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Good morning everyone!

As I predicted, there are changes on this weekend's University City tournament. It appears that Peninsula, which was in our pool (Pool M), has dropped out of the tournament. We now play Fallbrook, which we could face again at the district qualifier. By dropping out, if I read the very confusing brackets correctly, we automatically advance to Sunday's single-elimination bracket play. (Our game against Fallbrook will count against our bracket, which now has just two teams.)

The original schedule shows a 6 p.m. Saturday consolation game between the Eighth- vs. Ninth-place teams from pool play. With Peninsula out, we should be ranked in the top six.

The schedule is this, as best as I can tell and hoping there are no more revises:

• SDYS vs. Fallbrook, 8 a.m. Saturday, Doyle #1. We begin warming up at 7 a.m. SHARP.
• SDYS vs. Aliso Viejo Silver, 11:20 a.m. Saturday, Doyle #1.
   

Depending on how we do in our games, including run differential, we will start Sunday play at either 11:20 a.m. or 1 p.m. Subsequent game times would be 2:30 p.m. and the championship is at 6:45 p.m. (This is the latest I have seen a tournament schedule a championship!)

To make matters even more confusing, the Sunday bracket games are at La Jolla Fields #1 and #2, which are at Torrey Pines Elementary School in La Jolla. The championship is at Stanley #3 in University City.

Here are the directions to the fields as provided by the tournament director:

Standley Middle School Fields

Directions:  Fields 1 & 2:  Located at 6398 Radcliffe Dr.  From Highway 52, exit at Genesee Ave. north.  At Radcliffe Ln., turn left.  At Radcliffe Dr., turn left.  Fields 1 & 2 are located to the north of the parking lot.  Fields 3 & 4:  Located at the Recreation Center on Governor Dr.  From Highway 52, exit at Genesee Ave. north.  At Governor Dr., turn left.  The fields will be on the left just past the middle school and before the rec center buildings.

Parking:  There is a small parking lot to the north of Fields 1 & 2 and street parking on Radcliffe Dr. and Radcliffe Ln.  There is street parking for Fields 3 & 4 along Governor Dr.

Restrooms:  Portable toilets and a wash station are available.  Restrooms are also available at the rec center building near Fields 3 & 4 until 2:45 PM.

Doyle Recreation Center Fields

Directions:  Fields 1, 2 & 3:  Located at 8175 Regents Rd.  From Highway 52, exit at Genesee Ave. north to Nobel Dr.  Turn left.  At Regents Rd., turn left.

Parking:  There is a small parking lot near the playground and street parking along Regents Rd. and Berino Ct.
Restrooms:  A portable toilet and wash station are available near the fields and playground.  Toilets are available at the comfort station on the east side of the fields. Restrooms are also available at the rec center building until 2:45 PM.   

Torrey Pines Elementary School Fields

Directions:  Fields 1, 2 & 3:  Located at 8230 Cliffridge Ave.  From Standley Fields, turn left onto Radcliffe Dr.  At immediate stop sign on Radcliffe Ln., turn right.  At Genesee Ave., turn right.  Enter Highway 52 west.  Highway 52 turns into La Jolla Parkway.  Exit right onto La Jolla Scenic Dr.  Turn left onto Scenic Pl.  Turn left onto Cliffridge Ave.  School is on the right of the cul-de-sac; fields are behind the school.

Restrooms:  Portable toilets and a wash station are available.

We will practice tonight (Wednesday) and take Thursday and Friday off so that the players and their families can enjoy the various graduation activities.

However, I will stress this again - they MUST be at the Doyle fields ready to WIN two games no later than 7 a.m. Saturday. Please make sure they have a balanced breakfast (no sugar donuts) and are hydrated. We discussed proper pre-game nutrition with them this week, stressing the importance of having the proper fuel for their bodies to burn in athletic competition.

Pitchers should expect a hard workout tonight. Coach Rosemary will be working with them to continue their improvement.

I will be working with the hitters. Hitting first tonight will be Jill (she goes first so she can work on her pitching), Sonia, Cathryn, Jillian and Ana. I also want to work with our catchers and infield on throw downs and the defensive "trick" plays. We have a lot to do in a short amount of time. Practice might go as late as 9 p.m., depending on how quick everybody moves.

This is SDYS' weekend. This is when we take what we have learned in practice and the warm-up games and turn it into victories that lead to a championship. It's payback time …

Coach Dennis