Off-Topic Forum

First on this, apologies to the members I have trades to ship and to respond to. Been a tad busy on the diamonds. First up is the youngest. With a season of 20W 2L and a tie Cooper just finished up his season by capturing the League Title Tournament with back to back walk off wins. He scored the winning run in the semi finals, and batted in a run in the 2 run comeback walk off final! They won an early in the year tournament, the league, and the playoffs. He is the player right in front of the coach holding the trophy above his head! He is so excited for next year already that he wants to practice his pitching every day (this was the last year of using a pitching machine in games).

Second is the oldest. Just a couple of days after Cooper's win, Jackson's team started the double knock out tournament for a bearth in the Provincial Championships. After being seeded 5th of 8 teams in our region we started out with a solid win against the 4th seeded team, then beat the top seeded team in a nail biter while losing our best pitcher to a broken arm while being hit by a pitch. A couple of wins later we faced that top seeded team again and won holding on to the lead with three amazing defensive plays in the bottom of the 7th (seriously our left fielder laid out full body winding himself on contact with the ground and then holding the ball up in triumph while flat on his back for the first out, 2nd baseman ranged right up the middle to snag a sure single into an out, and then our 3rd baseman picked a screamer off the grass to end it on a lineout) to qualify for provincials undefeated in the double knock out tournament. Provincials are Labour Day Weekend. Jackson is 2nd from the right in the front row kneeling (and that ugly cuss 2nd from the right in the back row is me). This is a pic from a couple of weeks prior finishing 2nd in a tournament in London, Ontario. Mighty impressed that the "trophies" were beer mugs engraved with the tournament logo on them, just what every 15 year old wants!

Starting tomorrow will be able to ship and respond to those trade offers, but so full of pride in these two wanted to share. All the best---Ryan

Congrats to Cooper, Jackson and Dad (I guess) =P ............. wish my boy would take a loving to something soon, bowling starts this fall (got alleys back after 4 years of nothing) and still says he wants to play soccer (which me and mama call his grass trimming class) in the spring. If he put the effort into sports as he did video games I'm sure he'd be a Beckham or a Pizzy (canadian bowler). LOL anyways congrats to all, especially mama ???? =)

Oh mom is there every game! As someone who is a baseball fanatic first, but just so happened to be a soccer goalkeeper by ability, the sport is fantastic for youngsters to play. Let him trim all the grass he wants LOL!

Congratulations to your sons, and their parents. I loved playing baseball but my kids were more interested in soccer. I hope they continue to have success and continue to enjoy playing.

nice story, thanks for sharing!

mark

Great family fun! I hope it continues for many years to come.

Very nice, Ryan. Congrats to the 2 teams and especially your sons. Our baseball days are over. 2017 was his last year. He's now focusing his outdoor sports effort into golf. (His winter school sport is fencing.)

On Saturday, the 11th, him and I participated in a parent/child golf tournament. As he says, "The field was weak", as the weather was not great, and there wasn't a huge signup anyway. But we did manage to win by 4 strokes, so, we would've finished pretty solid even if the field had been a little more competitive.

Back in July, he participated (for the last time, aging out of this too) at the local level for the Drive, Chip, & Putt. He obliterated the competition as he scored a 161 (out of a possible 225 - which I don't think anyone has ever done*). 2nd place there was 134. At the sub-regional, he placed 5th out of 13 (supposed to be 15, 2 no-showed), but only the top 2 move on. His dream of going to Augusta is over.

We went out last night and played 18 at the course that is his high school's home course. I was thrilled to shoot a 93, while he shot a "disappointing" (to him) 77 (par is 72).

* - Drive, Chip, & Putt scoring:

Drives - over 300 yards scores 25, 290-300 is 24, and every 10 yard interval down is a point less.
Chips - each one is from the same spot, 15 yards from hole. Hole it for 25 points, within 2 ft of hole, 20 points, 4 ft - 15 pts, etc.
Putts - 3 shots - a 6 foot, a 15 foot, and a 30 foot. one chance on each. Hole it for 25 points, with 1 foot 20 points, 2 ft - 15, etc.

So to score a 225, you need to bomb 3 drives over 300 yards (oh, and they have to be within a 40-yard-wide fairway), hole all three chips, and hole all three putts. Highest score I've seen is 162 and that was the boy at the subregional that came in first (to my son's 5th). 

Sorry - didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I'm also very proud of the hard work my son has put into his sports and activities as well. 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

That is wonderful, congratulations to you and your boys. 

I broke 100 once. Quit after 15 holes.