First Weekend

Temperatures in the Inland Empire have been intense! Probably those in Arizona can laugh and point and say that I should just deal with the cool temperatures, but after a spring of pretty mild temperatures, this weekend has been killer. Saturday, my first game started at 9 am and went 4 hours. I was the second base umpire so I didn't have the gear but I did go through a ton of water. Temperatures by 1 pm hovered around 105.

Saturday afternoon I went up to Grand Terrace to start helping with District 21's softball tournaments. Temperatures up there were around 95 at 5:00 pm, and then the humidity started. The 8 pm game wasn't bad temperature wise (high 80s) but the humidity kept rising.

So then I had 2 games behind the plate on Monday night. The 5:30 pm 8-10 yrs Softball ended up being 23-13 after 4 mercy rule. The second game, starting about 8 pm, was the Major Softball championship game. Grand Terrace had a fantastic pitcher. She was perfect in the bottom of the 4th with 2 outs. Batter #12 for the game was at the plate with a 2-2 count when the pitcher grooves one down the middle. The batter lifts the ball into centerfield, straight at the fielder. She lifts her glove and... the ball bounces out. A few throwing errors later, the batter rounds the bases for their first run of the game. Perfect game and shutout are gone in one error. No hitter is still possible.

The next batter comes up and hits a 1-2 fastball to the right side between the first baseman and second baseman, ending up with a double. No hitter is out the window. Next batter strikes out. Game over. 14-1. District championship to Grand Terrace.

I have been chugging water like crazy this weekend though. I need to keep up on my body temperature regulation. Even though the games are in the evening, I need to remember my towels to keep my core temperature down. While I love umpiring, I don't really want to die out on the field. I did have to pull out of a game a few weeks ago because I could feel myself fading. I don't like that feeling - first not physically, and then not mentally where I left my partners hanging. That isn't fair to them or the kids. Have to pay more attention to that. And it's only going to get harder as we head towards the end of July in San Bernardino.

Upcoming schedule:

Tonight: - District 21

5:30 pm - 8/10 Softball Semi-finals

8:00 pm - Junior Softball Finals

Tomorrow: District 21

5:30 pm - 8/10 Softball Finals

8:00 pm - Junior Softball (If Game)

Thursday: District 21

6:00 pm - 8/10 Softball (If Game)

Saturday: District 28

1:30 pm - 8/10 Baseball - Wildomar

Monday: District 71 - Section 8

5:00 Junior Softball Section

7:30 Junior Softball Section

Tuesday: District 71 - Section 8

5:00 Junior Softball Section

7:30 Junior Softball Section

Wednesday: District 71 - Section 8

Time? - Intermediate Baseball Sections

Thursday: District 71 - Section 8

6:00 pm - Junior Softball Section

Sunday, July 2 - District 49 - Section 8

6:00 pm - 9-11 Softball Section

July 5-7 - District 71 - Section 8

Various finals TBD

July 10 - District 21 - Section 8

5:30 Major Baseball Section

7:30 Major Baseball Section

July 13 - District 49 - Division 3

6:00 pm Major Softball Championship

July 19 - Report to San Bernardino