Blended Families Rock and Rival (Taylor vs. DP)

Tonight, Katy Taylor HS play Deer Park HS in football!!! Trina's kids' school against my employer and kids' school!!! Should be fun!!!

Story of My Life

Deer Park High School Swing Choir did this last night!! Camryn Petty and Wyn Carlisle nailed it!! 2015 Swing Choir!!

Deer Park High School Baseball!

Today, Jon Mark found out that he made the Deer Park Deer Baseball Team! Wow!

Here are the freshmen picked out of 86 kids who tried out: Vince Vega, Cade Williams, Clay Thompson, Matt Cauley, Jordan Gardea, Derek Boneke, Joey Rangel, Zach Kent, Stephan Gehringer, Josh Pettitte, Tyler Butterfras, Ashton Cleveland, Tyler Allen, Josh Rutherford, Tyler Jarvis, Jay Turnipseed, Eric Luna, Landon Bedrich, Brittan Brown, Bailey Darden, Jacob Hickman, Brian Pattison, John Lopez, Zach Bajula, and Jon Mark Feeback.

Some left off, but played on the Mickey Mantle Team were: C.J. Babb, Noah Cano, Mitchell Wilkinson, Brandon Hock, Cameron Gregory, Michael Heim, Kyle Liescheski, Nolan Sampson, Chad Leatherwood, and Tyler Martin. Daniel Grider, who should have made it, did not.

That's a lot of players, plus many more who tried out and perhaps just had a tough workout. People like: Ryan Husemann, Taylor Sisemore, Eric Fitzwater, and Jacob Daugherty - good kids, decent talent...but just weren't chosen.
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I find it totally amazing and pitiful that among all those Little League and All-Star teams Jon Mark played with, only Tyler Allen and Landon Bedrich made the high school team with him.

Then only 12 of them were in Pony League, the other 13 decided not to play Pony, I heard because of the shotty politics. hahaha

Granted, Jon Mark is younger than his peers in the 9th grade, so there may be a few more join him next season, such as Cade Wilson, Joshua Martinez, and others.

It tells me that players come from all over and from various leagues, cities, and select teams.

High School

WoW! That time has come that I thought was soooooo far into the future! My firstborn is a Freshman. Years ago, I wondered what he would look like, act like, and be like. I wondered how tall he would be and if he would be a good person.

He is in fact 5'7" and weighs 120 pounds. He's trying out for the Freshman Basketball Team and the Sophomore Baseball Team. He's a good kid and I love him and am very proud to be his Dad.

Mickey Mantle Team

Jon Mark made the Summer Freshmen Mickey Mantle Team. 60 kids tried out for it and 29 were chosen:

MAROON
Jon Mark (P,OF), Brian Pattison (P,1B), Kyle Liescheski (OF), Cameron Gregory (OF, P), Eric Luna (SS, OF, P), Michael Heim (2B), Brittan Brown (C), Chad Leatherwood (3B), Derek Boenke (C, P), Josh Rutherford (P, SS), Jay Turnipseed (OF, P), Josh Hunter (2B, OF), Jordan Gardea (3B), & Matt Cauley (C, 1B)

GOLD
Brandon Hock (OF), Tyler Martin (2B, OF), Clay Thompson (2B), Noah Cano (C), Cade Williams (1B, OF), Johnny Lopez (C, P), Zach Bajula (OF), Tyler Allen (P, OF), CJ Babb (OF), Jacob Hickman (SS, OF), Nolan Sampson (OF, 1B, P), Mitchell Wilkinson (3B, P), Josh Pettitte (3B, P), Bailey Darden (P, SS, OF), Tyler Jarvis (1B, P).

In the last game of the season, Jon Mark started P and went 3 innings! 3K's, 1BB, 2 hits, and 0 runs!! He was outstanding with great control, in the 3-0 win over Texas City.

What An Inning!

Jon Mark came in to pitch in the bottom of the 4th inning after playing brilliantly at 3B. He faced the Longhorn's (best team in the league) 2, 3, and 4 batters - and K's all three!


An outstanding performance by a 13 year old against three 14 year olds!

Run, Abby, Run!

Our girls are involved in the Deer Park Track Camp this summer. Here are some vids of Abby (purple shirt) in the first week:



It has been really difficult to wake up early and run from 8:00 to 9:30 AM in the Texas heat, but it's been worth getting them out of the house in the summer, not to mention keeping them active for 90 minutes in a physical activity.

Where is Jon Mark? Basketball Camp from 8:30 to 11:30 AM...running of course.

19 - 1

The Mets won the 2008 Deer Park Little League City Championship! We had an undefeated season and breezed through the first round of the playoffs. But in the Championship round, we beat the Astros 3-0 the first game. It was a perfect game pitched by Cade Wilson for 5 innings and Jon Mark Feeback for the final inning.

We went into the second game of the series with Jon Mark starting and going four innings on a sore shoulder. We lost 1-0. He pitched great and we played good defense, but did not hit the ball well. During the season, we averaged 9 runs a game and gave up an average of 2 per. It was rather shocking that we could not produced runs.
In the third and decisive game, we won 14-0! It was a great season and a great team.

Can You Say Proud Parents?

Jon Mark received the 2007-08 Deer Park Junior High 7th Grade Boys 110% Award. He was really shocked, but I must say - though we are pleasantly surprised, it doesn't shock us. Jon Mark plays hard on every play whether he's involved directly or not. He has always has a keen sense of where to be on the field or court and what to do in order to be a part of the action.

Little League Playoff Time: Mets vs DRays

Second Inning Heat: Jon Mark Feeback Striking Out The Side!




The Mets won 21-0 with the help of strong pitching, great defense, solid hitting, and 3 Home Runs (including 2 grand slams by Cade Wilson!) Next is the Astros for the City Championship in a best of 3-game series. We won beat the Astros during the season with scores of 8-2, 3-1, and 2-1. It should be a great series!

Undefeated: From Winless To Perfection

In the Spring of 2006, Coach Jerry Cochran and I met on several occasions, along with phone calls and emails. The topic of the day was, "Should we move our sons up to Major league (ages 11-12), even though our kids were 10 years old"? With the age changes in Little League Baseball, this gave them an option to play their age with one more year in Minor League or play up against older kids, but play as an 11-year old twice.

We decided to take a team and move them up giving them 3 years in Major League. The team we inherited was not very talented, but worse, the players were not teachable, nor was there overwhelming parental support. We lost every game going 0-12. We were no match to the other teams who had outstanding players such as Austin Rainer, John Martinez, and Kong (never knew his real name).

The next Spring of 2007, we knew we would be much better with our two youngin's coming back with a desire to win some games. First, we added 12-year old, Jacob Daughtery, who left his team to became available in the draft. His dad agreed to help the coaching staff, so we were able "freeze" him without losing a draft pick. Jacob is a solid player with good skills and a consistent bat, not to mention a great kid.

Next, to the draft board and with the first pick we chose Cade Wilson. Cade was an 11-year old with a great arm, along with family support. Thanks to one of the Minor League coaches who alerted me during the tryouts to watch Cade. I knew for us to contend, we needed more pitching, and Cade was the best pitcher in the draft. The other option was 10-year old, Nicholas Hunter or 11-year old, Spiderman (Joshua Martinez). They both were taken in the first round after Cade. This pic is Cade delivering a pitch in the 11-year old All-Star game with Jon Mark ready at SS

For the first pick of the second round, we drafted a kid with a broken arm and could not try-out, 11-year old Ryan Huseman. I had my eyes on Ryan for a year when he was in Minor League. My assessment was a good hitter, who could also play SS when Jon Mark pitched. Next came 12-year old, Eric Fitzwater, another good kid who had left his team frustrated about playing time and a coaching conflict. Eric was a natural outfielder with a good glove and long, fast legs. He also was well-liked by his teammates.

Next came Chris Gonzalez, who after the draft, decided to stay down in Minor League. The next two picks turned out to be players who could not consistently contribute to the team because of illness, injuries, and other factors - Joseph and Kevin. Our last pick was another kid whose parents were uncomfortable moving him up to Majors, so he remained in Minor League.

A few days later we had our team ready but with two vacant spots. Coach Jerry worked some magic and talked Bunker Scruggs into signing up. Bunker, a 12-year old, was a huge addition as a great hitter and SS, plus a tremendous attitude and teachable spirit.

A few nights later, I was driving to the field to look at the list of undrafted players from the ranks of Minor League. Coach Jerry called me and said, "There's no need to come over here, another player has just signed up late, he looks good. Since we need one more player, the league is going let us have him, his name is Taylor Sisemore. I turned around and drove home and asked Jon Mark about Taylor. His response made me smile, "Dad, he's really good, tall and athletic." Taylor was our power hitter leading the league with 4 Home Runs, none bigger than the 2-run shot that still hasn't landed in a playoff win versus the Astros. This is Jon Mark catching in the 2007 playoffs

We finished the season 7-5, which included a late-season rally winning 3 in a row. We were the hottest team in the playoffs sweeping the Astros in two games. And winning the first of three against the Cardinals. We lost a disappointing second game by one run. And then in the third game were met by a hungry 12-year old, Daniel Grider (another great kid), who pitched the game of his life striking out 13 of our batters and beating us 6-0. Our defense broke down in the first inning with 3 run-scoring errors and that pretty much sealed-the-deal with our offense being shut down by Daniel's pitching. This is the 2007 Mets after the championship game to the Cardinals.

This Spring of 2008, Coach Jerry and I knew that we were the team to beat, with 5 returning All-Stars; Cade, Craig, Ryan, Jon Mark, and Blain Medland (whom we added as our full-time Catcher) and a huge desire to get back to the championship round and finish it this time. Along with our All-Stars, we added good teachable role players: Matthew, Joshua, Jeremy, Taylor, Mac, and Robby.

How did you go undefeated?
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1. The Draft: adding the right players for positions we needed.
2. Good Attitudes: getting teachable players, if possible, with a supportive family.
3. Pitching. Good pitching beats good hitting most of the time.
4. Smart Base Running: takes speed, listening to coaches, and practice.
5. Defense. We have drilled into their heads to ask, "What will I do if the ball is hit to me?"
6. Strong Up The Middle (P, C, SS, 2B, and CF). If the middle is strong, teams have difficulty taking extra bases, stealing, and advancing on passed balls.
7. Guard The Lines (3B, LF, RF, and 1B) to prevent extra base hits.
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2008 has been special and fun. Let's hope the playoffs are an extension of the season. Thanks Coach Jerry for hanging with me and taking over this season, so I can assist and be a dad and a fan. Go Mets!

Facebook Is Overrated

Are you kidding me? I mean, don't mishear me - it's really cool to reconnect with so many friends and foes from the past. But my frustration is that it is an "online community" and that's it. Real community, one which shares life with another is rare and much tougher to accomplish.

(Abby serving as a volunteer at Field of Dreams 2008 - an event organized by our church - she had a blast working with Girls In Action for five hours in the heat giving away bottles of water!)
I know I sound simplistic and as one co-worker suggested (I am perhaps jealous of the success of it), but let's be honest and say that all these "confirmed requests" for friends does not make a friendship. It' a modern-day, internet-driven facade.

Authentic relationships share life and is better accomplished by on our feet and not our seat. Community is...
- getting our hands and feet dirty in a clean-up effort after a storm
- taking care of your dog and mail while you are on vacation
- playing basketball with your neighbor's fiancee
- sharing a meal together (a lost art and expression of love)
- taking cookies to a retired couple next door sounds so 1950ish, but it works!
- tossing the ball back to our yard after the massive grand slam by dad
- rubbing shoulders with humanity

All these things have happened recently in our neighborhood. By the way, the majority of our neighbors are not Christian, but they understand community and the value of sharing life together despite political, economical, and religious preferences. Community is better experienced face to face.

No wonder Facebook has become so huge. It caters to our anonymous online lifestyle, while rejecting our need for touch, tears, and laughter with a friend, who thank God is not a profile and will not ask me to click "confirm" or "ignore".

EVERYTHING by Lifehouse

This was shown at our church last Sunday during the sermon...twice! It's worth watching again. The song is "Everything" by Lifehouse.

Strike Three!

Jon Mark throwing heat and striking out a batter in the third inning against the Cardinals. Check out the player at the end of the segment...Ryan reminds me of Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox.

Run Like The Wind!

This is the second heat of the 100 meter dash at Deer Park Junior High. Jon Mark is the blonde on the outside lane. He finished third and made a claim that he was the fastest "white boy" in the heat!



Uh, Jon Mark buddy, I believe you were the only white boy in the heat.

Holy Baseball Batman!

How many times have we practiced backing up the play? It paid off on Tuesday as the ball scooted by our Third Baseman on a steal attempt. Our hearts sank in a tight game as the runner made the turn to score. But...our Shortstop was there, backing up the throw and fielding it like a routine grounder, then throwing a laser to the Catcher at home plate for an easy tag out!

I am a fan of my son and how he plays the game. Not so much in success, but more in how fluid and gifted he has become. His attitude on the field and in the dugout is outstanding, regardless of a win or a loss. I am grateful to God to be in his life for this brief moment on earth called fatherhood.

Little League Baseball

Baseball fans focus much attention on stats, numbers, and records. We are fanatic about percentages, batting averages, and wins/losses. As a Little League Manager in Deer Park Little League, I have a 24-26 overall record (5-4 in playoffs, 3-4 in All-Stars). Last season, my Mets rebounded from an 0-12 record in 2006 to 10-7 and a second place finish in the playoffs.

This year I have asked my Assistant Coach, Jerry Cochran, to take over as Manager. This is for two reasons: 1) He has been wanting to step up and call the shots himself for once & I want to be a dad for once and take some pics and vids of Jon Mark's last season in Little League. Coach Jerry wants me to be in the dugout and help with lineups, practices, and game time decisions.

Our team is returning five 12-year olds who played in All-Stars last summer. Since we finished so well last season, we should be the favorite to win the whole thing. We have three outstanding and experienced pitchers (Jon Mark Feeback, Cade Wilson, and Craig Cochran). Ryan Huseman is one of the best players and kids I have ever coached.

Jon Mark is excited to be able to dominate (his words) the younger players entering the league. He recalls the 0-12 season when he started at Shortstop as a 10-year old and suffered along with Craig Cochran, who started at 3rd that year. They will enjoy this year more than ever - Coach Jerry and I will too.