So what do you do if you are a six-foot, one-inch, 200-pound linebacker rushing full speed at the quarterback? You break through the line with ease, as it's an all-out blitz on the first play of the scrimmage. The QB for the other team is a good friend. Do you hit him? 

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Now that your son or daughter is finishing up their last year of Cal Ripken or Little League, are you planning for the next stage of their youth baseball career? You should be!

 

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This summer when my wife's parents flew out to visit, I used my nifty Red Sox bottle opener to pry open a brew for my father-in-law. It plays an announcer's voice saying "Way back, way back, homerun. Those crazy Red Sox did it again..." I thought I had the coolest bottle opener in the neighborhood until Christy and Dave Shultz showed up!

We were having a barbeque at our hotel in St. Louis a few weeks ago. The New Hampshire Grizzlies 14U parents were grilling and setting up a picnic. I had picked up a 12-pack when we got there, but I didn't have a bottle opener.

Then up jumps Christy. She said, "I've got one," with a smile on her face, and takes off her sandal. Now, if you're friend offered their shoe, or toes to open your beer, what would you say? I was mute for a moment.

She flips the sandal over and shows off her way-too-cool gizmo hidden in the bottom - a bottle opener. A sigh of relief for me. I was floored, and so were some of the other parents who are seen in the background watching her. Dave had one in his too.

They are now my brewskie superheros. Thanks Christy!

-Bob Hammerstrom

Today was the final day of baseball for us in the AAYBA World Series at St. Louis. The NH Grizzlies placed 8th out of more than 30 teams from around the country. They lost both Friday's game, and today's. The game today went into three extra innings.

Brandon Hammerstrom of Auburn, pitched the first three innings, relieved by Curtis Lonergan of Derry, and Louis Tarantino of Nashua.

This was the first year a Grizzlies team has made it into the platinum bracket of this tournament. Below are a few photos of the boys during the awards presentation.

Congratulations Grizzlies!

The NH Grizzlies 14U team from Litchfield dropped their baseball game today 9-1 against the Blues from Kansas City. Tim Sullivan pitched for the Grizzlies, and was relieved by Robbie McCormick.

When we left the field, I heard one of their parents bragging that this was their third year in a row making it to the final four.

They are a good team, with heavy hitters and sharp fielding. They ran out to their positions, and were very disciplined. They are now 5-0 in the AAYBA tournament.

The Grizzlies are 3-2 overall in the tourney. The best they can do now is 5th out of 34 teams, and if they drop their last two games they will be in 8th. Hopefully they will win and take 5th. That's very good, considering the talent playing in this tournament.

The humidity dropped a bit, but the temps. are hovering around 90. They will be heading to the pool soon.

-Bob Hammerstrom 

The NH Grizzlies 14U team beat the Redhawks 7-2 in six innings tonight, moving themselves up in the brackets with a 3-1 overall record in the AAYBA World Series baseball tournament in St. Louis.

Under the pitching of Matt Lipkind, and heavy hitting of the Grizzlies, the Redhawks were kept to only a pair of runs. Before the game, the Grizzlies were seeded 11th out of more than 30 teams, and the Redhawks were 6th. New ranking are not out yet.

The Litchfield, NH, team will play again Thursday at noon. The tournament finishes up Saturday with the championship games.

-Bob Hammerstrom 

After a night of thunder and rain storms, the NH Grizzlies' game against the Redhawks of St. Louis is delayed until 5 p.m. Both are top teams in the tournament, so this should be a very good game. Both teams will have their #34's back for the game. The Redhawks #34, and our #34 (my son, Brandon) were ejected from pool games for mowing down catchers on plays at the plate. What I find unique, is that they both blasted the same catcher, in two different games against the School of Hard Knocks from Indiana. Brandon didn't do it intentionally, but the rule says you must slide, and he didn't. So he sat for the remainder of that game, as well as the second. Check out the tournament schedule here.

Yesterday we explored the St. Louis arch and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery with the Gray family. Check out the photos below.

My family under the arch: Nancy, Brandon and Bob Hammerstrom

 

 

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After winning their first baseball game Sunday, the NH Grizzlies boys stopped by a Hooters restaurant in St. Louis to celebrate Addison Hanscom's 15th birthday. After dinner, the Hooters girls posed for photographs with the team and signed autographs for them. Addison is in the front.

 

 

Addison Hanscom of Nashua shows his moves to the Hooters girls with a Hoola hoop Sunday night. Grizzlies catcher Ethan Hurley is also celebrating a birthday this week, but was unable to make it to the tournament because of a leg injury.  Miss ya "E."

-Bob Hammerstrom 

The NH Grizzlies 14U baseball team began play in the AAYBA Open World Series in St. Louis, Mo., Sunday afternoon, July 6, 2008. The team played three pool games through today, taking two of the three. They have Tuesday off, and will be seeded into brackets for the rest of the tournament. 

Saturday was spent watching the Cardinals take on the Cubs. The Grizzlies took a lap around the warning track before the game with many other tournament participants. 

 

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The NH Grizzlies AAU 14U baseball team from Litchfield, N.H., is on their way to the AAYBA World Series in St. Louis. I will be with them, and will be blogging throughout the week-long tournament, which begins Saturday. Check back often for updates and photos of the team.

Just received this picture from my friend Dave, a fellow NH Grizzlies parent. It's a picture of the Grizzlies surrounding my son, Brandon congratulating him on the three-run homer he hit at a baseball tournament in Connecticut last weekend. He's the one with the big smile on his face in the middle. His dad (myself - not pictured) was the one jumping six feet in the air while getting high-fives from the parents, with a bigger smile on his face.

Brandon's hit homeruns on his school team, but this is his first, and the team's first one over a fence this year. Louis "meep meep" Tarantino blasted an in-the-park homerun in the last Connecticut tournament, which was really an in-the-next-park shot. But, there was no fence. Louis jump put the pedal to the metal and easily circled the bases.

As his coach Aaron Jackson handed the ball to me in the bleachers afterwards, he said, "I've been waiting for him to do that for two years." The ball bounced off the left-field bluff in the background. It was pushing close to a 375 to 400-foot shot.

The funny thing here is that his friend Kruz told him to use his brand new DeMarini drop-three bat. Kruz is a power hitter as well. Brandon did the breaking in honors and hit the first homerun off the bat.

Nice picture Dave. Thanks! And, thanks Kruz!

-Bob Hammerstrom

The parents from the other team must have thought we were nuts, while our NH Grizzlies 14U parents gave each other high-fives, yelling "dominos" as our boys defeated the Stratford, Conn. Braves in a playoff game Saturday night, June 21, 2008, sending them into a semi-final game Sunday in the 4th Annual Grant E. Stanis D1 Territory Championships baseball tournament in North Branford, Conn.

Yes, we were getting hungry, but it wasn't for pizza!

 

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There has been something missing from AAU games this spring. Since pitchers have been throwing for their school teams, some have not been able to pitch much for their AAU ball clubs. 

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I'm looking forward to Sunday's AAU baseball games in Portland, Maine. The parents are already talking about it. Do we need to put in reservations? My mouth is already watering. Not for the baseball double-header, rather the dinner afterwards at Warren's Lobster House in Kittery on the way home! 

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Have you had to make a choice between attending church, or taking your child to sports activities? Maybe you've been lucky enough to avoid the decision so far, with no games on Sunday, or religious services on Saturdays. 

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Was it that embarassing trip on the athletic field, or the mismatching socks you wore on the court that gave you your first nickname? Maybe it was that "athletic" crew cut, or your hunter orange hair that labeled you from birth. 

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