Here's the article that "Midlo Dad" was reffering to ...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Midlothian Post 186 coach Richard Worcester heard some rustling near the ice machine on his hotel floor about 1:15 a.m. yesterday. He opened the door to find pitchers Matt Edwards and Chris Duty filling ice bags to put on their weary arms.
"They said they were going for Round 3," Worcester said.
Try as they might, all the treatment didn't help.
A thin, less-than-full-strength pitching staff caught up with Midlothian in the American Legion World Series (15- to 19-year-olds) yesterday. With its three aces game on effort -- Edwards had to leave with a possible elbow injury -- but short on gas, Post 186's shot at a second World Series title ended in a 6-2 loss to Metairie, La.
Metairie (43-7) played Terre Haute, Ind., (38-6) late last night for the championship. Midlothian (36-5), trying to add to a crown it won in 1985, finished third.
Post 186 ran out of fresh arms in the double-elimination event. Edwards, Duty and Phil Cerreto -- its Big Three -- had pitched the bulk of the innings during the season.
Worcester was hoping to get three innings out of each yesterday. Duty, who threw 146 pitches in a complete-game win Saturday -- giving him 24 1/3 innings since the regional tournament started two weeks ago -- started but had to come out after two innings.
Cerreto, who threw eight innings Sunday, relieved Duty. He got one out in the fourth before motioning for a replacement.
Edwards, already battling a sore arm, came in and pitched into the sixth. After throwing a 2-2 slider to the fifth batter of the inning, Edwards clutched his right arm and fell to the ground in front of the mound. After being examined by a trainer, Edwards walked off with his arm held by the trainer.
Edwards later returned to the dugout with his elbow wrapped in ice.
"I just wanted to give it everything I had," Edwards. "I knew it was going to happen eventually. It's just the pain of the season.
"I think it will be fine. I think it just needs a lot of rest."
Edwards said he experienced similar pain in the state tournament. He felt a stinging sensation yesterday on the inside of the elbow, in the area where pitchers have "Tommy John" reconstruction surgery. He said he'll have the elbow examined by a doctor when he returns.
"What was going though my mind was, 'My God, I hope nothing serious is happening because nothing is worth his future,'" Worcester said. "He was looked at by medical people. [Yesterday] morning, what they told me is it's sore but there can be no further damage to it."
Said Cerreto: "To see one of your players get hurt in front of you like that, it kind of brings you down to reality. It kind of pulled my heart out of it a little bit. Matt's one of my best friends on the team. You see that, and it just kills the rest of the team."
Edwards left with the score 3-2, the bases loaded, one out and a 3-2 count. David Coleman came in, and Metairie attempted a bases-loaded squeeze bunt on his first pitch. Brett Palermo missed the bunt for a strikeout, but Brett Accardo, running from third, beat the tag at home. Mike Liberto followed with a two-run single.
Coleman didn't allow any runs in his 31/3 innings. But Midlothian couldn't solve Metairie ace Robby Broach, who had thrown only 13 innings coming in. Broach allowed only six hits in eight innings. His fastball was hitting 88-89 mph consistently in his final frame, when he got a strikeout to end the inning with bases loaded.
"I guess it's a lot better ending than last year [when Post 186 finished as the state runner-up]," Edwards said. "We played on the last day any Legion team can play. You've got to be happy with that. We played up to our potential. Louisiana and Indiana, we knew we had to play amazing to beat 'em. I have no regrets. I think we did a lot more than anyone expected."
Contact staff writer Tim Pearrell at tpearrell@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6965.