Spring Awakenings!

Winter workouts have ended and the ladies have been turned over to their high school coaches.  We wish them all the best of luck in their high school seasons.  We are proud to announce that the Hudson Heat have been invited by the New England HardLiners to participate in an exciting event on June 8th in Amherst, NH.  The HardLiners have created the Michael Geary Project, a program aimed at promoting support and awareness for wounded troops.  The HardLiners have dedicated their summer tournament schedule to honoring the men and women who have sacrificed so much in their service to our country.  At each of their tournaments, they will be honoring a wounded soldier.  Their hope is to invite that soldier to one of their games and to pay tribute by wearing patches to show their support.  The program is named after Lance Corporal Michael Geary, USMC, who was killed during combat operations in Afghanistan in December of 2010.  LCPL Geary was 20 years old and from Derry, NH.

On June 8th, the HardLiners will be kicking off this program with a scrimmage/cookout/tribute at Souhegan High School and they have invited the Heat to be their opponent that night.  The night will include a motorcycle escort by the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club, who will be riding in with a group of Vietnam Veterans from the west coast as part of a cross country ride.  The umpires for the game are all veterans.  The game will be followed by a cookout under the lights.  It should be a fantastic evening of patriotism and softball.  A very big thank you to Coach Eric Mensh and the New England HardLiners for including us in this noble program.

Photo Ops During Practice

The Heat Gold 18s are wrapping up our winter workouts with just a few more Saturdays before the high school seasons begin.  Sorry to say goodbye to Lauren and SamBam, but we wish them the best of luck.  And we are incredibly excited to be playing alongside Mary, Sarah and Jenn this year.  The snow has gotten the best of most of us this winter, but the warm weather and grassy (or muddy) practice fields are closer than we think. 

Our bat girl came to practice today and Coach Ken had the camera.  Enjoy the pics ...  looking forward to sunshine and 70's.

March Practice / Bailey Visits

You Can See It In Their Smiles

The 2010 season had its ups and downs for the Heat Gold as we played primarily an 18U schedule as a 16U eligible team.  We had some exciting wins and some frustrating losses.  We played against some of the top competition the northeast has to offer.  The one consistent throughout the summer, however, was the fact that these young women had a lot of fun playing together and spending their weekends in royal and gold.  This video was made just to show off how much fun we had in 2010.

Smiles Tell The Story from Ken Underwood on Vimeo.

Devens Fall Tournament - Heat Bring the Lumber

The ladies in black and royal had a great weekend in Devens to wrap up the 2010 campaign.  Under beautiful skies once again, the Heat took part in the Polar Crush Fall tournament with 3 games on Saturday and 2 more on Sunday.  With only one hiccup, the weekend was successful as the girls posted 2 wins, 2 ties and 1 loss.  Saturday started out against the Mass Drifters and the ladies pushed out to a 5-2 lead, only to see the Drifters battle back in the final two innings to tie the game at 5 before time expired.  The highlight of the game was AJ gunning down the winning run at the plate with a frozen rope following a base hit to right.  The second game of the day pitted the Heat against the host Polar Crush and some old and very good friends.  The girls jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but the end result was not so great as the Crush bats were too much to overcome and the ladies took a tough 11-2 loss.  Kate led the attack with two hits including a double and reached base every at bat.  Our third game would be under the lights and the temp dropping to shivering levels.  Funny to see the girls and parents wrapped in blankets and hats, but they battled tough.  Jess pitched the last couple of innings with numb fingers but held on tough.  This time, the Heat spotted the EMass Panthers a 2-0 lead early, only to fight back and tie the game at 2.  Panthers took the lead back in the final inning, going up 3-2.  But as usual, the Heat never quit and tied the score again behind Kate's single and Sammy's double and new friend Kristen's crazy base running.  At the end of the 90 minutes, we were once again tied and finished Saturday with two ties and a loss.

Sunday's schedule was kind as the Heat did not have to take the field until 11:30.  The extra rest proved helpful as the ladies took a 7-3 victory behind the left arm of Sarah and AJ's power.  With the score tied in the top of the 7th, Jess got the rally going with a slap single.  Mary moved her over and Kate followed up with a single to left.  AJ then smashed a 3 run  homerun.  One more insurance run and then Sarah shut them down in the bottom of the seventh for the win.  The final game of the weekend would be against the Mass Drifters Devils and this game was never in doubt as the ladies hit it hard and hit it often.  Behind another AJ homerun and Mary's homerun to left, Jessica twirled a 5 hitter en route to a 12-1 victory and a perfect way to end 2010.

Weekend memories:   Kristen filled in this weekend and helped our depleted roster with some quality and slightly crazy baserunning that allowed the Heat to tie the third game.  AJ launched 4 homeruns over the weekend.  Between Sarah and Jessica, there were only 7 walks in 5 games, including no walks at all on Sunday.  Sammy's and Abby's triples came at important times.  Delaney and JulieAnne ripping more dangerous foul balls in two days than I can remember.  The team committed only 7 errors - but take the second inning of the Drifters game out of the equation where we muffed the ball 4 times, you are looking at 3 errors in the other 4 games.  Loved seeing Lauren and Julia at all 5 games despite their injuries, cheering on their teammates.  Kate's on base percentage was 0.800 for the weekend (1.000 on Saturday).

A BIG HUG TO LAUREN for everything she gave this team over the summer.  Lauren, we wish you only the best as you get ready for college next year.  But we hope to see you over the winter in Manchester a few Saturdays.