Coach's Diamond Notes:

• Bridgewater Raynahm won the South Sectional Division I Tournament in 2003.
• If you are playing a winter sport you still should be swinging a wood bat. Set up a tee (in your cellar or garage) or just take dry swings.
• If you are not participating in a winter sport, you need to get involved in a weight program. You can use the high school weight room or join a fitness club in town. Getting physically stronger will make you mentally stronger as well. It is a must for todays athlete!
• Playing .500 ball last year was a jolt to our program, players, and coaches. I hope this is your motivation to work harder and play together better.

  You need to begin now to get yourself prepared:

  • There will be no "freebie's", you will have to earn it(all players)!
  • Be unselfish
  • Mentally tough
  • Great attitude
  • Love to play and practice
  • Will to sacrifice
  • Desire a championship
  • Be committed
• Special thanks to Mike Botaish for setting up our web site.
• Pitchers: You must be able to come in and throw 30 pitches on March 15th. Just playing catch every day or every other day is sufficient. You don't necessarily have to throw off a mound. BE PREPARED....Legs, Abs, Shoulders.
• Remember: A champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is looking!

“Quality at Bats”

Hitting Instructor Mike Epstein Hitting

In order to implement an offensive strategy for his players, a coach must have a guideline. My quality-at-bat criteria are measured by, 1) how well a batter manages the strike zone and, 2) his ability to time pitches.

When a hitter does these two things well, he will normally produce a quality at-bat. In other words, the hitter must make the pitcher throw strikes and he must remain focused to produce a well-timed swing. This will increase his chances to reach base safely and/or manufacture productive outs.

Further defining the quality at-bat recipe, I look for 10 distinct ingredients. For a team to be successful most of the time, these ten items must play out on a consistent basis. There are more, but they are beyond the scope of this article. An example of one that doesn’t qualify would be taking a strike in the final two innings of a game if the hitter did not represent the tying or winning run.

In the 2002 World Series, in Game 2, with the giants down 11-9 in the top of the ninth, Rich Aurelia swung at the first pitch from Troy Percival and flied out to left field.

Jeff Kent swung at a 1-0 pitch for the second out. Barry Bonds was the third man up. The very best hitter in baseball, yet the two guys before him didn’t even give him the opportunity to tie or win the game.

Ironically, Bonds did hit a home run, but to no avail; the Giants lost 11-10. Watching the game, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief. What could they have possibly been thinking?

THE STRATEGY:

• 1.Get a Good Pitch to Hit
• 2.Executing Fundamentals, Productive Outs
• 3.Sacrifice Fly
• 4.Any At-Bat That Lasts More than 8 Pitches
• 5.Line Drive Out
• 6.A Walk
• 7.Hit By Pitch
• 8.Hit
• 9.Working the Count
• 10.Using Middle of Field with Drawn-In Infield