Summer 2017 Coed Season Litton Field Opening Night

A hot night in Grass Valley as the Summer 2017 Coed Season opens.

Temp: 90's — some say mid 90's — a bit muggy although the umpire felt a slight breeze around 5:30 before game time, but never felt it again until after 9pm. Thankfully no one had any issues with the heat, dehydration, or injuries — THAT IS ALWAYS A GOOD NIGHT!

Game One: 6:00 pm

The opening game was Public Enemas — a team that played a year ago, but returning with a majority of new players whom have never played before, so essentially a brand new team with an existing team name. Their opponent was Byers Bullets — a team who played for their first time in the 2017 Spring Season D4 coed at Memorial Field with a dismal record of 1 - 10.

Byers looked timid from the start allowing 2 runs in the bottom of the first, but got them back in the top of the second and not allowing Public Enemas to score in the bottom half of the inning. Byers scored 7 runs in the third and allowed 4 in the bottom half then scored a run each in the last two innings and allowed only one more run by Public Enemas ending the game in the bottom of the fifth. Byers 11 - Public Enemas 7

Game Two: 7:00 pm

Public Enemas had a tough night with a double header early in the evening heat with their first game in the mid 90's only loosing by 4, but it only got worse in their second game against Beauties and Beasts, who came from the Spring Friday Night D3 Coed Season taking second place in the division with a 9 - 3 record. Public Enemas scored 2 in the third and 3 in the top of the fifth, but was 19 runs short of getting close to Beauties and Beasts.

Game Three: 8:00 pm

Beauties and Beasts also had a double header, but a little more manageable being later in the evening, but the temp did not cool down as much as everyone was hoping. Beauties and Beast opponent was Team Briar Patch — another existing team name but the team has not played in the league for over five years, making them a brand new team with new players (most of which had never played before).

Team Briar Patch gave it a good try scoring 2 in the bottom of the first making it 2 - 2, but Beauties and Beasts rolled after that, winning the game 22 - 3.

Game Four: 9:00 pm

The third double header this opening night at Litton Field was Team Briar Patch against Misfits — another team who played in the 2017 Spring Season D4 coed at Memorial Field who took the division with a record of 9 - 2 - 1. The word throughout the spring season was “Misfits was in the wrong division.” Unfortunately the Coed President was unable to watch any of the games to see the competition, and the score cards are not shared with him for any division, so he just goes by the record on the website.

Team Briar Patch gave it a better try against Misfits by taking a 1 run lead in the bottom of the third with a score of 7 - 6. Misfits scored 7 in the fourth and 2 in the fifth while allowing Team Briar Patch only 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth. Misfits won 15 - 10.

I do apologize for not having any data for the games at Memorial field. But their scores will be posted, just no score card or commentary.

2017 D3 Coed Summer Season layout.

With only ten teams for the summer on friday night, the Coed President did not see wasting everyone's time with a 5 and 5 or a 4 and 6 split divisions.

I see it on Thursday Night with D1 Coed. There are only four teams and they are very tired of playing each other 4 times each season. If we can get one or two more teams to play on thursday night, then the division will be a little more competitive and fun for them. As it is, I am afraid of losing just one of the teams — but most players on thursday are die-hard ball players so that might not happen, but you never know what may happen.

Avoiding boring and stagnate games was a major reason to combined the two friday night divisons into one and split the games between Litton and Memorial, with Litton having most of the games during the season.

Teams will be playing at both fields: Memorial one week, then Litton the next, and so on until August 25th, when all games will be played at Litton.

The second reason for this type of scheduling was to introduce the teams to both fields — they do look, play, and feel very different from each other, because next year, if we have a line up like we did having 7 teams per division on friday, they will play 4 weeks on one field, 4 weeks on the other, then back to the original field to play final 4 weeks. This gives me, the Coed President, a chance to watch and evaluate the competition, as well as, introducing myself to the teams and players.

Some players may feel that a few players, and the teams they play on, should not be playing on friday night beginner league, and I agree 100%.

However, if we tell them they cannot play on friday we would be losing 4 teams. This contradicts us telling other teams they have to play on Wednesday or Thursday due to their teams' strength. But what about the Friday teams such as Misfits, Beauties and Beasts, Fiedler Construction, and possibly AJA Video and their teams' strength?

This is an ongoing topic between the members of the board and many, many players and managers of coed teams, as well as sleepless nights for the Coed President. I want this league to be fun for all involved. How do you do that? And how do you do that so everyone is happy? With Coed, unlike Men's, you pick a night, and that is when you play, unless you are a D1 Caliber team. Even then, we only see the roster that is signed up and after the season begins people get added that should not be added making that team a powerhouse against lower level teams.

As a player and a manager of a coed team over 10 years ago, the problem existed then. And it is not about favoritism, it is about SAFETY.

An unwelcome idea of mine is to create a skill level value for players. 1 - 10; keep it simple. Give a player a value. 10 being an awesome player with defensive and offensive skills, plus understanding of the game. A 1 value to a player, or even 0 would be someone who has never played before, does not know the game of baseball, let alone softball, never owned cleats or a glove.

Take all the players values on a team and add them up to get a final number and see if it matches closely to other teams. A team with 10-12 players that are ball crazy will score a 80 - 120 (a mix of the players receiving an 8 or higher). They should not compete against a team that is 60 or less. And at this time, we have that happening. I know, I see it with my own eyes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday — it is unfair to the team that gets beat up and I would think BORING for the team that beats the team up — if not, they have issues (is it really all about getting shirts and a trophy, or about fair play, competition, and fun?

If a lower team chooses to play on a specific night that is designated for higher play, that is their choice. But to have a higher playing team play with the newbies, that should, and will not happen.

I want to have a higher, and lower league on fridays, so if your team is on wednesday or thursday and want to play friday, there will be a place for you with possibly a max of 9 teams. And if you are a lower team,, we might have wednesday or thursday open for you to play. More to come.

Please support and help me get this league to a fun competitive level, not for me, but for the betterment of the you the players, the league, and our community. Thank You! - gerald martin davenport - WNCSSA Coed President

Remember: Lights on for safety.