A New Year ...

Well ... congratulations, Mustangs on winning the Lutheran South Baseball Bash. Oh, wait. That was last year. So, it seems there was a little delay in getting us our plaque for the first tournament that a Mustangs Varsity team has ever won.

But ... better late than never.

This year, we didn't get the results of 2009. However, we actually played better baseball against a much-improved field. Pasadena First Baptist and Westbury Christian were much improved, and St. John's (who was not even in this tournament last year), always presents a challenge.

So, it's a new year. There are new challenges. And teams that might have given the Mustangs a pass and rested better pitchers and players are not going to do so. It's time to for us to step up to the challenge and keep working -- deliberately working on those things we need to improve upon -- to get better.

An exciting week lies ahead, weather permitting. The key to having a good week on the field is to not look at either the past week ... or really the games ahead. It's always the one play ahead.

When things get tough and tight, life and baseball remain real simple -- one pitch and one play at a time. When we feel the yellow light coming on, then we go to our A-B-C's. We work our approach consistently, and things start to make sense. It sounds simple, and it is. If we execute such a plan, though, we'll survive and even thrive.

Hey, a verse came to mind after we saw ourselves being required to mature this weekend -- 1 Tim. 4:12. Check it out.

Now, let's get back to it.

See you on the field,

Coach Rut

Remaking ourselves ... or making adjustments?

After a tough first week that saw us drop our season opener in resounding fashion at TWCA and then have our home opener rained out ... well, one might be tempted to be a little discouraged. I understand the feeling, but we still have the foundation in place to get where we want to go.

A start of a season doesn't define a season. A season is the accumulation of all of a team's games ... and a team's games are the accumulation of its mindset, approach, and preparation.

Mindset, approach, and preparation -- these make up what mental game teachers refer to as "the process" of the game. Most players, coaches, fans in the game are focused on getting the results they want. But the irony is that to give yourself the best chance for the results you want on the field, you have to focus on the process rather than the results.

So, the results of 2010 will be a by-product of our process. We'll get back to honing this on Monday at practice.

Adjustments need to be made. Some are obvious. We have an approach that we've discussed at the plate, on the mound, in the field, and on the bases. Our approach works when we employ it. When we don't, then we tend to drift.

We also encourage routines on and off the field. When things don't go as we would like, we teach our players to employ the "A, B, C's". I wonder how many of us were using these against TWCA.

A player without a consistent approach really can't make meaningful adjustments. He is riding a a wave of chance and feelings. Baseball can be cruel enough without setting adrift on its seas without a rudder or sail.

Always remember that in one of the greatest seasons at the plate ever Ted Williams was "mired in failure" 60% of the time.

A consistent mindset and routine is absolutely essential to thrive in this game. We continue to grow through the peaks and valleys of emotional plays and games when we stay focused on a winning process. We prepare -- that is, we work on our approach in practice.

Those without a plan (we are all here from time to time) don't merely make adjustments. We can't. Instead, we often remake ourselves in an emotional response to events. Sometimes we get lucky and it works for a while.

At the other end of the spectrum, with an undue focus on results we think all is well because we won a particular game, got a hit, made play, etc. But ultimately, without a consistent underlying process trouble is right over the horizon.

Indeed, without a consistent approach, over the long haul the game catches up to us (usually sooner, rather than later) and we are right back on the stormy seas again.

The very good news is that we have a solid approach to the game that we are teaching -- at the plate, on the mound, in the field, and on the bases. All we need to do is either a) get back to it; or b) make adjustments within it.

Stay focused on the process and let the results of the game come to you.

See you on the field,

Coach Rut

Opening Week Thoughts

The opening of the baseball season is one of my very favorite times of the year. That it coincides with the coming of spring provides one more bit of evidence that the Lord is indeed a baseball fan. But this was proven to me long ago.

Opening Day (actually night) is Thursday vs. our friends from The Woodlands Christian Academy. We follow that with a JV/Varsity DH vs. Dallas Angels, a perennial homeschool powerhouse. It's a challenge to get going against these two great programs with the youngest Varsity team we have ever fielded. But you players are up to it.

The weather this week looks dicey. That's typical this time of year. So ... Semper Gumby (Always Flexible). About the only thing good about rainouts is that they cause you to reflect on how much we love to play.

As we take off into our best season of Mustangs baseball yet, players, keep in mind our commitments to each other from our retreat. Remember that contributing to our team is hardly confined to those nine who happen to be on the field at a given time. Keep the mindset of your teammates' welfare at the forefront and all else will fall into place.

Keep in mind, too, that the lineup we start the year with often changes as we twist and turn through a busy schedule on our way to Auburndale, Florida. If you want to be in another spot in the lineup or in the field, get after it and show that's where you need to be. If you do and that's what is best for the team as a whole, you'll get there.

Also, lineups change, too, as different pitching/defensive combinations are used. Stay alert and ready. I seem to recall that all of you players want us to do our best to give this team its best opportunity to play at its highest level. That's what we as coaches intend to do.

One of the great things about baseball is that it is difficult. It wouldn't be fun, after all, if you succeeded every time at the plate, for instance. In fact, it would get boring pretty quick. So ... expect adversity. It will come.

After all, adversity came to Ted Williams 6 out of 10 at-bats in the greatest season at the plate in half a century. Do you think we might see a challenge or two ... or three? I'm just sayin'.

But also expect this -- expect that we can and will work though that adversity ... by working a good routine, by using our ABC's, by taking responsibility for our thoughts and taking each thought captive, by staying positive, and, most of all, by remembering that what we are about is much more than any one of us alone.

Remember: We are enough.

See you on the field,

Coach Rut