Great game at Cosby today. Packed stands, well played game all the way to the end. In fact there was really only one miscue in the game, JR made it, and that broke a tie game open for Cosby to win.
It'd been a while since I'd been there and I'd forgotten how much deeper the fences are at Cosby than most places. 324' down the lines and 374' to center. That came into play as both teams hit some deep shots that would've been homers at most fields, that went for outs or doubles instead today. But it worked both ways, so I don't know that it affected the outcome.
JR broke on top when Mac Caples drove a deep RBI double to left center in the top of the 1st. That ball likely would've cleared the fences at JR's home field, but in this case it was only good for one run. From there, Garrett Birnbaum settled in and didn't give up anything more until Collin Lawless lined a 2-out RBI single in the 5th to make it 2-1.
I forget how Cosby got its first run, around the 3d inning. Jack Roberts was in hot water off and on all day but for the most part wriggled out of it.
Cosby relievers Carpenter and -- help me somebody, the guy who finished was a freshman lefty who really showed decent stuff and tremendous poise for a freshman in closing out a W -- let nothing in over the last 2+ innings. Cosby fielding was flawless.
Bottom of 6th, Christian Hamlett led off with a shot to CF that everyone thought was gone, but Michael Trentham made a leaping catch to reel it in. I don't think it would've cleared the fence after all, but had it bounced free, probably good for a triple. But that didn't let Roberts escape. Ultimately he had 1st & 3rd with 2 outs, got a soft grounder to right of SS, SS got a late jump on the ball -- didn't see it off the bat or something -- and ended up having to eat it while the tying run scored. After several fouls to heighten the tension, the next batter (need some help from others as to who did what here) hit a soft grounder that was fielded cleanly, the home crowd sighed with disappointment, but then the ball was thrown away to let 2 runs come across.
The freshman lefty closed it out from there and Cosby had the win simply by being the team that played completely flawless baseball on the day.
Great game to watch, if you weren't there, sorry you missed it! Cosby is still a young school but the friendly rivalry with James River continues to produce games worth making the time to go see. Probably 2, maybe even 3 more matchups coming between these two this season.
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