KC Ambush 06 took runner-up in their first tournament of the fall season this weekend: Mizuno Fall Swing For The Rings. We went into the tournament to see where we were as a team in order to see what we need to improve on. Out the gate, the girls looked flat and nervous. I had to give them a pre-game speech to remind them to “fake it til we make it” and to not “look” nervous.
That means, no matter what we look like or do, we act like we’re having the best day EVER!!! I try not to talk too much to the girls unless they REALLY need it. They needed to relax before the first game as it was against an eventual long term “rival”.
I won’t bore you with details so I’ll leave you with my observations:
- The girls need to get better at communicating. I’m going to have to do some outside the box thinking on how to accomplish that.
- They don’t seem to have the problem that ’03 has been known to have from time to time with “turning it on” during pool play instead of waiting for bracket. They seem to take every game serious.
- We’re really good defensively and will be even better once we get to communicating.
- We need to work on lead-off timing and aggressive base-running.
- The girls play for each other. They’re in that phase where they don’t want to be the one to let their teammates down. They nervously put their head down and just do their jobs.
- Some players have REALLY stepped up to the challenge over the weekend. Saw some bars raised this weekend in some individual play and let them know they’re now held to a higher standard.
- We had the injury bug bite us this weekend. The injured players wouldn’t accept no & hated sitting the bench. I LOVE IT, but it’s a marathon/ not a sprint kiddo. Get well for the long haul!
- USSSA umpires are usually right more than wrong on a lot of their “judgement calls”. There was an abnormal amount of missed calls. Although, I must admit, none of their “missed” calls directly changed the outcome of the games.
All in all, I’m happy the girls actually took 2nd place. They know they’re good but still need a lot of work and will be more hungry and focused during practice while still believing. The kicker is, not one kid on this current team has previous A experience.
#KCAmbush #TrustTheProcess
