The Plains rookies baseball team claimed a 14-4 victory over Superior at Amundson Sports Complex last Monday.
"They've been playing really good," said Melissa Garland, who coaches the team with her husband, Aaron. The Plains team is sponsored by First Security Bank. It was the third game of the season for the Plains rookies - all victories. She said that coaching can be chaotic, but it's a lot of fun.
Rookies are one level above T-ball and one level below minors. A pitching machine is used in rookies and the speed and height of the ball can be adjusted according to the playing level and height of the kids. Rookies go four innings, though Plains and Superior went an extra inning because they had extra time. Each batter gets five swings and an inning is three outs or 10 batters.
The Garlands have 14 players, all boys, from ages 6-9. Superior had a mixture of boys and girls. This is the first year for Aaron and Melissa to coach rookies, but they coached T-ball for two years while their son, Malachi, played at that level. Malachi just turned 6 years old and is one of the youngest on the team, but he's enthusiastic about the game and his mother sees how much he's improving, especially at the plate. "He loves that he's making contact," she said. She also said he's hitting harder this year, but most of his hits are going toward first base where he was routinely tagged out. Overall, she said it's fulfilling to see the kids' improvement.
She said that coaching young kids can be chaotic, but a lot of fun. They had coached about half of the players when doing T-ball and could see how much they've improved. "We enjoy watching the kids develop their skills. They're getting better at just about everything," said Melissa, who added that at this level they want to be there. She said that with T-ball they're still figuring whether or not they like baseball. "Their batting is definitely getting better. In rookie, the ball is coming at them and it's very impressive how they connect with the ball," said Melissa.
Melissa noted that at this level they spend less time telling the kids to run, though they periodically have to remind them, and they seem to have their batting stance down better. While Melissa kept track of the batting order and score and Aaron manned the pitching machine, Thad LeClair, whose son, Harrison, is on the team, jumped in with a training hitting stick to give the kids a few practice swings before going to the plate. "I just want to help them get a hit," said Harris. A few struck out, but the majority of them connected and some were even sent to the outfield. Legend Corby of the Plains team said it was fun to win.
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