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Peter Jouras
Attorney at Law
913-677-1999 

CONGRATULATIONS 2010 KC GENERALS!

68'S INSIDE SPORTS MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC RUNNERS UP
MSP HAWAIIAN HITFEST CHAMPIONS
BV REC EARLY BIRD CLASSIC RUNNERS UP
3&2 SEASON OPENER CHAMPIONS
JCCC HITTING LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

6-12-10 Morning showers delayed the start of play for the second day of the Cowtown Showdown, so the Generals had to wait until 6 PM for their scheduled 2 PM game against the St. Joe Yankees.  Facing Buck Lasiter, the visiting Yankees' leadoff runner singled up the middle, and scored without benefit of another hit.  Anthony Ippolito started the Generals half of the inning in identical fashion, and it looked like he would score easily when cleanup hitter Scottie Preston launched one to DEEP center field with two outs, but the Yankee's CF never gave up and tracked the ball down to retire the Generals with a 1-0 lead after 1.  The Generals held the Yankees in the second, and came to bat still down 1, but the first two batters were retired. Shaban Agayev singled to left and looked like the Generals might threaten, but again the Yankees CF ended the inning with a spectacular catch, this time diving to retrieve a line shot off the bat of Ben Viestenz.  The Generals made quick work of the Yankees in the third, and finally plated a couple of runners in their half, started by a line drive base hit by Garrett Pyle, and after yet a third great catch by the CF, this time a long drive by Anthony, Buck lined one to right bringing Garrett trucking around third and scoring on a head first slide to even the score at one.  Next Austin Weiler connected and drove one deep over the left fielder's head for a triple, driving in Buck, but Austin was stranded on third and the score was Generals 2-Yankees 1 after 3.  Unfortunately, the Generals allowed the leadoff runner to reach on an error in the fourth, and a couple of hits later the game was tied again, and the Yankees took the lead on a 1-out grounder to second, taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fourth.  The Generals came back and tied it on a two-out walk and stolen base by Shaban and an RBI single by Ben.  Into the fifth and final inning the game went, tied at 3 and Garrett Pyle came in to relieve Buck.  The first batter popped to Buck at first, but the second batter singled to RC.  After two very close pickoff attempts, the runner stole second, then with the runner moving, the batter laid a bunt down the first base line and the Generals got him at first, but the heads up runner continued towards home and with no one covering the plate the run scored easily to give the Yankees a one run lead.  Pyle struck out the next batter for the final out, and the Generals would have to score one to stay alive and two to win and advance to bracket play.  First up was Anthony, who grounded to third, who threw high, but the first baseman caught the ball and tagged Ipps for the first out.  Next up was Buck who lined a screamer back to the pitcher, which he caught for out number two. The Generals were down to their final out, but Austin kept their hopes alive with a single down the left field line.  Then Scottie lined a single to left, sending Weiler to third and keeping the Generals in the game.  Hot-hitting Triston Decker tied the game with a single up the middle, and Jaxson Dubinsky came up with Preston on second and T-Deck on first.  After two strikes, Jaxson drilled a single to center with Preston going on the pitch, and moments later Scottie crossed the plate to finish a spectacular come-from-behind win, leaving the Generals 3-0 in pool play, and ready to come back for bracket play tomorrow.

6-11-10 It was a hot and muggy afternoon as the Generals took the field to face the KC Monarchs to start the 22-team MSP Cowtown Showdown, with Austin Weiler starting against his former team.  A rocky start ensued for the Generals, as they spotted the Monarchs with three unearned runs in the first.  Anthony Ippolito walked and quickly reached third, but the team stranded him despite a hard hit line drive by Austin, unfortunately right to the CF.  The Generals held in the second, and Triston Decker started things off with a single up the middle in the second, stole second, reached third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.  Jaxson Dubinsky walked and Shaban Agayev reached on a fielders choice, and Ben Viestenz moved him to third with a single to right, and then stole second.  Shaban was nearly caught on a short throw to the SS but beat the rundown back to third and Konner Kelly drove in Shaban and Ben with a single to right.  Konner stole second and reached third on a passed ball and then scored on Vince Gallate's ground out to second to give the Generals the lead, 4-3 after 2.  The Monarchs tied the game in the third before Weiler retired the third out on a wicked slider, and when the Generals came up for their half of the third, they were stricktly business.  A single by Anthony and another by Buck Lasiter, driving in Ipps, started the inning before Weiler was robbed for the second time this game, followed by a strikeout.  But with two outs, Triston hit a single up the middle to drive in Buck and Jaxson singled to right, moving Decker to third.  Jaxson stole second, and Shaban lind one down the right field line driving in one and moving Jaxson to third.  Shaban took second and then Ben drove both runners in with a single, making the score 9-4 Generals.  That's all the scoring they'd need, as they retired the Monarchs in the final three frames, allowing only two more base runners and no more runs, as Weiler retired the final out with another bender to preserve the 9-4 win.  Austin Weiler won the coveted "Cow Bell" as the game's MVP.

As hall of famer Ernie Banks once said, "let's play two" and the Generals would do just that, facing the Millard (NE) Dynamite in the nightcap.  The boys from Nebraska made quick work of the Generals in the first, retiring the first three batters.  Jaxson got the nod and allowed a leadoff infield single, who ultimately became the game's first run, but the Generals quickly tied it in the second on a booming triple by Triston and RBI hit by Shaban. The Dynamite added another run in the second however, and the Generals came to bat in the third down 2-1.  After a leadoff popout, Garrett Pyle lined a single to right with a two-strike count and Ipps followed with a single.  A passed ball moved the runners into scoring position, Buck walked to load the bases, and Austin finally got one to fall his way, hitting a fly down the right field line, just fair to drive in two and give the Generals a lead they would not relinquish.  Scottie drove in one more on a fielders choice, and after two-and-a-half it was 4-2 Generals, and they retired the Dynamite in order in the third, maintaining their two run lead.  A couple of hits by Jaxson and Ben in the fourth produced no more runs, but the Generals held their opponents on some outstanding defensive plays by Garrett, Triston, and Vince to hold the score at 4-2, where it would remain after the Generals half of the fifth.  After the first two runners reached on an error and HBP in the bottom of the fifth, Coach Lasiter called on Scottie to come in for the save, and he did not disappoint, striking out the first three batters he faced to hold the Dynamite from cutting into the lead.  The Generals added a couple of important insurance runs in the sixth behind hits by Triston, an RBI single by Shaban, a single by Ben, and a bases loaded walk to Vince that scored Shaban.  With a 6-2 lead, Preston continued his strikout streak with two more, but walked the next batter, who would score after a stolen base, bunt single and RBI single, but with runners at the corners and the tying run at the plate, Preston struck out the final batter to earn the save and the Generals won 6-3.  Jaxson Dubinsky was named game MVP.

6-10-10 On the docket on this Thursday night late game was a rematch with the BV Bulldogs.  As the visitors, the Generals went down quickly in the first 1-2-3 and with Austin Weiler on the hill, retired the Bulldogs with no damage as well.  Triston Decker connected in the second for the game's first hit, but the team couldn't score him, but behind Jaxson Dubinsky's two stikeouts and a terrific "snow cone" catch by Shaban Agayev, the Generals held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second, as well.  Another 1-2-3 inning for the Generals and it was Buck Lasiter to pitch the Bulldogs half of the third.  A couple hits and an error resulted in an unearned run for the Bulldogs who took a 1-0 lead into the fourth.  After a leadoff strikeout and a walk, the Generals bats awoke in the fourth with Buck's RBI fly to center.  Austin's hard line drive was caught by the second baseman, but a walk to Scottie and a double by Triston scored two and Jaxson singled to drive in Triston for a 4-1 Generals lead.  Anthony Ippolito pitched the bottom of the fourth, and after a strikeout and a grounder back to pitcher, the Bulldogs fought back to get within one.  With two out and the tying run on third, the Bulldogs batter hit a hard line drive to center, but Austin tracked it and made a spectacular diving catch to end the threat.  Generals 4-Bulldogs 3 after 4.  The Generals added two more insurance runs in the fifth, with a leadoff single by Shaban, a single by Konner Kelley, and an RBI single by Garrett Pyle.  Kelley scored on a head first slide into home on a wild pitch.  Ben Viestenz pitched the fifth, and struck out two, but loaded the bases to bring the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs.  The batter hit a screaming line drive up the middle that looked like it would narrow the lead for sure, but Shaban hustled to his right, extended and made a spectacular diving catch to escape the inning.  The Generals added three more in the sixth on hits by Austin and Scottie Preston, a HIGH sac fligh by Triston, single by Ben, and an infield single by Shaban.  Scottie came in to pitch the sixth and struck out the side in order to preserve the 9-3 win for the Generals.

6-8-10 Rain, rain go away, come again some other day (when we're not playing)!  Please, no more rain outs!

6-3-10 Despite beating the first place Wolverines earlier in the week, with three Gold Glove league losses, the Generals didn't have much "wiggle room" to remain in the hunt as they faced the Blue Sox, a team who had played to a 1-0 loss to the Generals just a few days earlier.  With Ben Viestenz on the hill, an infield hit became an early run for the Blue Sox, and the Generals came to bat down one.  Against a tall, hard-throwing lefty Austin Weiler managed the Generals only hit in the first and the score remained 0-1.  In the second, a hit batsman, stolen base, wild pitch and fielders choice manufactured the Blue Sox second run, but the Generals could get nothing going.  Pitching and defense remained in control for both teams, but the Generals finally got things going in the bottom of the fourth when singles by Buck Lasiter, Weiler, and Triston Decker resulted in two Generals runs to tie the affair.  Garrett Pyle relieved, and when a short fly ball dropped in center and a walk followed, the Blue Sox bunted the runners to second and third with only one out.  The next batter grounded to Anthony Ippolito who threw home but the runner slid in safe and there was still two on, one out and the Blue Sox were back on top.  Two more runs would score, and the Generals would go down 1-2-3 in both the fifth and sixth innings, to end the game 2-5.

6-1-10   The game the Generals had circled on the schedule since losing on a last-inning walk-off home run in the championship game of the BV Rec Early Bird Classic, had finally arrived.  The Generals readied for a Gold Glove league rematch against the first place MB Wolverines.  To remain in contention for the league title, the Generals would have to win.  As the visitors, the Generals came out a little slow, but finished the first with their bats-a-crackin'.  Anthony Ippolito dropped a short fly to CF for a single and took second on a passed ball.  He took third on a fielders choice and looked stuck when the second out was retired on a popup, but he scored on a wild pitch for the game's first run.  After Scottie Preston walked, Triston Decker singled and Ben Viestenz' single drove in the Generals' second run, and Konner Kelley singled up the middle to drive in two more and make it 4-0 after one-half inning.  Scottie took the mound and made quick work of the Wolverines, striking out the leadoff battter looking a three straight strikes, retiring the second out on a grounder to Garrett Pyle at 1st and striking out the third batter looking.  The game would remain tied after the Generals went down in order and then retired the Wolverines on two grounders to Shaban Agayev at second and another Preston strikeout.  The Generals added another in the third with a leadoff single to Ipps, who scored on Preston's pop fly to short left dropped in to make it 5-0.  After a Bon Bon error to start the bottom of the third, he retired the next two on grounders to second, and again Preston struck out the third out.  Triston continued his hot hitting with a long double to start the fourth, and was singled in by Ben. With one on and nobody out, Konner drilled a ball up the middle, but the shortstop made a spectacular catch and doubled Viestenz off of second, and then Jaxson Dubinsky worked the count to full, fouled off two more pitches, and then hit a screamer right back to the pitcher to squelch the Generals rally.  The score remained 6-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but the Wolverines got two back in their half, despite two more Preston strikeouts and an excellent charge and throw by Austin Weiler.  The fifth came and went, as did the top of the sixth, and it came down to the Wolverines final at bat.  Preston was done for the evening, and Coach Lasiter brought in former Wolverine Jaxson Dubinsky to retire his old teamates in fine fashion.  A strikeout looking, fly to Triston in center and then a majestic string of breaking knuckle curve balls retired the final out to preserve the 6-2 win for the Generals.

5-30-10  With 11 runs allowed, the Generals would have to settle for the #3 seed and played #6 seeded Blue Sox, another Gold Glove league foe.  In a pitchers battle rarely seen at this level, the Generals won 1-0 to advance to the semi-final and a rematch against the Longhorns.  Again the Generals hooked the Horns, albeit in less dramatic fashion, with an 8-4 win.  Their final obstical to a second straight tournament championship was the Topeka Gorillas.   But the Gorillas bested the Generals, taking the championship and leaving second place for the Generals.  Still, with a 10-1 record in their past two tournaments, the Generals had much to be proud of!

5-29-10  The Generals played in the 68's Inside Sports Memorial Day Classic at 3&2 and faced the Northland Yankees in their first game, winning 11-3.  Next up were the BC Ravens and the Generals beat 16-8.

5-26-10 The Generals were back to league play and faced the OP Astros, who they had just beat by a wide margin in the Hawaiian Hitfest a few nights ago.  This night would be different though, as it was the Astros that emerged victorious with a 6-5 win over the Generals, as the team fell to 5-3 in league play.

5-23-10 The Generals entered bracket play as the #2 seed ... or so they thought.  As the Generals prepared to play the #7 seeded Topeka Orioles, the discovery of an error in scoring the previous night's game between the Orioles and MB Wolverines resulted in rightfully awarding the Generals the #1 seed, so instead the Generals would play the #8 Thunderstix from Central Missouri. Once play finally commenced, Garrett Pyle started for the Generals, struck out two  and allowed no runs to bring the Generals to bat.  Anthony Ippolito led off with a double, stole third and scored on a wild pickoff attempt to plate the Generals first run.  Buck Lasiter reached with a walk, stole second, and took third on a line drive single by Austin Weiler.  After a pitching change and a strikeout, Scottie Preston drove in both runners with a single and Ben Viestenz moved him to third with a single of his own.  Ben stole second and the throw went into CF, scoring Scottie and allowing Ben to take third, and Ben scored on Konner Kelley's hard grounder to short.  After one full inning, the Generals had a 5-0 lead.  The Pyle-led Generals allowed a hit but no runs in the second, the Generals went down in order in the second and the Thunderstix did the same, so the score remained 5-0 with the Generals up in the third.  Buck singled and scored on Scotties RBI to increase the lead to six.  Another one-hit, no-run inning in the fourth for the Thunderstix, and again the Generals added another run on a long fly ball double by Vince Galate and RBI single by Jaxson Dubinsky.  Two more scoreless half innings went quickly, and the Thunderstix came up for their last at bat trailing 7-0.  Ben Viestenz came in to pitch, and hit the first batter, who stole second and took third on a wild pitch.  A long double to deep center ended the shutout, and the Generals would allow two more runs, but preserved the 7-3 win to advance.

Next up for the Generals was the 4th seeded Lancers from the Shawnee Mission East area.  Behind Scottie the Generals took the field and a leadoff single became the Lancers' first run but the home team escaped further damage and came up to bat down 0-1.  A single by Austin was all the Generals musterred in the first but the Generals held the Lancers in the second and they came to bat again, still trailing by the single run.  Scottie reached on a slow roller, but his pinch runner was picked off, and Jaxson hit a screamer down the third base line but the fielder backhanded the ball and made the throw just in time for the second out.  But Konner doubled to start a two out rally, followed by a walk to Shaban Agayev and a high fly to right by Garrett to drive them both in and give the Generals the lead.  Anthony walked and it looked like the Generals would have another big inning, but Buck's line drive up the middle was nabbed by the second baseman for the third out.  After two, the score was Generals 2, Lancers 1.  In the top of the third, the Lancer's first batter reached on an error, but Jaxson snagged the next battter's line drive to right and doubled the runner off.  With two outs the Lancer's hitter drove a single to center but Buck threw him out at second with Shaban making the tag.  In the third, Triston walked with one out, stole second and with two outs, Jaxson drove one down the left field line for an RBI and a Generals 3-1 lead.  The score remained through the fourth and top of the fifth, and the Generals added another one in the fifth on a double by Austin, another infield hit by Scottie and a wild pitch.  Only three outs stood between the Generals and a berth in the Championship game.  The Lancer's leadoff hitter grounded a high bouncer to Austin at short, and Austin's quick release throw got the first out just in time.  A single and a walk brought the potential tying run to the plate, and a grounder to Garrett at first moved the runners to second and third with two outs.  The Lancers cut the lead to 2 with a single up the middle, and the runner took second uncontested to put the tying run in scoring position.  Tension was thick, but then it was over when Jaxson squeezed the line drive to right for the game's final out to put the Generals in the Hawaian Hitfest championship with a 4-2 win.

The USSSA 12U AA Kansas points leading Longhorns awaited the Generals in both teams' sixth and final game of the weekend.  Coach Lasiter saved Austin Weiler to pitch the championship, and the Longhorns got to him early, taking a 2-0 lead in their half of the first.  The Generals got one back in the bottom of the inning on a hit batsman (Buck) , two wild pitches, and a passed ball.  The game looked like a pitchers duel, locked at 1-2 through 3, until a walk led to a third Longhorns run in the fourth.  The Generals could not figure out the Longhorns hard throwing hurler and despite a leadoff hit by Austin, they failed to score again in the fourth.  The Longhorns started to pound the ball in the fifth, and looked about ready to put the game away with three more runs in and a runner on base with only one out.  But Anthony's strong throw to the plate kept another run from scoring, and Weiler ended the inning with a strikeout, avoiding further damage.  Garrett was left stranded after his two out single in the fifth and the Generals retired the Longhorns in the sixth, but time was running out for the Generals.  With only three outs to go, they trailed by five.  It looked like the Generals would have to settle for second when the leadoff batter struck out.  But the next batter Austin, who appeared to be hit by a pitch that was called foul, got tough and singled to left, then stretched it into a double to give the Generals a gasp of air.  Scottie followed with a single and Jaxson placed one in the hole between the first and second baseman to cut the deficit to 2-6 and move Scottie to third.  There was a long way to go, but the Generals could feel their confidence growning with each at bat.  Konner Kelley came up next and hit a bouncer back to the pitcher, but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and he was safe while Scottie crossed the plate to make it 3-6, and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with Triston at the plate, representing the tying run.  Triston hit a hard shot the shortstop couldn't handle and reached safely, scoring another run and moving Konner to third.  The next batter struck out, but Konner scored on a wild pitch and the Generals were within one with two outs.  Garrett Pyle came to the plate and singled to left to drive in the tying run, then took second on the throw!  The team and crowd were electric with the tournament-winning run on second, but it would take extra innings if the Generals were to take home the big hardware, as Anthony hit a solid fly right to the left fielder for the third out. After 6 innings, the game was tied.  It wouldn't get any easier for the Generals in the 7th as the Longhorns plated three more, and again the Generals were playing from behind for their tournament lives.   The Longhorns finally pulled their pitcher though, and Buck led off with a bloop over teh first baseman's head.  Austin launched one over the left fielder's head that rolled to the fence and Austin took second.  Scottie followed with a line drive into right, putting runners at first and third.  A fielder's choice got Austin at the plate and there were runners on the corners with one out.  Konner Kelley's slow roller to second scored brother Kyler (pinch running for Scottie) and moved Jaxson to third.  Kelley tried for second and made the Longhorns work a rundown while Jaxson ran home to tie the game again, while Kelley slid in safe to second.  Konner took third on a passed ball, but that's as far as he could get, and the game went into the 8th.  Scottie took the mound and struck out the first batter.  The next batter hit a grounder off of Scottie's glove, but shortstop Lasiter charged the ball, made the throw and got the runner for out number two.  The next batter reached on an infield hit, stole second and third, but then Scottie picked him off of third, got the runner in a rundown and Konner tagged him out at home to end the Longhorns eighth and give the Generals a chance to win with one run.  Garrett led off with a line drive to the third baseman, but then Anthony singled up the middle, then slid in for a stolen base on a close play at second.  A strikeout left the potential winning run in scoring position with two outs, and when Austin hit a high routine pop fly to left, it looked like the boys would have to play a ninth.  But the ball bounced out of the fielder's glove and dropped to the ground in left, allowing Anthony to cross the plate with the winning run, a tournament championship, and a comeback that no one will ever forget.  Final score: Generals 10 Longhorns 9.  Both teams congratulated each other on a VERY hard fought contest and a terrific tournament.

5-22-10 The Generals had to wait all day, but finally took the field at 6 PM to face the Lee's Summit Titans in their second pool game of the Hawaiian Hitfest.  The dugout looked great, thanks to the decorating committee of Ann Weiler, Shelley Ippolito, and Cyndi Galate (with help from other parents!).  Jaxson Dubinsky started for the Generals and made quick work of the Titans in the first, but the Generals top three failed to reach in the bottom half and the game remained scoreless through 1.  A scoreless second for the Titans gave the Generals another chance to start the scoring, and that they did with two in their half of the second on an infield hit by Scottie Preston and aided by a couple of Titans errors.  Dubinsky allowed a double but struck out three in the third, but the Generals fell in order as well, so the score remained 2-0 after 3.  The Titans managed one in the fourth but the Generals put up 3 more in their half with some smart baserunning.  Buck Lasiter led off with a single up the middle and stole second, Triston Decker walked and stole second, while Lasiter scored on the throw.  Scottie Preston reached base on a little dribbler down the first base line when the pitcher's throw pulled the first baseman off the base.  Like an instant replay, when Scottie stole second, Triston scored on the throw, and Preston later scored after stealing third on an errant throw.  After four the Generals led 5-1.  The Titans added two in the fifth, but the Generals got one back in their half and Garrett Pyle came in to strike out the only three batters he faced in the sixth to earn the save and preserve a 6-3 win for the Generals.  Jaxson Dubinsky was named game MVP by the Titans.

Next up for the Generals was the Natural Baseball Academy Dawgs, and this one would be over quickly.  Buck Lasiter took the hill and despite a leadoff single, retired the Dawgs on two strikeouts and a fly ball to Dubinsky in right.  The Generals scored 5 in the first on hits by Anthony Ippolito, Austin Weiler, Preston, Ben Viestenz, and Konner Kelley.  Lasiter faced only three batters in the second, again striking out two before the Generals batted around in the second.  Shaban Agayev started things off with a single, followed by Garrett, Anthony, and Buck.  The Dawgs retired the next two batters, but with two outs, Scottie walked, Ben grounded one past second, Vince Galate reached on an infield hit, Konner walked and Jaxson drove one to deep left to make the score 13-0 after two.  Three batters (and two more Lasiter strikeouts) later, the Dawgs were retired and the game was called by a 12+ run spread after 3.  The Generals finished pool play 3-0, allowing a total of only six runs and they awaited word on their seed.  For his six strikeouts (facing only ten batters), Buck Lasiter earned game MVP.

5-21-10 The Generals broke out the hula skirts, pineapples, and coconut bras and it looked like they would finally get a tournament in with no rain delays as the perenial favorite Hawaiian Hitfest tournament commenced at Blue Valley Recreation Complex.  Well at least the weather was nice and the tournament began with the Generals versus the OP Astros in their commemorative tie-dye tournament jerseys.  As the visiting team, however, the Generals would have to come from behind as they went down in their first, and with Ben Viestenz pitching, allowed the Astros to take a 2-0 lead to start the game.  But the Generals were up for the challenge, plating four in the second and never looking back.  After Triston Decker walked and Scottie Preston drove him in on a ball through the third baseman's legs, Ben reached on a fielders choice, advanced to 2nd and then third on a wild pitch and then was balked home to tie the game.  Vince Galate walked and scored on a single to right by Jaxson Dubinsky, who later scored on a passed ball, following a single by Shaban Agayev.  After an inning and half, the Generals were up 4-2.  The Generals held the Astros in the second highlighted by a pickoff at first by Viestenz, and then came the third.  11 hits, 11 runs, and three Astros pitchers later, the Generals led 14-2.  One Astros run in the third, another Generals run on a long shot to left by Austin Weiler, and a 1-2-3 fourth by Viestenz, and the Generals won 15-3 and were 1-0 in the tournament.  For his effort, the Astros awarded Viestenz with game MVP.

5-20-10 This "rain thing" is really getting annoying as the Generals were supposed to play the BV Longhorns, but were again rained out again tonight.

5-18-10 Back to league play, the Generals faced the A's looking to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time in 2010.  Rough times arrived early for the home Generals as one of the team's usual ace pitchers had a tough time finding the strike zone and when he did, the team behind him didn't make plays.  Four walks, a hit batsman, and 3 errors led to 6 A's runs on only two hits.  Anthony Ippolito's long shot to left looked to get the Generals going, but a "web gem" of a catch thwarted the attempt and the Generals went down 1-2-3 in the first.  The score remained 0-6 until the A's added one more in the top of the fourth.  The Generals did add two in the fourth on a couple of A's errors and kept the A's at bay in the fifth to keep the score at 2-7 with two at bats remaining.  The fifth looked promising as Anthony, Buck Lasiter, and Triston Decker loaded the bases on three walks, and with two outs, Scottie Preston drove in one on an infield single, bringing the potential tying run to the plate, but a fortuitous bounce back to the catcher on a passed ball resulted in tagging Buck out trying to score for the third out, and 3-7 is as close as the Generals would get.  The sixth came and went with no further scoring, and the Generals fell to the A's, dropping their second Gold Glove league game.

5-15-10 The Generals 0-1 in the MSP Spring Fling would not have a chance to redeem themselves as the rest of the tournament was washed out.  Unfortnuately, tournament policy was to rank the teams based on games played, so the Generals finished 11th, their lowest finish since inception.

5-14-10 After a ten-day break from baseball, the Generals faced the 11AAA Inside Sports Blues in the MSP Spring Fling at Mid-America.  As the visiting team, the Generals looked primed for the challenge, taking a 2-0 lead early when the Blues second baseman let one through his legs to allow Buck Lasiter to reach and Austin Weiler drove an RBI single to right, took third on a Triston Decker fielders choice and then scored when the Blues pitcher failed to catch an errant throw back from the catcher.  But that was about all the celebrating the Generals would do on this night.  The Generals defense offered pitcher Ben Viestenz little support as they gave back three unearned runs in the bottom of the first, and failed to score in the second or third.  The Blues added one in the bottom of the third, the Generals failed to score with bases loaded and only one out in the fourth, allowed three more in the Blues half of the fourth, and trailed 2-7.  The Generals still couldn't get going in the fifth, and the Blues addded one in the bottom of the fifth.  Austin managed a hit, stole second, third, and scored on a wild pitch, but the final score was Blues 9, Generals 3.

5-12-10 Generals rained out versus Blue Valley Rays.

5-9-10 HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE GENERALS MOMS!

5-4-10 Tuesday night it was back to league play for the Generals against the Jager Field Tigers.  Behind Scottie Preston, the Generals overcame two first inning walks to hold the Tigers scoreless, but went down 1-2-3 themselves as well. The Tigers rallied in the second, but with 1 in already and runners on 2nd & 3rd with only 1 out, RF Jaxson  Dubinsky charged down a short fly, holding the runners and with the count full, Preston got the final out looking at strike 3.  With one out in the Generals half of the second Preston took things into his own hands, launching one over the left fielder's head for a double, and Konner Kelley brought him around driving a triple into right.  Kelley scored when Garrett Pyle's pop fly dropped into left and the Generals were up 2-1.  After holding the Tigers scoreless in the third, the Generals exploded for six in the third. The hit parade began with a Dubinsky single, followed by consecutiive hits by Anthony Ippolito, Buck Lasiter, Austin Weiler, Triston Decker, and Scottie.  Konner Kelley got in on the action and Garrett Pyle hit a hard line drive, unfortunately right at the left fielder for the third out.  The score remained 8-1 after the Tigers half, and the Generals added one more in the fourth to take a 9-1 lead.  The Tigers did put one on the board in the fifth, but the Generals finished them off with a Weiler single and a T-Deck inside the park home run over the center fielder's head to make the final 11-2 Generals.

5-2-10 The next morning the Generals took the field as the #2 seed against the Rough Riders from St. Joseph, MO.  With Jaxson Dubinsky on the mound, the Riders took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run, and the Generals went down easily in their half of the inning with a walk and three strikeouts.  But the Generals held their ground defensively and put up 3 in the bottom of the second, beginning with a Scottie Preston line drive double.  Vince Galate reached on an error and Jaxson drove him in with a line drive single to right center, before scoring himself on a Shaban Agayev looper to right.  3-1 Generals after 2.  Garrett Pyle came in to pitch the third and struck out two while retiring the side, and the Generals added another in their half of the inning on a walk to Triston Decker and a Preston RBI single. The Rough Riders were no match for Pyle on this day, as he struck out the side in order in the fourth, but the Generals went down 1-2-3 as well.  Two more Pyle strikeouts started the fifth, before a hard grounder to Anthony Ippolito at short made him thankful he was wearing a cup. The runner reached safe, but Buck Lasiter threw him out trying to steal second to end the inning.  The Generals made it 6-1 in the fifth on hits by Buck, Anthony, Triston, ans Scottie, and the Generals finished the job with a 1-2-3 sixth to preserve the 6-1 lead and advance to the semi-finals.

There, the Generals would face the #6 seeded Young Guns from Wichita, who had just defeated the #3 seeded Pittsburgh Shockers to advance.  Austin Weiler took the hill and held the Gunners to no scoring in the first on a fly to Triston and a couple of nice catches by Jaxson in right.  Against a lefty hurler, Anthony led off with a single to center, stole second, and took third on Buck's single.  But after starting the inning with runners on 2nd and third with no outs the Generals musterred only one run and took their 1-0 lead into the second.  The Young Guns put their leadoff runner on with a little bouncer in front of the plate.  The runner stole second and took third when the throw rolled into center field, then scored on a grounder to second to tie the game at 1.  After the first to Generals batters both grounded out to the pitcher to start the second, Vince singled to right, stole second and third, then Jaxson walked and stole second to put both runners in scoring position.  Shaban battled to a full count, but ultimately grounded to second and stranded the runners with the score still tied.  The third came and went with neither team scoring, then in the top of the fourth, a leadoff single and an error put Young Guns runners on the corners.  Despite catching the runner on first with a nice pickoff move, the Generals lost the runner in a rundown while the runner on third scored.  The next batter hit an RBI single to drive in the second run of the inning, but the Generals averted further damage in the inning when right fielder Dubinsky threw out his second runner of the game at first.  Down 1-3, the Generals did not score in the fourth, despite a long fly ball by Konner Kelley right to the center fielder.  Scottie came in to relieve Garrett in the fifth and retired the first two hitters on strikes, but then an error allowed the third batter reach second, who stole third and scored on a wild pitch increasing the lead to 1-4.  The Generals went down 1-2-3 in their half of the fifth, but so did the Young Guns, so it came down to the last half inning if the Generals were to advance.  so was the Generals tournament hopes.  A hit by Anthony started the inning, and he was almost picked off but was able to steal second on the play and later took 3rd on a wild pitch.  Buck walked and took second and the tying run was at the plate in Austin.  Austin's sac fly scored Anthony, and a wild pitch allowed Buck to reach third.  Triston's grounder to short scored Buck but was the second out.  The Young Guns brought in a new pitcher to face Scottie, and retired him on a grounder to short, so despite a nice comeback attempt, the Generals fell 3-4.  They would have to settle for 3rd this time.

5-1-10 An afternoon afair against Topeka's Stogies started off with a hit batsman, as Anthony Ippolito took first, stole second, and went to third on a passed ball and hustled home to slide under the tag after a wild pitch and the Generals were up 1-0 before #2 batter Buck Lasiter even finished his at bat. Buck's singled, stole second and went to third when Austin Weiler's short fly dropped in left center.  The Stogies made an early pitching change, and the new pitcher tried to pick Weiler off at first.  But the crafty Weiler raced for second, slid in safe, and Lasiter scored on the play.  Austin stole 2nd and then scored when Triston's pop to right dropped in for a hit and the Generals were up 3-0.  With Buck on the hill to start the game, the leadoff batter laid down a bunt, but Lasiter fielded it cleanly and threw to first to record out number one.  But the next batter doubled and stole third, then scored on a wild pitch.  But two nice plays by Jaxson Dubinsky in right, a short fly he tracked down and hard hit shot, where he threw the runner out at first finished the Stogies's first and the Generals remained in the lead at 3-1.  They added another run in the second with a Vince Galate single and Ippolito's hard shot off the pitcher and up the middle.  The Stogies made it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, one highlighted by a diving catch of a pop foul by catcher Konner Kelley.  But the Generals would bat around in the third, scoring seven on hits by Triston Decker, Jaxson, Buck and Austin, and aided by walks, a hits batsman, catchers interference, and assorted errors, passed balls, and wild pitches.  The Stogies would score no more, and Scottie Preston's long double to left center became the Generals 12th run when Garrett Pyle drove him in with a sac fly.  The Generals won 12-2 in four innings, and earned the #2 seed heading into Sunday's elimination play.  For his efforts, Buck was named MVP.

4-30-10 The Generals had little time to dwell on their first league loss, as they prepared for the T-Bone Sizzler.  A rainy and dreary Friday left everyone wondering whether the Friday night games would be washed out, but with only a 45-minute delay, the Generals would face off against the 17-0 Mo-FIeld Cardinals from Central Missouri.  As the home team, the Generals behind Ben Viestenz set the undefeated Cardinals down in order in the first, then added one of their own with a Buck Lasiter single to left, and an Austin Weiler RBI single to the right-center gap. 1-0 Generals.  But the Cardinals tied the score in the second with a leadoff double over Jaxson Dubinsky's head in right, and an RBI single.  Dubinsky's nice throw home didn't get the runner, but Lasiter fired to second and nailed the batter trying to take the extra base. The score remained 1-1 through the top of the third, an inning highlighted by two K's by Viestenz (aided by a caught third strike foul tip by Lasiter and a dropped third strike out at first) and a nice play by Shaban going to his left.  In the bottom of the third, the Generals regained the lead, started off by a Vince Galate single ripped into right.  Jaxson moved Vince to third and Buck Lasiter drove in the go ahead run with a single to left and the Generals were up 2-1.  The lead wouldn't last long, however as the Cardinals tied the game in the fourth, and the Generals went down in order in their half of the inning.  The Cardinals did the same in the fifth, but the Generals rallied in the fifth for another run.  Konner Kelley led things off with a single to right and stole second.  Garrett Pyle moved Kelley to third on a grounder to first, and Kelley scored when the Cardinals first baseman took a grounder from Galate home and Konner slid under the tag.  Jaxson and Shaban Agayev reached base but couldn't score and the Generals would need to preserve a one-run lead as the Cardinals came to bat in the sixth.  Ben closed things out with a strikeout, another strikeout (although the runner took first on a dropped third strike), and yet another strikeout.  With two outs and a the tying run in scoring position, Viestenz yeilded a hard grounder to Anthony Ippolito at short, who moved to his left, fielded the ball cleanly, and threw a little low to Pyle at first, but Pyle made the scoop, and the Generals had handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season.  The Cardinals awarded Ben Viestenz game MVP.

4-29-10 A rare two-game week for the Generals and a rematch with the Rockies was on the docket for this windy Thursday evening.  The visiting Generals put a single tally on the board in the first on a walk by Buck Lasiter, stolen base (by pinch runner Anthony Ippolito) single by Austin Weiler, and hard hit ball by Ben Viestenz that ricocheted off the first baseman's glove and right into the second baseman's glove who stepped on first for the out.  Weiler made it to third, but was thrown out attempting to score on a passed ball.  With Garrett Pyle on the mound the leadoff batter hit a fly to right that flew over Konner Kelley's head.  A slow roller to Shaban Agayev became an infield single, and the Rockies had second and third with no outs.  Pyle struck out the #3 hitter and then Buck picked off the third base runner, who was eventually tagged out by Austin in a rundown.  But a ball in the dirt got passed Buck and the other runner scored, tying the score at 1-1.  The second came and went with no further scoring and the Generals were down 1-2-3 in the third with the score still 1-1.  Jaxson Dubinsky took over as pitcher in the third and struck out the leadoff hitter.  But then "hit 'em where they ain't" became the rule for the Rockies and by the time the damage was done the Generals trailed 7-1 after 3.  A long Ippolito double into left and a Buck Lasiter single made it 7-2, and Austin Weiler kept the Rockies from any further damage in the fourth.

In the fifth, The Generals started to come alive a bit, with consecutive one-out hits by Triston Decker, Scottie Preston, Konner, and Vince Galate.  A walk to Shaban loaded the bases with the score 7-4 and after a popout by Jaxson, Pyle came to the plate and things got really interesting.  A high pop fly to right center, blew nearly to the first base line baffled the outfielders and dropped to the ground, scoring two and Anthony's pop fly proved equally tough to handle, allowing the tying run in.  After 4-1/2 the Generals had fought back and tied the game.  Unfortunately, the Rockies were not ready to give up yet, and plated two more in their half of the inning and although Tristan and Scottie reached base on singles, the Generals could not mount an attack in the sixth, and fell 9-7.

4-27-10 With a couple of days to put the weekend's runners-up performance in perspective, the Generals hit the turf again to face the Natural Baseball Academy.  The Visiting Generals wasted no time putting 4 runs on the board in the first, highlighted by a 270-foot triple by Scottie Preston and hits by Austin Weiler, Triston Decker, and Vince Galate.  But there would be no shutout today as despite three stikeouts by Triston the Generals defense was sluggish and the Natural boys put up four of their own in their half of the inning.  Three more for the Generals, led by back-to-back hits by Jaxson Dubinsky and Garrett Pyle to lead off the second, and the score was 7-4.  Konner Kelley took the hill and retired the side 1-2-3, and then led off the third with a single.  He stole second and went to third on Galate's grounder to second, then Coach Lasiter called on Shaban Agayev for a successfully executed squeeze, scoring Kelley.  Jaxson singled Shaban to third and Pyle scored him with a sac fly making the score 9-4.  Another 1-2-3 inning behind Kelley and two more for the Generals in the fourth made it 11-4.  Shaban took the hill in the fouth and held the score, aided by a 1-4-3 (Shaban-Jaxson-Scottie) double play.  The Generals finished them off in the fifth with four more runs on a HBP (Vince), BB (Shaban) and hits by Garrett, Anthony Ippolito, and helped out by some sloppy defense.  Vince took the mound to close it out and allowed just one, closing the game for a 15-5.

4-25-10  Next up was the BV Cubs, a team the Generals had shut out just a week prior.  When the Generals took a 3-0 lead on a leadoff single by Anthony Ippolito and consecutive two out hits by Trison Decker, Scottie Preston, and Vince Galate, it looked like it would be more of the same, but that's all the runs the Generals would put on the board in a 12-3 loss.  With a 1-1 pool play record and a lofty 25 runs allowed, the Generals were still assured of bracket play, albeit at one of the lower seeds.  By mid-afternoon, their fate was known; they would play the #2 seeded Blue Springs Bandits as the 7th seed.

As the lower-seeded visitors, the Generals hit first and put two runs on the board. After Buck Lasiter's ground ball pulled the first baseman off the bag, Ippolito pinch ran and scored on a Ben Viestenz single.  Ben took second on a passed ball and then scored on Decker's single up the middle.  Viestenz took the hill for the Generals and despite a leadoff double, kept the Bandits scoreless by striking out the side. The Generals added four more in the second on hits by Vince, Konner Kelley, Buck and Austin Weiler, and aided by some untimely Bandit errors.  Viestenz allowed runners on a walk and hit a batter in the second, but the Generals defense held and it was 6-0 after 2.  A half-inning later it was 10-0 after Konner Kelley's hit cleared the fence and the bases.  The bottom of the third featured a Kelley "hat flip" catch and despite a couple more baserunners, no Bandits runs.  The Generals made it 11-0 on a hit by Anthony and RBI by Austin, and preserved the 11-0 shutout to move to the semi-finals, where they would face the 6th seeded KC A's, a Gold Glove team who had just knocked off the 3rd seeded Storm to advance.

For the third consecutive game, the Generals took the early lead, jumping ahead 3-0 on a single by Anthony, walk to Buck, followed by a 2 RBI single up the middle by Ben and a line drive to left by Preston.  With Austin on the mound in the bottom of the inning, a single, a couple of walks, and a wild pitch led to one run but a two-out grounder to Weiler allowed them to avert further damage and the Generals led 3-1 after one.  Anyone hoping for a close affair in this one would be disappointed though, because the Generals opened the flood gates in the second, and before it was over, they would own a 10-1 lead and be well on their way to the championship game.  The inning started with a walk to Jaxson Dubinsky, then a single by Garrett Pyle put runners on the corners.  Anthony was HBP to load the bases, and a WP scored Jaxson from 3rd.  Buck walked to load the bases again, and Austin's single to right scored two more.  Another 2 RBI single by Viestenz, single by Triston, and a long drive to right by Vince finished the damage.  After nearly blowing a 7 run lead during pool play, however, the Generals weren't taking the rest of the game lightly, but did allow one run in the A's half of the second.  The Generals added one in the third, on a single by Dubinsky, who scored on another rip by Kelley.  One more for the A's in the third, and then the Generals went back to work with five more in the fourth, an inning that started innocently enough, with the A's retiring the first two Generals hitters.  But a walk to Scottie, and then three more, interspersed with an occasional stolen base, passed ball, and wild pitch, followed by singles by Kelley and Pyle, made the score 16-3 after 3-1/2, and the A's hopes were slim.  They did mount a small threat with three runs in the fouth, but the hill was too high to climb, and the final was 16-6.  On the other field, the MB Wolverines were about to finish off the Cubs to face the Generals in the Championship.  Earlier delays pushed the first pitch of the affair between Gold Glove rivals back to after 9 PM.  This battle would take place under the lights.

Tensions were high as the game began and the Wolverines may have been feeling some jitters in their first-ever championship game, as Anthony's leadoff squibber rolled through the second baseman's legs to start the game.  But if there were in fact any butterflies, they weren't affecting the pitcher, whose pickoff move got Anthony to take off for second and tagged out in a rundown. GAME ON!  Buck walked and Ippolito returned to first base as a pinch runner.  This time he succeeded in stealing second, and moved to third on Austin's line drive single that flew just out of reach of the Wolverines shortstop.  Weiler took second on the first pitch to Viestenz, and Vistenz ripped one into left to score both runners, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double.  Triston reached base with a single, but Scottie's line drive was caught by the right fielder for the third out.  The Generals took the field holding a 2-0 lead.  Scottie made quick work of the Wolverines, facing only four batters, and striking out two.  Austin's fine catch of the #2 hitter's line drive was a key play, as well.  In the second, Galate took one for the team with an HBP and stole second, but Shaban struck out looking for the first out.  Jaxson moved Vince to third but there were two outs, and still time for Konner to continue his blazing hot hitting with a line drive over the shortstops head, scoring Galate before stealing second and then third base.  Garrett Pyle, whose bat was waking up hit a long fly ball to center, scoring Konner, but a fully extended catch of Austin's drive to right center left him stranded and it was 4-0 Generals heading into the bottom of the second.  The bottom of the second, the Wolverines scored without benefit of a hit.  Pyle caught a line drive at first for the first out, but the next batter reached on a base on balls.  He stole second, and then Preston appeared to have him picked off of second, but instead the runner stole third, and then scored on the next batter's grounder to first.  The Generals ended the Wolverines second as Jaxson fielded the next batter's single to right center and then threw to Anthony covering second for the tag.  After two, it was Generals 4, Wolverines 1.

The Generals looked like they were going to pile it on with consecutive hits by Buck and Austin.  The Wolverines recorded the first out on Ben's infield fly, but two more hits by Triston and Scottie scored one and the bases were loaded with only one out.  But a ball back the the pitcher became the rare 1-2-3 (pitcher-to-catcher-to first base) double play to end the inning.  Despite holding a 5-1 lead, the Generals failed to put the Wolverines away.  The Wolverines added one in their half of the third, and the Generals wasted a leadoff single by Shaban so it remained 5-2 heading to the bottom of the fourth.  After a leadoff hit, a stolen base and a strikeout, the Wolverines baserunner stole third and then scored when the catcher's throw got past the third baseman.  Another walk and two stolen bases later, the Wolverines had another runner on third, and he scored when a grounder got past the first baseman and the Wolverines were within one.  The Wolverines came within a hair of tying the game when that runner stole second, took third on a dropped third strike, and tried to score on a passed ball, but was thrown out at the plate.  After 4 it was 5-4 Generals.  The Generals added one more in their half of the fifth when Ben singled in Austin, who had reached on a single to left.  With three outs to go, the Generals had to protect a two run lead to win the championship.

Preston struck out batter number one, then appeared to have the next batter on a dribbler down the first base line, but could not make the play at first and the tying run came to the plate.  He singled to left, scoring the runner, stole second, and the tying run was now in scoring position, with the potential winning run at the plate.  Coach Lasiter congratulated Preston for a fine game pitched, and brought Ben in for the save.  Viestenz responded with a strikeout and there were two outs, and only one more to go, as the tying run loomed.  The runner stole third to reach within 70 feet of tying the game.  With the intensity beyond peaking, Viestenz hurled a fastball towards the plate, and the game's shocking conclusion ensued.  The Wolverines batter connected and sent the ball sailing into the night air and over the left center field fence for a championship game-winning walk-off home run.  The Generals would have to settle for a runner-up trophy this time.

4-24-10 The Generals were the last team in their division to take the field for the Blue Valley Recreation Early Bird Classic, the other ten teams having played their first game Friday night.  The Generals 9 AM opponents on this Saturday morning were the Bobcats from Oak Grove, MO, who had fell to the BV Cubs the night before.  Behind Jaxson Dubinsky, the Generals took the field as the home team, and found trouble early. After a leadoff single and nearly thowing the runner out stealing second, J-Dub retired the first batter on a wicked slider.  But his pickoff attempt got by Shabon and after advancing to third, the Bobcats runner scored the games first run on a single to left.  A walk, a few more hits, and unfortunately a couple of errors later, the Generals retired the third out trailing 0-3 after the first half inning.

The Bobcats fluffy-haired pitcher looked like he'd own the Generals after striking out the first two hitters, but Ben Viestenz long double and Austin Weiler's triple over the left fielders head ignited the crowd and cut the Bobcats lead to 3-2 after one.  The Bobcats looked to threaten again in the second with a leadoff single but Buck Lasiter nailed the would-be stealer for the first out.  Two more Bobcats reached base without a ball leaving the infield, but Dubinsky retired the third batter on a nasty slider to hold the score at 2-3.  In the bottom of the second, the Generals bats came alive.  Consecutive hits to lead off the inning by Scottie Preston, Shaban Agayev, and Vince Galate gave the Generals a lead they would not relinquish. Garrett Pyle reached on a mishandled pop fly, and then the hit parade continued with hits by Konner Kelley, Anthony Ippolito, and Buck Lasiter, increasing the Generals lead to 7-3 after two.  The Generals made quick work of the Bobcats in the third, allowing only one baserunner and no runs, and added one more in their half of the third on a single by Austin Weiler and a long RBI double by Scottie Preston. After three full, the Generals led 8-3.

Some sloppy defense led to four more Bobcat runs in the fourth, bringing them to within one, but the Generals were right back on it in their half, with a walk to Jaxson, RBI single by Kelley, and a hard line drive by Ipps off the second baseman's glove.  Buck grounded to short, but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, scoring Konner.  Buck joined Anthony in scoring position with a stolen base and Ben's single drove in two more.  Ben was thrown out stealing second and Weiler followed with a double to left, and although the Generals could not score him, they were back up 12-7.

Buck relieved Jaxson in the fifth, gave up a single, then struck out the next batter and a line drive to Garrett Pyle at first and a throw over to third to double off the runner ended the inning with the score still 12-7.  Scottie led off the bottom of the fifth with a single  and Shaban followed with another.  Galate's high bouncer to second scored Preston and a balk scored Bon Bon and the Generals were up 14-7 with just one inning to go.

The bottom of the sixth was not a pretty site, but the Generals woke up, just before the nightmare ended, with a 14-13 win in hand, as the would-be tying run crossed the plate, just as Konner Kelley was throwing out the final out at first base from right field.  Disaster averted, and on to the next game.

Unfortunately, the weather worsened, and the rest of the day was a washout, to be continued on Sunday.

4-21-10 As the Generals prepared for their third league contest, against the Rockies, the atmosphere was jovial and lighthearted, perhaps TOO lighthearted feared the coaches.  After a run to the fence, Tim announced the starting lineup and send Garrett Pyle to the mound.  The game started innocently enough, with a popout to Shaban at second.  But the second hitter pounded the ball way over Ben's head in center for a triple, and a squeeze bunt scored the runner from third.  Garrett showed some nice defense by smoothly fielding the ball and throwing to Vince to record the second out, and struck out the cleanup hitter to preclude further dammage.  The Generals came to bat trailing 0-1.

Anthony Ippolito led off by making it close (but out) at first, but Buck Lasiter got things started with a hard-hit double to the RC gap.  Ben singled to drive in Buck, moved on a SB and PB, then scored when the catcher tried to get him at third but threw the ball into LF instead and the Generals had taken a 2-1 lead.  The Rockies leadoff batter hit a fly to short center field but Jaxson Dubinsky robbed him of a hit with another shoestring catch.  The next batter, however sent Jaxson back, back, back but the ball flew over his head this time and the batter reached second.  The next hitter grounded back to Pyle, who had the runner nailed at third, but a hot throw to Scottie at third proved tough to handle and the Rockies had runners on the corners.  A stolen base, followed by a strikeout left two runners in scoring position with two out.  A quick throw to third by catcher Lasiter, who was putting together a heck of a game for himself, appeared to have the runner picked off for the third out, but the runner took off for home and slid under Buck's tag to tie the score at 2-2 before Pyle struck out the batter.

The Rockies didn't help themselves, putting the leadoff hitter Triston Decker aboard with a walk, and then hit Shabon "the human ball magnet" with a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd.  The runners both advanced on a passed ball, and when Vince hit an RBI fielders choice to the right side and Pyle hit sac fly RBI to center, the Generals had regained the lead without benefit of a hit.  Pyle struck out the leadoff hitter and despite the dropped third strike the Generals may have caught a break when "blue" called the runner out at first on a very close play.   1B Vince Galate ran down a foul ball popup for out number two and Jaxson retired the third batter on a fly to center.

In the third the Rockies retired the first two batters, but again Buck Lasiter was the sparkplug who got the Generals going with a line drive single up the middle, stole second and reached third on a ball four passed ball that also put Ben Viestenz on first.  Viestenz stole second and Austin belted a single to left scoring the runners.  Scottie Preston really dug one out in beating out an infield single during which Austin took third.  Preston took second uncontested on the next pitch and Triston drove Austin home with a single, putting Preston on third.  Shaban looked like he might keep the inning alive with an infield single of his own, but the shortstop went to the deep hole and made a nice throw to first to beat Shaban by a half step.  Generals 7, Rockies 2 after 3.

Shaban took the hill for his season debut in the fourth.  He struck out the first and retired the second batter with a popout to Triston.  But some sloppy defense allowed the Rockies to tally a couple and make the score 7-4 where it would remain through the Generals half of the inning.  Shabon returned to the mound and recorded another K, then recorded another out on a ground ball back to his pitcher spot and an easy throw to first.  But again, the Generals got sloppy and allowed a run to score, narrowing the margin to 7-5.  Back to back walks and an RBI single by Austin made it 8-5 after 5, and the Generals had to protect their lead for one more inning to preserve the win.

Konner Kelley would become the second Generals pitcher to debut this night, as he made quick work of the Rockies in the 6th, facing only four batters in recording the requisite three outs for a save and an undefeated 3-0 league record for the Generals.

4-17-10 And the morning came and it was a new day.  On a bright and brisk April morning the Generals occupied the third base dugout as the visitors agaist the Gold Glove foe BV Cubs.  With only eight of the 22-team field advancing, the Generals would likely have to win both today to advance to bracket play as pool champs at 2-1.  The 8 AM affair began right on time and it didn't take long for the Generals bats to wake up.  Ippolito drove the first pitch into deep left center and his speedy legs stretched it into a triple.  He scored on Buck's grounder into right, then was called back to pinch run, and scored again on Austin's RBI double.  Austin would score on a passed ball and wild pitch and the Generals were off to a 3-0 lead to start the game.  Pitcher Ben Viestenz allowed one hit and struck out two as the Generals retired the Cubs easily in the first.

The second came and went quicky and with no further scoring, but the Generals were at it again in the third.  With one out, Triston singled, advanced to third on another PB/WP combo, and when the pitcher caught Ippolito's hard liner he was almost doubled off.  But Decker got back while the ball got past the Cubs 3B and Decker easily scored.  Lasiter walked and Austin singled, and Ben drove them both in with a single over the head of the reaching first baseman.  Generals 6, Cubs 3 after 2-and-a-half.  Viestenz struck out two more, bringing his total to 5 in the bottom half of the inning, and the Generals were up again.  Shabon walked, Jaxson hit a hard single to right.  Vince singled Shaban in and on the next pitch another errant pitch allowed Dubinsky home and the Generals advanced their lead to 8-0, where the score would remain through the fifth and final inning of the game.  Viestenz recorded two more K's along the way, and the fifth included a rare "infield fly" when the Cubs popped up to short with runners on first and second, with only one out.  Most importantly, the Generals had evened their record to 1-1.

Next up were the 2008 (10U at that time) AA champion BV Red Sox, who had just beat the same Cubs 1-0.  A virtual playoff game, the winner of this game would advance to bracket play.  The Generals went up and down in order as the visitors, and when the first Red Sox belted a fly ball over Jaxson's head in center, it was clear the Red Sox bats had awakened.  But the inning featured some nifty defense, as Vince Galate in left went to his knees to catch a line drive for out number one, and Dubinsky ran down a looper over second for a brilliant shoestring catch.  A popout to Garrett Pyle at first retired the Red Sox with no damage done.

Ben got things rolling in the second as he beat out a slow roller down the third base line, advanced to second and hustled and scored on Shabon's single to right.  Dubinsky reached on a tough infield bouner, but the best the Generals could do was to move the two baserunnes to 2nd and 3rd and had to settle for a 1-0 lead.

They would need more. . .

The Red Sox came alive with ghusto in the bottom of the second, plating 7 runners before they were done, as some timely hitting and untimely errors led to the damage. The Red Sox pitcher seemed to have transformed into Roger Clemmens as he struck out all three Generals batters in the third.  The Red Sox started off the bottom of the inning with a single and the runner promptly took second on a wild pitch by Scottie Preston, who had taken over for Ausin in the second.  But Preston had some gas in the tank; he struck out the next two and caught the runner at second with a nifty pickoff  move to retire the Sox.  But it was 1-2-3 again for the Generals, and two more Red Sox runs in the 4th made it 9-1.  The Generals would have one more chance to avoid the spread of 8 after 5.  It looked hopeful when the CF couldn't handle Scottie's high fly and the Generals had their leadoff runner aboard, but a fielders choice, followed by a 1-6-3 double play ended the threat, the game, and the Generals effort in the BV Classic.

4-16-10 A Friday night tournament opener, and awaiting the Generals to start off the MSP Blue Valley Classic were the Rams from Lee's Summit.  The Generals won the toss and behind Anthony Ippolito took the field.  Ipps was "on" from the start, retiring the Rams in the first supported by solid defensive plays by Austin Weiler, Scottie Preson, and Shabon Agayev.  Anthony looked like he's help his own cause when he singled to leadoff the Generals half of the inning, but he was quickly picked off first.  When Weiler reached on the pitchers error, he stole second and third, allowing Ben Viestenz to drive him in and make the score 1-0.  It looked like the Rams would rally in the second, putting their first two batters on second and third with no outs, but the next batter grounded back to pitcher and some heads up play by Ippolito resulted in a throw home to Buck Lasiter, who nailed the would-be tying run.  A fly to Jaxson Dubinsky in center and a popup to Garrett Pyle at SS finished off the Rams in the 2nd, with the Generals clinging to a 1-0 lead.

Nothin' doin in the Generals half of the 2nd.  The Rams put a runner on base with two outs in the third, put another runner on with an error, and an RBI single to center brought in two as the Rams took a 3-1 lead.  If not for a "Web-gem" diving catch by Shaban at 2nd the damage would have likely been worse.  Scottie launched one past the outfield for a double to lead off the bottom of the third, and Triston Decker's RBI single brought him home to bring the score to within one run after 3, but in the top of the fourth an infield single double over Ben's head in CF widened the spread back to two, despite two strikeouts by Anthony and his nasty change up.  The Generals hit the ball hard in the bottom of the fourth but couldn't plate another runner.  Scottie came in to pitch the fifth and looked strong, recording two strikouts and retiring a runner on a bunt single, but the Generals couldn't get anything going with the bats.  A nice catch by Konner Kelley in RF, combined with more solid pitching from Preston kept it close, but Anthony's two-out single was the only hit the Generals could muster in the 6th, and they fell to the Rams 2-4.

4-15-10 The team's second affair was somewhat of a rivalry game for a couple of Generals players, Buck Lasiter and Jaxson Dubinsky.  Three members of the opponent BV Bulldogs are classmates and the trash talking had been going on for weeks leading up to the Generals first game on its "home" turf of Prairie Center.  Lasiter took the mound and retired the first batter with ease on a grounder to 2B Austin Weiler and short throw to 1B Vince Galate.  But the second batter lined a single to left, and desipte a bouncer back to Buck to record out #2, the Bulldogs had a runner in scoring position. The Bulldogs' bats were alive as consecutive hits made the score 0-2 before Lasiter could record the 3rd out on another 1-3 play to end the inning and bring Generals leadoff hitter Anthony Ippolito up.  Ipps cranked an 0-2 pitch to left-center and stretched it into a double.  He reached third on a passed ball and then scored with two outs when Ben Viestenz ripped his first pitch into left.  That's all the scoring the Generals could muster and finished the 1st down 1-2.

With a weekend tournament looming, Tim wanted to save his pitchers, so JDub took over duties to pitch the 2nd. After a leadoff single, Jaxson's pickoff throw went in the dirt, but with some heads-up play, 1B Austin Weiler's throw nailed the runner at second.  Dubinsky recorded a strikeout, then a walk before Shaban Agayev made a nice play from second and threw to Austin to send the Generals back up to bat , but the Bulldogs retired the Generals in order.  Looked like a pitchers duel.

Notsomuch.  It wasn't that the pitching got worse, but the Generals defense just unravelled in the third.  Errant throws, grounders rolling under fielder's gloves, confusion over which base to throw to ... it was just an ugly inning.  By the time the Generals finally recorded the third out, it was Bulldogs 7 Generals 1.  But the Generals hadn't finished with all they would say about this one.  They chipped away, cutting the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on consecutive hits by Triston (hustling to first to beat out a slow roller), Anthony, Buck, Austin, and Ben.  With Garrett Pyle on the hill in the 4th, it looked like the Bulldogs would extend their lead when the first three batters reached to load the bases, but the ducks stayed on the pond as Pyle mowed down the next three batters in order.  When the Bulldogs got a little sloppy in the bottom of the fourth, the Generals took advantage and tied the score 7-7.  Pyle remained to pitch the fifth, retiring the Bulldogs with no damage and we had a real nailbiter going on, right?

Notsomuch.  With all credit to the Generals batters, including hits by Buck, Ben, Jaxson, Shaban and Anthony, the only thing to say about the bottom of the fifth was complete collapse by Bulldogs.  The Generals sent all 11 batters to the plate, scored 7 and used up the allotted game time while still at bat, winning 14-7.

4-5-10  It was a beautiful night for baseball as the Generals opened their Gold Glove schedule.  Leaving the NCAA basketball national championship game behind Anthony Ippolito led off the Gold Gloves season with a line drive to center, and stole second on the first pitch, then took third when the throw richocheted off him and rolled into left.  Buck Lasiter was hit by pitch and easily took second, and the Generals were in business with runners on second and third and nobody out.  Not so fast though, as Austin Weiler uncharactaristically watched a called third strike go by and Lasiter was doubled off when the second baseman snagged Garrett Pyle's hard line drive to end the inning.  Weiler took the mound and was throwing b.b.'s, but still the Longhorns leadoff hitter beat out a slow roller to the left side to reach first.  He stole second and took third on a errant pitch, and suddenly it was the Longhorns with a runner on third and nobody out.  But Weiler would not be beat on this night, striking out the next two batters and working the Longhorns cleanup hitter to a 2-2- count when a ball in the dirt got past Ben Viestenz at catcher.  The runner on third raced for home but was not fast enough as Viestenz reacted with lightning speed to make the tag at the plate for the third out.  GAME ON!

Nothin' doin for the Generals in the second, although Jaxson Dubinsky was a half step short of beating out an infield hit and Scottie Preston reached first on a high pop fly the catcher was unable to handle in front of home plate.  But when Shaban Agayev's hard drive into left was caught, it was 0-0 with the Longhorns coming up.  Again the leadoff batter reached and made it to third before the Generals recorded an out, but three straight K's by Weiler left him stranded.  Finally in the 3rd the Generals got things going.  Vince Gallatte beat out a shot off the first baseman's glove and Konner Kelley was hit by pitch to put runners on first and second.  After a strikeout and a double steal, Ippolito's grounder to short was thrown in the dirt at first and the Generals plated two.  Ippolito quickly stole second and Lasiter hit a hard line drive to center then stole second.  Then Weiler helped his own cause with a long double to deep left center to make the score 4-0 Generals and that's where the score stood a few batters later as the top of the third came to a close. K-K-K went the Longhorns in the third and the Generals were up again.  Three more runs in the fourth behind hits by Preston, Decker (RBI), and Ippolito (2 RBI's), and it looked like the Generals would sail to victory with a 7-0 lead.

But Weiler showed signs of tiring in the bottom of the fourth, despite striking out three more, he walked a few and some tough bounces led to a few Longhorns runs.  But with the lead narrowed to 7-3, the bases loaded and tying run at the plate, Weiler recorded his 11th strikeout to end the inning.  The Generals added one more in the 5th on a single and stolen base by Weiler and an RBI to the right side by Viestenz, then Jaxson Dubinsky took the hill for the fifth.  The Longhorns made it 8-4 after the hustling leadoff hitter stretched a single to left into a double, but a 6-3 Ippolito-to-Pyle (nice stretch) putout ended the inning.  A few walks and a passed ball led to one more in the Generals half of the sixth, and behind a nice putout by catcher Lasiter, a strikeout, and a nice scoop by Decker at 3B, the Generals preserved the lead to go 1-0 in Gold Glove play.

The team even made it home to see the end of a fantastic NCAA championship game!  There's going to be some tired kids at school tomorrow!

3-28-10 WHAT A WEEKEND!  What started as a cold and stormy (and EARLY) Saturday morning ended as a glorious spring Sunday afternoon with four consectutive wins and the KC Generals first USSSA Tournament championship.  Way to go Generals!

After a rained out Saturday, the Generals were slated to open the tournament against the Capital City Red Storm.  On a sloppy field, the Generals were well on their way to victory before the Red Storm even came to bat, batting through the order and plating seven in a walk-filled first inning.  Ben Viestenz, the eventual MVP, was strong on the hill, striking out four in three innings and supported with solid infield defense by Shaban Agayev and Garrett Pyle.  Some nice hits by Anthony Ippolito and Austin Weiler, and more walks led to four more Generals runs and an 11-1 lead though four, and Buck Lasiter came in and pitched the fourth, striking out two to preserve the win.

Moving to a (very) slightly less mucky field, next up was the Kansas Yankees, who had lost earlier to the Red Storm.  Confidence was high, but the Yankees proved to be almost more than the Generals could handle.  Lasiter returned to the hill to start the game, and the first batter hit a scortching line drive to right center field gap but Vince Gallate ran it down making a spectacular catch for the first out.  A walk, followed by a hard liner to Scottie Preston at third and a fly ball to Triston Decker in left finished an exciting first inning and brought the Generals to bat.  Facing a lefty hurler for the Yankees, there was nothing doing for the Generals in the first.  A leadoff walk, followed by a stolen base and passed ball put a runner on third for the Yankees, and a dinker single to center scored their first run.  Lasiter had his breaking pitch working, but despite striking out two and ending the inning with a spectacular catch of a line drive back to the mound, Lasiter and the Generals gave up one more and trailed 2-0 after the top of the second.  The Generals cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Viestenz walked and eventually scored on consecutive passed balls, but it was here the score would remain until the bottom of the fifth.  Pitching and defense continued to be dominent for both teams, with Lasiter frustrating the Yankees with his movement and when they did eventually put a runner on base, Viestenz threw the runner out stealing at second.  Finally in the bottom of the fifth, the Generals bats got going.  With one out, Gallate drove a liner off the first baseman's glove for a single, stole second and advaned to third on a base hit to right by Viestenz, who then stole second to put the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position.  After a pitching change and a strikeout, Jaxson Dubinsky (hitless in three previous at bats), came to the plate with two outs.  With a 1-2 count, he fouled one off to right, but on the next pitch, his line drive fell just inside the right field foul line for a 2-RBI single and the Generals took the lead 3-2.  Buck finished the 6th with two more strikeouts, making nine in total, earning him MVP honors and preserving the win for the Generals.  The Generals finished pool play 2-0 and earned the number one seed, going into bracket play.

Game three was a semi-final rematch against the Red Storm.  As the one seed, the Generals were the home team and Garrett Pyle took the mound for the Generals to start the first.  Pyle overpowered the first two batters, but the third pounded a line drive over Dubinsky's head in center, but JDub tracked it down and pegged the runner out at second for the third out.  The Generals bats were popping from the start of the first, singles by Lasiter and Weiler put runners on base for Pyle to drive in the first two runs.  Ippolito pinch ran and moved to second on Scottie Preston's infield hit.  A double steal, followed by a walk to Gallate loaded the bases and Viestenz put down a great bunt to squeeze the third run home.  An Agayev RBI single and two more RBI's on Dubinsky's single, followed by Konner Kelley's line drive to right made the score 7-0 and the Generals were on their way.  Two more in the second and solid pitching by Pyle held the score to 9-0, and Triston Decker pitched the fourth to preserve the win and earn the Generals a berth in the Championship.  For his three shutout innings, Pyle was named game MVP.

After an hour or so rest, it was time for the Championship game against the Ravens.  The field was almost dry and some blue was visible in the sky, it had warmed up a bit, and almost felt like baseball weather.  Scottie Preston took the hill and after allowing a leadoff walk and infleld single, stranded the runners on three consecutive K's.  The Generals did not score in the first, and Preston continued mowing down batters in the second.  Unfortunately, a dropped third strike and an errant throw put the leadoff runner on first, and despite striking out the next two batters, the Ravens runner circled the bases with two stolen bases and a passed ball to score the game's first run.  A great catch by Agayev at second for the third out prevented any further damage and the Generals were up in the bottom of the second.  Consecutive hits by Gallate, Viestenz and Agayev (a long double to right, driving in two), started the inning off right, and there was no turning back.  A walk by Kelly, hits by Decker, Ippolito, Lasiter, Weiler, and Preston left the score 7-1 after two.  The Ravens fought back with two in the third, and held the score at 7-3 after the Generals half of the inning, but Weiler came in to strike out the side in order in the fourth and two more Generals runs on hits by Dubinsky and Decker supported by smart hitting (moving the runners) by Kelly and Ippolito made the score 9-3.  Weiler again faced the minimum in the top of the fifth, then as the lead off hitter, singled, stole second and third, then  scored on an errant throw to make it 10-3.  A walk by Gallate, two more stolen bases, and then Viestenz' RBI single into center and quoth the Ravens were nevermore.   The Generals first championship was in the books.

3-12-10 WELCOME to 2010 KC Generals spring baseball!  It's been an active off season for the boys.  In addition to their vibrant basketball schedules, the Generals made time to keep their baseball skills in tune in the Johnson County Community College indoor hitting league.  For six weeks between early January and mid-February the Generals took 1st place while competing against the KC Orioles, Blue Herons, and OP Astros (a team comprised of Astros and LOZ Royals players).  All of the boys had a chance to pitch and got some great practice (and success) facing live pitching, while coaches led indoor workouts.  Four Generals players, Jaxson Dubinsky, Buck Lasiter, Garrett Pyle, and Austin Weiler, were no strangers to success, having competed in the November - December JCCC league, and also taking first place.  Way to go Generals!  On to the 2010 season!

2010 practices are well underway and the boys are getting reacquainted with each other and the game.  The Generals regulare practices are Thursdays from 5:45 - 7:30 at BV Field #18 and Saturdays from 4:15 - 6:00 PM at BV Field #14.  Private workouts are available upon request (subject to availability) with Coach Lasiter.

DON'T FORGET MARCH MADNESS

The Generals major 2010 fundraiser, the March Madness pool gets underway Sunday night March 14.  Ask your favorite Generals player for a bracket and support the Generals while you enjoy the thrill and competition of the NCAA championship tournament.  Entries are $10, with $7 going towards the team and $3 going towards the winners' pool.

10-18-09 As the #7 seed, the Generals had high hopes in the role of underdog against the LOZ Royals in the quarterfinals of the Monster Bash on a glorious Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't their day.  After going down 1-2-3 in the first, Austin Weiler had control problems out of the gate and the Generals allowed three quick runs before Garrett Pyle came on in relief to record two straight outs and retire the side.  Jaxson Dubinsky, moved up to the cleanup spot, led off the second with a hard liner to second for the first out, followed by what would be the Generals' only base hit of the game by Buck Lasiter.  It looked like a rally when Ben Viestenz followed with a walk, but after a strikeout, Shaban Agayev smashed one back to the pitcher to record the third out with the good guys still down 0-3.  With the help of solid fielding by Vince Galate and Agayev, Pyle made quick work of the Royals in the second, but the Generals wend down in order again in the third.  The Generals hung tough in the bottom half of the inning, as Scottie Preston retired the first batter on a popup to short, followed by Pyle's second strikeout of the afternoon.  A walk and a stolen base, followed by an infield hit and another stolen base put Royals runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs, but the Generals kept the game close when Pyle knocked down a ball hit back to him, threw from his knees, and Galate recorded the bang-bang play with a fine stretch to hold the deficit to three.  In the fourth, the Generals finally got on the board.  Austin walked and stole second, a play that got the ire of the Royals coach when the umpire was distracted by third base coach Tim Lasiter's chatter and didn't see the play.  Weiler took 3rd on a wild pitch, then Dubinsky then hung tough on his next at bat, fouling off 5 or 6 pitches before driving in the Generals first run with a slow roller to first, which he almost beat out.  Buck hit the ball hard but flied to right to leave the Generals down 2 heading into the bottom of the fourth.  The inning started fine, with Preston fielding a hard grounder and thowing to Weiler at first to record the first out.  That's where the wheels came off though, as the next two batters reached base by errors, followed by a bund single to load the bases.  It looked like they may escape when a bunt back to Pyle resulted in a force to Lasiter at home for the second out, but with the bases still loaded, the next hitter banged a long single to right center to clear the bases.  Despite another strike out, the Generals came to bat in the fifth down 1-6.  Ben led off with an infield single, but a double play and a grounder to first left the score 1-6, and when the Royals scored three in the bottom half of the inning, the day and the fall season was over for the Generals.

Still, for a newly formed team, the Generals had a lot to be proud of, finishing 8th out of 20 teams in the Monster Bash, and reason to be optimistic about the upcoming spring season.  The Generals posted a 7-4 record in their three fall tournaments, and finished the fall season ranked #3 of 17 Kansas teams participating in fall baseball.  Winter practice is only a few short months away!

10-17-09 Day two of the Monster Bash began early for the Generals with a couple of morning affairs scheduled on a cold and cloudy Saturday.  First up were the Longhorns of Shawnee.  Despite a double in the first by Garrett Pyle and a hard-hit single up the middle in the second by Jaxson Dubinsky, the Generals left the runners stranded, but with Scottie Preston on the mound, the Longhorns first six batters went down in order (five on strikeouts) and the game remained scoreless after two.  The Generals got on the board in the third when Konner Kelley hit a grounder too hot to handle by the second baseman, stole second, moved to third on a grounder deep to the shortstop hole by Triston Decker, and scored on an RBI double by Anthony Ippolito.  The score remained tied despite a leadoff triple, after three more strikeouts by Preston in the third, and nothing going for the Generals in the top of the fourth.  The Generals set the home team down in order again in their half of the fourth on a fly ball to Jaxson in right, a popup to Austin Weiler at third, and a 6-3 putout from Garrett to Vince Gallate.  The Generals finally got on the board again in the fifth with Dubinsky's one-out single.  He stole second, went to third on a single by Ben Viestenz, and crossed the plate on an RBI fielder's choice by Shaban "Bon Bon" Agayev.  Ben later scored on a passed ball and the Generals had a 3-0 lead.  After another scoreless frame for the Longhorns, the Generals added another run in the 6th and preserved the shutout by returing 3 of 4 batters in the bottom half of the inning to win 4-0 and even their tournament record at 1-1.  The Longhorns had no trouble selecting Scottie Preston as the game's MVP after his 11 strikeout, complete game, shutout performance.

Next up were Gold Glove rivals OP Astros, who were also 1-1 in the pool and, like the Generals, trying to stay alive for a wild-card berth into Sunday's bracket play.  For a third straight game the Generals lost the coin toss and batted first.  After three ground outs, they took the field in the bottom of the first with Jaxson on the hill.  Despite two K's, the Astros were able to plate one run to take the early lead.  However, Buck Lasiter ignited the Generals bats in the second with a one-out single resulting in the Generals first run when  pinch runner Reece Skiles stole  second and scored when Jaxson crushed a double down the left field line.  Kyler Kelley pinch-ran for Jaxson and scored, and hits by Ben, Bon Bon, a double to deep center by Triston, and an infield single by Anthony resulted in a 4-1 lead for the
Generals after 1 1/2.  The Astros cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning and it remained there after the Generals turn to bat.  In the bottom of the third, the Astros came alive and scored three to take a 5-4 lead. A leadoff walk and stolen base by Vince Galate resulted in a tied score after 3 1/2, and Ben relieved Jaxson and kept the score tied after the Astros half of the fourth.  With two innings to go and a potential wild card berth on the line the competition got fierce.  The Generals were first to regain the lead 7-5 in the top of the fifth on a double by Anthony, long sac fly by Garrett and a wild pitch, followed by a walk by Scottie which resulted in runwhen pinch runner Kyler Kelly stole second and then scored on Buck Lasiter's RBI single.  The Astros were up for the challenge, however, scoring four runs to take a 9-7 lead with only one out until Jaxson made a dandy putout throwing a runner out at first from center field and a popup to Shabon ended the inning with no further damage.  The Generals sixth was something to behold.  By the time the Generals had batted through the order (and then some) they put 8 on the board, had a 15-9 lead.  Some highlights from the inning include a couple of leadoff walks to Ben and Bon Bon, a long RBI double to the right field wall by Triston, RBI singles by Garrett , Scottie, Jaxson, Ben, and a Bon Bon (in his second AB of the inning).  The Generals preserved the lead on a putout from Ben to Vince on an attempted bunt, strikeout by Ben and retired the final batter on a groundout to Vince at first.  The Generals had done their job to bring their tournament record to 2-1 and could only watch and wait to see if their 15 runs allowed in three games would be good enough to earn a wild card spot.  It would be almost 9 hours later, around 10 PM when they learned they had earned the seventh seed and the opportunity to play #2 seeded LOZ Royals in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

10-16-09 The Generals drive to win the  2009 Monster Bash commenced on a chilly Friday night befitting the season.  A delayed start allowed only a few minutes for on-field warm-ups, and the visiting Generals aimed for an early advantage as Anthony Ippolito stepped up to the plate against the Metro Cardinals from Raytown.  A lead-off walk followed by a screaming drive down the 1st base line by #2 hitter Austin Weiler gave the Generals runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out and on Garrett Pyle's grounder, Anthony scored to give the Generals a 1-0 lead, but the middle of the order couldn't bring Austin around to add to the lead.   Pyle pitched a strong first and the Cardinals pitcher matched his effort in the top of the second.  The Cardinals tied it up in the bottom of the second, and could have done more damage, if not for a nifty pickoff at third by Pyle.  With the top of the order up and two outs in the third, the Generals threatened again when Anthony was hit by pitch.  Austin ripped a drive to deep left center which looked like it would score Anthony, but a strike to the catcher nailed him at the plate on a bang-bang play and left the score tied 1-1. Pyle continued his strong effort with two K's and no runs allowed in the bottom half of the inning but the Generals couldn't get anything going in the 4th.  After a sno-cone catch by Tristin Decker retired the first batter, and after a long drive over the center fielder's head, a close play almost got the runner at 2nd for (what whould have been) out number two.  Unfortunately, a couple of RBI singles gave the Cardinals the advantage, which they would never relinquish.  By the end of the inning the home team was up 6-1, and with the Generals unable to mount an attack in their half of the fifth, game time expired with the Cardinals on top, 6-1.  For his strong pitching performance and good contact with the bat, the Cardinals awarded the game's MVP award to Garrett Pyle.

9-27-09  What a day.  As the number three seed the Generals were first up in their semi final contest against Lawrence's DC Storm.  Garrett Pyle started the scoring off early with two RBI's in the first.  With Austin Weiler on the mound, the Storm threatened in the bottom half of the inning, but Buck Lasiter took away their thunder by gunning down back-to-back would-be base stealers and the Generals came up to bat in the second with a 2-0 lead.  With Lasiter and Vince Galate having reached base to lead off the inning, Ben Viestenz laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move the runners, then Jaxson Dubinsky drove in run number three with a textbook grounder to the right side and the Storm's pitcher balked on the next pitch to send Galate home, giving the Generals a 4-0 lead.  Next, Shaban "Bon Bon" Agayev started off a two-out rally with a base hit, followed by a seeing-eye single by Anthony Ippolito and then pitcher Austin Weiler helped his own cause by driving in both runners and giving the Generals a 6-0 lead.  The Storm mounted a small rally in the fourth until a line drive to Bon Bon at second base thwarted their effort.  The Generals continued the offensive display with three more runs and finished off the Storm 9-1 after five with a 1-6-3 (Weiler-to-Pyle-to-Galate) double play to reach the championship game in only their second tournament as a team.

Next up were the AAA Springfield Titans, boasting a couple of gigantic 12-year olds, and having yielded only 3 runs combined in their three previous contests (the Generals had only given up 4).  Against a crafty hurler with nasty breaking stuff, the Generals went down 1-2-3 in the first.  With Garrett Pyle on the hill, the Generals were their equal shutting down the Titans in the first.  Scottie Preston got the Generals going in the second with a leadoff single.  Lasiter reached base on a fielders choice and with runners on first and second, Galate's single up the middle made the score 1-0 Generals.  RBI's by Viestenz and Dubinsky followed, and after one-and-a-half, it was 3-0 Generals.  Unfortunately, the Generals couldn't hold on though, as with two outs in the bottom of the inning, a couple of crazy wind-blown popups proved too tough to handle and the Titans scored three unearned runs to tie the score, and when the Generals couldn't reclaim the lead in the top of the inning, the Titans bats came alive and they took a 6-3 lead after 3.  The Generals threatened in the 5th, when Bon Bon ripped a double down the first base line and Weiler drove him in by waiting on a curve ball and ripping one up the middle.  Despite a nice 8-2-5 (Weiler-Lasiter-Preston) putout at third in the bottom of the fifth and mounting a two-out threat in the top of the sixth, the Generals came up short and fell 8-4 to the Titans.  Despite the loss, the Generals deservedly held their heads high and accepted their second-place trophies, a worthy accomplishment for a team less than two months old in a 15-team field that included four AAA teams and one Major team.  It was a great day to be a K.C. General.

9-26-09  The Generals entered play in their second tournament as one of fifteen teams in five pools, vying to become champions of the Briley's Sonic Classic at Johnson County 3&2.  The Generals drew a tough pool with the always competitive Pirates and the Rough Riders from St. Joseph, MO.  With keen eyes at the plate, shrewd baserunning and solid contact, the Generals put the ball in play and took a 2-0 first inning lead they would never relinquish.  Max Storch took a perfect game to the fifth, when the Pirates rallied late, but it wasn't enough and solid defense allowed the Generals to emerge victorious, 3-1.

In the nightcap, the Generals faced a tough hurler and a gutsy Rough Riders team.  Solid pitching by Anthony Ippolito, in his first start in more than a year kept the game close but some defensive snags allowed the Generals foes from the North to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning.  Despite making good contact with the bats, the Generals could not seem to get the ball through the stellar infield play of the Riders' second baseman.  Garrett Pyle came into relieve in the fouth, and kept the game close through the top of the inning, In the bottom of the fourth, the Generals offense came alive.  Started with a tough infield single by Jaxson Dubinsky, Vince Galate followed with a hard hit fielders choice to second. Next up, Anthony Ippolito followed a screaming foul ball down the third base line by working the count the rest of the way and reaching base on a walk.  Next up, Austin Weiler cut the lead in half with an RBI hit, and Max Storch drove in the tying and go-ahead runs.  With a 3-2 lead in hand, Pyle and the Generals defense preserved the win to take their pool with only 3 runs allowed and gain the number 3 seed  heading into Sunday's pool play.

9-19-09 The Generals had practice today

9-13-09 Behind a solid pitching performance, the Generals played tough but ran out of steam towards the end and fell short to the eventual tournament champion Mac 'n Seitz (11U) Red Sox.

9-12-09 A glorious day for baseball and a glorious inaugural doubleheader played by the Generals.  The bats were booming as the Generals built a 11-1 lead against the Blue Valley Eagles, holding off a late Eagles rally to preserve a 14-11 victory in the early affair.  Next up was a 11U Major team, the Southside Renegages.  We expected the competition to be tough and it did not disappoint.  The Generals came through however with a total team effort including a complete game pitched, two double plays completed (highlighting a number of web gems), and solid hitting from top to bottom.  The two wins gave the Generals the #2 seed going into pool play.