This is Your Time

Thanks to everyone for attending our preseason party Sunday, and an extra note of gratitude to Indee and Trey Few for hosting the party, and for their generosity and hospitality.

Well, here we are. OPENING DAY! Tomorrow, we open the 2007 season against Augusta Christian.

After lots of hard work these past six weeks, this is what it's all about.

Tomorrow, we begin our quest for the goals we've set out to achieve. I'm proud of our players and coaching staff for paying the price these past six weeks. I know you are ready. And, just like coach Herb Brooks told the USA Olympic Hockey team in 1980, THIS IS YOUR TIME!

Remember, there have been many great players who've played an entire career without ever winning a championship -- Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Ernie Banks, Robin Yount and Don Mattingly, to name a few.

In other words, you just never know if this season will be your best and last chance to win one.

No, this isn't the big time. This isn't the big leagues, or college baseball, or even high school ball. But this is a very important time in your lives -- a time I guarantee you will never forget.

THIS IS YOUR TIME. SEIZE THIS MOMENT. STARTING NOW!

Looking back at our final weekend of the preseason, Saturday's exhibition game against the Augusta Heat was a good test for us, although the 4-3 loss was a disappointment.

We saw a lot of good things again Saturday. We got solid pitching from top to bottom, with six different pitchers giving us a quality outing -- Denis Douglas, Alec Anderson, Palmer Douglas, Bradley Miller, Brendan Douglas and Jeremiah Schaeffer -- proving we will have some much-needed depth on the mound this season. We executed a few of the things we've been working on, including the sacrifice bunt and delayed steal. We also played solid defensively and had a bunch of quality at-bats.

But we also had our share of mistakes -- a few botches on the basepaths, a few missed signs, and a few defensive breakdowns, especially during a crucial fourth inning that allowed the Heat to score a pair of unearned runs and waste a solid pitching performance by Palmer Douglas.

However, Saturday was the right time to make these mistakes, when it doesn't count in the standings. I hope we all learned from these mistakes and got them out of the way. I feel confident we will do exactly that.

So, after six weeks and about 70 hours of practice, the real work begins Monday. Remember the five goals we set for ourselves on the first day of practice.

Goals No. 1-2:

1. We will be the hardest working team in our league.
2. We will be the most fundamentally-sound team in our league.

I believe we have done a good job trying to achieve these goals. As for the other three goals we have set for our club, we will not publish them here in a public forum, but you all know what these goals are. And I know deep down you all are ready to pursue them. STARTING MONDAY -- BECAUSE, THIS IS YOUR TIME.

One final note: because a few players left early, we decided not to announce our captain. We wanted our whole team there for this. So, we will name our captain on Monday before the game.

See you at the ballpark.

THIS IS YOUR TEAM!
THIS IS YOUR TIME!
SEIZE IT!