We won six games in a row before finally losing, as we did last night in a game that was closer for us than perhaps it should have been. Though we did some good things, including throwing a runner out at home, our pitching was shaky and our offense took awhile to get untracked. The kids were disappointed that they lost, but I think they've got a better appreciation now of why they'd been winning.

It's amazing how easy it is as a coach to lapse into Coachspeak, that cliche-riven amalgam of pithy sayings and Hallmark inspiration. "Losing is a habit, and so is winning," I intoned last night. "We need to get back to the habit of winning." I'm not sure what amazes me more, that I can think of things like that to say on the spur of the moment, or that it's not even an effort to maintain a straight face while doing so. I guess it helps when this kind of stuff is not well-worn to your audience.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the progress most of these kids have made. They're getting more confident in what they can do, which is a big hurdle to clear. They're just now at the age where they're coordinated enough to really build on physical skills they've been taught, and it's really rewarding to see a kid who's been working on his swing all season finally make contact. You don't really appreciate how hard hitting a baseball is until you see kids struggle to do it.

With another rainout last weekend, our schedule continues to be full as we scramble to make up missed games. We're halfway through the season but we've only got about 2.5 weeks to go. No rest for the busy, that's for sure.

Chron columnist Ken Hoffman has an amusing tale of coaching strategy and Lombardiesque speechmaking for his 7-year-old team. I don't think I'd have the guts to try that kind of shifting defensive players, but hey, if you can't experiment at this level, when can you?