The new pitching rules and the state tourney

I would have preferred a pitch count over innings but I like the idea you can't ride one guy to win the championship. Both teams will face the same schedule which makes it fair. I think the schedule will benefit the best "team" instead of the the team with the best number one starter. The new pitching rule promotes having at least 3 capable starters with relief guys in reserve. Sounds like an opportunity to prove why you're the best team.

I agree ... back in 2004 ... when I was on staff with Sherando, we faced Cave Springs as we touched their starter for a few runs in the 1st inning and they touched our guy for a few runs as well.

Well, in to start the 2nd inning, Cave Springs head coach brings out their ace Kreg Savoie who just pitched on Tuesday or Wednesday and we were done.

With the new VHSL rule, that would of never happened and we night of been in the State Championship game vs. Tunstall.  

For the record ... Savoie pitched 20 inning for his last week of high school baseball in the State tourney back in 2004.

Inman is a He-Man for Trojans

Tunstall's Will Inman limits Cave Spring to one hit, and he hits a three-run home run.

By Ray Cox
 981-3341

 

RADFORD - Anybody who saw Cave Spring batter baseballs this year could tell you somebody would need a mighty arm to shut down that lineup.

 

Tunstall's Will Inman has such an arm. A junior right-hander, Inman blanked the Knights with a one-hitter, striking out 12 and walking none as the Trojans prevailed 4-0 to win their third GroupAA championship, the first since 1994.

Inman further adorned his growing reputation by cranking a three-run, fifth-inning home run that ended up putting the Knights away.

 

Inman used more time than a senior citizen taking exercise at the mall to circle the bases at Dedmon Center Park at Radford University after the bash, cupping his ears coming down the third-base line to catch the greetings of his adoring admirers.

 

"That's not the usual home run trot for me; I'm usually jumping around and yelling," he said. "But that time I just wanted to savor the moment."

 

That brand of flamboyance probably was not well-received in the Knights dugout, or so an inside pitch from Kreg Savoie to the next batter, Jacob Thompson, suggested. That brought an immediate warning from the home-plate umpire, which put an end to any further unpleasantness.

The damage had been done.

 

Savoie, showing an remarkably resilient left arm - not to mention a giant heart - was back on the mound to save the Knights' season one more time. Since June5, Savoie had pitched in four games, winning three, including a complete game Tuesday in the state quarterfinals. On Friday, he went 5 2/3 relief innings in a 12-4 victory over Sherando. Saturday, he worked 3 2/3 more, giving him 20 innings in a week.

 

Against Tunstall (26-3), Savoie came in with one out in the third in relief of starter Barrett Henderson. The plan had been for Henderson to go through the Tunstall lineup once then to bring in Savoie, Knights coach Randy Boone said.

 

"Kreg told me today that his arm felt better than it did yesterday," Boone said. "If a senior tells me he wants the ball in a situation like that, I'm giving it to him."

 

Savoie benefited from a double play that involved runner's interference to end the third. After that, he scattered six hits, striking out five and walking none. Four hits came in the fateful fifth.

 

"I was feeling all right starting out, probably from the excitement and everything," Savoie said. "But as the game went on, I was really starting to get tired. The home run was not because I was tired, though. It was because I left one up. There's nothing you can do about that."

 

It was a 3-2 pitch that Inman hit. Tyler Mills, at the bottom of the order, had started a two-out rally that continued with hits by Brent Weaver, Chris Dixon and Inman.

 

"I don't know what it is, but the fifth inning has been big for us all through the postseason," said coach Barry Shelton, who played on Tunstall's 1976 champions. "That's when we rallied against William Byrd [a 3-1 victory] on Tuesday. With a great team like Cave Spring and pitching like that, we were worried about scoring one run."

 

Inman faced 22 batters, one over the minimum. Robert Mills broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the fourth.

 

"He kept us off balance," Mills said. "He just pitched a great game."

Inman's had a great year. The home run was his 11th. He's hitting close to .500.

 

He improved his career record to 29-3, including 13-1 this year. The career victories tied Bubba Scarce, the winning pitcher in the 1994 title game, for the school record. Inman also has 403 career strikeouts.

 

"Today, I think I had my 'A' game," Inman said.

 

000 000 0 - 0 1 1 ... Cave Spring

000 040 x - 4 7 0 ... Tunstall

 

Henderson, Savoie (3) and Kirby. Inman and Bailey. W-Inman. L-Savoie. HR-Inman (T), 5th, two on.

I don't see why it's more of an indication who the best "team" is to have to use your third- or fourth-best pitcher in the state championship game.  You could make the argument that the state title should go to the team with the deepest staff, and I could counter that it's more pure to see teams with their #1 guy on the mound (or at least #2), rather than a glorified slugfest between two down-the-line pitchers.

The fact of the matter is that the teams with the deepest staffs had an edge even under the old system.  But essentially limiting a guy to pitching one game in the state tournament seems like more of an unnatural result than a guy pitching 12-14 innings over five days.

This rule wasn't passed for the sake of competition (and, if that had been the proffered rationale, I would have strenuously objected).  It's a rule that addresses a legitimate concern . . . but it just happens to be poorly designed.

TCW preps,  What ever happened to Mr. Savoie ?  That kind of abuse is the exact "spirit of the rule" for young arms to grow, not ruin !  I'm in agreement with CR Tom on this one.  Politicians had a good thought, but as usual, poor design and implementation.

What the rule means is that, in that opening round, if one team can jump out to a huge lead early, they'll have to decide if they are willing to pull their # 1 after three innings in order to make him eligible for the championship game.

Once he goes into the 4th, the incentive will be to leave him in FOREVER, in order to save all other arms for later in the week.  This could be a perverse, unintended result of the rule change.

Also consider what happens going in.  Teams are not going to be willing/able to bring their # 1 out in the regional championship games, which basically only have state quarterfinal home field advantage at stake, since doing so could make your # 1 unavailable until the state semifinals -- a point you might not reach if you don't go with # 1 in the quarters.

I do think this gives advantages to teams whose staffs have been deep all along -- notably Great Bridge, Cosby and James River. 

Agreed.  The more I think about it, the better Cosby looks going into regionals.  Of course, if they can't beat JR this week, they'll have to play their way in.

The best development for Cosby has been that, after some shaky outings in the first half of the season, Ryan Bickford seems to have found his groove again.  Also Flanagan had a nice start the other day.  Clearly you have to have more than one horse to ride to make it in any season, but never more so than now with the new rule.

I've been impressed with JR's depth in solid pitching beyond Roberts.  The fact that a couple of their arms are sophomores means the pipeline might not be so dry, either.

But with Great Bridge able to run Jones, Harrelson and Barcliff out there, I don't know if anyone tops that trio.  Of course anything can happen in any one game, as GB's loss last Friday proves, but I'd think the Vegas odds makers would put GB ahead of the others at this stage.

Midlo,

While you might think Vegas could have Great Bridge as favorites, the Virginian Pilot's newest ranking has them #2 in Hampton Roads while Baseball America has them #22 in the country (granted before the loss).  That's quite a difference.  Clearly people have different views of each team and how good they are.  With the new rules we'll certainly see who has the deepest pitching staff yet maybe not the best 9.

The Pilot dropping them to No. 2 shows a relatively high level of incompentence.  How you go 17-1 in the SED with sweeps over Hickory, WB, Grassfield, and a split with NR, and drop in the rankings is...silly, to put it kindly.

the Virginian Pilot's newest ranking has them #2 in Hampton Roads

That's just stupid.

For the record, we have them ranked #1.  

Also, James River losing to Manchester last night has to have Cosby licking its collective chops.  The Rapids have lost - what? - three of four, with a 6-5 win over Monacan being the only victory?  Dominion tourney should be interesting.

I'm thinking when we get to regionals it's going to be a crap shoot depending on pairings.  In single elimination, with so many teams having really A+ arms to go to, somebody is going to lose out in that quarterfinal round.  I mean, you have Casey at Hanover, McGarity at Godwin, Roberts at James River, Williams at Cosby, and maybe Trevett at DSF and Palmer at Patrick Henry belong in that list as well.  If they all make it to regionals (and that's far from assured at this point), then surely we'll see at least one pairing of them head to head in the quarterfinals, so someone will have to go out early despite having their ace on the hill.  At least one of those games is going to be one of those with lots of RADAR guns behind the backstop, very little scoring, and an outcome determined by who makes the critical error.

Cosby / JR and Freeman / Godwin both postponed to tomorrow.  I won't be able to get to JR/Cos because the game is now at 2:00.