Oh My Goodness I Had to Sew

I really think sewing is becoming a lost art. Who the heck sews anymore? I know there are people who still own sewing machines and do know how to sew, but I don't think nearly as many young ladies are taking up sewing class like they did in my mom's generation.

Thankfully, my mother was one that did learn how to sew (I know, right about now you're wondering what this has to do with softball, but hang in there). My mom even let me play (I wouldn't call what I did with the machine "sewing"...) with her sewing machine and she also showed my how to stitch a single line a stitches by hand. I at least know how to tie knots in the end of the thread so that they hold and I get the general idea of how to do simple stitches.

Okay, so what does sewing have to do with softball?

Well, those of you who've ever had experience with Bobby Sox softball knows about the patches that are required to be on the uniforms for tournament time. For those of you who don't - the league requires small embroidered patches to be sewn into the girls' uniforms. This year, it was just one square patch that had do be sewn onto the back of the girls' jerseys (top middle area).

This weekend, my 3 softball playing daughters are all playing in the Hawaii State Bobby Sox All Star Softball Tournament. So, that means they ALL needed to have patches sewn onto their jerseys. Thankfully, the coaches for my oldest daughter's team volunteered to take care of it for us. Whew! All we had to do was give them her jersey at practice the other day.

But coach for the team my 2 other daughters play on decided to give the parents the patches to sew onto the the jerseys. I got the two patches earlier this week, but here I am, the night before the tournament, and I just finished sewing the patches on to the jerseys.

Boy, what an experience for me! I didn't even have a needle and thread. I had to go to the local grocery store and pick up a sewing kit and a pack of needles! At least I knew enough about sewing to realize the needle in the sewing kits was NOT going to be very good for sewing through the thick embroidered patch I was working with.

All I have to say is, "Thanks Mom for doing this for me every year while I was growing up!" Of course, she probably took care of it 10 times faster than I did, but I think I did alright for a first try. The second one I did came out a little better than the first, but the first jersey is for my 7-year-old and it's a little big for her, so it's not like her jersey is going to be hanging nice and straight all the time. Hopefully no one will really be able to tell that her patch is not quite as centered and aligned as it should be. I'll let you know after I see her wear her jersey tomorrow. Maybe I'll even be able to post a few pictures. LOL

Oh, and that's not the only thing. I found out yesterday that this may not be the end of my softball related sewing experience....and it's my family's fault. I'll tell you all about it another day. For now, I need to get to sleep. We have a long tournament day ahead of us tomorrow. Have a Happy 4th of July!

Bill Hillhouse Registration Form Ready

I've been having a bunch of people ask when they can register for the clinic. I really wanted to have sites confirmed for each of the clinic dates before taking registrations, but due to popular demand, registration IS open.

Location and times for Sunday (the 21st) is already set - the clinic will be at Kapolei High School on the 21st.

I still need to confirm a location for the 20th (Saturday) and a location for the Small Group/Team Session on the 27th.

Only registration for the clinic sessions are open at this time.
The Small Group/Team Session registration forms will posted at a later date.

Again - Bill Hillhouse will be in Hawaii in September 2008!

Last time, we had WAY too many girls in each session, so this year EACH clinic session (20th & 21st) is limited to just 10-12 girls. That's why we are running two days worth of clinic sessions - so that we can make more than just 10-12 slots per age group available. One session for each age group will run on Saturday and another session will run on Sunday.

The clinic is $35 for participating pitchers (must supply your own catcher). This fee is good for ONE session. Parents, coaches, non-participating pitchers are FREE.

Also - in order to secure a spot in a Small Group session (on the 27th with no more than 4 pitchers per session), you MUST attend one of the clinic sessions.

So a Re-Cap
20th & 21st (Sat & Sun) - pitching clinic, 3 sessions each day - registration is now OPEN
27th - Small Group/Team Sessions, only 5 hour-long slots available - not taking registration yet

Phew - Long Tournament Days!

My daughter just played in the ASA State 12U Tournament. Unfortunately, her team decided to lose their first game in elimination play which made for a VERY long day on Saturday. We were at the park at 7:30am and, 4 games later, didn't leave until about 9:30pm. The did make it to Sunday, but lost their first game that morning.

I forgot how energetic young people can be. This team only used 2 pitchers (one of which was my daughter and she only pitched about half a game total) and 1 catcher. Yet at the end of the day on Saturday (in the 4th game) they were still showing enthusiasm and energy. The parents and coaches, of course, were quite tired.

It was definitely easier to play 4 games in one day back when I was playing than it is to coach or watch 4 games in one day now. I know, it probably has something to do with age right?

Anyway - great job to all the 12U teams that were in this weekend's tournament!

Here's a picture of my daughter (the little one) and her teammates in the Sunday game...still showing a little pep in their step....and, yes, my daughter's hair is colored red......and blue (see bottom pic).

Congratulations to Kamehameha!

Congratulations to the Kamehameha-Kapalama Varsity Softball team for winning this years DI Hawaii High School State Championship! I would post a link to the news story, but the game just ended so it's not up yet. But Kamehameha defeated Mililani 3-0 in tonight's State Championship game. Kamehameha allowed no runs throughout the tournament which reminds me of a phrase I like to tell a defense, "They (meaning the other team) can't win if they don't score."

Anyway - congratulations again to this year's State Champions. A link to the story and pictures will be posted at http://hhsaa.org/sports/softball.

Also - congratulations to Pac-Five for winning the DII championship tonight as well. It's an ILH sweep of the State Championship titles this year - wow!

Hawaii High School Championship Game

Right now I'm watching the Hawaii High School State Championship game in which my alma mater is currently up 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. BUT, Miliani, from the OIA, has runners on 1st and 2nd with just 1 out and the meat of their line-up up. If you're watching the game via www.oc16.tv, let me know what you think of the game. Or if you're in Hawaii watching the game on TV, leave a comment on what you thought/think of the game.

Alright - now the bases are loaded with just 1 out and Mililani's biggest hitter up to bat. We'll see what happens.

NCAA DI Regionals Continue Today

There were a few regional games played yesterday with the most "interesting" one being the Jacksonville State vs Florida State. It may not sound all that interesting, but it became the big story when Jacksonville chalked up their first NCAA DI Regional win in the opening game of the NCAA Softball Championships Tuscaloosa Regional. NCAA Sports has the story.

The majority of the Regionals begin today and all the match-ups are also available at NCAA Sports.

Hawaii will face Mississippi State today with Robinson as the starting pitcher.

But in other post-season softball, Robinson's sister just came out on the short end of a 2 hour and 45 minute game last night in Hawaii's High School State Tournament. Moanalua lost 1-0 to #2 seed Kamehameha in a 10 inning game at Rainbow Wahine Stadium last night. Read the full story here. Don't forget, tonight's State semi-final games will be broadcast live in Hawaii on OC16 and live via streaming video on the internet at http://www.oc16.tv/. The semi-final games begin at 5pm Hawaii Standard time which is 8pm on the West Coast.

Hawaii Softball Live Online Tonight

Hawaii High School games will be available for you to watch live via streaming video at http://www.oc16.tv/ - If you've never seen Hawaii High School softball...go check it out if. You'll see what I mean when I say that Hawaii High School softball is different from a lot of "high school" softball in most parts of the mainland US. Check it out tonight at http://www.oc16.tv/ - first game is at 5pm Hawaii Time (8pm West Coast).

These games are OIA semi-final games and the first game of the night features the #1 team in the West (Miliani) and the #2 team in the East (Kailua) who managed to take advantage of the opportunities they got yesterday and put the points they needed on the board to beat us 2-1. Congratulations to both teams for making it to this semi-final game.

The second game of the evening is the other semi-final which has the #1 team in the East (Moanalua) facing the #2 team in the West (Campbell). Congratulations to these two teams as well for making it to this semi-final game.

Both games should be pretty good, but my prediction is that the West team in each match up will come out ahead. But with sports, you never know, so we'll see what happens.

If you're in Hawaii and have OC16 - the games will be broadcast live on local tv. The first game begins at 5pm Hawaii Standard Time (8pm on the west coast).

After the broadcast at http://www.oc16.tv/, post a comment here and let me know what you think of the games.

Fun 8U Moments

Here are the pictures I promised in my last post. It's from the first game of the season for my two daughters who play 8U. They were all excited because it was their first game and they had just gotten their new helmets, uniforms, bags, and jackets. They hadn't seen their uniform jerseys until that day, so at the end of this post I'll tell you what they told me about their uniform after I got home from my game that day.

But first, there are the pictures...

Two sisters at the field early on a Saturday morning




Big smile from my 8-year-old


Hmmm...looks like my 6-year-old is giving signals LOL


When I got home from my game that day, my girls were already out of their uniform. I hadn't seen it yet because they got it right before the game. So after I got home the both wanted to show my their uniform. My 8-year-old goes,

"Mom! You wanna see our jerseys?"

Before I could finish the word "Yes" she's off and running to go get her jersey.

My 6-year-old runs after her while she yells out, "Oh yeah! You wanna see our jerseys? They're so (now I'm waiting for her to say cool! or awesome! or something, but she says) preeettyyy!" *sigh*

I have a feeling that one will be choosing a bat based on color and appearance some time in the future. LOL

Bill Hillhouse in Hawaii 2008

Yep, we're doing it again. Bill Hillhouse is coming to Hawaii in September. I know a LOT of people here in Hawaii were asking about whether or not he was going to come down again last year, but we just couldn't swing it for 2007 but we ARE doing it for 2008.

We're looking at September 20-21 for the clinic sessions (2 - 2 1/2 hours) and the following Saturday (27th) for small group sessions. Just like last time, in order to attend a small group session, you MUST attend a clinic session first.

I'm not quite sure on location yet, but we're looking at the CORP again and possibly another field in town. Ideally we'll be able to do CORP one day and the town field another day to make it easier for pitchers from different parts of the island to attend a session.

Most likely will run something similar to what we did two years ago. Clinic sessions will be offered by age group. One session will be for ages 10-12, another will be for 13-15, and the last for ages 16+. We'll run those 3 sessions on Saturday (20th) and if you can't make the Saturday date, we'll run them again on Sunday (21st).

Clinic sessions will be limited to 10-12 girls EACH. This is part of why we are running it for two days because 10-12 spots per age group will fill up FAST. So one session of 10-12 girls will be available on Saturday and another will be available on Sunday. Last time we had 14-16 per session and that was too much. This year, we're only allowing 10-12 per session so that your pitcher will get more attention during the clinic and get more out of it. Also remember, all pitchers MUST bring their own catcher.

As we get closer and closer to the clinic I will provide additional information (finalized location and pricing). Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the clinic. All clinic sessions will be FREE for ANY coaches or parents that want to attend. Bill's demonstrations during his clinics are very cool, so please come by if you have the chance. There is no charge to anyone who wants to come to see the demonstration and instruction. Only the pitchers that actually go out onto the field and go through drills and get instruction from Bill pay the clinic fee.

Cost to the pitchers will probably be about $40 to attend a 2-hour clinic session in the appropriate age group on the 20th OR 21st. Small group sessions (27th) are one hour long and Bill will work with just your group (up to 4 pitchers) for that full hour. These sessions will probably be about $140. Small group sessions will be VERY limited as we will only run them on one day, so once we finalize location and start taking applications, please don't wait too long.

Learn more about Bill Hillhouse at www.houseofpitching.com.

Sue Enquist is Coming to Hawaii!

Don't miss it! Sue Enquist will be here on December 15th and 16th for a clinic at Kilauea District Park. The clinic runs from 9:00am - 4:00pm each day.

For all the details, check out the details at
www.allaboutfastpitch.com/Sue.pdf

Wait - one more thing - mention that you heard about the clinic at AllAboutFastpitch.com and get a discounted price.

Okay - now to check out that flyer www.allaboutfastpitch.com/Sue.pdf

Homerun or Not?

Hey - look what I found on YouTube! It's a clip from this past Hawaii High School Season. This is from a Kailua/Castle game. These two teams have always played each other tough and Kailua is one of the well known "powerhouse" teams in the state year in and year out. In this clip, Castle is on defense and Kailua's B. Tokunaga is up to bat. Take a look at this clip.....



If I'm not mistaken...the homerun stood in this game and Kailua went on to win the game even though they were down in the late innings of the game.

Hawaii beats Oregon State

Hawaii shuts out #14 Oregon State 3-0 in the Hawaiian Airlines Spring Fling Tournament. Yeah ~ Go Bows! Sophomore pitcher Justine Smethurst was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game, two-hit, shut-out. Tonight, UH will face #5 seed, Boston College at 7pm.

Full story on the win over Oregon State can be read here.

Congratulations to the Baldwin Bears!

Congratulations to the Baldwin Bears of Maui for winning this years Hawaii High School State Championship! Baldwin had a perfect record this season and defeated the Mililani Trojans 2-0 in the championship game on Saturday. Not only did the Baldwin pitcher, Nicole Alconcel, shut out the Trojans, but she also drove in her team's only runs with a 2 run home run. She also did the same thing in the semi-final game (held the opponent to 1 hit, no runs and hit a 2 run homer for the only score of the game).

Great job to all the high school teams this season! I'm already looking forward to next year.