Southeastern District Games: April 8-13 (Week 4)

Oscar Smith @ Hickory as of now friday april 12

After all the rain and snow we've had during games this spring, it finally looks to be a great weather week for baseball.  It couldn't come at a better time with everyone slated for 3 games this week.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E	L
Nansemond River	1	1	0	0	1	4	0	7	11	0	4
Oscar Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	8

 

Robert Fitzwater went 6-1/3 striking out 6 while giving up 4 hits.  Fitzwater and catcher Tyler Jordan each had 2-hits in the game with solo home runs.

Great Bridge 4  Grassfield 0

 

GB  4R, 5H, 1E

GR  0R, 2H, 3E

 

The bottom of the line-up for Great Bridge did most of the damage tonight against 4 Grassfield pitchers. D.Grady hit a 2 out, 2 run single in the second inning and L.Harrelson hit a double to score one run in the 4th inning to pace the offense for GB. 

 

GB

C.Jones  7 IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB 10K

 

D.Smith  1-3 single, walk

A.Newell 2-3, 2 singles

D.Grady 1-3, single

L.Harrelson 1-3, double

 

GR

#6 3 IP, 2H, 2R, 3BB, 2K

#5 1 IP, 2H, 2R, 0BB, 2K

#23 2 IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K

#1 1 IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K

 

K.Salladay  1-3, single

M.Burcham, 1-3, single 

 

Hickory 10-0 over Kings Fork.

I certainly do appreciate the post by GO DAWGS on the OS vs NR game last night ... but, I've got a BIG problem with whomever reports game info to the VA PILOT SPORTS DESK for Nansemond River!   How in the world does sophomore Thomas PACKERT earn a loss when he never stepped on the mound, or threw ONE pitch in this game (he played SS all 7 innings!).  Junior Tadd ENNIS started and pitched into the sixth inning (thus,incurring the loss) and was relieved by senior David LOUDON.  Also, Fitzwater was awesome on offense & defense BUT couldn't have threw 8 K's since there were only 7 NR K's in the entire game (6 by Fitzwater & 1 by [#4] the 7th inning relief pitcher).  Again, how does this happen???

 

POINT OF INTEREST:  Oscar Smith lost their 2nd starting position player due to injury last night!  Junior catcher Tyler ENNIS suffered a fractured thumb and is out for the season.  He joins sophomore second baseman David QUAN who is out with a hand fracture.

I would say it was probably a case of an unintentional mistake.  Isn't it typically the home team that calls in to the paper?  I don't think it happened with any malice intended. I had 8 total strikeouts in the game. 6 to Fitzwater and 2 for Parmentier in relief in the 7th. So attributing 8 Ks to Fitzwater was most likely another honest mistake. The other possibility is that whoever is on the other end of the phone may hear one thing but write something different. At least they got the score right.

I would liken the above post to one scorekeeper giving a particular play a 'hit', while the other posts it as an error.  In the big scheme of things, does it really matter?  Either way, the dude is on base!  Best of luck to Oscar Smith the remainder of the season.

You guys catch some serious feelings up here. The dudes that work for the Paper are a complete joke to journalism  and screw stuff up all the time. I've seen it first hand, sitting next to coaches as they call the material in. You wake up the next morning and say what the H is going on!!! Names spelled wrong, wrong AB's, wrong person getting credit for another players good deed....etc! Calm down and pump the brakes on this issue, regardless of how many K's there were, or who got hurt or who pitched what inning, someone lost and the other team won. Relax and move on hoss!

Response to GO DAWGS:  It's totally, and solely, the responsibility of the WINNING TEAM coach (or his representative) to report any and all game info to the newspaper!

1) No CLUE why a Coach would lie about meaningless stats.

2) I'm guessing the blame probably lays more on the shoulders of the person taking the scores on the other end of the phone.

Western Branch 8, Hickory 4 in top of the seventh.  The game in a "light" delay, not a rain delay.  Lights went out in the top of seventh with 2 outs and an 0-2 count on the Hickory batter. More later.

Western Branch 8, Hickory 5

 

Z. Rutherford went the distance for the win.

 

Both teams were hitting and both were committing errors, far more errors than will be reflected in tomorrow's box score. In the error category, at least 4 by WB and 3 by Hickory. In the hitting category, WB had 9 hits, Hickory 8.  Notables in the hitting category for WB:  Alex Hunt's single in the 2nd with 2 outs followed by Jonathan Poteet's single to plate Hunt (which put WB on the board), Matthew Roth's 2-run homerun in the bottom of 3rd to give WB a 5-2 advantage, Grant Miaorano's lead off DB in the top of the 5th (when WB was leading by only 1 run (5-4)) later plated by Alex Abbey's single, and Alex Hunt's single up the middle with bases loaded in the same inning.

For Hickory, Burzak's triple in the top of the 3rd which drove in Hickory's first run of the game, Jared Mustain, who had singled and three singles in a row in the 4th by Polansky, Brandon Holloway and Jimmy Herbst which netted 2 runs, though not all earned.

Lot of contact by the hitters.  Only 3 K's in the whole game, one by a Hickory batter and two by WB batters.

whats going in w?great bridge vs nans river, river probably throwing rice tonight

NR vs. GB is tomorrow night!

ok paper had tonight at gb sorry

I'm hearing Kings Fork over Lakeland and Oscar Smith over Indian River.  Indian River now 2-6 with Great Bridge up Friday.  May not be in the cards for them this year.

yeah oscar smith 2-1 over indian river!

Connor Eason was the starting pitcher for Hickory.  Threw 4 complete innings and to the first 3 batters in the 5th, giving up 3 straight hits in the 5th.   Spencer Carter relieved Eason and pitched the rest of the 4th inning.  Ryan Bergland, a freshman, pitched the 6th.

 

Eason 4 inn, 8H, 3BB (all of which scored), 8 runs, 1K  (It is possible that WB's high mound bothered Eason.  He seemed a little startled when he threw his first warm-up pitch.)

Carter 1 inn, 1H, 1BB

Bergland 1 inn, 1 BB, 1K

       

Very possible. Last game I saw at WB it was chilly and the mound was the only area covered with snow.

That is part of the playing field and part of the game.  Pitcher's throwing on foreign mounds is nothing new to the game.  Make the adjustment, not the excuse.  

Your point is accurate and understood.  Having said that, on a clear spring day, you can see the oceanfront from the top of Bruin Mountain!

 

Side note:  Anyone care to donate any additional dirt and mound clay?!?!?

hahaha, LOL... Their mound might be just a little higher than regulation ...

Driller,  Rules and regulations are a part of the game also.  What would be your response if a team decided to use a 80 foot base path instead of a 90 foot?  Or a 50 foot distance from the pitching mound to home?  I would bet a lunch that the mound is 2x regulation height.

I would say that both teams have to run the same base paths. Is the mound an advantage to the home team, yes.  Is it an excuse when you don't perform to your potential and blame it on something else, yes.

WB has faced 4 of the Districts best pitchers and gone 3-1... Haters gonna Hate, but can one of you logical people up here explain to me why Conner Jones had no problem craving them up on that "mountain of a mound"!!! Eason was all over the place, WB just had more chances to capitalize on mistakes and had timely hitting in 2 out situations.

 

Let's be sure not to indict the pitcher for someone else's observation.

       
There isn't another pitcher in the district, region or probably the state that matches up to Connor Jones talent level. The kid is likely a round 1-3 draft pick.  Not fair to compare a Sophomore in Eason to someone at that level.

So it's ok to say that the mound? was at fault for his bad outing. Regardless of talent level...I know the two are completely different, but Eason is on the same path...isn't he a UVA verbal commit. What I'm really trying to get at is that, that mound has been their for 3 years now. We live in a society that loves the blame game, what happen to accountability.

I think you're tAking it to a level not intended by anyone here. The first comment was purely someone's opinion which was automatically attributed to Eason making an excuse. Did anyone hear him blame the mound?  The mound at WB is a little high, but the other comments about snow and seeing the beach were clearly jokes.  Laugh a little bro!

And as a side note, it's not true that pitchers are cautioned to wear helmets in case they fall from the top of the mound.

Ok.

It has also been rumored as one of the premier "base jumping" locations in the world.  That too, is unfounded!

I haven't heard of this one yet, please explain>

Base jumping= parachuting= free falling etc...just another example of HSBBW humor

I got it guys!!! I'll lighten up a tad...

looks bad for tommorrow!hopefully we can get the games in!

Was at the WB game last night sitting next to the WB Reporter.  The kid nearly fell off the mound during his first warmup pitch.  He had to bring the ball back in.  In the first inning, the ump called time and went to the mound and told him he had to get on the rubber.  He was obviously bothered by the height.  The peanut gallery had a lively exchange about it.  The kid didn't make any excuses.  Just observable fact.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E	L
Nansemond River	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	6	10	2	8
Great Bridge	3	3	4	0	0	0	-	10	8	1	6

 

GB overcomes 1st inning error that led to 3 unearned runs in the 1st.  NR pitching and defense not effective.  Untimely NR error in first with runners on 1st and 2nd allows ball to roll to CF fence scoring everyone.  In 2nd after a leadoff hit a throwing error on a ground ball allowed runner on 1B to to come all the way around and score.  After a sac bunt GB made it hurt with a couple of RBI hits. In the 3rd, three consecutive BBs were followed by a 2 RBI hit and two sac fly's scoring 2 more.  rest of game pretty uneventful.

 

GB

#9 2-4 2RBI

#8 2-3 1RBI

 

NR

Riggs 3-4 HR

 

WP #34

LP Rice

Never heard the kid complain one time about the high mound, however worth noting is that there were two of the best pitchers in the district on the mound and there were 19 hits in an 8-5 game.  Credit given to Western Branch as they clearly outplayed Hickory, but I have to say that the umpire behind the plate was absolutely squeezing both pitchers and they had to throw it right down the middle to get a strike.  It was called that way on both sides and with those two on the mound, there is no way this should have been an 8-5 game.