Seminole v. North Florida CC game --
All the disclaimers first: It was the first game, it was only one game, and preseason rankings are difficult at best, particularly with JuCos where the teams are turned over every two years. Oh, and both teams have had a recent spate of injuries....
Seminole showed quality D in the OF (LF and CF in particular have serious wheels; they got to the LDs and fly balls beautifully -- and sometimes acrobatically! -- but were not as effective on balls on the ground)and the left side of the IF moved well. They also showed a couple of defensive holes. Pitching was good (Mays, their starter, had a nasty slider). Plays beyond a GO to first were confused. A couple of errors resulted in a couple of runs. The top of the order hit; the bottom was 0-fer. Their lineup is aggressive and works the opposing pitchers very effectively - I liked the way they battled and fought off pitches.
Now, I'm obviously biased
....but NFCC showed exceedingly well. Solid outfielding, nothing went for extra bases, always ready to hold the runner. Great range on the middle infield, a couple of well-turned DPs. Effective pitching which took some work with the way the Seminole batters fought off pitches. Everybody hit, and I loved the extremely aggressive baserunning.
Fun first game (for NFCC). Final score: 9-0.
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From 'Nice Guys Finish Last' by Leo Durocher:
Baseball lives at the center of a never-flagging whirl of irreconcilable opinions.