The
month of October was the last month for scrimmage/preseason games and November
featured a special game. All the teams played their final games for the year
and we had some great ones. The kids and the communities are excited and anxiously anticipating the upcoming league in January when each team will be
playing on a weekly basis. However, if the league started today we would have a
pretty good idea on which teams are the best, due to the results from the preseason games. In the oldest division of 12-13
year olds Candelaria dominated by going undefeated with a 6-0
record. Nuevo Amanacer was a close second with plenty of talented players.
They went 3-3 in the scrimmage games, and although they never beat the
Candelarian team, there is reason for optimism because due to so many players
the Candelarian team will be split into two different teams when the league
rolls around. Santa Matilde brought up the rear, but with athletic
kids who just lack practice the hope is that this team will be much improved
than their preseason 1-5 record. The MVP of this division for the preseason would have to be Luiz
Manuel Santana from Candelaria. His name around these parts is Luisito, which
would translate to little Luiz, but his game is anything but little. With a
12-6 curveball that would make a grown man’s knees buckle and the ability to
play shortstop at a high level makes him a highly versatile player and an easy
choice for the MVP of the preseason.
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| Luiz about to throw his devastating curveball! |
There
is a similar story in the 10-11 year old division as far as team rankings, but
there is a twist. Candelaria ended the preseason with an unblemished 6-0
record. Yet, the twist is that the team from Nuevo Amanacer only played in the
last weekend of games. Nuevo Amanacer gave Candelaria all they wanted and more in what
was the best game of the preseason but, Candelaria escaped with a dramatic 2-1 victory. Nuevo Amanacer were 1-1 in the only weekend they played but they surely will make plenty of noise in the league. Santa Matilde struggled and
were not able to find a win going 0-6. Without some improvement it might be
tough for Santa Matilde to win games come January. Also, this division will get
a surprise once the league starts as a team from a neighboring community who won the city
league of Chichigalpa this past year will join this division. We are excited to be able to make this contact with this community because the coach is
well respected and knows a lot about baseball. But most importantly, it
offers us a chance to reach and minister to a neighboring community that New
Song does not yet have a presence. The community is called Quitanca and is in
close proximity to Nuevo Amanacer, which has a dynamic pastor and is building a
new church building. We are excited with the possibilities and potential this
relationship presents. Going back to the teams that participated in the
scrimmages, instead of an MVP I want to give out a most improved to a young boy
and girl. Jose and Mariana have been practicing since March. They both can
get attitudes and are difficult/frustrating to coach at points. Yet, they have
been faithful since the beginning and although those attitudes can pop up every
now and then, they are much more respectful and receptive to coaching. Jose
always had the ability and was quite a good player from the beginning. The
biggest hurdle was to get him to use two hands when catching the baseball. You
would of thought it was like asking him to put his hands into a fire. He would
not do it and subsequently he dropped a lot of balls. He finally began to
realize that when he did use two hands the ball never came out of his glove.
During the classic game between Nuevo Amanacer, he was playing first base and made
some Sportscenter worthy catches all while using two hands. On the other hand, little Mariana has
been a project. She came in with no ability and has improved in all phases of the
game. Although she would bat well during practices, she would not swing at all
during the games because she was afraid of the ball. Finally, in the last game
against Santa Matilde she got the bat off her shoulders and swung. She ended up
getting a couple of hits and more than anything proved to herself that she can
indeed hit the ball during the games just as good as she can in practice.
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| Jose and Mariana back in March forming their friendship! |
As
for the youngest division of 7-9 year olds the pattern continues. Candelaria
was the top team, having only one loss at 5-1. Once again Nuevo Amanacer, which
might be the most improved out of any team, was the second best team. Having
bounced back from early losses, they finished with a 2-4 record. Santa Matilde
started off winning their first two games but nose dived from there and lost
their last 4 games. Like the eldest division, Candelaria will have two
different teams in this division come January, which will make things more interesting. For this
division I would like to highlight what one could call the “Coach of the
Preseason”. That is the coach of the Candelarian team, Rosita Vega. This young
girl works six mornings a week from 6-9, has high school classes from 12-5 and
still manages to give three practices a week. She has such a passion to teach
the young ones about Jesus and the game of baseball. The youngest group is by
far the hardest group to coach and to control, but Rosita does an
exceptional job. Her team plays really well and it is awesome to see how she
interacts with the kids and parents.
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| Rosita with her stud muffins! |
Like
I said at the beginning, November featured a special game. The pastors, church
leaders, and the coaches got together to play a softball double header. For the
past year I have heard different pastors tell me of their glory days and how
they still could go out there and play at a high level. Well they got their
chance and while one can tell that father time has crept up on them, some can
still play well. It was a great time of fellowship and a way to bless these men
who work hard and give their lives to their communities. It was also great to
see the potential of how we can utilize the fields that we have not only for league
purposes but ways to bless and minister to the communities with games such as
these. It was a great two months with plenty of joy and laughter. We are
blessed to see things start to shape up and we are excited to see what God has
in store. Please keep this ministry in your prayers and God bless!
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| Bismarck is the pastor of Nuevo Amanacer and from his accounts was a shoulder injury away from pitching in the majors... |
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| Somebody needs to tell Bismark that he ain't getting to the majors like that! |
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| The man, the myth, the legend...Encarnacion is one of our great guards at New Song so you know that he ain't stealing! |
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| Rosita showing the old men up! |
