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".