Day 7, Game 2

 The players stayed up somewhat late watching movies in their rooms and sang "las mananitas" to Chepe for his 18th birthday...so not all of the players woke up for breakfast. Ruvalcaba and Tovalin's flights arrived in Wichita around 3am because of the heavy thunder storm and were still able to get enough rest to play in the game. Miriam and Belen took the shuttle to go to a local grocery store to pick up some waters to put in the cooler for the boys game. The weather from the previous night did not help in cooling down the weather for today. Due to the weather from last night the game was postponed to 1pm. The players left the hotel room and headed to the field. Miriam, Belen and myself took the shuttle to the game to not have to walk in the heat with a heavy load. Joining us at the game today was Tish's daughter Ariann, her grandmother, and some of Ariann's friends to support our team in their game.

 We were just a few minutes late into the top of the first inning and the Monarchs had scored one run. In the top of the fourth inning the Monarchs scored 1 more run. The system came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The score now 2-2. Both the System and the Monarch's pitchers were battling up there and throwing well...it would have to come down to the bats (normally not an issue for our team).  We had some unfair calls from the home plate umpire. Erick and Estevan threw some really nice strikes, that unfortunately were called balls. They literally had to place the ball right down the middle in order for the ump to call it a strike. Following Erick's outing the umpire ejected him from the game because he murmured something along the lines of being a rookie umpire, a testament to the ump's thin skin. It was the top of the seventh inning when the Monarchs scored another run. Then again in the top of the eight the Monarchs score one more to make the score 4-2.

Unfortunately, we were not able to make the most of the game and ended up taking the second loss to eliminate our team from the tournament. We did our best and met some very nice people who were very generous to our team. Once we got to the hotel we immediately looked into flights to head back to San Diego. We were able to all book flights leaving at 6:30a, 10:35a, Noon, and 4p at the rate of about $225. We were supposed to give the hotel 24hour notice for check out, but they were able to work with us after all. We had to figure out the room situation and cost per person, then decided to take a lunch break since most of us had not eaten anything yet. Marco found a Chipotle about three miles away. Chunk took some of the boys in the first group and then the parents and Rudy went.

Well, at least we know what to expect for the years to come. Next time we can be better prepared.

Coach's comment for the day: "We grinded. Unfortunately things didn't go our way. Thought it was a great learning experience for the guys, we'll get back and do it again".

Day 6 in Wichita

Bishop Carrol High School turf football field for 10:30am practice

Hector teaching team what to do in case of a bloody nose

 Coach Rodriguez woke up early with Estevan to take him to the dentist at 8am. They were able to help him by removing the nerve, tooth, and putting a crown over it. Following this he stayed in the hotel to rest up and the team woke up to go to the high school again for a 10:30am practice. Not everyone fit in one shuttle trip, so I stayed behind to go with the second group. We realized once we got there that Steven and Marco stayed behind due to over sleeping.

 When we got to the field it was 103 degree, which wasn't too bad compared to the 114 from the day before. Still, it wasn't as easy to breathe and when I went for my run I only made 2miles, not the 3.5-5 that I am used to. I don't know how the boys manage to to do it, but they do.

Andres is hitting and the team is awaiting there turn

 The first group warmed up and took infield on the turf, then went to the baseball batting cages to hit.

The second group jumped in to warm up as the first group was finishing infield and then took their turn on infield and met the as a whole at the cages.

 I went into the gym to start a work out while the boys hit and met the assistant principal Slade, who put on the radio so that we could all have music when we worked out.











The picture above and to the left is a picture of the gym that we used. We had air conditioning set to 85, normally a hot sunny day in San Diego for us...for us this was a nice relief today. I did core with about 4 or 5 guys, Coach Rudy worked out Shoulders, and then the rest of the players did a back workout.

We returned to the hotel and all took naps from the hot day. We are now planning on getting ready to go eat dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and then go to the town square to watch a movie (only $5 on Wednesdays!). : ) I will update later tonight...

Well, our naps went longer than we expected and some of the boys had already went to go eat dinner, so we (Rudy, Kevin, Victor, Nobo, Andres, and myself) left the hotel at about 7:15pm to go to Texas Roadhouse.

 To the left is a picture of Andres country line dancing with all of the waitresses for a usual dinner dance they do. He didn't know all of the moves so he threw in some salsa and other stuff but caught on pretty well. :)

We were unable to make it to a movie after dinner because it was already late and the boys need rest before the morning game.

On our way home from dinner we started to see a lot of lightening. Once in the hotel we heard a lot of thunder and the lightening worsened. The rain also started to poor so hard that some was getting into the window of our hotel room on the second floor. The weather projected winds of about 70-80mph! I don't believe we have heard any tornado warning, but the hotel staff said that if we hear sirens go off then those are serious tornado warnings and we need to meet in the center (lobby) on the first floor of the hotel.

Coach Rudy just received a call from the tournament director that our 10:30am game is now moved to 1pm.  The boys are now watching movies in their rooms and they gave us  website to also watch current movies online for free. Two boys (Tovalin and Erick) have had their flights delayed every hour at their connecting stop, since we first left for dinner, due to the weather conditions. Hopefully the weather clears up and they will make it safely to Wichita, they will need to get rest before tomorrow's game.

P.s.
Our creative boys (Johnny, Steven, and Mike) made a weather cast video in the rain of our current weather conditions. I am trying to figure out how to upload it on here...Then Johnny and Steven walk into our room and give us a skit from Titanic (with the music playing on their cell phone) of the scene when Rose and Jack are in the ocean. They felt it was appropriate given our weather conditions. LoL

Coach's comment for the day: "After a day off it was back to work. Now we are focusing on a 3 game winning streak".

Day 5 in Wichita

The players and everyone slept in today until about 11am. We were unable to cash any checks on the weekend so coach Rudy and I walked to the nearest Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Unfortunately we had more complications so we went back to the hotel. The players had finally woken up and had been working on their finals all morning. Once back at the hotel we talked with Miriam and Belen, and saw that many parents were saying that when they watched the game back home that it "blacked out". Then that the people in charge must have been re-typing what actually happened, so there was some confusion as to what actually happened. We also saw that on the web site it said that the the third out of the 7th inning was a pop fly to the right fielder and that was how the other run scored. So if they are going by their score book and their scoring system then there is an inconsistency. We printed all of this information out at the hotel. Coach Rodriguez has been on the phone with the director, after a few lost calls he decided to walk over there and talk to them in person.

We are now in the hotel and waiting to find out what will happen. I will continue to update as we find out more...

About an hour later coach Rodriguez came back and explained what his conversation was with the score box people from the tournament.  The tournament people said that they could still only go by what they had in their official system. As for the black out and run scored by the third out, they said that the only thing that they can say is that it was a "computer glitch". Coach Rodriguez explained to the boys that he had to go over their and protest, because he had to take care of his players first. That ultimately there were two options, "The first option is that we leave to go back home and try and sue for being wronged to get our money back. The second is that we get out there on Thursday and give it everything we have and compete. He explained that anyone can lose and go cry about it, but that the only way to truly solve this problem is to prove it on the field that we belong here". He asked the players by a show of hands who wanted to stay and play. Every single player raised their hands and committed to giving everything they had.

Following this team meeting the boys asked where they could go and hit, but coach told them to take this as a day off. That they had taken the loss and then had fun last night, they now needed flush it and to rest today. To be ready for a 10:30am practice tomorrow at the same place that Tish took us on Sunday and being prepared for the next game!

Later in the day Chunk took Miriam and Belen to Walmart and to eat. He later took Rudy and I to a check cashing place that finally cashed our checks and also to eat. When we got to the hotel Estevan had a bad tooth ache so we tried calling local dentists for an emergency visit, unfortunately we will have to wait until 8am to get him seen. Coach Rudy had some Ibuprofen that he could give him in the mean time to help him sleep without pain. Some of the boys decided to go watch the 10 O'clock game and some stayed back in the hotel. It feels like we had a whole day of mourning after that first game, but it is now behind us and we are prepared to battle the rest out.

Coach's comment for the day: "We're definitely being challenged physically and mentally. The next 48 hours gives us an opportunity to learn a lot about our selves".

Day 4, Game 1

Due to technical difficulties we are delayed in the blog (wasn't allowing me to upload pictures, sorry). Monday morning started off nice and the weather wasn't too bad (compared to the previous days). The team has been sleeping in everyday, but on this Monday morning we all woke up for a team breakfast at 9am. We payed for the team Insurance while we were down there and finalized the team roster to email it to Mr. Casey Walkup so that we would be good to go for our 1pm game. Players went back up to their rooms and took their time to get ready to walk to the field to get there at Noon.

System Baseball warms up at Lawrence Dumont Stadium for their 1st game v.s the Hornets at 1pm

Miriam, Belen, and I walked to the field with a cooler full of ice, waters, oranges, cold towels, and sun screen for the boys to keep hydrated during the game.
The game before ours went in overtime and so we were delayed in our start time. Tish and her son were also able to make it to the game : )

The second picture above is coach Rodriguez as he exchanges line ups with the opposing team (The Hornets).

Our Boys preparing to take huddle before the start of the game

The game was 0-0 up until the Top of the 4th when the System scored 2 runs. Then in the 5th the System scored 2 more runs to put us ahead 4-0. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Hornets scored their first run, making the score 4-1. In the top of the 8th we scored 2 more runs. In the bottom of the 8th we had some errors and other hits that cost our team to be tied (the Hornets scored 5 runs), making the game now 6-6. Here is where the confusion begins...the scoreboard was updated with 6 runs to enter for the completion of the 8th inning, yet we cannot seem to prove how this run was scored!?? Coach Rodriguez asked me what I had in my book and I only had 5 runs entered for that inning. He also had 5 runs in his notes, so he went to speak to the home plate umpire. The home plate umpire pointed to the score box and asked them what they had in their books and to correct this mistake. The other coach then came to meet at home plate and they could only go by what the official book read, which somehow read that they scored 6! In the 9th inning neither team scored, so the final game score was 7-6.

After the game coach Rodriguez went to protest with whomever was in charge of the tournament. They, again, said that they could only go by the official book and their online scoring system. It was a huge upset for the team. Following this the team went to the hotel and continued to try and figure out what happened and how the run scored. 5 hours later, after everyone had eaten dinner, we were still confused by what took place. The team sang Happy Birthday and ate cup cakes that Miriam had bought for my 25th. After this the NBC was hosting $1 beers and a players/ladies night with games at the field for the teams. Coach Rodriguez let the players go since it ended at midnight and the players would not be playing again until Thursday. We stayed up to make sure that the players safely returned to the hotel.

Coach's comment for the day: "What's fair is fair, and we just want what's right to happen for our team".

Day 3 in Wichita

What a turn around today. :) We went to go meet with the director of the NBC World Series to get paper work turned in and finish registering the team, but he was not ready for us for another 30 minutes. So we tried to get a ride from the nice young lady who worked at the front to take us to the nearest Starbucks. Standing at the check-in desk was Tish, a who's son had just finished and won their game. She over heard our conversation and offered us a ride to the Starbucks. We were so grateful for the ride, coach Rudy thanked her for her heroic act (2nd time in 3 days that he had his Starbucks, compared to the daily and some times twice daily coffee runs that we make back home). And, that was just the beginning of a great and generous time spent with Tish and her daughter Ariann...

Left->Right: Nobo, Andres, Jio, Marco, Kevin, David V., Augie, Ariann, Steven, David W., Victor, Chepe, Rudy, & Tish

  Tish is the Principal-President of a local high school and offered to let our team practice at the baseball field, on a turf field, and hit in the indoor cages. We explained that we had no form of transportation and without hesitation Tish offered to pick our team up from the hotel with one of the school's buses.
As if that wasn't enough, she offered to take me to go pick up Marco and Jio who went to the airport to pick up their luggage that had finally arrived and then take them to the field so that they could practice with the team.
Next, Tish and I went to Walmart get a money order and buy some water, sunscreen, and other snacks for the team. The boys also needed some red socks, 1 hat that was missing to match the teams (or else they would not all be in uniform and not allowed to wear the new hats they bought), and a few red belts. Which we found at Dick's sporting goods and Lids at the mall. Following this we stopped at Tish's house to pick up 2 ice coolers that Tish and her husband are lending the team to make sure they have cold waters for the games. We then went to the school gym and she filled our coolers with ice form the training room.

The boys were just finishing their practice and Ariann told us about a good pizza place that she recently tried, it had large pizza's for only $4.60.  Since it was on our way home we called and ordered 10 large pizza's and 3 orders of 16 buffalo wings. "Super Bomb Pizza's", from Victor Serna. Tish then gave us a ride home to the hotel and we could not thank her enough for her generosity and kindness. She is going to try and make our first game that starts tomorrow at 1pm (wooohoooo!!). Tish and her family are going out of town for a family reunion on Wednesday, so the team has promised to take her to dinner once she gets back.
The boys ate dinner and stayed in the lobby watching the Cubs game until Mariam, Hector, Johnny, and Estevan arrived and were checked in. Following this is a team meeting with coach (taking place right now) to go over the tournament rules and such before tomorrow's game. We are also still waiting for Belen and Michael who will be arriving around 11:45pm.

Coach's comment for the day: "I was impressed with team focus in the heat today during the workout. That should lead to success tomorrow".

Day 2 in Wichita, KS

What a F***'ing day, interesting start to say the least. We found out that the shuttle does not run on the weekends, with the exception of going to the airport to pick and drop people off. So luckily the shuttle was able to pick up David Vega at 11am and will be okay to pick David Wynn at 4pm, as well as Jiovanni and Marco at 7:46pm. Following this we had some miscommunication and complications with the morning hotel staff, but were able to figure things out on the rooms. The shuttle ended up not running past 3p, luckily the hotel is about 5 minutes from the airport and comes out to about a $13 cab ride.

Left->Right: Steven, David, Rudy, Andres, Kevin, Victor, & Augie

Our first adventure started after breakfast and once David (Vega)
arrived. The team was going to Walmart to stock up on some snacks and drinks for the hotel. Since the shuttle would not take us (even though it was on the way and closer than the airport) we tried the trolley that happened to pass by as we were walking outside the hotel, but it was not going in that direction. Right behind the trolley was a bus and we were all able to catch a ride for $1.25/person and it dropped us off right in front of Walmart. :)

Once we got to Walmart Coach Rudy realized that he left his picture ID's at the hotel, so we wouldn't be able to cash our checks. Long story short; we took a cab back to the hotel, then back to Walmart, and then ended up walking back to the hotel (99degrees in Wichita today btw)... and, neither place was able to cash the check! Although for next time it was good to know that all Walmart's in Kansas only charge $1 for cashing checks and coach Rudy's Chewing tabacco was only $3.85 (a pretty good deal!). The boys ended up taking the bus back and Coach and I made it back walking to the hotel in time to meet the team to have batting practice at the field.

 The boys went with Rudy to the cages and then once David (Wynn) arrived to the hotel we met the team at the cages. The picture above and to the right is of the boys in front of the large bracket poster board at the entrance of the stadium.

To the left is a picture of the field as we were going over the bridge. We could also see baby sharks in the river as you cross. You literally exit the hotel from the back door and cross over a bridge and the field is right there.

Picture of the field-Dumont Stadium

The boys hit for about an hour and then Rudy and I met with the director to get the team registered. After watching the first game for a couple of innings we decided it was too hot and needed to get back to the air conditioned hotel. The 1st picture to the left is Steven hitting, behind him are Victor, Andres, and Augie.
The 2nd picture below and on the left is Chepe hitting. Behind him are Kevin and David.

Last game of day one for the NBC World Series

The heat must have gotten to the boys because after about 15 minutes of being inside the hotel they were all taking naps. The last group to arrive made it safely. Although Marco and Jiovani also had some luggage left at their connecting stop, the airlines assured them that they would receive it the next morning. Following dinner the boys went outside our hotel to catch some of the fireworks that were playing for the opening night of the NBC World Series. Afterwards they decided to catch the last game for the day that started at 10pm. The day started off a little rough, but got better as the day went on and hopefully the last of troubles. The atmosphere at the park was exciting and the boys got a taste of what to expect temperature wise and a view at the competition.

Coach's comment for the day: "We need a good night's sleep"

Group 1 arrives in Wichita, KS

Augie, Nobo, and Kevin left LAX at 1:30am and were the first group to arrive in Wichita. By 1:30pm Chepe and Andres were here to join the other three boys. As they first arrived the weather was somewhat of a shock as it was raining. By the time Coach Rodriguez, Steven, Victor, and Alicia showed up it was 7:30pm and somewhat humid and warm. The boys had already checked into a room, made time for a run (once the rain stopped) and worked out in the hotel's gym. Coach Rodriguez and Alicia's bags were left in Denver but our shuttle driver was very patient in waiting for us. We made friends with him and were on a nickname basis right away. "Chunk" said that he would take us to Old Town Wichita to eat dinner and check out the town for a while.

(Left to Right) Victor, Kevin, Steven, Augie, Chepe, Nobo, and Andres

We passed the stadium and it looked nice, I will have to try and snap a picture next time out. The hotel is very close to the airport, field, and Old Town. Pictured to the right are the boys in front of a restaurant called Chicago. There was an out door band playing "Brown Eyed Girl" near a center stage area where young men were blowing fire out of their mouths and throwing it in the air. The center stage area also had lights around it and small fountain where water shoots up from the ground. There is also a movie theater near the center square. The boys wanted to check out the area and hang out and weren't as hungry so Coach went to eat dinner. As we we were walking back to meet Chunk we saw a horse carriage taking a family around the town.

Once back at the hotel the 2nd group of boys went to the hotel gym to get their work out in and then made plans to jog in the morning. We also checked the schedule and saw that the first games start tomorrow for the NBC World Series and there will be fireworks.  http://www.nbcbaseball.com/nbcwsdailyschedule.html  (link for daily schedule). We also have a couple more groups of boys that will be arriving tomorrow.

Coach's Comment of Day: "Nice little park to win some ball games in".