Earning your Spot in the Lineup

By James Brown Jr.

Reb was drafted by the Braves in the 11-12 year old Mooresville Baseball League (MBL).  He will be wearing #10, which is the same number worn by our all-time favorite Atlanta Brave Larry "Chipper" Jones.

We will be updating the blog with a new look and chronicle Reb's progression during Spring Training and the 2014 season.  He is expecting to play second and pitch but will have to earn his spot in the lineup as he is playing for a new team in a new league.

It is always difficult to be the new guy having to prove yourself to get into the lineup.  Everyone at different times in their playing career, either amateur or professional, will find themselves in this situation.  Here are some suggestions to help you in these transitions.

Angels Finish in 2nd Place

The Morgantown Angels finished in 2nd place in the 2013 Tri-County Tournament.  We are really proud of what they accomplished in the face of some adversity this year.  They played their best baseball in the tournament after some disappointments during the season.

The last few weeks have been busy with church, baseball, and moving into our new house.  I have not had the time to keep up with this blog but we will have a full report of the season and playoffs in the coming weeks.  We will also continue our training and posting information to help young ballplayers develop spiritually, physically and mentally.

While we are proud of all of Reb's accomplishments and improvements this year, we are most proud of the recognition he received in the championship ceremony he received for his attitude on and off the field. 

During the last couple of regular season games he had the opportunity to pitch 2 shutout innings and had two strikeouts.  The first game his control was excellent and while he was not as sharp the second game he was able to pitch his way out of trouble without allowing any runs.We will continue to work on his pitching during the off season.  Since he was in a higher league in respect to his age, we are hopeful this years experience will payoff next year.  He really wants to pitch and so our focus will be on mechanics, location, four and two seam fastball, and two changeups, a straight change and the circle change.

We should also acknowledge the winners of the 2013 Tri-County Tournament, the Brown County Eagles.  They are an excellent team and well coached.  We have a lot of respect for this team and enjoyed our competition with them throughout the year.

After we take a break he will also be working on the fundamentals of the game, fielding, batting and conditioning.  We enjoy the physical exercise baseball provides.  Some people like to exercise in many different forms and we like to play baseball.  It is fun for the whole family.

If you are a homeschooler in South Central Indiana and interested in a getting involved in a baseball program please contact us at james@covenantcommission.org 

More information to come but we would like to start forming friendships that can develop into opportunities for homeschoolers.

Mental Toughness

Reb’s baseball season was scheduled to start last Monday but was postponed due to rain.  The game was been rescheduled for Wednesday, May 8, 2013 but was rained out again after only 2 complete innings.  The game will be rescheduled.

This will be the first major test for Reb and the Morgantown Angels.  We expect to be strong this year in our pitching and defense.  Still remains to be seen if we can score runs.  However, we can have our share of defensive difficulties.  We go through periods of mental lapses that result in errors and to make matters worse it is contagious. 

Spring Training and Coach Bob Knight

MLB is in full swing into their regular season but for Reb's Little League it is Spring Training!  With a little less than a month away from their first game, the Morgantown Angels have been training for over a month.