Hawks 12U Win Wood Bat National Tournament

Hawks 12u won their final tournament of the season, going 6-0.

Teams faced were:

• Oregon Diamond Jacks
• San Francisco Dons
• Bombers Baseball
• Cordova Reds
• Stockton Crushers
• Hard 90 Rally

Highlights

• Wesley Vickers pitched a complete game giving up 1 hit.
• Max Diaz pitched a complete game against the Stockton Crushers, winning 3-1 in a nail biter.
• Chris Brown max'd out the pitching with 9 innings pitched giving up a total of 3 runs. Chris closed out the Championship game, pitching 3 innings giving up 2 runs for the 8-7 win. He pitched 5 innings against the Bombers, having 6 k's.
• Willie pitched the Championship game against a hard hitting Hard 90 Rally. Hawks defense held Hard 90 after the 1st inning and the offense battled back to finish the game.
• Jeffrey...well....was on fire! Several spectacular plays at short-stop and a hot bat.
• Drew T., tournament MVP caught every game in high Manteca heat.

The Hawks finished the season on a high note, beating the Hard 90 Rally to win the Championship. Hard 90 previously bested the Hawks 11-3 in the NIT held in Woodland.

Big thanks to Bruce, Darrel, and Dave for a fantastic season! Cooperstown was definitely the highlight of the sesaon. Winning the final tournament in Manteca was the icing on the cake.

Nice job guys!

It's been an incredible ride over the years. Let it continue.

Hawks v NJ Panthers and Milwaukee Angels

click on the picture to see the slideshow

Hawks Take 8th out of 104 Teams

We knew going into the game against Houston that it was going to be tough. Chris pitched against Houston, able to keep them close. The Hawks scored more runs against Houston then all other teams combined (so far). Willie and Jeffrey's homers were key.

Hawks in the Elite 8

Hawks 8, East Cobb (GA) Trojans 4.

We face the Houston Sox who've blown out every team they've faced. Chris will have the mound.

Willie and Drew pitched against East Cobb.

Hawks in the Sweet 16!

Hawks made it to the Final 16 teams, beating the Lake Area Michigan Dodgers 2-0.

This was an exciting game between Max Diaz and a hard throwing lefty from the Dodgers. The Dodgers held the Hawks to two hits. Chris Brown bunted his way onto base in the 5th with the score ties at 0-0. Drew Downing, batting in the 9th spot, was fed a fast ball that Drew belted over the fence for a two run homer.

Max came in and shutdown the Dodgers.

From our understanding, this is the first time a Pleasant Hill team has made it into the final 16 at Cooperstown.

Hawks 6-0 in pool play

Bruce fulfilled his promise that all 12 kids would be able to say they pitched in Cooperstown. The team fulfilled the goal of going undefeated in pool play.

The teams have not been that challenging. We know starting tomorrow, it's game on.

Hawks 12

Louisiana Heat 2

A friend of mine from my time in the Concord Blue Devils. His kid plays on the Ponderosa Mustangs from Colorado.

It was totally by chance that my friend, Dave, discovered I was in Cooperstown. We hadn't seen each other in 20+ years.

Clouds during the rain delay

Drew Tressen was the 12th Hawks pitcher to have pitched during pool play. Hawks went undefeated with 12 different pitchers!

Rainbow at the end of a rain delay.

A few pictures

Uploading pictures here is unbelievably slow. I'll post pictures when I get better reception. Here's a few from the games.

Opening Ceremony

Hawks ready to get things started

Drew D. with a homer.

Chris wearing the pitch on his shoulder

Hawks 4-0 in pool play

The Hawks are now 4-0 in pool play with the win over the Parker (Co) Comets 12-4.

I won't go over the highlights, only that the Hawks thoughts are with the Comets pitcher and hope for a speedy recovery and a quick return to the field.

Hawks Win Again

Hawks 16
Coppell (Tx) Cowboys 3

Jeffrey had a Grand Slam.
Max hit his 2nd homer
Willie and Greg got their first.
Chris came close, hit the wall.
Willie pitched 3 innings, Chris pitched 2.

Opening Ceremony

Click on the picture to see the Opening Ceremony slide show

Hawks Web Cam

Hawks games on Monday will both be on the web-cams. We're currently seeded 6th after two games (doesn't mean much yet).

Hawks win again

Hawks 14 Milwaukee Angels 2

Noah hit a grand slam.
Jeffrey has 3 homers.
Max, Drew, and Drew have single homers.
Chris has been drilled twice.

Hawks win 1st game

Hawks 14
Cedar Grove Panthers (NJ) 0

We're in Cooperstown

Everybody has arrived safely here in Cooperstown. Looks like we're lucking out on the weather. It was blue skies with some clouds during the day.

Click on the image to see the slide show.

Hawks Pool Schedule

Day	Time (EDT)	Field	Home/Visitor	Opponent
Sunday	8:30 A.M.	9	Home	Cedar Grove Panthers (NJ)
Sunday	4:30 P.M.	19	Visitor	Milwaukee Angels (WI)
Monday	1:45 P.M.	1	Visitor	Coppell Cowboys (TX)
Monday	7:00 P.M.	18	Home	Parker Comets (CO)
Tuesday	11:00 A.M.	13	Visitor	Mississippi Stealth (MS)
Tuesday	4:30 P.M.	8	Home	Louisiana Heat (LA)

Hawks Trading Pin

Facebook

For those of you with Facebook accounts, sign up with the PH Hawks Baseball FB group.

Latest Stuff

Hawks Take 2nd at the Cal. State Championships Tournament

The Hawks and LBA Rangers are developing a bit of a rivalry. LBA bounced the Hawks out of the Memorial Day Tournament and this weekend beat the Hawks 2-1 in the Championship game. Their win came in the bottom of the 6th inning, breaking the 1-1 tie.

Highlights of the weekend include the following:

• Max Diaz pitching a great Championship game against LBA. He's got a rival with Tyler Bartis having been matched up against Tyler in two tournaments.
• Hawks had a tough 7-6 loss against LA Voodoo on saturday but came back on sunday to beat LA Voodoo 14-1 with Drew Downing keeping Voodoo off the bases.
• Chris Brown nearly had a perfect game against the Fremont Cal Ripken All Stars. Chris had 0 walks, 0 hits, 6 k's over 4 innings. The lone baserunner reached base on a called 3rd strike.

Hawks Win The 680 Interlock League Championship

The Hawks solidified their 1st place ranking by winning the 680 Interlock League Championship in Twin Creek. During the season the Hawks 12U never relinquished their 1st place ranking, in spite of a couple of pesky losses to Martinez and Moraga.

Speechless

Click on the picture to see the slide show.

The Hawks finished a competitive weekend of baseball at the Manteca Big League Dreams.  Highlights were a couple of come from behind wins including a comeback from a 3 run deficit with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Jeffrey had a homer in the Hawks final game of the tournament scoring the Hawks only run.

Pitching highlights include Max's performance against the LBA Rangers.  Chris came in to relieve Max but faced off against a tough batter in a tough situation.  

All in all, fun weekend.

Bugs Bunny Baseball

Walnut Creek Pictures

Click on the picture to see the slide show.

A little something

Double click on the video if you want to see a wider image. Select "HQ" for a higher quality video.

Under Construction or Destruction?

My laptop with all of the info decided to go on hiatus. It's currently in pieces on the dining table with harddrives ripped out, DVD's strewn about and stress levels high.

Hopefully back up shortly.

Hawks win 2 against Walnut Creek

Click on the picture to see the slide show

The Hawks won 2 against Walnut Creek.  The two teams were pretty close in runs scored and runs allowed during league play, so it was going to be a good contest.  Walnut Creek had a couple of hard throwing pitchers going against the Hawks, but the Hawks bats and pitching were a bit much to overcome.  Hawks won 8-2 and 9-3.  

Current Season Highlights

• Hawks are 25-6 for the season, 13-1 for league play.
• Hawks have scored 268 runs this season
• Hawks pitchers have 146 strike-outs.
• Team on-base is .510
• Evan has given up 0 runs while on the mound
• 
  

Hawks take 2nd at the Davis Super Series Tournament

Click on the image to see the slide show.

Hawks came close to winning the tournament in Davis. Davis Dynasty proved they have big bats and the Hawks proved they could play ball with them, going into the 6th tied. Tough loss, though. 

Going into the semi-finals, the Hawks outscored their opponents 28-1!

8 Hawks pitchers pitched during pool play, giving up only 1 run over 3 games. That's amazing!

The Hawks averaged 12+ hits a game going into the play-offs before meeting up with the Beasts and Dynasty.  The hits against those teams were 6 and 5 for the Hawks respectively.  Even though the Beasts had a hard throwing pitcher, the Hawks drew 8 walks.   Dynasty gave up two walks to the Hawks, making it more important for the bats to do their work.

Other highlights of the tournament

• Noah had Capitol Edge Beasts flummoxed with his cutter.
• Top 3 hitters were Greg (583), Dylan (556), and Max (500).
• Top 3 on base were Max (667), Evan (625), Dylan (615)
• Hawks pitchers had 24 strike-outs, 10 of those came from Max.
• Hawks pitchers finished the Rio Linda Warriors off in 43 pitches.

Hawks go 4-0 against Orinda, PH11, Danville, San Ramon

Click on the picture to see the slide show.

Highlights from this weekend playing against Danville and San Ramon

• Hawks are 9-0 in league play.
• Max had an amazing 10 strike-outs against San Ramon over 5 innings. He gave up only 1 hit in the 5 innings. Max pitched for average, he's averaged 2 strike-outs per inning pitched, the highest on the team. May have to start calling Max "Circle K".
• Max has a 9 game hitting streak. Greg and Will are next in line with a 4 game hitting streak.
• Hawks have 150 hits for the season so far
• Max pushed the Hawks pitchers past their 100th strike out for the season in 18 games

680 League Web-Site

Below are links to the 680 Interlock League web-site that contain the records of all of the teams.

680 Interlock Site

680 Interlock Standings

680 Interlock Schedule

I've also added links to these to the right under "680 Interlock Links" ==>

Hawks win 3 against Moraga and Danville

Click on the picture to see the slide show

Hawks win 3 this weekend; 2 against Moraga and 1 from Danville.

Highlights

• Max has an .846 batting average the last 5 games and on base over 10 games with a .636 average
• Noah caught for 3 games.  
• Chris on the mound averages 7 strike-outs for every walk.
• Noah scored the 100th run of the season for the Hawks!
• Greg has a .552 on base percentage the last 10 games
• 
  

Pitching Highlights:

• Average pitches per inning:  Chris 11, Willie 13, Drew D. 14.
• ERA:  Luis 1.27, Chris 1.35, Noah 2.45
• Innings Pitched:  Luis 23, Willie 21, Chris 13
• Strike outs per inning:  Max 2.14, Luis 1.06, Chris 1.05

Tara Hills - Hawks win 2

Click on the picture to see the slideshow

Tara Hills

Over the years Tara Hills have always given the Hawks / Condors a hard time. For most of the kids on the team their first travel team loss was to Tara Hills at the 05 Citrus Heights Tournament Championship game in the bottom of the 6th with two outs and up by 1 run. For those that were there it's not something likely to be forgotten given the complete chaos that happened after that final play.

Since that time the kids have managed to beat Tara Hills once in 5 years of ball. Two years ago the team suffered from a strange rule regarding seeding. Last year the team came close twice but it was not to be.

Over the years, who would've thought the Hawks would beat Tara Hills in back to back games? Not only that, but in convincing fashion. A combined score of 20-3.

Highlights

• 12 hits against Tara Hills in the 2nd game. A season high so far.
• Dylan made an incredible catch in center field.
• Greg did a great job behind the plate, catching for Noah and Chris.
• Luis, Noah, Chris combined for 12 innings of shutout ball
• The Hawks have struck out 52 batters in 63 innings so far this season The Hawks opponents have struck back with 52 strike-outs as well.
• The Hawks have benefitted from 46 walks while giving up 20 walks.

World Baseball Classic

Ok, who is going to the World Baseball Classic in L.A. or San Diego?

World Baseball Classic Schedule

Super NIT Champions

Click on the picture to see the slide show

Congratulations to the Hawk's on their USSSA Super NIT Victory in Manteca as well as to Luis on his MVP selection. 

As has been typical, the team started slow in the tournament with yet another 8AM game but picked up steam as the weekend progressed. A tough loss against the Delta Dawgs. We seem to always be evenly split with the Delta Dawgs. You never know the outcome of the games against the Dawgs.

The Brentwood game was exciting, a 1-0 ball game with good pitching, hitting, and defense.

Highlights

• Luis led the Hawks with a .778 batting average and .800 on base percentage.
• 4 Hawks players had .600 or higher on base percentage:  Luis, Willie, Drew T., and Chris B.
• 3 Hawks batters had batting averages of .400 or higher:  Luis, Jeffrey, Willie
• 5 home runs:  Greg L., Luis (2), Jeffrey, Dylan

A great start to the season.

Congratulations to the Hawk 10's

Click on the picture to see the full size

Congratulations to the Hawk 10's.  PHBA must certainly be proud two of their travel teams have won the USSSA Super NIT.

NIT Warm-up - Manteca

Click on the picture to see the slide show

The Hawks ended up 3rd or 4th out of 13 teams at the tournament.  There were some bright spots during the weekend:

1) Drew T. started off the season with 2 homers accounting for a total of 5 runs.

2) Hawks pitchers accounted for 19 strike-outs, 6 of them coming from Luis.

3) Hawks on-base % was .460

4) Hawks benefited from 14 walks while only giving up 4.

One thing about being on the Hawks, teams usually throw us their best pitchers.  The Rakers certainly did with Rojas.  Every one of our batters except two were struck out at least once by Rojas in the semi-finals.  5 strike-outs looking, 3 swinging.

Cool Catch

Hawks Scrimmage against Danville Diablos

Tommy - we were all thinking about you today.  We hope you can be back on the field with us in short order!

Danville Scrimmage Pictures

Click on the picture to see the slide show

.... And It Starts

Click on the picture to see the slide show.

Another season of the Hawks begins.  Given how things are looking, it's going to be yet another fun season.