Southeastern District Games: March 19-24 (Week 2)

KF @ GF has been rescheduled for Monday, March 19.

Thanks. Changed above.

Hickory has GB and NR back to back in 24 hours. Tough scheduling after the rainout.

I am assuming Blake vs Conner Jones tonight should be a good one.

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Originally posted by luv baseball:
Hickory has GB and NR back to back in 24 hours. Tough scheduling after the rainout.

I am assuming Blake vs Conner Jones tonight should be a good one.

It will be interesting to see who they throw tonight. They've got Indian River on Friday. Bobby Chandler was on the mound before they called the game last Friday.

They've got Grassfield next Tuesday.

probably bobby chandler is throwing tonight!blake tommorrow vs. nansemond river!bobby chandler vs. indian river!

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Originally posted by ofs10:
probably bobby chandler is throwing tonight!blake tommorrow vs. nansemond river!bobby chandler vs. indian river!

The key will be who they decide will be the toughest challenge between IR and GF. Pick your poison with GB and NR. They'll line up Blake to for either Friday or next Tuesday.

Hickory 3 to 1 over Greatbridge. Ryan Blake gets the complete game win. Connor Jones gets the loss.

Redbird, Can you move all the discussion re the Hickory / Great Bridge game over from SED Week 1 into this thread? Thanks.

Congratulations to the Hickory players. Your hard work is paying off.

Another big one tomorrow.

(Moved from Week 1 discussion to the correct week) from Quad AAAA:

Hickory looked good with some timely hits, solid defense, good pitching and taking advantage of some Great Bridge errors.

Hickory scored 2 runs in the first inning on 2 hits, 2 errors, a walk, a balk and 4 k's. Line was something like this: k, double, k, pick-off of the runner at second getting back safely on a dropped catch (should have been the third out), double, k dropped third strike, walk, balk, k.

Hickory made it stand up with Ryan Blake keeping GB off balance all game except for Beard's 3 hits. Blake pitched 7 innings, 7 hits and 8 k's. Hickory scored again later in the game on a double, ground out, fc with the catcher dropping the throw at home which allowed the third run to score.

GB scored in the top of the seventh on three hits by Beard, Con. Jones and Newell.

Connor Jones took the loss with 4 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 7 k's, no earned runs, while Cooper Jones finished up looking good.

Nice win for Hickory.

Couple of additional comments to add to QUAD's summary. The Hickory defense played well such that Blake only had to throw approximately 80 pitches in the 7 innings he pitched while Great Bridge's defense forced Connor Jones to pitch 28 pitches in his first inning alone. Blake pitched 5 innings where he faced only 3 batters. One of those innings was the 5th inning when Christian Lowery, playing center field, laid out to make a nice diving catch for the second out of that inning.

In the inning in which Hickory scored its 3rd run, the ground out which QUAD mentions was a well executed, no outs, sac bunt down the third base side by Tyler Best, advancing Christian Lowery who had led off the inning with a double.

Middle defense with the loss of Walker and top of the order losing Balser in front of Beard, Cody and Dudley are the two question marks for GB and it sounds like it cost them in this one against Hickory.

One of the best regular season wins for Hickory in the last few years and if they can back it up against NR they will have really good early season position.

quote:

Originally posted by WB Reporter:
Thanks. Changed above.

KF @ GF Re-rescheduled for Wednesday. (March 21)

quote:

Originally posted by luv baseball:
Middle defense with the loss of Walker and top of the order losing Balser in front of Beard, Cody and Dudley are the two question marks for GB and it sounds like it cost them in this one against Hickory.

One of the best regular season wins for Hickory in the last few years and if they can back it up against NR they will have really good early season position.

Last night's game made it very evident as to what Great Bridge lost to graduation. Last year, there was not an easy out in the line-up. If I am remembering correctly, GB has lost 5 of its starting lineup from last year.

WB - Yep I agree. They were lined up to have Walker step in at SS and he is a D1 player so he would have been very solid stepping in for Lee. They weren't going to be as good at 2B when Higgerson manned the position. The lineup wasn't going to be as deep as the last couple of years when 1 through 9 were threats but losing the bats of Walker and Balser really hurts as well. If they don't find someone to get on consistently in front of the potent middle part of the order they will get pitched around sort of the way Wiley handled Nick Thompson the last couple of seasons.

quote:

Originally posted by luv baseball:
WB - Yep I agree. They were lined up to have Walker step in at SS and he is a D1 player so he would have been very solid stepping in for Lee. They weren't going to be as good at 2B when Higgerson manned the position. The lineup wasn't going to be as deep as the last couple of years when 1 through 9 were threats but losing the bats of Walker and Balser really hurts as well. If they don't find someone to get on consistently in front of the potent middle part of the order they will get pitched around sort of the way Wiley handled Nick Thompson the last couple of seasons.

I think we may have set the bar too high for the Shortstop and 2d basemen. The shortstop (Lane) is on the 16 North Canes team and the 2d basemen (Smith) has made the Virginia Cardinals team. But these kids are very talented ball players and will get better as they garner more experience. I would think that they would be Varsity starters at most of schools in the SED except for Hickory (Campbell/ Best) Nansemond River (Lowe/ Brown) not sure about Western Branch. The second basemen even had a stand up double last night. He may not be the lead off guy that Coach Townsend is looking for at this moment but he will be in the future. He is that good (and he is quick).

They would not be SS and second base starters at WB. Short stop for WB is now anchored by Kyle McPherson (sophomore) who recently committed to Georgia Tech. Zach Rutherford (sophomore)played first two games of season at second base and seemed to handle it just fine, including hitting a home run in the first game of the season.

A tough crowd! Don't expect first year varsity players to replace seniors with multi years of experience, especially all district and tidewater players of the year. Realize the expectations are high at the top end schools but give them a year or two to develop.

Curious to know if the critics (or the fans) think Hickory's defeat of Great Bridge was a bigger upset than Indian River's defeat of Nansemond River?

quote:

Originally posted by El gato:
A tough crowd! Don't expect first year varsity players to replace seniors with multi years of experience, especially all district and tidewater players of the year. Realize the expectations are high at the top end schools but give them year or two to develop.

Curious to know if the critics (or the fans) think Hickory's defeat of Great Bridge was a bigger upset than Indian River's defeat of Nansemond River?

Great question. In my opinion the talent gap between IR and NR is greater so they deserve that accolade. However. IR won it off the relief pitching, as Hickory was head to head against the starters.

Depends on how you look at it.

Nansemond River 9 Hickory 0...

quote:

Originally posted by Go Dawgs:
Nansemond River 9 Hickory 0...

Details?

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Originally posted by Diamond Stalker:

quote:

Originally posted by Go Dawgs:
Nansemond River 9 Hickory 0...

Details?

Coming up....Tyler Brown dominant on the mound NR bats come alive with 12 hits and 2 HRs

I'm hearing Western Branch 11 Kings Fork 3 and Great Bridge 5 Lakeland 4 (not a typo)

Yes, Go Dawgs, Western Branch 11, King's Fork 3. Zach Rutherford started and pitched 5 innings for WB (5H, 5Ks, 1BB.) In his second varsity appearance on the mound, Garrett Brooks pitched the last two innings, facing 6 batters and striking out 5.

Bobby Barefoot led the Western Branch hitting going 4 for 5; Kyle McPherson and Grant Maiorana each were 2 for 4.

Hickory 0R 2H 0E 2LOB
Nansemond River 9R 12H 0E 8LOB

Through 6 innings Tyler Brown only faced 18 batters striking out 6 with 61 total pitches. He finished the game with 78 pitches. The Nansemond batting order from middle on down woke up tonight. It started in the 2nd inning when Trevor Riggs hit a 2 run single scoring Blake Eure and Kyle Moore. Eure had reached on a fielder's choice and Moore, who was 4-4 on the night, singled up the middle.

In the 4th, Eure struck with a solo shot over the left field fence that chased Hickory's starting pitcher. Following a strikeout, Moore hit a 2B which was followed by a Ryan O'Hara single scoring Moore and Riggs 2-run HR over the left field fence. NR tacked on 2 more in the 5th and 1 in the 6th.

NR Pitching:
Tyler Brown 7IP 2H 0R 6K 2BB
Hickory Pitching:
Spenser Carter 3IP 4H 3R 3K 2BB
4 others 3IP 8H 6R 2K 5BB

NR Hitting:
Kyle Moore 4-4, 2B, 2 runs scored
Brandon Lowe 2-3, 2B
Trevor Riggs 2-3, HR, 4RBI, 1 run scored
Blake Eure 1-3, HR, 2 runs scored

Hickory Hitting:
Ryan Blake 1-2
Christian Lowry 1-3

In the great bridge game troy jones had a 2 hit shut out through 5 then lakeland got 2 hits and jones was pulled and lakeland fought back and the final out was made at 2nd base on an aggressive baserunning by lakeland.

OSCAR SMITH SCOREKEEPER OBSERVATIONS:

DEEP CREEK .. - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 2 // 4 - 10 - 3
OSCAR SMITH - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0 - 5 - 1 - X // 10 - 9 - 2
WP: Packert (1-0) LP: Winslow: (1-1) SV: Loudon (1)

Two strong innings sealed the win for Smith. A 4-hit 3rd inning scored 3 (all earned), and a 4-hit 5th inning scored 5 (2 unearned). Seven of the 9 Smith starters contributed at least one hit. A couple of base-running mistakes kept those innings from extending.

Senior 2B Stephen Lorkiewicz started his first game since dislocating his shoulder in game 5 of 2011 and went 1-2, R, 2 RBI, BB, SF, SB.

Freshman Thomas Packert went 4 innings in his first varsity start, allowing 1 earned run and grabbing his first win, while David Loudon came into a 4-2 game and held Deep Creek at bay, striking out 4 in 3 innings, until a 2-strike, 2-out double that scored two on the last play of the game (runner thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple). The two pitchers combined for zero walks.

SMITH:
Barnett ('15): 1-3, R, RBI, BB
Lorkiewicz ('12): 1-2, R, 2 RBI, BB, SF, SB
C. Smith ('13): 2-3, BB, SB
Packert ('15): 1-1, BB, SAC
Loudon ('13): 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
Ennis ('14): 1-4, 2B
Damewood ('14): 1-2, R, RBI
Lex ('13): 0-0, R, BB, 2 SB

DEEP CREEK:
Mayfield: 1-4, 2B, R
Bailey: 2-4, SB
Winslow: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI / 4IP, 5H, 5R, 4ER, 4BB, 7K
Walsh: 1-3, 2B, R / 2IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 2BB, 0K
Mutter: 2-3, R, RBI
Kressley: 1-2, RBI, HBP
Britt: 1-2, R, SAC

Grassfield 8 Indian River 5

quote:

Originally posted by mathews41:

quote:

Originally posted by luv baseball:
WB - Yep I agree. They were lined up to have Walker step in at SS and he is a D1 player so he would have been very solid stepping in for Lee. They weren't going to be as good at 2B when Higgerson manned the position. The lineup wasn't going to be as deep as the last couple of years when 1 through 9 were threats but losing the bats of Walker and Balser really hurts as well. If they don't find someone to get on consistently in front of the potent middle part of the order they will get pitched around sort of the way Wiley handled Nick Thompson the last couple of seasons.

I think we may have set the bar too high for the Shortstop and 2d basemen. The shortstop (Lane) is on the 16 North Canes team and the 2d basemen (Smith) has made the Virginia Cardinals team. But these kids are very talented ball players and will get better as they garner more experience. I would think that they would be Varsity starters at most of schools in the SED except for Hickory (Campbell/ Best) Nansemond River (Lowe/ Brown) not sure about Western Branch. The second basemen even had a stand up double last night. He may not be the lead off guy that Coach Townsend is looking for at this moment but he will be in the future. He is that good (and he is quick).

Not doubting that these players will have fine HS careers or even questioning their ability. My only point is that GB is a solid contender as they are contructed but they would have been deeper and better with the players they lost. Doesn't mean they'll finish any different place either depending on how the teams develop in next two months go.

Putting aside your opinion about the preseason poll, what is the explanation for Hickory beating #1 Great Bridge on Monday and losing to # 3 Nansemond River the very next day. Hickory looked dominant one day and overwhelmed the next! Pitching vs. home field advantage?

quote:

Originally posted by El gato:
Putting aside your opinion about the preseason poll, what is the explanation for Hickory beating #1 Great Bridge on Monday and losing to # 3 Nansemond River the very next day. Hickory looked dominant one day and overwhelmed the next! Pitching vs. home field advantage?

I wasn't at the game but spoke with a friend whose opinion I value and the difference was pitching. Brown is not overpowering but he attacks the strike zone. Hickory is not deep on the mound.

Attended both games, and pitching was the main difference. On Monday, Hickory threw their ace, and he was very efficient. On Tuesday, NR's pitcher was the more effective pitcher. Pitching is the answer. Isn't it always?

I'm not sure a 3-1 game can be classified as dominant unless you were referring to the pitchers. Certainly pitching was the difference last night. Brown was dominant giving up just 2 hits and 2 walks (both in the 7th) in the game. But you might argue that Great Bridge's defense was the explanation for monday night.

Sometimes you hear about letdowns after big emotional wins or losses. Could that have factored into Hickory's loss or even Great Bridge's 5-4 squeaker with Lakeland last night?

Certainly pitching was "a" factor, but I am not sure it would have made a difference who Hickory threw last night.

quote:

Originally posted by thesportsattorney:
Certainly pitching was "a" factor, but I am not sure it would have made a difference who Hickory threw last night.

I'll concede that a sloppy defense in the Hickory / Great Bridge game contributed to Great Bridge's loss, but I DO believe it would have made a difference who Hickory threw last night. I believe it was the efficiency of the winning pitchers in the two games I saw which made a great difference. In the Hickory / Great Bridge game, Blake threw approximately 3.1 pitches per batter, pitching the complete game. The only run he allowed was in the 7th inning. In that same game, Connor Jones threw approximately 3.7 pitches per batter. That may not seem like much, but one could feel the difference without even having to count the pitches. And with Great Bridge's defense forcing Jones to face more batters, the difference in pitch count added up fast.

Based upon Go Dawgs' numbers, through 6 innings, Brown threw 3.4 pitches per batter. Through 5 innings, he threw 3.1 pitches per batter. On the other hand, Hickory's starting pitcher against Nansemond River threw 5 pitches per batter. Now, I do realize that if every batter got a hit on the first pitch he received, the number of pitches per batter would be very low. But that wasn't the case for either Blake (in the Hickory / Great Bridge game) or Brown (in the Hickory / NR game.) Brown faced 15 batters in the first 5 innings of his game, Blake faced 17 in the first 5 innings of his game. And they faced so few because many of the strikes they threw were good pitches, not meat ball pitches. (Brown's first 15 or so pitches of the game were strikes.)

The efficiency of the pitchers allows them to stay in the game longer, avoids the pitcher having to throw the pitch down the middle to avoid a walk and avoids having to go to a less accurate bull pen.

This is a long-winded way of saying that I would love to see Blake pitch for Hickory against Brown for Nansemond River. Hickory might not win the game, but it should be a much closer contest and a really fun game to watch. (BTW, Blake, I believe, was the winning pitcher over Nansemond River in a 2011 season game.)

Kings' Fork at Grassfield postponed, again. New date Thursday, March 22.

WB Reporter,
Did you help write the movie "Money Ball" ? Impressive !

WB,
Nice job running the numbers, but I wanted to follow up with your analysis about pitch count per batter in the Hickory/GB game. You point out that GB's defense caused Jones to throw to more batters which does add to total pitch count, however it should not impact the pitch count / batter ratio (you didn't say it did).

Some items impacting the pitch count / batter ratio include 1) control (or lack thereof), 2) aggressive hitting teams and 3) % of contact on your pitches (do you pitch to contact or strike people out)

Specific to point #1, Blake did not walk anyone that I was aware of and Jones only allowed one walk so this should not be a major factor in the difference.

#2 I can't tell you if one team was more aggressive in their approach at the plate by swinging at first pitches, but both pitchers gave up about 1 hit per inning.

#3 I see the difference in batters making contact; Blake pitched to contact very effectively; strking out about 28% of the batters he faced. Jones struck out a higher percentage - 35% of the batters he faced. That's a 20% difference which is close to your 16% difference in pitches per batter; 3.1 vs. 3.7.

If you look at the NR/Hickory game, strikeouts weren't the driver as much as walks. Hickory pitchers walked 7 batters in 6 innings whereas NR only walked 2. Lack of control was the main contributor to the high pitch count / batter results.

Any news on the Grassfield / Kings Fork game?

Friday'game between great bridge and deep creek has been moved to great bridge at 5;30 and jones is pitching haha