THE HEART AND SOUL OF BASEBALL THE FEEL THE Quiet-Confidence
October 8th, 2011RIGHT NOW ITS WHAT WE LIVE FOR AT THIS TIME OF OUR LIFES
October 8th, 2011THIS IS THE START
THE BIG GUY WINS 300
April 4th, 2011TRY OUTS COMING Uw Rogers gets first hit as a Husky
February 21st, 2011SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Washington baseball team scored six runs in the ninth, but couldn’t overcome a large deficit as the Huskies closed out their opening weekend of the 2011 season with a 16-10 loss to Air Force Sunday at the Texas State Tournament.
The Huskies fell to 1-2 on the season. The UW beat Missouri State in the opener before dropping games to Nebraska and Air Force, which improved to 2-1 with Sunday’s win.
Air Force scored in each of its first seven innings. Falcons starter Michael Ceci (1-0) went seven innings, allowing two runs, for the victory. UW starter Aaron West (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up six runs over two-plus innings.
Washington sophomore Chase Anselment went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in while classmate Jacob Lamb was 2-for-5 with his second homer of the weekend, along with a double. Huskies Brendan Gardner-Young and Troy Scott also drove in a pair of runs. Patrick Lobo led the Falcons’ offense, going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
Air Force got started in the first as Alex Bast doubled to drive in one and then scored on a single from Seth Kline.
In the second, back-to-back, run-scoring triples from Lobo and Garrett Custons sparked a rally. Custons then scored on a single from Blair Roberts, staking the Falcons to a 5-0 lead.
The Falcons made it 8-0 in the third as Lobo drove in two with a bases-loaded single and Roberts sent home another with a base hit.
Washington scored its first run in the fourth when Anselment doubled down the right-field line and then scored on a two-out single from Troy Scott.
Air Force’s Nathan Carter led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run and Custons hit a two-run homer in the fifth to stretch the lead to 11-1.
Lamb opened the sixth with his second homer of the season, to right center, but Air Force answered with two more in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Val Schierholtz and a sacrifice fly from Lobo. Parker Mayo’s three-run homer in the seventh made it 16-2.
In the top of the eighth, the UW’s Eric Peterson singled and Lamb doubled. Anselment followed with a two-run double to make it 16-4.
Washington rallied for six runs in the ninth. Brian Wolfe walked and eventually scored on an error. After the bases were loaded, Gardner-Young doubled to drive in two. Scott followed with a two-run single and Willy Reel doubled to drive in another, closing out the Huskies’ scoring for the day.
The Huskies travel for a three-game series at Cal State Bakersfield next Friday through Sunday and then open the home schedule on Thursday, March 3, with the first of three games vs. BYU.
To finally reach it really means a lot,” A major league homecoming
July 14th, 2010July 13, 2010
By Tim Pfarr
To finally reach it really means a lot,” he said.
Curtis, who underwent surgery for testicular cancer during his freshman year of high school, played three years of college baseball at Arizona State University before being drafted by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2006 draft. He then began working his way up the minor league ladder.
He got the call from the New York Yankees June 20, and he was on a plane to Arizona the next morning. He made his first major league appearance as a pinch hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks just hours after landing.
“It was kind of a rush, packing stuff, then getting on a plane the next morning and then playing in a game that night,” Curtis said. “I just packed my bags and went.”
Although he failed to get a hit in his first at bat, he returned the following night as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning and smashed a two-run double for his first major league hit, helping the Yankees win 9-3 over the Diamondbacks.
After his hit, the umpire halted play, gave Curtis the ball and told him he only had 2,999 more to go, referring to the 3,000-hit milestone baseball players try to achieve.
Curtis is now staying in Manhattan, and he has played in games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics.
His first game against the Mariners was at Yankee Stadium, but the Yankees came to Seattle for a series from July 8-11.
Curtis started July 9 and 10 in right field, and went 1-4 July 9 with a double and 0-4 July 10. In the 12 games he has appeared in, he has racked up 25 at bats, one run, 4 RBIs and five hits. He is hitting .200, and three of his five hits were doubles.
“Coming back here and playing in Seattle where I grew up is an absolute thrill,” Curtis said before the game July 8. He had flown in with the team from Oakland the night before, and he took teammate Kevin Russo — who was also recently called up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — out to lunch that day and showed him around the city, since Russo had never been to Seattle.
Curtis’ friends and family were on hand for the entire series. However, his father Jed, mother Janet and older brother Conor may be his three biggest fans, as they traveled to Arizona on short notice to watch the entire series. They then followed the team to Los Angeles.
Colin Curtis blows bubbles with gum while watching the game from the visitors’ dugout at Safeco Field.
“It was exciting for us,” Jed Curtis said. “It’s been a long time in coming, from Little League to high school to Arizona State and the minors.”
He said seeing his son on the field reminded him of Little League games from long ago.
“It brought back a lot of memories from those games at Tibbetts Field,” Jed Curtis said.
Issaquah High baseball coach Rob Reese also flew to Los Angeles to see Colin Curtis play. Reese, who coaches the Lakeside Recovery Senior American Legion team in the summer, was in San Diego for a tournament when Curtis and the Yankees came to L.A. Curtis is the first Issaquah player for Reese to reach the majors.
“It’s incredible when one of your old players plays in the big leagues,” Reese said, adding he watched on TV as Curtis got his first hit, and got to meet and congratulate him after the game in L.A.
Issaquah High assistant coach Steve Sanelli, who coached Curtis in high school and on a Little League all-star team, said he has been watching and listening to Curtis’ games on TV and the radio as if Curtis were his own son.
“It’s a thrill for me just watching him play,” he said. “It’s a huge thrill just knowing him. Hopefully, his success will continue and he’ll keep playing.”
He said Curtis never changed his style from Little League onward — he chases down balls, swings his bat and smiles the same way he did when he was young.
At a recent tournament, Sanelli spoke with baseball scouts who said they thought Curtis would have been called up to the majors two years ago had he not been with an organization as dominating as the Yankees.
“It’s hard to break in when they have multimillion-dollar guys in the outfield,” Sanelli said.
Curtis said playing for the Yankees has been quite a ride, and he has enjoyed traveling with the team.
“It’s exciting to see all the different cities and playing in different environments.”
He said one of the toughest pitchers he has faced so far was Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, who he faced off against in New York on June 30. However, he said all pitchers in the league present a significant challenge.
“Everyone you face is going to have good stuff out there,” Curtis said. “That’s why they’re in the big leagues.”
He comes back to Issaquah during the holidays, and he stayed in town for the all-star break, July 12-15.
He said his favorite baseball players of all time are Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett and Roger Maris.
Could Curtis ever play for the Seattle Mariners? Who knows. However, he said he’s happy where he is.
“I’m in such a great situation right now,” he said. “I love playing for the Yankees, and it’s such a great organization.”
To all of the young players, he says to always keep playing and chasing their dreams.
“I’d say never give up on your goals,” Curtis said. “Even when you’re in a rough patch, just keep playing hard. If you love it, eventually things will work out. Just keep going after it.”
The kid
July 14th, 2010
COLIN COMES BACK HOME TO TROW OUT THE FIRST PITCH AT THE POUGH.Fifteen years ago, had Colin Curtis known he would someday become a major league outfielder, he would have said, “perfect, my plan is going to work.” At least that is what Curtis, now 25, said with a laugh when asked what his reaction would have been.
NUMBER 24 HE IS THE GREATEST
June 2nd, 2010
Dad and Sons
June 2nd, 2010What will it take
May 11th, 2010
There is no room for not being ready for the playoffs
Mike the ball is in your hand.Some days you don’t hit and some days you can’t pitch or catch, but you can always hustle and play hard. I learned to compete and win at everything I did because of my revulsion of losing. When you start getting used to the thought of losing in any facet of your life, it doesn’t take prolonged periods of time for that losing manner to contaminate every vicinity of your life. Do you recall when I wrote this just a few weeks prior? I speculate we have diminutive recollections after today’s game. The kids may have learned you do not take anyone for granted. Today a team that had more desire than us defeated us. The Issaquah boys motioned that just showing up would cause a victory, but sadly it ended in a tragic loss. The road just got rougher and there is no room for lack of preparation. We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves “how bad do you want to get to state?” I know my answer and I hope yours are identical. See you on the field






