Happy 4th of July!

First of all, I'm sorry for the delay in posts. I'd like to say it's because I'm too busy but we're all probably thinking it so I'll just say it...it's because I'm lazy (I mean, look at how much I'm writing!). So lots of things have been happening in the Arizona baseball world. I'm happy to report that we are no longer winless. Our record is now 3-8. Ya that's still not very good, but considering how we lost our first four games, I'd say that's pretty good. We lost our first four games by a combined score of 66 to 11. WOW. That is embarassing. But we've done much better since then. We won our fifth game 7-0. Pretty big turn around right? I pitched 2 2/3 innings that game and only gave up one hit. Which, if any of you follow me closely, was much, MUCH better than my first outing. I won't tell you about it so don't ask me haha. So, around here our schedule basically goes like this. We play four games on four consecutive days and then have the fifth day off. Luckily I've had some people around recently to keep me company. Erin's Uncle Will and cousin Taylor were here a week ago and I was able to go and see Taylor play in a USA Baseball tournament. He did awesome.

He is down here for two consecutive tournaments and most of his games are played just one mile from where I am living. What a small world. Then just a few days ago Erin's Grandpa Steve flew down to spend some time with Taylor and we all went out for dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ before Will had to go home.

Other than that pretty much everything is the same down here. The bus leaves at 1:15 for a 7pm game which makes for a very long day, considering we don't get home until midnight. I don't feel bad for myself but more for Erin. She is the sweetest woman in the world. It doesn't matter how early she has to get up the next morning, she is always awake and waiting for my phone call when I get home from the field. I love you Erin.

I took the picture above today (this is also a practice field that we use as pitchers to do fielding practice). Today we had a day game against the Indians that got rained out. It was a pleasant surprise because now we have the whole day off today, and we have tomorrow off too because it is our off day. But rain like this in Arizona in July is rare I've been told. Our head coach, Tony Diggs said this hasn't happened in his 6 years here in Arizona. For some of you who might be wondering about other things. So far this year I have thrown harder than anyone else on my team. My first outing against the Oakland A's I touched 96 mph. My last two outings have been a little slower but I have consistently been 92-94 mph. I've been working closely with our pitching coach, "Doc," to refine my mechanics to help prevent injury and perhaps increase velocity. Along with that I'm really trying to develop more confidence in my changeup and breaking pitches so I can throw them more consistently for strikes. As soon as I can do that there's no telling how much better I can be. Thank you for all you who have shown me support. I'll try to be better about keeping everyone up to date. Lastly, happy 4th of July! It's so great to live in such a wonderful place. I know it's easy to see a lot of the negatives among us, but never forget how lucky we are. I'm very proud to be an American. Have a fun time with families and fireworks today!