4/22/11

UWW Spring Training vs. Allegheny

This was the next to last day of Spring Training and the Warhawks had completed their official schedule in Florida and played some reserve games today. The last of these was versus Allegheny which was a pleasant afternoon game which the Warhawks won easily. I have decided to dedicate this entry to third base as I will tomorrow to second. I have uploaded video of the third base warm ups and think these to be great snapshots of the proper form to field and throw from the third base position. Once again, the Warhawks are skilled in fielding through the ball and staying on their toes while getting their butts down and keeping all three eyes in full view.







On the next clip not much changes except that they are checking the runner at third before throwing over to first. Notice how the body continues to move and set up for the throw to first base. If the runner breaks for home, there will be plenty of time to adjust the body and to make an accurate throw home.




And finally, over to second base. Once again, the fielding is impeccable and the body is getting into position to deliver a quick and accurate throw.





After the days activities we relaxed to a nice plate of Spaghetti Carbonara back at the ranch. The recipe follows:


100g of bacon or pancetta


50g of grated pecorino romano cheese


50g of grated parmigiano cheese (or 100g of either if you cannot find both)


3 large eggs


350g spaghetti


2 plump garlic cloves, peeled and left whole


50g unsalted butter


Fine sea salt and freshley grated black pepper


Put a large saucepan of water on to boil. Finely chop the pancetta, having first removed any rind. Finely grate both cheeses and mix them together. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, season with a little freshly grated black pepper and set everything aside.


Add 1 tsp salt to the boiling water, add the spaghetti and when the water comes back to the boil, cook at a constant simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until al dente (just cooked).


Squash the garlic with the blade of a knife, just to bruise it. While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the pancetta with the garlic. Drop the butter into a large wide frying pan or wok and, as soon as the butter has melted, tip in the pancetta and garlic. Leave these to cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the pancetta is golden and crisp. The garlic has now imparted its flavour, so take it out with a slotted spoon and discard.


Keep the heat under the pancetta on low.When the pasta is ready lift it from the water with a pasta fork or tongs and put it in the frying pan with the pancetta (see left). Don't worry if a little water drops in the pan as well (you want this to happen) and don't throw the rest of the pasta water away yet.


Mix most of the cheese in with the eggs, keeping a small handful back for sprinkling over later. Take the pan of spaghetti and pancetta off the heat. Now quickly pour in the eggs and cheese and, using the tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mixture, which thickens but doesn't scramble, and everything is coated. Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy (several tablespoons should do it). You don't want it wet, just moist. Season with a little salt, if needed.


Use a long-pronged fork to twist the pasta on to the serving plate or bowl. Serve immediately with a little sprinkling of the remaining cheese and a grating of black pepper. If the dish does get a little dry before serving, splash in some more hot pasta water and the glossy sauciness will be revived.


When I prepared it, we added some green peas for flavor and color. If you would like to do the same you should simply add cooked green peas into the mix right at the end before serving.




4/5/11

Spring Training 2011 vs. Mt. Vernon Nazarene

Rob Coe recorded three more RBIs to add to his team leading total (14) as the Warhawks defeated Mt. Vernon Nazarene 8-6 on Monday in Auburndale, Florida. UW-W has won three straight and improves to 6-1 while Mt. Vernon Nazarene falls to 8-5. UW-W got on the board first in the top of the first when Coe pushed his first RBI across the plate on a ground out. UW-W built on that lead with two more in the top of the third, again thanks to Coe. Coe doubled in Daniel Putnam and Matt Meisenheimer who reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning. Mt. Vernon Nazarene closed the gap to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth scoring one run on a double to right center, but UW-W continued to pull away going up 5-1 in the top of the fifth and adding one more in the sixth. The Cougars tightened the score at 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth scoring a run on a single through the right side of the infield but two more UW-W insurance runs in the top of the eighth proved to be the difference in the game as Mt. Vernon plated four in the bottom half of the inning. Eric Schmitz struck out the final batter of the inning and got the Cougars to go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Some more pitching clinic courtesy Monsieur Lambert:

UWW Spring Training vs. St. Thomas - game 2

In the second game of the day, the Warhawks stumbled a bit. A five-run fourth inning for St. Thomas proved to be the difference maker in a 6-4 UW-Whitewater loss in Leesburg, Florida. The loss is the second of the season for UW-W who is now 5-2. St. Thomas made the first blow scoring on a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the first. The 'Hawks answered with three in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead. A Jeff Donovan triple with the bases loaded scored 3. However, UW-W relinquished their lead in the top of the fourth serving up five runs to go down 6-3. UW-W fought back tallying one run in the bottom of the eighth when, but UW-W was unable to complete the comeback and fell to St. Thomas 6-4. Notwithstanding this setback, the parents offered up a sumptuous Wisconsin style pot-luck dinner. I have never seen as many family and friends at a college Spring Training week and so it is a testament to their commitment and to the UW-W program's quality overall. Great pulled pork, and mac and cheese. There was much more, but I was glad to have a taste of Wisconsin while in Florida. Again, no recipes but there are a couple on the way!

4/4/11

Spring Training 2011 vs. St. Thomas

Matt Beyer recorded three RBI on a 2-for4 performance at the plate for the UW-Whitewater in its 7-6 win over St. Thomas on Sunday in Leesburg, Florida. The Warhawks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first and the Tommies responded with four of their own in the bottom half of the frame to knot the score at 4-4. UW-W tacked on two more runs in the top of the third to go up 6-4 and they never relinquished their lead. The Tommies fought back to notch a run in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the seventh to inch closer at 7-6, but never overcame Kyle Lee's solid performance on the mound. Lee came on after two outs in the first and faced 33 batters, gave up seven hits, two runs, walked three and struck out three. Lee went eight innings to earn his first victory of the year in his first appearance. Colin Grove earned the save by retiring the final batter of the game with runners on first and second.


As pitching was a big part of today's win, i have put together some stills which demonstrate the consistently superior mechanics demonstrated thusfar by the Warhawk hurlers. We start with our hero today, Kyle Lee. Not scheduled to start, he came on in relief in the first inning and lasted until the ninth. Here is a breakdown of his delivery which is almost perfect at every point. The first is the point of arm seperation. Kyle has great arm extension after dropping the ball out of his glove:




Next, he is striding while bringing his arms to the throwing position. Can he tell time on both wrist watches? I think so:




Kyle moves forward and gets his arms in perfect position. Lead arm tucked, pulling his hips through the throwing motion for maximum result, elbow over the shoulder and fingers directly behind the ball:




Perfect follow-through:




And for those of you who still doubt me, check out those straight lines to the catcher from a more frontal view:




Thanks Kyle, you have made my job much easier!


Tonight we had at the Dockside Restaurant with an assortment of fried fish entres. Very good but no recipes sorry.