Ahead 8-2 in the bottom of the last inning of Game One, the wheels of the Carney Pirates victory express fell off. In front of misbelieving eyes, the Gaithersburg Giants patched together 3 singles, 2 Pirate errors, 2 walks, 1 hit batsman, 1 interference play, and a heartbreaking two run bloop single to end the Pirates six game winning streak, spoiling an otherwise terrific offensive performance by several Pirate hitters. Ian MacGeorge who seemed to be on base all day long, had three first game hits, Mike Snyder once again showing excellent two strike discipline, had two hits, Tim McCormick pounded two hits, one a clutch two RBI drive. George Piccirilli continued adding to his team leading RBIs (see team stats – our new website feature) and Drew Dades demonstrated his skills, by banging out three solid hits. Mike Mitchell threw four effective innings, Bart Reese threw two shutout innings before everything went astray for the team. One encouraging development was Reed Bromley coming in cold and getting within one bloop single from salvaging a victory, this will prove a valuable asset in Atlanta.

In the second game, Kyle Harsanyi threw three productive innings allowing his two runs on an 0-2 changeup that slid just a bit too deep over the plate and was pulled for a two run triple. Kyle demonstrated mental toughness by playing the game one pitch at a time, shutting down the Giants the remainder of his outing. Again, what you very talented players are starting to observe is that as you rise to these higher levels, average players have departed and that even the ‘good’ eventually fall away, leaving only the excellent. This reduces the margin of error for determining the difference between winning and losing performances. You will find that every pitch at your new level of play could represent a potential “big” play requiring focus throughout the game not just when you decide to turn it on. Those of you who read the Heads Up book (which will be a giveaway announced later today on this website) please share with your teammates the key points which can lead to everyone moving closer to their terrific (but unrealized) potential. The programs you guys are attending sign excellent players by the bucketloads – distinguish yourself by your mental baseball.

The second game remained a tight game through five innings (2-1) but ended poorly with the Pirates losing 11-2.