Southeastern District Games: March 15-20 (Week 1)

tallwood is still scrimmaging @ oscar smith today at 5.

Tallwood 14-4

WB 10 Hickory 1. The final score does not reveal the closeness of the game. Hickory scored first in the bottom of 3rd when Jake Tandy reached on an error, advanced to third on an opposite field single by Evan McCloud and scored on a passed ball. Hickory’s starting pitcher, Ryan Blake, kept Western Branch scoreless through three innings. In the top of the 4th, WB strung together three hits (singles by Shane Johnsonbaugh, Kenny Cassidy and Alex Hunt) to score 2 runs. In the 6th inning, WB added 5 runs, on 2 hits, a double by Michael Donovan and a homerun by CJ McAndrews. Brandon Doggett and McAndrews combined to rob Hickory’s Matt Campbell of a hit in the bottom of the 6th, when Campbell’s chopper down third was fielded deep behind third by Doggett and McAndrews laid out at first to snare the throw. WB scored an additional 3 runs in the top of the 7th. Nick Thompson picked up the win, pitching 6 innings with 8Ks, 1BB (a 12-pitch AB by Zach Nece (sp?)), 2 singles and 1 UE run. Richard Eisenhower pitched the bottom of the 7th for WB, striking out all 3 batters that he faced.

Nansemond River 8 Kings Fork 1.
WP - Josh Howard; LP - Travis Cherry
Kyle Moore 3-4
Zach Vann 2-4 2 RBI

This game too was close for 6 out of the 7 innings. Nansemond River had a big 2nd inning with 6 runs on 6 hits. Josh Howard pitched 4 innings striking out 6 while sprinkling 3 hits. Sophomore southpaw Zach Rice pitched 2 innings striking out 4 and senior Dylan Roach closed the game out with a perfect 7th inning. Travis Cherry pitched a complete game and save the 2nd inning pitched well.

Grassfield 6, Indian River 1 in 8 innings.

Forgot to mention that we had a bat incident in the game. Kings Fork batter used a DeMarini CF3 and hit a single. Umpire picked up the bat, discussed it with the field umpire and they called the batter out. After a conference with both coaches, they changed their mind. The CF3 is a BESR bat with a composite barrell, so umps got it wrong.

Great Bridge 18-8

Only one game but WB makes an early season statement. The score of this one will be typical of the season they will have.

GB scored a bunch but that is a big number to give up. If they are the next best then they don't have the arms to match WB.

quote:

Originally posted by luv baseball:
Only one game but WB makes an early season statement. The score of this one will be typical of the season they will have...

You may be right about the rest of the year but I think the WB/Hickory score is more indicative of Hickory's lack of pitching than WB's bats today.

quote:

Originally posted by luv baseball:
GB scored a bunch but that is a big number to give up. If they are the next best then they don't have the arms to match WB.

Too little info to accept such a prediction. Which pitchers were tagged for runs? Coach Lee historically pitches a number of pitchers in a game. Maybe he felt the game was well in hand (I had heard that the game was 13-0 at one point) and gave his relievers work with such a cushion.

What are some of the game's details?

---------1--2--3--4--5--6--7---R--H--E
O Smith--0--0--0--0--8--X--X---8--3--6
G Bridge-0--7--6--0--5--X--X---18-10--1

WP: Cooper Jones (1-0) LP: Applin (0-1)

For GB - Great Bridge jumped out and took over in the 2nd inning thanks to 4 walks, 3 errors, and 3 hits. Depending on how you rule balls hit down to 3B that weren't handled, Hunter Higgerson was somewhere in the 2-for-4 or 4-for-4 range and hit each ball hard somewhere. He cleared the bases with a double into the LF gap in the bottom of the 5th for the walk-off victory. Great Bridge did not pitch Flaherty until Smith had scored 8 runs in the 5th. He came in and stuck out one batter to end the inning.

Jimmy Cody - 2-3, double, 2 Runs
Stephen Dudley - 2-4, double, 2 Runs, 2 RBI

For OS - After the multiple walks and errors put Smith down 13-0 through 4 innings, the 3rd pitcher of the night for GB B. Beard started the top of the 5th on the mound. With part plate discipline and large part absentee strike zone, Smith scored 8 runs on 2 hits, 6 walks, 1 Error, and 2 HBP. However, after making it a 5-run game, M. Foreman and A. Bland start the bottom of the 5th allowing 5 walks and a single to the first 6 batters of the inning before Higgerson's double closes the day.

Antonio Bland - 1-1, triple, HBP, Run, RBI
Caleb Ferrell - 1-2, BB, Run, RBI
Tim Brock - 1-2, BB, Run
Stephen Lorkiewicz - 3 BB, 2 SBs, Run, RBI

To give an idea of the strike zone... in a game that ended with 1 out in the 5th, the two teams' pitching staffs combined for 20... yes 20 walks (9 GB & 11 OS).

WB scored 10 runs and they will score like that very consistently. Doesn't matter if they come in the 1st or 6th they will come. Noone else has two established pitchers except WB who has 3.

Agree that Coach Lee will go deep into his staff when given the chance as he did today. For now after Flarherty they don't have anything proven. It may evolve but until it does they have a weak spot WB does not.

OS is going to have to get better pitching if it is going to jump up the standings otherwise they will be in a dogfight with IR for the 6th spot.

Oh.. as far as the bat incident goes at NR-KF ... the only legal composite-barrels allowed are ones stamped BBCOR.

They got it wrong this time and player dodged a big bullet.

The coaches were informed at the yearly rules meeting that a bat violation would be an ejection from that game and a suspension from the next TWO games for the player.

Looks like the stronger SED teams prevailed in the first games of the season. Don't know if I would concede the season quite yet. WB's report of the WB-Hickory game suggests Hickory's starting pitcher was quite effective for three innings. Presume Lighton was not available or did not pitch. If he had pitched in the game, the combination might have been enough to beat WB. It only takes one good game by a pitcher or combination of pitchers to beat a team. Additionally, errors or bad weather might impact a game. Many more games to come before the outcome is determined.

luv baseball,i agree oscar smith needs to do better pitching but early on the defense was bad and had a run down and didnt get the out.the defense was bad yesterday.

Deep Creek 11-6

quote:

Originally posted by WB Reporter:
Grassfield 6, Indian River 1 in 8 innings.

Quick update: Jason Ingram had 12k’s in 6 innings giving up one run and Matt Outman closes the final two frames for the win after an interesting top of the 8th. Tyler Ashault gets a leadoff single, then Nykolai Ellis hits a 2b and scores Tyler; but after an umpires conference Tyler gets called out for not touching 3rd. Following that IR’s defense hurt their pitcher by giving up an error then Kolby White’s single scores the go ahead run. Roger Hall (2012) for IR had some sensational defensive plays, making plays behind 2nd as well as back hand plays deep in the hole.

ofs10- I hear you. Catching it helps all pitchers. It's the most underrated part of the game. Based on the game write up there were too many gimmees for GB. I think they will do better most of the year and still think they make the district tourney.

yeah i hope they can make the district tournament.they have to beat out 4 teams to make the tournament.

Indian River at Great Bridge tommorrow.

quote:

Originally posted by ofs10:
Indian River at Great Bridge tommorrow.

Are you saying the game has been moved to Thursday, March 17? Why?

WB, game has been rescheduled due to the ring dance which is scheduled for friday.

when is wb playing?dont know just saw it on indian river website about their game.

quote:

Originally posted by ofs10:
when is wb playing?dont know just saw it on indian river website about their game.

WB is Friday at Nansemond River. Just check the first posting in the thread. I will update during the week if there are changes, just as I just updated for the change in the IR / GB game.

Big Papi said wb has been rescheuled?

@ ofs - sorry for the confusion, I was addressing WB Reporter's question to why the game was rescheduled.

Big Papi so wb isnt rescheduled?

Western Branch game will be FRIDAY at Nansemond River. No change from original schedule.

ok sorry for the confusion.

Great Bridge 7, Indian River 0.
Andrew Flaherty pitched the first five innings to pick up the win, allowing 2 hits to Kellyn Simons and Nik Milvo, the first two IR batters of the game. In fact, in the top of the first, IR had bases loaded with no outs. GB got out of the jam with a comebacker to the pitcher for the 1-2-3 double play and then a flyout by the 5th batter. GB first scored in the bottom of the 3rd when the IR pitcher lost the strike zone. (He had faced only 7 batters in the first 2 innings.) In that inning, GB scored 3 runs on 1 hit. GB added 2 runs in each of the 4th and 5th innings. In total, GB had 9 hits. Hunter Higgerson accounted for 4 of them, including a double and a home run. Higgerson is now 8 for 8 to start the high school season. For IR, Robert White, in addition to Simons and Milvo, had a single.

A number of nice defensive plays were made in the game, including, in the bottom of the 1st, IR’s left fielder made a great catch and IR’s centerfield threw a runner out at third trying to go from first to third. For GB, Preston Grissom made a nice catch in right field, and Flaherty fielded a slow roller down third base line and threw the runner out at first.

WB:
2 Questions:
Indian River has scored 1 run in two games and given up 13 runs in 2 games. Not sure what their bigger concern is, poor pitching or lack of hitting. Don't know their roster, but do you have a sense what their biggest issue is? If they don't get this fixed it seems they won't be too competitive.
Great Bridge had bullpen problems in game one if I understand the first game box score (8 runs in the 5th inning). If Flaherty went 5 innings tonight, did Great Bridge resolve their bullpen issue?
Thanks.

QuadAAA, I have seen each of GB and IR once this season(tonight's game) so it is too early to generalize. GB used one reliever, Connor Jones, and he pitched well, facing 8 batters in 2 innings, issuing 1 BB and allowing 1 single. IR sent 26 batters to the plate in 7 innings. Flaherty struck out 4, Jones struck out 1. So IR was putting the bat on the ball and a reasonable number were making their way to the outfield. My impression, and again it is very early, is that IR doesn't have experienced, accurate pitching who can grind out a number of innings. The IR pitchers (3, I believe)combined to strike out 7 GB batters, while as mentioned above, IR batters were struck out only 5 times. However, IR pitchers issued 8 free passes to GB batters while GB pitchers only issued 1. So if I had to pick either hitting or pitching to answer your question, at this early stage, I would say pitching. Are you sure you are not luvbaseball in disguise?

I've seen his posts, but don't know luvbaseball. Was just hoping to see parity in the SED. I heard IR was young but would be competitive. I know it has only been 2 games, but I thought I'd ask folks if they had an opinion on the issues.

Flarherty is definatly a known factor for GB. The question is if Connor Jones and others will be able to give them the other innings it will take to keep pace with or beat WB.

My comment is that is a question that has an unknown answer. They will be plenty good enough for LL, KF, DC but the issue is will they hold up next week when they play GF and Hickory back to back.

Flaherty can only pitch one of them so they will need some one else to step up. If they give up 8 to either one of these teams they could well be on the losing end of a 8-6 ballgame.

quote:

Originally posted by WB Reporter:
WB 10 Hickory 1. The final score does not reveal the closeness of the game. Hickory scored first in the bottom of 3rd when Jake Tandy reached on an error, advanced to third on an opposite field single by Evan McCloud and scored on a passed ball. Hickory’s starting pitcher, Ryan Blake, kept Western Branch scoreless through three innings. In the top of the 4th, WB strung together three hits (singles by Shane Johnsonbaugh, Kenny Cassidy and Alex Hunt) to score 2 runs. In the 6th inning, WB added 5 runs, on 2 hits, a double by Michael Donovan and a homerun by CJ McAndrews. Brandon Doggett and McAndrews combined to rob Hickory’s Matt Campbell of a hit in the bottom of the 6th, when Campbell’s chopper down third was fielded deep behind third by Doggett and McAndrews laid out at first to snare the throw. WB scored an additional 3 runs in the top of the 7th. Nick Thompson picked up the win, pitching 6 innings with 8Ks, 1BB (a 12-pitch AB by Zach Nece (sp?)), 2 singles and 1 UE run. Richard Eisenhower pitched the bottom of the 7th for WB, striking out all 3 batters that he faced.

It's Zach Niece.

And I think people shouldn't sleep on Deep Creek this year.

quote:

Originally posted by can-o-corn:
It's Zach Niece.

And I think people shouldn't sleep on Deep Creek this year.

???????

NR 10 WB 8

quote:

Originally posted by Diamond Stalker:

quote:

Originally posted by can-o-corn:
It's Zach Niece.

And I think people shouldn't sleep on Deep Creek this year.

???????

Just saying no ones picking DC to get to the playoffs, and after their game against Lakeland maybe they deserve to be kept an eye on.