Practice 4/9/06

The weather calls for a high of 53 on Sunday, with a mix of clouds and sun. This means there WILL be practice this week. 2:00, Cedar Hills Elementary, be there. If you cannot make it, let me know by either e-mail or getting a hold on me on Sunday morning.

Stop Reading.
GML

Welcome To Crossroads Softball!

First note: Players! Practices will be at 2:00PM Sunday afternoons at Cedar Hills Elementary. At least, for now. I'm looking for a new field. Cedar Hills is located off of 20th St.(north of Rawson), at the top of the hill, turn left onto Wood Ave. and its at the curve of the street (roughly). Although this post may be too late, there is NO PRACTICE on Sunday April 2nd. The predicted conditions do not look favorable for an outdoor sport. Expect practice the following weeks to come.

Second note: Players, Fans and SUPERfans! The games will be starting Monday, April 24th and will be every Monday evening(with a few exceptions) throughout the Spring and Summer. The games will be at Wick Field which is at 4929 Vliet St. in Milwaukee. Our diamond is the one behind the tennis courts and is the easternmost field.
Players: Try your best to be at the games about 45 minutes early. This is important for line-up planning, warming up and devotions. Some devotions will be pre-game and others will be post-game. It all depends on that night's gametime.
Fans and SUPERfans: We need some SUPERfans this year. People who are loud and rowdy and ready to heckle Pastor Greg and the Silver team (they are in our division). I'm also looking to start a Crossroads Cowbell Crew. Hopefully we can get some people to help chip in to buy some cowbells for our SUPERfans to use every game, if its even permitted.

Third note: Roster. I wont be listing positions because of the versatility of many of our players.

Gabriel M Ledbetter - Coach/Manager
Ryan Banks
Jeremiah Blomberg
Pastor Jon Brooks
Dave Ciero
Dustyn Kupsik
Michael Luth
Greg Mandigo
Billy Martin
Jeremy Ratliff
Dan Robinson
Eric Sandoval
Deric Wallace
Tim Williams
Eddie Willing

If I have forgotten your name from this list, let me know. Also, there are still players that I need paperwork from and most still need to pay me.

We are calling this season; "The Greatest Turnaround in Sports History". Our inaugural team of 2005 went 3-12. I have confidence in the 2006 team to turn that record around or do even better. The competition in Division 3 is roughly the same, and is becoming relatively familiar. The players are pumped for the season to start and so am I. And I hope our fans are too.

I think I will end on that note.

Stop Reading!