Each week, we will catch up with Team Captain Matt "Howitzer" Lungariello (pictured above) on his thoughts regarding the game of the week.
Last weekend on April 27, the Park City Pow-wow's a.k.a. the Gray Guns a.k.a. the Seaside Slammers a.k.a. the just plain ol' Orators had their first road trip. Things didn't go well, with the Bport Boomboys losing three games in a row and being outscored by double digits for the day.
We got the chance to chat with Howitzer today and go over the tough weekend and look ahead to the team's pending trip to Hartford where they'll square off with the Dark Blues:
KEEP IT VINTAGE: Tough losses this weekend. What went wrong?
HOWITZER: We didn't play good team defense and we didn't hit. It's as simple as that. We put ourselves in a big hole in two of the three games, and in the other game a huge inning is what killed us.
KIV: What positives can you take away from it?
H: We got some of the new guys more experience in actual game action. It's not the same as practice, there is a little more pressure during the real thing. Plays happen faster, everything speeds up.
It was fun to see Cap out there also. I think that everyone can learn something from him. I asked him to pitch, play second base, center field, and right field. He was punched in the face and he hit a home run. He did it all while having fun out there. Shame he broke his face though, we hope he has a speedy recovery.
Honorable mention goes out to Mike "Whit" who pitched very well for Newtown and kept us off balance all day.
KIV: What's the area - defense, offense, etc - that the team has to work on the most?
H: Defense, defense, defense. If you play solid defense, everything else falls into place.
Another area we have to work on is having fun. If you can't have fun playing this game, there is something wrong with you and you shouldn't even show up. Once we went down by a few runs, everyone tried to be a hero and bring the team back to life. Three singles is what scores a run in this game. An error here, a swinging bunt there. That's all it takes to get it going.
I am not too concerned about the hitting though. No, we didn't hit particularly well, but it was just one day. We will come back from that. Everyone needs to relax and let their talent take over. You see the ball, you hit the ball. You may see that right field is open and try to hit the ball between first and second. That sounds good in theory, but the pitcher doesn't allow you to go to right field. You have to hit the ball where it's pitched. If you try to hit it to right or left field and the ball is not pitched there, you can pop it up just as easily as if you are trying to hit a 10-run homer. Sometimes, you have to take what they are giving you. The biggest hole in the infield is always up the middle.
KIV: You and Paul are banged up and it's only the second week. Are injuries a big concern?
H: Well, I am going to be playing this weekend. It's not that big of a deal that I sat out three games last weekend. A lot of people complained to me that I wasn't playing them enough last year, so hopefully I got everyone into the games. I would rather take playing time away from myself, because I won't get too mad at me.
Paul, hopefully, will be back in two weeks. That's all part of the game. Ginger usually plays with one or more broken fingers at a time. Irish banged up his hand a little bit. We will work through it. We have enough guys to make it happen every week. We had a lot of injuries last year also.
KIV: Looking ahead, the team's heading back to Hartford for the first time since the very first game last season. What are you looking forward to?
H: They beat us up that first week. We were a scared bunch of rookies. We didn't know what we were supposed to do or how to do it. I am looking forward to it. It's been 12 months since we went out to that field, and we can really see how far we have come. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I want to keep those games competitive after giving up 30+ runs last time. It was a blowout of biblical proportions. It's a long drive out there, I am sure the people that make the trip we will ready to play.
KIV: You think the O's can take the Blues?
H: We can beat anyone. We can also lose to anyone. We have a few different faces right now. We are still a very young team and we lack consistency to be a real force in this league. We need to avoid the big inning and when we are in a jam we need to try to limit the damage. "Damage control" is what i am always saying to the boys. If you load the bases with no outs, don't try to turn a triple play. Limit the team to one or two runs by getting the sure out, making the smart play, and not giving up by letting frustration take over. We have a tendency to lose focus and become unable to stop the bleeding. Then it snowballs on us. There have been a lot of games that we lost by having one bad inning.
Last weekend on April 27, the Park City Pow-wow's a.k.a. the Gray Guns a.k.a. the Seaside Slammers a.k.a. the just plain ol' Orators had their first road trip. Things didn't go well, with the Bport Boomboys losing three games in a row and being outscored by double digits for the day.
We got the chance to chat with Howitzer today and go over the tough weekend and look ahead to the team's pending trip to Hartford where they'll square off with the Dark Blues:
KEEP IT VINTAGE: Tough losses this weekend. What went wrong?
HOWITZER: We didn't play good team defense and we didn't hit. It's as simple as that. We put ourselves in a big hole in two of the three games, and in the other game a huge inning is what killed us.
KIV: What positives can you take away from it?
H: We got some of the new guys more experience in actual game action. It's not the same as practice, there is a little more pressure during the real thing. Plays happen faster, everything speeds up.
It was fun to see Cap out there also. I think that everyone can learn something from him. I asked him to pitch, play second base, center field, and right field. He was punched in the face and he hit a home run. He did it all while having fun out there. Shame he broke his face though, we hope he has a speedy recovery.
Honorable mention goes out to Mike "Whit" who pitched very well for Newtown and kept us off balance all day.
KIV: What's the area - defense, offense, etc - that the team has to work on the most?
H: Defense, defense, defense. If you play solid defense, everything else falls into place.
Another area we have to work on is having fun. If you can't have fun playing this game, there is something wrong with you and you shouldn't even show up. Once we went down by a few runs, everyone tried to be a hero and bring the team back to life. Three singles is what scores a run in this game. An error here, a swinging bunt there. That's all it takes to get it going.
I am not too concerned about the hitting though. No, we didn't hit particularly well, but it was just one day. We will come back from that. Everyone needs to relax and let their talent take over. You see the ball, you hit the ball. You may see that right field is open and try to hit the ball between first and second. That sounds good in theory, but the pitcher doesn't allow you to go to right field. You have to hit the ball where it's pitched. If you try to hit it to right or left field and the ball is not pitched there, you can pop it up just as easily as if you are trying to hit a 10-run homer. Sometimes, you have to take what they are giving you. The biggest hole in the infield is always up the middle.
KIV: You and Paul are banged up and it's only the second week. Are injuries a big concern?
H: Well, I am going to be playing this weekend. It's not that big of a deal that I sat out three games last weekend. A lot of people complained to me that I wasn't playing them enough last year, so hopefully I got everyone into the games. I would rather take playing time away from myself, because I won't get too mad at me.
Paul, hopefully, will be back in two weeks. That's all part of the game. Ginger usually plays with one or more broken fingers at a time. Irish banged up his hand a little bit. We will work through it. We have enough guys to make it happen every week. We had a lot of injuries last year also.
KIV: Looking ahead, the team's heading back to Hartford for the first time since the very first game last season. What are you looking forward to?
H: They beat us up that first week. We were a scared bunch of rookies. We didn't know what we were supposed to do or how to do it. I am looking forward to it. It's been 12 months since we went out to that field, and we can really see how far we have come. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I want to keep those games competitive after giving up 30+ runs last time. It was a blowout of biblical proportions. It's a long drive out there, I am sure the people that make the trip we will ready to play.
KIV: You think the O's can take the Blues?
H: We can beat anyone. We can also lose to anyone. We have a few different faces right now. We are still a very young team and we lack consistency to be a real force in this league. We need to avoid the big inning and when we are in a jam we need to try to limit the damage. "Damage control" is what i am always saying to the boys. If you load the bases with no outs, don't try to turn a triple play. Limit the team to one or two runs by getting the sure out, making the smart play, and not giving up by letting frustration take over. We have a tendency to lose focus and become unable to stop the bleeding. Then it snowballs on us. There have been a lot of games that we lost by having one bad inning.
No comments:
Post a Comment