Beach District 4/11 & 4/14

Kellam 1
PA 0

Well, no hitting in this game. Brandon Hendrix and Steve Augonne both pitched a 1-hit complete game, with the run being unearned. Bad breaks and bad calls for both sides today.

Just goes to show the district is still wide open and anything can happen on any given day.

OL-5
Salem-3

Derek Trueblood had the game winning double for OL.

First Colonial 10 Green Run 0 - 5 innings

The kid Rossic from GR should sue for non support. He really pitched well but 5 first inning errors and 1 hit resulted in 5 runs for FC. 2 more errors plated another run in the second. Fc added 4 more in the 5th with rbi hits by T Ellis, F Barry and B Mueller. Bulman hit well today and pitched the first 4 inning for FC, giving up 1 hit with 5 k's and DJ Rathbone pitched the 5th.

fc v dad

Kempsville 7 Cox 4 10 innings

Wikre hits another walk off home run in the 10th
Ramirez pitched 6 strong innings. Huwitt pitched the last 2 innings for the win. If Wikre doesn't get Beach player of the year than no one should get it.

In the Kellam - P.A. game, the run was earned. Neumann reached after being hit by a pitch. After stealing second (courtesy runner for catcher - Akers),Turner hit a single to right to drive the run in. Great defensive game. Saw a number of Web Gems by both teams. Good pitching by both Hendrix and Augone.

even though david wickre deserves that as much and maybe more than anyone I will be surprised if he wins over more "popular" players like hewitt, walker, cruit, so on. Maybe its just me but my observations say that just because you deserve it doesnt mean you will get it. And also if you dont deserve it, you still might.

The player of the year is usually from the team that wins the district. With a few games left in the season and Fc at the top of the heap as of now, seems to me a player from FC should be the player of the year. Another questions, not much credit was given to FC at the start of the season. Great job to these boys for proving a lot of people wrong. Don't have to have a bunch of superstars to win games!

Kempsville vs Cox game was a nail biter. Both teams deserve praise. Great defense. Score was 4-4 going into the 10th. I agree that Wickre deserves a spot on the 1st team district. He's had a hot bat all season & plays a great outfield. As far as whoever gets player of the year... it should go to the player who has the stats...not just cuz he's on the #1 team or "popularity". Dont forget, the players who are "popular" as you say got that way cuz they earned it!!

Beach District Standings as of 5/12/04

FC 11-2
PA 9-4
Kemp 9-4
Cox 9-5
OL 8-5
Sal 7-6
Kel 7-6
Bay 4-8
Land 3-10
Tall 3-11
GR 2-11

Looks like it's First Colonial's title to lose.

I think at the beginning of the year most people thought Cox was the team to beat, but with the injuries to key pitchers and their inconsistent hitting and defense they have not performed like expected. Kempsville has been a good surprise. The freshman, Ramirez, has done well pitching for them while David Hewitt has carried the main load on the mound. Wickre has certainly carried a consistently hot bat all season in the lead off spot and lately has hit key homeruns to win games. Congrats to the Kempsville team for playing so well.

Kellam has been struggling with their hitting all season and Ocean Lakes has done quite well.

Let's face it, there is a lot of parity in the top 6-7 teams.

The Kempsville-Cox Game could have gone either way. Congratulations to the chiefs. They pulled out a tough victory.
District player of the year absolutely should be based on current stats not on previous years and certainly not on popularity. I also hope character as a student athelete comes into play both on and off the field. Does anyone know the criteria that coaches vote on when the decision is made for this honor and also 1st team etc?

At the risk of sounding bad. The Player of the year and District first team voting is pretty much a popularity contest. While for the most part some deserving players get selected, there have been numerous stat strong players that have been overlooked. Last year's Player of the year was dwarfed by others in stats and was still selected.
We must try and remember this High School baseball and the selections are done in a room of High School coaches. Many of the coaches do not even show up for this event.
Not trying to sound too negative I hope, just the reality that system may be flawed.

justafan2,
no matter whether fc finishes with the regular season title or not, i would like to tip my hat to norbie and the boyz over @ patriot land for proving all the experts wrong. yes they won alot of close ball games thus far, and some will say that they were lucky. i prefer to congratulate norbie for teaching winning baseball. this year might well be his best coaching job yet.

driller,

I agree. Norbie did a good job this year. I am impressed.

Driller,

I have to agree with you. Although Norbie is not one my favorite coaches(from an opponent's view only), you have to respect and give credit for the way he interacts with his ballplayers and how he gets the most out of their talents. FC is probably the only team in the Beach this year that has made clutch plays both offensively and defensively on a consistent basis. A one run win is as good as a ten run win. The ten run games are easy...but winning one run games consistently takes focus and attention to basics, including taking advantage of your opponents' weaknesses and utilizing your own strengths at every opportunity...something Norbie has instilled in his players for a long time. They play mentally sound baseball and apparently have an intense desire to win...something I see lacking with most of the other beach teams this year.

In all due respect to Norbie---he has made a lot of questionable coaching decisions this year. Instead of tipping my hat to him---let's tip the hat to the players who have won despite some of his coaching decisions. A bunch of tough kids!

Norbie did a fine job this year, but I think you must look at Paul Shows from Kempsville and the talent pool he had to work with. Everyone had FC in the top 3 or 4 but no one had Kempsville better than 6th. I think Shows did the most with the least talent

justafan2,
okay, i agree. definite big nods to the kids !!! i know for a fact that most all of them have worked very hard for a long time with other great instructors of the game to hone their skills, but... a championship season is not won by a team who does it despite their head coach ! perhaps not every move he has made this year, or any year has been done by the book. coaches decisions are questioned @ every game, @ every level by alot of just-a-fans.

Sometimes a coach makes decisions based on a gut feeling and what he sees in matchups. It means he has to be a good judge of own talent and the other team as well. Norbie's success on calls that aren't with the odds go way beyond just being lucky. I think when he goes against the book its because of something he's seen, and thinks will work.

saying shows did the most with the least talent is crazy. Shows has done nothing at all and the talent has come through for him. All i ever see shows do is keep pitchers in too long and consistently get runners out on the bases. The kempsville kids have to play 10 opposing teammates every game. How can they have the least talent between honeycut, wickre, hewitt, ramirez, and albero to name a few. The only reason people think there is little talent is because the only players getting recognition are hewitt and ramirez. As beachdad said...popularity contest. And if you still want to say he has the least talent, a good reason for that is constant transfer of players away from his program. just my opinion.

interesting opinion, beachbaseballfan69. You seem to be very anti-Shows or a bitter player/parent. THere's a lot of good on that team too. It's a very well-gelled group of guys. Try to see beyond your dislike.

beachbaseballfan69,

You know what they say about opions, opions are like *******s Everyone has one. Everyone you mention are good players and fine young men who have worked very hard. Wikre is having a career year but except for Ramirez and Hewitt they are DIII players.

Doc,

You are correct, I know a lot of the kids that play for Kempsville and most of these players are average ball players and are only DIII players. Everybody needs to give the coach credit he has done a good job this year getting the most out of his team. I can think of only 1 DI player on this team. Coach should be in the running for Coach of the Year..

hsbaseball: who do you project as potential D-1 ballplayers currently playing on beach district teams?

I'm neither player or parent, just a fan as the name implies. And you are correct in your assumption that I am "anti-Shows" Perhaps i have seen and heard things from first hand accounts that you have not.

beachbaseballfan69,

you said you have seen things first hand. What have you seen? I really don't believe you have seen anything, you may of herd a bunch of lies but you havn't seen anything. I have played for the man and I have never seen him do anything wrong to a player, cused at a player like some coaches I know. I don't know a coach that cares more about his players than Shows. You don't see him getting thrown out of games or abusing pitchers arms. Maybe he has made some bad calls. What coach hasn't? Both Jones for Kellam and Conroy for Cox pitched to the hottest hitter in the beach with a base open and two outs and it cost them the game. Does that make them bad coaches? I don't think so. I think if you check the records you will find he has more wins and brings his teams to the playoffs, including the regional tournament more than most coaches at the beach have in the last six or seven years. DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HERE!!!!

And I have spoken to many player who played for him. Maybe you were one of his chosen few who play every inning no matter what and thats why you are so fond of him. and by no matter what i mean going as far as having a player raise a bat threatening an assistant coach and starting the next game. How about telling his hitter who just hit a home run that it was the luckiest swing he has ever seen as he rounds third base? or maybe the loss of talent such as jones, bullman, renfro, mania, and powles to name a few. or maybe you like the way he ruined matthew hayes. you say he doesnt get thrown out of games...where in the beach do you see ANY coaches getting thrown out of games? how does that measure anything about coaching? i believe what i see and hear from respectable parents and players. as far as abusing pitchers arms, he has thrown a 2 man rotation this entire season and i know for a fact that hewitt has been to physical therapy this season and ramirez has been sore and he is just coming off of an injury. i have personally talked to players currently on the team and who have played on the team before and he is not liked. period. and most recently i was told of a young man quitting the team for the sole reason that he could not stand playing for shows anymore, and show me another school in the STATE that has lost this much talent.

beachbseballfan69,

You are a lot of hot air. He told, she told, all second hand information. You don't have a clue. B****n didn't leave Kempsville he never played their. R*****w is at his fourth school in four years, do you see a pattern their? Powels is at Greenbrier and the last game I went to he was on the bench and it wasn't because of the suspension. The three games he won were all against second tear teams in the TCIS. M****a didn't play much last year because he didn't deseve to. He was the opening day pitcher and started a couple of games after that and couldn't find the plate and when he did they rocked him. He got every opportunity Jones I'm not sure why he left no one wanted that but I think his AAU coach had something to do with that. Did you know that Hudson at PA is a transfer from FC Weems a transfer from Bayside. How about Winfree and Alred both come from the Kellam zone and Kellams Jr LHp is a transfer from Cox. How about the Wright kid from FC he is also playing out of zone. Everyone has players transferring for whatever the reason. I'm sure there are many other players playing out of district that neither you or I know about. I Truly don't think Shows ruined Matthew Hayes. Matthew was a excellant centerfielder but didn't hit very well. By the way Coach wilson got thrown out of a game this year, last year and the year before. beachbaseballfan69 unless you have personnel first hand information why don't you just drop it.

Believe it or not DIII schools like Va Wesleyan, CNU, Mary Washington, Salisbury, Methodist, Ferrum, Emory can beat DI teams.

Kids should go to the school that fits them best. Not because it's DI