Central Region Playoff thread

I think cancelling Hanover-Atlee could still happen, since those two advance in any event.  But the Godwin-Hermitage game will have to be played at some point, to determine who advances.

While you may be correct about the Atlee/Hanover game, I can tell you that the kids definitely want to play.

Here is the bracket:

http://www.vhsl.org/doc/upload...l-region-bracket.pdf

If the stars are aligned, it looks like there is a possibility of a Casey/Roberts match up.  

keewart - willing to bet that this matchup won't happen - how about a burger at Big Al's?

That's an interesting bracket document, in that it has four blanks to fill in for "teams advancing to next level." 

For years only the top 2 teams have gone to the state tournament.  I was under the impression that was still the case.  Has that changed, or is that just some sort of oddity of the form?  Maybe a holdover from the northern region's district tourneys, since I think they advance 4 from each district to a larger regional?

In any event, Monday's games are all elimination games.  Anyone taking their opponent lightly enough to hold back their # 1 for Thursday's game risks never seeing Thursday's game.

I should think at most you'd run your # 1 out there to start and you'd hope like heck that you put up a huge number of runs early, so you could pull him early and then be able to start him again Thursday.  But if you end up in the tighter game that is more common, you have to leave him in and deal with Thursday only if and when you get there.  And then maybe you pray for rain on Thursday.

So I should think the odds would be heavily against seeing Casey v. Roberts on Thursday.

Ok MidloDad and Usedtobe29...I'll conceed, and not wager that burger.  I was just hoping -and I guess it was a remote possibility - to see those Virginia-bound boys go head-to-head!

For those who are interested, I'll be updating all day tomorrow at my Twitter feed (@CRTomGarrett), and providing more detailed information on VirginiaPreps.com, assuming the internet connection in the RMC press box is good to go (and I have no reason to believe it won't be).

Also, my Central Region Tournament preview is now online at VirginiaPreps.com as well, as of 11 this morning.

Here's the link to the board over at VirginiaPreps where I'll be updating:

http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=914&fid=721&style=1&Reset=

Freeman wins 3-2.  Highlights of the game are now available at our multimedia board, which may be found HERE.  (Subscriber content)

Cosby / Thomas Dale highlights are up HERE.

Hanover held on for a 6-5 win over Godwin.  Highlights are now up at VirginiaPreps.com HERE.

Jack Roberts struck out 13 and out-dueled Rick Spiers as James River beat Matoaca 3-2.  Highlights are now up at VirginiaPreps right here.

Wrap-ups are now on the front page of VirginiaPreps.com for all games.

Looks like Henrico County P&R will be webcasting the semis & final on Thursday & Friday - http://www.co.henrico.va.us/rec/baseball/highschool/

I watched the Jr Legion states tourney on the site last year and although it's not ESPN quality, if you can't make the games it works well.

It was the perfect weather day for sitting through 4 games, and the teams made it all the more pleasant by playing all the games briskly.  Only the Cosby win was devoid of nail-biting tension; the others all went down to the wire.

One thing you'll see on the VP videos is how the choice of venue affected play.  Had these been played at the district regular season champs' (higher seeds') home fields, there would've been some homers that, at RMC, went for doubles.  Most notably, the last out for Godwin would've been a game-winning HR if played at any HS field, as it was caught just shy of the 400' mark and would've cleared any fence under 380' for certain.

I thought it was interesting that Atlee bypassed Bolka.  Word on the grapevine was that he was struggling with control in pregame warmups and the coaches opted to go with their # 2, who performed quite well all game on short notice. 

The other interesting point was that in the final game, the HPU was giving 4-6" off the plate to the first base side all game long.  Both Roberts and Spiers showed their savvy by recognizing this and exploiting it all game long.  It made life tough on the hitters for sure.  Early on, Roberts appeared to be laboring to find his touch.  He walked 3 in the first two innings and through the first three innings he had a lot of deep counts.  From the 4th on, though, he was in command and efficient, and that helped him to get the CG this time. 

The new pitching rules are going to make it super tough to handicap the Thursday matchups.  Cosby has lots of arms available and I would think there'd be a quick hook for anyone who had any struggles as they will never run out of options.  Bickford, Wilson, Flanagan, Day, Hess and more.  Williams would be eligible for 2 innings as well.  On the other side of that game, Crowder should be good for his allowed 2 innings and Trevett is eligible to go all game.  Both teams have potent lineups, Cosby maybe a bit more power but both hit consistently from 1-9.  I honestly have no idea who will win this game.  I have to say Trevett can be a tough riddle to solve, I just don't know how far he goes into the game.  If he and Bickford face off, the guy who keeps his sinker down and gets the ground ball outs will get it done.

The later game I would think favors Hanover.  Denton is a quality pitcher and eligible to go all game.  JR has lots of options in White, McLellan, Arnold, Griffin Roberts and Caples, so like Cosby I'd expect a quick hook if anyone out there starts struggling.  They can't afford to let Hanover post a big inning unless they're going to break out the bats more like last week and less like yesterday.  Jack Roberts would be eligible by rule to come in to put out a fire for up to two innings, but as he went 117 yesterday, it may be asking a lot for him to have to pull that duty on short rest.

So often these games come down to an unfortunate critical error.  Always hate to see that happen to a kid but it nonetheless is often the case.  Should be a fun night out at RF&P.

DSF will start their ace Daniel Lynch who they saved for the game Thursday. If he faces trouble then they will go to Miller who pitched amazing in relief yesterday.  I highly doubt Crowder is brought back at all on 2 days rest (well really 3 with such an early game time yesterday for them). Cosby will certainly have the edge in pitching depth but don't count out the Rebels. Lynch and Trevett have combined to have some very good games this year against teams like DR (yes clearly very down this year but Lynch struck out 14 so it barred mentioning), Godwin, PH, and James River. They combined for a one hitter in two or three of those games. That said none of those lineups are close to Cosby and its anybodies guess what happens in a offense happy park like RFP.

Should be a very good game. In the second game I hope James River doesn't bring Robert back for 2 innings after throwing all those pitches yesterday but sometimes the regional call for desperate measures.

Phanatic - The URL is very much appreciated for those of us travelling or not able to get there.  It could be a homerun derby at RF&P on Thursday & Friday if the pitchers can't keep their pitches down.

What's the logic of quarterfinals at RMC and semis/finals at RF&P? I'd think both facilities should be available to host the entire week of games. To me, both of those parks change the game in different ways...for example, the long fly ball to end the Godwin game that Midlo Dad mentioned is a no doubter at RF&P. 

Personally, I'd prefer the bigger field rather than routine fly balls becoming homers.

In the past we have seen some additional HR's -- certainly some that you wouldn't get at RMC -- but really not that many, compared to a typical HS field.  LF is pretty true anyway, and CF has the high wall; only RF is really closer.

What often does come into play is when balls go off the wall in CF or RF and the runners can't advance as far as they could've if the ball had bounced or rolled out there another 20 feet.  You also may lose a shallow blooper hit here and there, since the RF in particular pretty much has to play in more than he normally would.

So, you don't necessarily get a higher scoring game.   

I prefer the bigger field as well but RMC doesn't have lights so they cannot host the week-day games.  Not sure why RF&P Park wasn't used for the entire tournament.

RMC is a fabulous location.  But only works well on Monday because it is a holiday.  You may have noticed they do not have lights.  Which makes RF&P a great choice for the rest of the event.

I for one am extremely excited to see some games at RF&P.  I know I'm in the minority, because 9 out of 10 people complain that the fences are too short.

I saw the first 3 games yesterday.  There may have been 3 balls all day that left RF&P.  Lets say 6 would have left the yard.  Is that a bad thing?  As a fan of baseball I love seeing home runs!  Could you imagine if that game ending fly ball in the Hanover v Godwin game had been at RF&P.  The place would have gone nuts!  And Hanover would have hat their last at bats coming.  Exciting stuff!

Not to mention, RF&P is stunning, has shade, has bathrooms, has a real concession stand.  Those facilities are coming to RMC soon w/ the next phase of construction, but 2 port-o-johns is a little weak.

See you Thursday.  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

www.twitter.com/PlayInSchool

The Diamond was the best place to have it, and it was great the years that the tournament was there.  However, the scheduling became a problem.  I also actually don't have a problem with district champs (higher seeds) getting QF home games.  But RMC was fine.

RF&P is a pretty place, but it's really too small for a high school tournament.  Not so small that it's unplayable, but it doesn't have dimensions that are ideal for a high level of varsity competition.  And I would rather err on the side of a field being too big than too small.  But that's just me.

RF&P is fine, but a place a little bigger would have been preferable in a perfect world.  There's also the fact that the Southside schools sort of get hosed on the regional sites every year.  From a selfish, north-of-the-river perspective, I don't have a problem with that, but that's another reason why the Diamond was so good - it's right off the interstate, and it's centrally-located.

Anyway, the games will likely be higher-scoring, just as they were when they used to be at RF&P.  My preference would be to see tight, low-ish-scoring games like we saw at RMC rather than 12-10 games, but that's just me.  In the end, I have no big complaints.

If the choices are RMC, RF&P, and The Diamond, I'd actually rank The Diamond a distant third. I just think the sheer size of the stadium makes it feel empty even when there is a good sized crowd there for high school baseball. If RF&P gets 1,000 people, there is buzz and it's packed and there's energy in the air. If The Diamond gets 1,000 people I just don't get that same electricity. Just my opinion

They close off the upper deck, so it really isn't an issue.  Playing at the Diamond also has the advantages of (1) plenty of parking, (2) proximity to the interstate, (3) fully-staffed concession stands (not some one-man-band who runs out of food halfway through the proceedings), (4) geographical superiority, and (5) spacious dimensions. 

Whereas the intangible "electricity" of RF&P may seem better (and that's debatable), I could just as easily point to the "professional" feel of the Diamond.  And the Diamond unquestionably has a better press box.  The RMC pressbox is also very good for a D-III facility - it can easily accommodate 8 or 9 people, which is far more than a typical RMC game is going to have.

Anyway, I also love Shepherd, although I haven't been there in several years.

Bottom line is that RF&P is fine, but I do expect the scores to be inflated a bit.

I agree 100% with Emanski.  

Simply closing the upper deck does not make it disappear.  Having played at the Diamond many times I never enjoyed the atmosphere.  And don't get me started on the size of the field.  VCU's coach told me they didn't have a home run hit there (by them or their opponent) this year until almost the end of the season.  

So while some may like pitching duels, most fans prefer a little offense.  Say what you will about PED's but nothing put fans in the seats like the HR's McGuire, Sosa & Bonds were hitting!

And if scores are inflated tonight, which I'm all for, will it be due to the dimensions or the fact that every team will be throwing their # 2's or 3's?  

Hope to see everyone out there tonight!  Maybe I'll save my $8 and hang out beyond the LF wall to collect all the HR balls!  My bucket is in need of a few new pearls!

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

www.twitter.com/PlayInSchool

The McGuire, Sosa & Bonds reference had to do with the fact that baseball was dying.  You may remember there was this little thing called a strike that turned people off from the sport.  When play resumed nobody was going to games.  That was, until people (those 3 specifically) started hitting home runs at a record pace.  

And the comment about HR's hit was INCLUDING visiting teams.  NO HR's HIT at the Diamond until something like next to last home series.  

If you are referencing "Parker Field" then you played in a very different era.  Kids today play on top fields every weekend.  UVA, JMU, SC, W&M, etc... Every single weekend. Just part of the deal these days. So I'd say they are not in awe when they show up at the Diamond the way you and I may have been.

Personally, I don't need home runs to enjoy a game.  And, the last time the regional tourney was at the Diamond, a kid from Godwin hit one out for a home run.

Anyway, no matter what happens, I think we can all agree that we have two good semi-final matchups.  I'm looking forward to covering them today.

The big problem with the Diamond is that they charge a fortune for you to use it, and if it rains, they make that your loss.

I do like Shepherd Stadium as a venue.  I'd suggest rotating it down there every few years, if it weren't for the fact that there will not be a Central Region in the future anyway.

100% agree.

What time and where is the Championship game tommorrow ?

RF&P Park@7:00

FYI - I am updating the games on Twitter (@CRTomGarrett) and with more detailed updates at the VirginiaPreps scoreboard messageboard: http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=914&fid=721&style=1&Reset=

Freeman / Cosby highlights are now online (subscriber content).  Errors really hurt Cosby in this one, but the Rebels hit the ball well also: http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2782&mid=164746011&sid=914&tid=164746011&style=1

Since this is the Central Region playoff thread, can someone post actual scores please!!!!

Freeman beat Cosby 8-4. River leads Hanover 6-3 in 4th

Middle of 6, Hanover 11, James River 6