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It was a good game, but didn't have quite the excitement since it didn't really matter who won..everyone's spot in the region games next week was already set..so, neither team put everything on the line to win (kirby, williams, etc.). but there were bragging rights, and it was a good game. Cosby got 1 in the first on a walk, SB, SB, single by Lowery...JR pulled ahead with Caples 3-run HR, and then went ahead 4-2 early...but after that cosby caught up, and then had a big 7th inning to win it.
Hermitage defeated Freeman 6-2 in 8 innings to advance to the Colonial District final and clinch a berth to the Central Region tournament.

Xavier Coleman's sacrifice fly in the 5th tied the game at 2. John Levy's fielder's choice grounder brought home the go-ahead run in the 8th. Nick Nork's sac fly and Andrew Huddleston's single drove in additional insurance runs for the Panthers.

Brandon Taylor pitched 4 innings of relief for the win, striking out 6 and giving up just 2 singles to the Rebels.

Hermitage plays Deep Run for the Colonial District title at Godwin tomorrow night at 7pm. Then they will face James River Monday at 3pm in a regional quarterfinal at Randolph-Macon.
quote:
Originally posted by hsbasballfan:
neither team put everything on the line? did they save pitching and hitting in the game? did they hand out a trophy at the end?


I think it's fairly obvious what happens in many of these district championship games if the regular season champion is in the final. Both teams are assured of a regional berth, and seeding isn't affected, so both teams save their bullets. It would make no sense to go all out to win a fairly meaningless trophy on Thursday if that left you shorthanded for a must win game on Monday. This is a pretty simple concept.
I think the kids are smart enough to understand it's much better to have all your arms ready for Monday. I never said they don't care who wins. Of course, any time a competitor takes the field they want to win.

Perfect example...Atlee played Lee-Davis last Friday in the regular season finale. The game was meaningless because both teams were locked into their seeds in the district tournament. Each team went with a different strategy (completely resting your best arms for L-D, attempting to get your two horses a bit of work for Atlee). Lee-Davis won big. Last night, Atlee beat Lee-Davis to advance to the regionals. Somehow Atlee was able to bounce back from the "dejected losers" last Friday in a meaningless game and they won the game last night that actually meant something.
quote:
Originally posted by hsbasballfan:
sure both teams are in the region but i promise you everytine they play the kids care who win adn I'll bet if you were there at the end their was a celebration by the winners and a dejected group of losers...one group posed with the trophy...one group collected it gear and went home.
seems like a pretty simple concept to understand to me.


Actually, they presented the regular season championship trophy AND the tournament championship trophy yesterday - so BOTH teams got a picture with their respective championship trophies. Everyone got a trophy!!!! then there were juice boxes and a sing-a-long. There were smiles all around.

All the mommies loved it :-)

Rain on that parade.
Last edited by R.Graham
quote:
Originally posted by R.Graham:
quote:
Originally posted by hsbasballfan:
sure both teams are in the region but i promise you everytine they play the kids care who win adn I'll bet if you were there at the end their was a celebration by the winners and a dejected group of losers...one group posed with the trophy...one group collected it gear and went home.
seems like a pretty simple concept to understand to me.


Actually, they presented the regular season championship trophy AND the tournament championship trophy yesterday - so BOTH teams got a picture with their respective championship trophies. Everyone got a trophy!!!! then there were juice boxes and a sing-a-long. There were smiles all around.

All the mommies loved it :-)

Rain on that parade.


Great post Rich - made my morning
quote:
i heard Cosby beat JR 8-4 in the tournament final...figured JR lost since there is no blow by blow lengthly write up on here


I take it you didn't go yourself, or you could be the guy providing the blow by blow!

The fact that you didn't go is reflective of how many viewed this game -- not a lot at stake. Not enough to leave work early for, anyway.

Which raises a question: Now that JR has lights, could we move the district tourney there for a few years? I'd just like to see a game start at 6:00 or even 7:00 so that people could get there. It's also a lot easier place to get to for most people.

As for intensity, I think whoever is on the field at any given moment surely gave their all. But reading the line score, it sure looks like both sides treated this as a "staff game" for their pitchers. Kirby wasn't used Tuesday and still didn't pitch yesterday. The losing pitcher was 6th or 7th on the pre-season depth chart. But then, so was the winning pitcher! So clearly both sides approached the game with a similar mindset.

I do think the outcome indicates that JR's offense is still very up-and-down. Outside of one swing (3-run HR by Caples) nothing much happened despite facing Cosby's 4th, 5th, 6th and even 7th arms. After back-to-back 10-11 run games I wondered if maybe they'd found their bats at the right time. Now I'm still wondering.

I guess we'll find out next week. JR will face a surprising Hermitage team. Cosby will have to find a way to beat Michael Boyle and Deep Run. It'll be interesting to see if having faced Kirby twice gives Cosby a good idea of how to approach Boyle, but in any event they'll have to hold Deep Run's offense down to have a shot at advancing.

I will definitely be there for those games Monday, so as soon as I can get to a computer I'll post a blow-by-blow!
Probably the most interesting development in all of this has been the return of Jack Roberts to pitching for JR. He threw 2 shutout innings in his debut last week, then 4 shutout innings this past Tuesday. If he can go 5-6 quality innings next week, it improves JR's chances of advancing to states immeasurably.

I'm actually wondering whether he or Kirby will get the ball against Hermitage on Monday. It has to be tempting to think about holding back Kirby for Wednesday's game. You never want to get caught with your pants down, underestimating an opponent like Hermitage in an elimination game. But I don't think using Roberts would qualify as taking anyone lightly, since he seems to be in fine form right now. I would also think Kirby could come on if needed in a tight game Monday, maybe be held out to close, and still be good to go on Wednesday, which is the game that gets you to states. And that game figures to be against Hanover, which has enough pitching depth of its own to assure that it will have a quality arm on the hill in that one.
quote:
MidloDad said.....Which raises a question: Now that JR has lights, could we move the district tourney there for a few years? I'd just like to see a game start at 6:00 or even 7:00 so that people could get there. It's also a lot easier place to get to for most people.


That will never fly! That suggestion makes way, way too much sense.

I was at the game yesterday. Many of those players are good friends, and they do not want to lose to their good friends. Nobody let up on the gas yesterday although the pitching staffs were "managed" by the coaches appropriately to be ready for next week.
Not to rain on the JR parade, but by my observations at the Cosby/JR District Championship game were Roberts arm may not be 100%. I say that because after Caples came into pitch and Jack Roberts was moved to 3rd we watched Roberts take a couple of throws to first and noticed him really holding his arm limp after making a throw and rubbing it frequently. Maybe nothing, maybe there are still issues. Would hate to see them push it to the point where he suffers something more serious. Again, maybe just tightness that needed worked out after being at first base but he seemed to be having some pain. Good luck to both Cosby and James River. I'm sure they would like nothing better than to meet again.



quote:
Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Probably the most interesting development in all of this has been the return of Jack Roberts to pitching for JR. He threw 2 shutout innings in his debut last week, then 4 shutout innings this past Tuesday. If he can go 5-6 quality innings next week, it improves JR's chances of advancing to states immeasurably.

I'm actually wondering whether he or Kirby will get the ball against Hermitage on Monday. It has to be tempting to think about holding back Kirby for Wednesday's game. You never want to get caught with your pants down, underestimating an opponent like Hermitage in an elimination game. But I don't think using Roberts would qualify as taking anyone lightly, since he seems to be in fine form right now. I would also think Kirby could come on if needed in a tight game Monday, maybe be held out to close, and still be good to go on Wednesday, which is the game that gets you to states. And that game figures to be against Hanover, which has enough pitching depth of its own to assure that it will have a quality arm on the hill in that one.
quote:
I was at the game yesterday. Many of those players are good friends, and they do not want to lose to their good friends. Nobody let up on the gas yesterday


For me that is one of the best things about year round baseball. The teammates/friends they make in the summer and fall are often opponents in the spring. The after HS game handshake line is often interrupted by hugs and back slaps.
Monty,

Wasn't that the day after his start? A little stiffness on the very next day would be normal for the healthiest of arms. Especially for a guy working his way back after a very long layoff.

I do not know which game Roberts will pitch, but if JR makes it to a second game I am confident he'll start one of them.

Personally I would start him Monday. Which is probably the clearest indicator you could have that Kirby will start that game!
The Deep Run-Cosby game was a thriller. Michael Boyle looked strong as always but the defense cost them in this one.

First batter, Cosby's Tyler Fitzgerald, was K'ed looking at a slider that was muffed to the screen to allow him to reach. Fitzgerald, probably the fastest player in the region, stole his way to third with ease and scored on a 2-out single by Hunter Williams for an unearned run.

Hunter Williams was also strong, throwing harder than I've seen him before (86-88) and using his change up very effectively as well. DR's John Lloyd homered to tie the game, but Cosby got 2 more when DR's RF lost a fly ball with 2 outs, allowing 2 runs to score. Earned runs by rule, but runs that clearly shouldn't have happened.

Cosby returned the favor when the 2B muffed a high infield pop with 2 outs and 2 runners going; 2 unearned runs made it 3-3.

DR broke on top in the bottom of the 6th on a key RBI hit, not sure who got it.

Top 7, Adam Meeker doubled leading off. DR's C, Riley Stout, had a stellar block of a ball in the dirt to hold the pinch runner at 2nd. Williams got his third hit of the game but DR's CF threw out a pinch runner at the plate to hold the lead; also a nice job again by Stout on the receiving end. At this point Boyle is one out away from winning in a game where, to that point, all three runs scored from bad defense. With plays made, he'd've been done by then. Brad McKay took a bit of a hanger on a line shot off the wall in left to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs. Michael Carpenter got the last three outs quickly and that was that.

I thought coming in that Boyle could win this one for DR. Bad defense and a great effort by Williams on the hill kept that from happening.
Last edited by Midlo Dad
Hanover-Matoaca was 2-2 after 1 and 3-2 after 2, so it was something of a surprise to have it be only 3-3 going to the 7th. I thought Childress gave Hanover a great game, but I also thought he was done by the 6th and should've come out. Not sure why Hanover was reluctant to go to Ellis but it cost them. Childress hung one to Michael Birdsong and a 2-run HR won it, 5-3.

I thought both teams also missed a few opportunities to score through overly conservative base running. A little more aggressiveness by either side could've made this a different ball game.
Last game was the least interesting of the day.

Nate Kirby couldn't find his breaking pitch until the 4th inning, but he powered his way to that point. Hermitage helped by swinging at several eye-high fastballs along the way. Then when Kirby found the breaking pitch, he got 7 of his last 12 outs by K.

James River's offense was lackluster though give some credit to Hermitage's Brandon Taylor for making that happen. Hermitage also made some key tough plays to hold it close. JR was aggressive early to get one run in each of the first three innings, but let up on the throttle through the middle innings a bit. Final score was 4-1 but it never really felt like Hermitage was in it.
MidloDad provides a spot on break down of the games today. I felt like Cosby was on the brink of melting down. Lot of bad body language, helmets/equipment tossed, etc. Sort of a football mentality - not really conducive to winning baseball games over the long haul but they sort of got bailed out today.

They got it done and are moving on...and this time of year, that's really all that counts.

BTW, Boyle from DR was impressive. That kid has a chance to be really, really good.
quote:
Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Atlee used its # 2 arm and Dinwiddie struck for 4 in the third to win it. Bolka came on to finish the third and threw shutout ball to the finish, but Atlee got only 2 singles off Daniel Bridgeman, who pitched around a few errors in what looked like an effortless performance.


I don't know the Atlee coach's reasoning for going with their #2, but I know that last Friday Bolka struggled in a meaningless start against Lee-Davis (walked the first five batters I believe). Then in the district tourney against L-D Maxey again started and Bolka relieved, so possibly the coach felt Bolka was a better weapon out of the pen? I'm not defending the coach at all...just giving a little bit of perspective on maybe how the decision was reached.
shout out to Ch 12 who did a very nice package on all the games at 11:00 newscast.
not so sure tou can say Cosby got bailed out though. DR scored 4 runs 2 coming on a 2 out infield pop up...take that play away and DR only scores 2 runs. Mckay crushed a ball to provide the winning runs.

I followed these games Monday and was interested to see all the winners came fom the two south of the river districts.
Last week RTD wrote an article about how the balance of baseball power has shifted from the Dominion District to the Colonial. After yesterday that could be disbuted.
In fact odds are at least even that The two Dominion teams could end up in the Regional Final @ Hanover on Thursday Night....If Matoaca or Dinwiddie end up in final that trip to Hanover could be further to travel than wherever they end up playing in the State Tournamnet!
quote:
BTW, Boyle from DR was impressive. That kid has a chance to be really, really good


Already is. He was 88-90 all game yesterday and had a slew of K's against a top team. Nothing surprising to anyone who's watched him all this year, or last year for that matter.

Happiest man at the park yesterday might've been Radford recruiting assistant Brian Anderson, who watched Daniel Bridgeman's 2-hit shutout, then watched Boyle soldier on through 3 runs caused by bad defense before Cosby broke through at the very, very end.

When you get 2 arms like that in your recruiting class, you have to look forward to fall practices.
That must have been the fast radar gun. After talking to Cosby players they felt like he was good at locating his pitches and changing speeds. However, they felt he didn't have near the speed of Nathan Kirby nor had the hard breaking pitch that Kirby has. A couple of the Cosby kids felt like Boyle was most likely around 84-85 for most of the game. Remember, Lowery smoked a ball in the first inning that the Shortstop made a great play on. Williams had a couple of nice hits his first two times up in the game and everyone who hit the ball in the 7th (Fitzgerald's long fly to R/C, Meeker's 2B, William's 1B and McKay's 2B) hit it hard. Boyle pitched a good game but Cosby won the game legitimately and the bad defense evened out over the course of the game. Although new to this board it's pretty apparent that some on here try to diminish what Cosby does. Oh well, I guess there are always gonna be those who need to compensate for their own shortcomings.



quote:
Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
quote:
BTW, Boyle from DR was impressive. That kid has a chance to be really, really good


Already is. He was 88-90 all game yesterday and had a slew of K's against a top team. Nothing surprising to anyone who's watched him all this year, or last year for that matter.

Happiest man at the park yesterday might've been Radford recruiting assistant Brian Anderson, who watched Daniel Bridgeman's 2-hit shutout, then watched Boyle soldier on through 3 runs caused by bad defense before Cosby broke through at the very, very end.

When you get 2 arms like that in your recruiting class, you have to look forward to fall practices.
Last edited by Montyrules
not taking anything away from the DR pitcher -- soumds like he did a great job. Also sounds like DR benefitted from playing on a college field...was reported by Midlo Dad that one 390 foot blast was an out....a shot to RF and Mckays double were all home runs on a high school sized field.
DR lost a higgh pop up that cost them but so did Cosby which resulted in two runs. Bigger story in this ggame may havbe been the Cosby pitchers who held DR to two runs over 7 innings
There may have been another 390' shot by DR that I don't recall, but the one I do recall was hit by Brad McKay of Cosby.

The Deep Run HR was probably about a 360' drive given that it went to LCF. Definitely a legit shot.

As for Boyle, there were a number of guns up and all had the same readings. But yes, he does run 2-3 mph lower than Kirby, both on fastballs and sliders, so if Cosby thought he looked manageable by comparison, that may well be. If you'll search you'll see that I actually wondered on this thread whether Cosby's having faced Kirby twice this season would help them be ready for Boyle. What you're saying is, it did.

As for Cosby, I'm not down on them at all. Not sure where you get that, or maybe you weren't directing your comments at me. We have several current and former Cardinals players on that team and I root for those guys in particular.

Boyle was a guy I tried to recruit to our team and didn't get. Sure wish I had. But the fact that he chose another travel team doesn't keep me from pointing out how good he is. And my doing so certainly doesn't diminish Cosby's win. If anything, it's a credit to Cosby that they found a way to put 5 on the board with Boyle on the mound all game. I don't think anyone else did that this year. Give special credit to McKay, who had two shots in the game as well as the lost pop up, and also to Hunter Williams, who had 3 lefty-on-lefty hits that I can assure you did not go unnoticed by the college scouts in attendance.

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