Number 4, someone exercising - I could not decide on the length of the legs and he was getting ready to go on his trike ride and I didn't want to hold him up.
Number 2, body part - my hand. Hook 'em Horns! for the baseball game today.
Anyone not interested in college baseball can quit reading here. Smile.
I put this sketch last so that I can brag on the UT Baseball Team a bit. I will try to make this short and leave out all the history of the Texas Longhorns. Not easy, they have done great things! You can read about them at texassports.com and ncaa.com You can watch on ESPN today! (And hopefully through Tuesday with Texas winning!)
The Longhorns were last in the Big 12 conference last year, very unusual. They have such great pitching but could not get the offense going. They won and lost so many games by 1 run. Nathan Thornhill, a great pitcher, was the Sunday regular. He pitched so well and they would lose by a run in the ninth inning. Our best hitter and overall player is Mark Payton. He played right field last year and is the center fielder this year. He set a new Big 12 record by getting on base in 101 straight games. That is consistent baseball! He was drafted by the Yankees this year.
This year both Nathan and Mark decided to come back for their senior year after being drafted last year and take the Longhorns to the College World Series. Again this year the pitching is superb and the offense seems to come together in a pinch. One of the starting pitchers, Dillon Peters, is not playing. Chad Hollingsworth stepped in and has won two of these tournament games. He had been a relief pitcher so had not pitched a whole game all year. Yay, Chad!! Sometimes players have their best games when the team needs them the most. C J Hinojosa, the shortstop, hit the first home run in all the College World Series night before last. The second was last night by a TCU player. Not many for such good teams. That field is big, with the wind blowing in!
How did the Longhorns make it to Omaha? They ended up in the middle of the Conference this year. They did make it to the finals of the Big 12 Tournament the end of May and lost to Oklahoma State. They were however picked as one of the 64 teams for the Road to Omaha. There are 16 Regionals, each with 4 teams, double elimination tournaments. Then the winners of the Regionals compete in the 8 Super Regionals, best 2 of 3 games and the winners go to Omaha.
The Road to Omaha and the College World Series is almost like a new season. The Longhorns didn't qualify to have the Regional in Austin and went to Houston to play against Rice, George Mason and the Texas Aggies. They beat they beat Rice and then the Aggies twice. Houston won the tournament in Baton Rouge where LSU was host. As the Longhorns and Houston weren't hosting a Regional the NCAA picked the Longhorns to host the Super Regional against Houston. The Longhorns won the two games!
On to Omaha, where three Texas teams took part, Texas Tech, TCU and the Longhorns. The NCAA College World Series started on June 14, with the first game being the Texas Longhorns vs the UC Irvine Anteaters. It is a double elimination tournament, you lose two games and go home. Texas Tech lost their first two and TCU was sent home last night and the Longhorns play today at 2:00 p.m. against Vanderbilt.
The Longhorns lost the first game to UC Irvine so were in the losers bracket meaning they have to keep winning to keep going. They beat Louisville in the next game and then had to face UC Irvine again and beat them. Now today they play Vanderbilt, who haven't lost. They will have to beat them today and again tomorrow to go into the finals on Monday. The finals will be against either Virginia or Old Miss. Old Miss is in the same position as the Longhorns. Old Miss has to beat the unbeaten team, Virginia, twice to get to the finals. I was hoping TCU would win that side of the bracket so there would be two Texas teams in the finals .. of course hoping the Longhorns can win the next four games straight!! I think they have the desire and the ability, so
Hook 'em Horns!!
Here is Mark bunting from a game earlier this year, taken on my iPhone. He is fun to watch!
4 comments:
Baseball is such a funny sport. You can lose a bunch of games as long as you win the important ones. I heard someone say that in baseball, you have to be able to take the losses and keep on going.
The sketch of Dad is too funny. :-)
I'm really happy the Horns ended up doing so well this year. Hook 'em!
Bag Blog, yes, so true. Guess you know the Horns lost last night 4-3 in the 10th inning. They did super! Coach told them that they won more than they lost by facing their adversities and doing their best. He said it helps them more than they know now, but later in life this has helped them conquer the fear of trying and giving their all for the team.
Joanna, the Horns finished in fine style! Next year should be awesome! Augie said the expectations at Texas set special challenges for them and they met the challenge. :)
Joanna, I forgot to mention that your dad is such a willing model. He is very supportive of my art, as you know. Doesn't seem to mind that my sketches are always a bit quirky of him!
Post a Comment