possible great central region match-ups

I've been told Hanover will not be using Casey on Thursday.  At least, not to start.

Still should be a great game to see, though.  I'm thinking these are the top 2 teams in the region this year.  Though I saw James River on Sat. and was impressed with the way they've had new blood fill some holes, they may be stronger than I was thinking.

It will likely be Trevor Denton for Hanover vs Ryan Bickford for Cosby.

Cosby vs. Midlothian just got Postponed to 4/24/2013. Rain Rain go away!!

Freeman game postponed to tomorrow.  

Any other updates from around the region?

Rich

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Dinwiddie at James River ppd to Wed 6 p.m. at JRHS.

Also be on the lookout for opportunities to see Powhatan play against area teams, including Cosby, Midlothian and L.C. Bird.  Powhatan beat Cosby last year and quite candidly would make any top 10 Central Region list if only they were in the region.

Bird at Dale PPD. Will be rescheduled for later in the season...

JV game moved to James River so Varsity will now start at 7pm. 

James River 3, Dinwiddie 1

Mid-40's through the game but with wind it seemed colder.  Very little offense as JR got I think only 2 singles in the game but took advantage of some walks, errors and WP/PB's to put 3 across.  Dinwiddie had 3 hits and a total of 6 baserunners but the first four were erased on the bases, among them an early first out and a later third out at third base.  With 2 on, 2 out in the 7th, Dinwiddie tried to move up again on a pitch that bounced in the dirt.  Catcher's throw should've ended the game but was muffed by 3B into LF, allowing the only Dinwiddie run to score.  No idea why they tried running there but that one time it worked out.

A couple of balls for each side looked hit pretty hard but didn't carry.  Dinwiddie got a double out of one of them but there were maybe 2 other balls each way that went for outs that, on a 90-degree afternoon, would've had a chance of going out.

Jack Roberts didn't seem all that sharp but got through 5 scoreless on only the 2 hits and I think only 1 walk.  Dinwiddie's pitcher (Jamal Hinson?) was not overpowering but changed speeds well and used his curve very well.  Defense and baserunning made the difference in this one.

Hanover wins at Cosby, 11-8.

Another game with temps not too terrible (50-52) but the wind, steadily blowing out to CF, made it a rough day for fans and players alike.  Not sure if that was the reason, but it seemed to me like this game lacked intensity, especially given that it was an early bragging rights game for two of the top if not the top two teams in the region.

Cosby got the early lead when Hunter Williams hit the first pitch thrown to him this season well out to RF.  Hanover scratched out a run to tie, Cosby got 2 runs across, then the middle of Hanover's lineup got to pounding the ball all over in the 4th, aided by two balls that had leather but fell to the ground in the Cosby OF.  Another muff in the OF and at least two misplays in the infield combined with several Hanover hits and it got to be 11-4 going to the bottom of the 7th.  With daylight fading (Cosby has no lights), Cosby's first hitter of the 7th was called safe on what I thought was a terrible call.  A couple of hits, an infield error and some walks later and it got to 11-8 with bases loaded and 2 outs.  Cosby's last hitter hit an infield pop that twisted in the wind, Hanover's 3B came in and then backpedaled, fell down and yet managed to catch the ball maybe a foot off the ground.  If that balls pops out it's 11-10 with 2nd & 3rd, 2 outs and a 2-2 hitter coming up, but instead it was game over at 11-8.

Ryan Bickford and Trevor Denton both pitched pretty well despite suffering through some defensive issues.  After they left both teams pretty much ran through their bullpens trying to get to the 21st out.  I think Cosby used 5 guys total and Hanover 4 guys.  So again, it had kind of a scrimmage feel to it. 

Lots of hits before it was over, so hard to remember who gets all the credit.  For Cosby, I do remember A.J. Nicely with 3 hits including 2 doubles.  David Walsh subbed in mid-game and went 2-2.  From the 4th inning on I think the 3-7 hitters for Hanover (Denton, Knizner, Casey and someone will have to help me remember the other guy's name) probably all had a couple hits each, or at least it seemed that way.

In the end, on a chilly and blustery day, it came down as it often does to who made the fewest mistakes.  In addition to fielding miscues Cosby had 2 runners erased in the game, and in the end those two extra outs happening and runs not happening might've made the difference.

LC Bird 3 Manchester 2

LC Bird scratched out a win despite terrific pitching by Manchester's Jaxn Lane.  Lane held Bird hitters to 2-3 hits through 7 but ran out of gas in the bottom of 7 giving up a leadoff walk and a double to Austin Gammon.  Bird pitched Gillis, Mills, and Harmon.  Gillis pitched 4 and surrendered a run (on an error), and Harmon pitched the 7th surrendering an earned run.  Mills pitched into some trouble in the middle frames but was able to get out of it with some well placed pitches and strikeouts looking. In the end, Bird was able to scratch out 3 in the bottom of the 7th off of Manchester's reliever.  Timely hits by Corey Anderson to knock in the leadoff walk.  David Hairfield knocked in Gammon.  Manchester walked Harmon intentionally.  Darius Gillis worked the count with a bases loaded walk off single (line drive "no doubter") to clinch the win. 

Manchester sqaundered some potential runs early in the game by sending runners home.  Two runners (seperate innings) were easily gunned down by Bird's left fielder and center fielder thereby ending any rally chance in those innings.  Jaxn Lane pitched extremely well, and had full command of his pitches.

Midlothian 3  Glen Allen 2

This was an exciting game.  Chance Pauley started for Glen Allen and pitched very well.  His change-up was really working, and he got several K's on it.  I believe he pitched 5 innings of no-hit ball before getting pulled, I'm assuming due to pitch-count, 1st game of year, cold weather, etc.  He was not having any trouble.  Cory McCollum pitched very well for Midlo for 5 innings also.  Midlo scored 1 in the 1st, Glen Allen then scored 1 in the 5th or 6th, and then 1 in the 7th.  In the bottom of the 7th, Midlo got the 1st guy on with a walk, but the next guy grounded into a DP.  With 2 outs  and nobody on:  Moore hit a grounder up the middle the 2nd baseman stretched out for but couldn't get to, fuller got a hit to put men on 1st and 2nd.  Ayoub hit a double to left field to score the tying run, and then Oakey hit a line shot to left center to win the game.

Kudos to Coach Boone for using sound judgment with Pauley. 

One thing I noticed, today's paper reported that Monacan recorded only one hit in its loss to Clover Hill.  Given that they were three-hit earlier this week vs. Manchester (Nick Butts), that is a tough starting week -- 4 hits and one run in two district games.  I fear this could be a tough year for a program that seems to have fallen on hard times.  To think they were state champs just 7 years ago!

Weather permitting, Bird plays James River today...anyone know if we might see a Harman vs Roberts match-up ?

Game postponed until tomorrow (Wed), 6pm at JR.  If there is a Harman/Roberts match-up, it should be quite a game!

Matoaca v Manchester ppd to April 22.

Doesn't Bird also play Cosby on Th?  Could that one be Harman/Williams?

Are any games going to get played this afternoon/evening?  Or is everything going to suffer from soggy grounds?

I heard that MW at Deep Run is off, I'm sure a lot of others are also off for today at least.

Midlo vs Bird postponed until tomorrow

Cosby vs Manchester ppd until April 9. 

Game originally scheduled for April 9th (Cosby vs Powhatan) to be rescheduled.

are any games on for today...midlo vs bird postponed again until friday

Luke Bolka (Atlee) vs. AaronMcGarity (Godwin) pitching match up, Tuesday 4/2, 1pm at Atlee

Atlee vs Godwin is regularly scheduled non-conference game, not part of a tourney.  Godwin plays James River in two weeks too.  April 17, 6pm, at JR.  Likely will be Aaron McGarity vs Jack Roberts, another great matchup.

Since both teams have conference games that week it is doubtful that either of those pitchers will throw in that game.  We will likely have to wait until regionals for that.

Great point.

looks like Cosby vs James River on Tuesday...anyone know who's pitching ?  Williams vs Roberts ?

Rotations match up that way - Last Thursday was Bickford for Cosby and Arnold for JRHS so it is Williams and Robert's turn in the rotation. 

Both teams are coming off of losses last week so I wouldn't think either team would be holding back an arm and risking losing 2 straight district games.

Gonna be a tussle.

Rich,

  Is the game @ JR ? Time ? Thanks !

I'm not Rich, but game is at Cosby at 4:30.

James River beat Cosby 12-0, ended after 6 innings, and all I can say is, WOW.

This was shockingly never a competitive game.

First and foremost, Jack Roberts completely dominated.  Cosby's leadoff guy had a pop-up drop for a single, but the next guy popped up a bunt that was converted by Roberts for a DP.  I think after that he struck out at least 4 hitters in a row -- 3,4,5 and 6 hitters for Cosby -- and the tone was set for the day.  The only other base runner Cosby got all game was a walk in the 6th and quite candidly, what was called ball four (for Roberts' only walk of the day) was a strike or at the very least, a call he had earned the right to get at that point. 

I honestly don't think there is a team around who could handle what Roberts was throwing today.  Fastball ran up to 93 and was consistently hard and with hard sink.  Slider was a K pitch all day.  I think he threw a couple of changes but didn't need many.  Honestly I'm not sure he threw 70 pitches in the 6 innings.  Not sure how many K's but I'd guess 11 +/-.

The Roberts-Williams matchup did not materialize as Cosby used Flanagan, then Bickford, then Hess, and then another guy I'd never seen before and whose name now escapes me (apologies).  Only Hess was close to effective, as he pitched into a third inning with I think only one run allowed.

James River came out smoking offensively and never let up.  Offensive highlight was a cannon shot HR by catcher Kelvin Marte, kind of a Ron Gant type of low screaming liner that was about 12 feet high all the way out.  But it seemed like every ball they hit was spanked and also found a hole.  They also had production from the entire lineup, from 1 to 9. 

Cosby just seemed to have one of those days that you have with teams where they came out inexplicably flat.  And then they got flattened.  Not sure they could've won in any event the way Roberts was looking, but the dogfight type of game that's been typical between these two teams just never materialized and that was disappointing.

At this point, I'm looking forward to the prospect of a Roberts-Casey matchup in the regionals, and maybe a Roberts-Jones matchup in the states?  All those UVA-bound guys are greasing batters right now.  But this was special, given that Cosby was, to my thinking, one of the strongest offensive teams in the area this season.

not much of a tussle after all.

JRHS 12

Cosby 0

Roberts was on point and only allowed a leadoff single that was erased by a DP pop up bunt.  Walked one in the 5th or 6th i think and that might have been it for Cosby base runners.

Cosby went with 4 Senior arms.  (Flanagan, Bickford, Hess and Cole). 

McGarity likely pitching for Godwin tomorrow vs James River, still not 100% and on pitch count limits, but a good matchup.  Who will JR throw?

I believe sophomore Ciucci got in at the end, too.

I should also point out that Roberts drove in the first JR run with a 2-out hit that scored Caples from first (running on the pitch).  Over the years I've lost track of how many times he has come through with 2 outs to drive in runs.  It seems like he has something like an 80% success rate or something unreal because I have a hard time remembering times when he didn't get a clean hit.  Cuts down his swing and hits a liner up the middle over and over and over.

Thanks for the recap, MidloDad.   .So, I guess what is being said is that it didn't matter who Cosby started on the mound as Roberts dominated with only one Cosby hit in six innings.  Interesting, I wish I could have seen the game.  I like seeing pitchers pitch when their in the zone.

Round one goes to JR.  I suspect there will be a different approach to round two @ JR on May 16, and possibly more at stake for one or both teams.

It's an interesting question.  Williams is clearly their # 1, but then again although he has pitched well, he hasn't been shutting people out.  The way JR swung it yesterday, IMHO they would've scored some runs even with Williams pitching. Not 12, but some. Whether the offense might've done better if the game had been more competitive is something different people could disagree about.  To my eyes, I don't think anyone would've touched Roberts yesterday under any circumstances. 

So, Cosby plays Midlothian today I think, and I guess this way they can hope Williams will get them that W to get them back on track.  Hard to believe a team that deep in talent is 3-3 right now, 2-2 in district play.  Midlo has been tough this year, though, so that one could be more of a dogfight too.

Midlo played Cosby tought today....lost 4-0...Cory McCollum pitched a great game for Midlo...Cosby threatened almost every inning, but Midlo would seem to dodge the bullets.  Williams pitched good, not his best, but he wasn't ever really in trouble.  Midlo got the bases loaded late, but couldn't capitalize.

Godwin lost a heartbreaker in bottom of ninth to James River, 3-2.  Aaron McGarity shut down JR until the sixth when he gave up 2 runs, one earned.  And he's still not 100%. Threw his normal velo of 90-92, and a change up, but is shying away from his out pitch, the hard slider, which he may have only thrown 3-4x, so only struck out 5-6 batters.  Great second and third pitchers at GHS too, but team is thin in the ranks so has to scrap for everything they get.