Jaguars Notebook: Using the down time

Star Beacon

July 31, 2008 01:29 am

— MOLINE, Ill. — Yes, the Ohio Jaguars are here to play some serious softball at the USA-ASA 18-and-under National Tournament.
But while they're here, they're also having a ball off the field.
On Sunday, the team gathered at a pier on the Mississippi River and watched some local fishermen at work, one of whom landed a giant catfish that caught the attention of all of the players.
Many Jaguars took in a concert on Monday night that featured Mitchel Musso of “Hannah Montana” fame and ”High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu as part of a hysterical crowd of 3,000 at Modern Woodmen Park in nearby Davenport, Iowa.
While some players were there, a few of the adults ventured to one of the several riverboat casinos.
On Wednesday, several players and their parents toured the John Deere Museum. The nation's largest tractor manufacturer has its world headquarters here.
And Wednesday night, a bunch of players, coaches and parents took in a doubleheader featuring the Quad City River Bandits hosting the West Michigan Whitecaps, also played at Modern Woodmen Park. The team was welcomed on the public-address system at Modern Woodmen Park.
The River Bandits are a Class A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and play in the Midwest League.

Rare fizzle
Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the South Dakota Flash in the opening round of double-elimination championship play was an unusual occurence for the Jaguars.
Consider, the contest marked the 45th game of the season for Jaguars and it was only the third time this summer the Jaguars did not score a single run.
The first was in Game 28 on Saturday, July 5 to the Ohio Attack, 4-0, at Genshaft Park in Massillon.
The second came last weekend in the championship game of their own tournament, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Tri-County Hurricanes at the JAGS Complex in Game 42.

Bluer than blue
The Jaguars' opponents today in their 8 a.m. (CDT) game — the Bayside Blues — have yet to taste victory this week.
The Blues dropped their first-round game of championship play on Wednesday morning, 6-5, at the hands of the Windmills, from nearby Rock Point, Ill.
In pool play, the Blues went 0-2. They lost their opener on Monday, 6-1, to Matton Pride (Ill.) and bowed to the Hoosier Pride (Ind.) on Tuesday, 10-1.
In their three games, the Blues have been outscored, 22-7.

Breakfast of... ?
Before the Jaguars' pool-play game against the Lemont Rockers on Tuesday at Campbell Softball Complex, Jim Wilson was spotted destroying a bratwurst sandwich, loaded to the gills with toppings.
It should be noted, that was at 10... in the morning.
“The breakfast of champions!” Jim, the dad of Jaguar Liz Wilson, said through his trademark smile. “It was the smell... I just couldn't let it go, so I had to have one.”
The following morning over at Campbell Sports Complex, Wilson was sitting next to the dugout... sans the bratwurst sandwich.
“That didn't do much for me yesterday,” he said. “Today, I had a Poptart and some juice.”

Double duty
Not only did Courtney Francis smack two hits — including a double — and catch six innings in the Jaguars' first-round championship game against the South Dakota Flash on Wednesday, she also saved tournament officials from a possible call from PETA.
In the bottom of the sixth, a large butterfly was flapping its wings in front of home plate. The obviously injured creature would have been a distraction to at least Jaguars pitcher Megan Dragon, Francis, the Flash hitter and the home plate umpire, so she did what was necessary.
Francis gingerly picked up the butterfly and handed it to Jaguar Bayle Boggs' little brother, Nicholas, through the backstop fence.
By the way, Nick the Quick is sporting a mohawk haircut this week.
“We figured it was the end of the summer, so why not?” his mom, Amy, said.

Thumbs up!
Evan Francis, 12-year-old little brother of Jaguars Courtney Francis, Hannah Francis and Rachel Francis and son of manager Scott Francis, took in the latest Batman flick, “The Dark Knight,” on Tuesday night.
The little guy, who is a huge Tribe fan (go ahead, ask him a trivia question about Hall of Famer Bob Feller, I dare you!), spent two days asking his mom, Melinda, to take him to see the film, said it was well worth it.
“It was great,” he said. “It was really good and it was funny, too.”

We'll take that!
Bayle Boggs' bat was confiscated by umpires before Tuesday's pool-play game against the Lemont Rockers.
Why?
Was is corked? Did it have too much pine tar (George Brett, Goose Gossage reference)?
Uh, no.
The men in blue said it had a small dent in it.

That's a wrap
Julie Ezzo, one of two players (the other being Boggs, from LaBrae) to not hail from an Ashtabula County high school, was spotted handing out purple prewrap to teammates before Wednesday's game against the Flash in the third-base dugout. The players, like most female athletes, use prewrap to help keep their hair in place.
“No, I didn't steal it from Berkshire!” Ezzo, a Kirtland standout, said with a mischievous grin of one of her Chagrin Valley Conference rivals. “I actually bought this myself.”

Stat attack
Through three games, the Jaguars still have six players hitting .300 or better, led by Courtney Francis' .500 mark.
Joining her in the .300 Club are Ezzo (.429), Lauren Childs (.333), Hannah Francis (.333), Jenn Tennant (.333) and Katie McMellen (.300).
Courtney Francis has three of the team's five doubles, while Megan Dragon's dramatic seventh-inning homer on Tuesday represents the team's lone long ball.
Dragon's 1-2 record on the mound is belied by the rest of her statistics — 16.2 innings pitched, 17 hits allowed, seven runs allowed — three earned — 12 strikeouts and five walks. Her earned run average is 1.26.
The Jaguars are hitting .263 as a team and have an ERA of 2.94.

Tragedy strikes
The New Jersey Outlaws dropped a 10-2 decision to the Arizona Suncats in a pool-play game on Tuesday and did so with heavy hearts.
Assistant coach Tom Tobin, 54, was pronounced dead from a heart attack he suffered in his hotel room at 11 p.m. on Monday.
He was transported to Genesis Hospital in Davenport, where he died Tuesday morning.
The Outlaws decided to forge ahead in the tournament, though only after placing a call to Tobin's New Jersey home.
“We talked to his daughter,” Outlaws manager Chris Scott said. “And she said her dad wanted the girls to play.”
The grief-stricken Outlaws bowed to the Central Pa. Eagles, 4-1, in their first game of championship play on Wednesday.

O-H-I-O!
With a 3-1 win against the Arizona Hotshots and a hard-fought 9-8 loss to the Lemont Rockers in pool-play games, the Jaguars helped Ohio finish pool play with the best winning percentage of any of the 35 states represented in the 119-team field.
There are six Ohio teams playing here this week — the Jaguars, Grand Slam, Ohio Attack, Elyria Sundogs, Lady Lasers Blue and the Cincinnati Tribe.

Well done
The local newspaper here in Moline, The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, is producing a well-done four-page tournament wrapper to its edition each day this week.
The section, which is printed on heavier paper than the rest of the newspaper, includes features on the front page, results and statistics on the inside pages and a full-color photo page on the back.

Weather, or not
Mother Nature gave tournament officials a break on Wednesday in terms of parcipitation as it was a dry day. On Tuesday, more than three inches of rain fell between 5-8 p.m.
The gametime temperature for the Jaguars-Flash game at 8 a.m. (CDT) was a warm 85 degrees.
The forecast for today could be a bit problematic: Morning sunshine, followed by isolated thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe.
High temperature around 90. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. The chance of rain is 30 percent.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.