The Weekend

Hello everybody. Hope you all are doing well. I had a very long weekend, and it got pretty exhausting. As you already know, we had one game on Saturday at 3:30 pm and then a game on Sunday at 10am. After the game on Sunday, I took a trip to Florence to meet up with the same people we met in Rome. First, the games.

On Saturday we took on Poviglio at their field. When I first arrived, I noticed the field was small. I really thought that there were going to be a bunch of home runs hit, but to my surprise, there wasn't one all series. Our Italian starter, Fillo, took big strides in his performance. Although finding himself in jams throughout, he was able to settle down and put up a good performance. There pitcher was a Jamie Moyer type, keeping people off balance. In the first few innings, both pitchers did a good job shutting down the offenses.

Our offense started to come around around the 4th inning. We were having better at bats, and we started plating some runs. By the time the 7th came around, we were up by ten and putting the game away. For the first time in my professional career, I felt a little out of sync at the plate. I ended the game at 1 for 4 with 2 rbis and a walk.

After the game, the team got some food and we went straight home. I was exhausted, and fell asleep. We had to be up and out at 7:30 am. It was the earliest game I had played in a while. After a quick breakfast, we arrived at the field. We took bp and did the normal routine, then squared up for game two.

We threatened in the first inning, and I stepped to the plate with runners on second and third. The foreign pitcher was a lefty Venezuelan. He had previous experience pitching on the Venezuelan national team. He wasn't overpowering, but commanded the zone with a good fastball and changeup, complimenting the two with a slider. I went to the plate anticipating a slider, and after falling behind 1-o, he threw it. I took the ball to right center for a single, plating the two runs. Unfortunately, that would be the extent of my success that day at the plate. I finished the day an average 1 for 4 with two rbis again. Paul, the other American, proceeded to ask me what I finished the series at. I told him 2 for 8, and he then wittingly said, "Makes you a pretty average hitter." I laughed, and told him I was coming for him in the average race. He currently sits second in the league in hitting, but I'll get him.

We ended the weekend with two wins, putting us in a commanding lead of first place in the division. Luis, our foreign pitcher, threw another gem, completely shutting down Poviglio for a one run complete game. He has been lights out, and although we can barely communicate thru words, we work well together on the field.

After the games, we headed back to Florence. We were meeting up with the girls we had met in Rome. We had a good time, and I was able to see some things I didn't get to see before. I included some pictures here of the city. Exhausted Monday, we came back and I fell asleep right away.

This weekend we play at home against Florence. If it doesn't rain, it will be my first home series. I am excited to play a home game in front of the Reggio crowd. I will be taking a lot of swings and doing a lot of work this week to get back into good form. I hope everybody is doing well at home and please keep in touch. I'll talk to everybody soon!