What are your final thoughts?

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When you get to Westfield you will experience a very different venue.

Plenty of seating with good sightlines, but wondering about the parking. Although they have many spots (incl. Cub Run Rec next door), there will be 3-7 simultaneous sporting events (incl. softball, B/G lacrosse, B/G s****r, tennis).

You can sit in the top row of the baseball bleachrs and watch every sport that is being played!

I think it depends on how James River pitches this game. My assumption is that they want to get Kirby some work (and hopefully some success) heading into next Tuesday. They don't want him sitting for a week especially coming off a poor outing versus Atlee. Maybe they would even start him and let him go two or three innings. If that's the case then maybe they can get some offense going early and mix and match the last four innings or so and get the win.

That's a lot of ifs and maybes though. Godwin has a solid starter rested and ready, so I would give them the advantage. I'm actually rooting for Godwin for no other reason than them getting to host a night game next week instead of James River hosting an afternoon game.

It's kind of funny how these two teams got to this point. Early on James River looked like they would steam roll anything that got in their way, but they stumbled at various points, and generally just seem to be playing "ok" for about the last month or so (at least compared to their standards).

On the other hand, Godwin got hammered early by JR (not shocking considering Godwin usually gets out of the gates slowly). In the middle of the season they had an awful run right around spring break and looked like a mediocre team. But they have peaked at the right time and now seem to really be rolling along.

I don't like the Diamond as a venue.

For a crowd of 1,000-1,500, RF&P is just so much better. Everyone gets jammed in there together and the place rocks. It's as exciting a venue as there is around here. When you scatter those fans around 5,000 seats in the Diamond's lower bowl, something is lost.

I do wish they could move back the fences in CF and RF, have to admit. But otherwise, the scoreboard and the views and everything are just really great.

Maybe we should just go to Shepherd Stadium. The seating is more intimate and the fences are the right distances. People act like it's a long way away, but for most it's no further than the Diamond or RF&P.

As to Westfield, my recollections are:

1. The infield has a slope that slows down ground balls. You have to really nail a grounder to get it by the infielders.

2. The fence is too short in CF, but it is also high. A long fly out can become a double, or a HR, depending on how high you hit it. A line drive HR becomes a double unless you get it elevated enough.

3. Sight lines are fine. Parking is no problem.

4. It is not the easiest place to get to, and there are no fast food places in the immediate vicinity. I liked Christopher Newport better when VHSL used it for a few years, last in 2007.

My final thoughts for today's finale are:

I'd be shocked if Kirby pitched. JR is into states. Kirby will start the quarterfinal game. No way you throw him on short rest today, as it would compromise him for what will be an elimination game. If you want to use him on short rest, do that just once, on June 11, if you can get there.

Knowing Schumacher, he will not even entertain the thought of throwing Scheetz or Roberts today. You might think this is a given, but I could cite you numerous examples of coaches doing that sort of thing. Schu is not that kind of a guy. He won't put those boys at risk. He wouldn't even if we were talking about the state title game.

I would think Morano would be in the same situation with both Lees and Garrett. He has the advantage of having his third guy fresh, so I would assume he's going today.

As for James River, look for Nick Parnell to start. He is a senior and he has the most experience of the available arms. He'll go as long as he's effective. There are other guys on that JR roster who are actually pretty darned good, just backlogged behind Kirby, Roberts and now Scheetz as well. Today may be their chance to show what they can do.

My observation is that JR is loose as a goose when they play anyone but Cosby. Cosby gets them all tightened up. (By the same token, Cosby brings a fire to their matchups with JR that sometimes flickers against other teams. It has become a great rivalry the past 5 years.)

Godwin is the more senior-heavy roster. JR has more potent bats and overall is better defensively (though not at every position).

I think today comes down to one thing: Walks. If the seldom-used JR guys cannot find the strike zone, Godwin could romp. If they don't give out a bunch of free passes, I think JR can hit better enough to win. If I were Godwin, I'd make JR prove they could throw strikes.

You certainly know James River better than I do, but I simply don't understand not wanting to get Kirby some work. Assuming he pitches Tuesday, that'll be five days of rest. He had an abbreviated outing Monday without much success. Personally, I would want to get him some work. It would be very limited, preferably two innings but I'd extend to three if he was cruising. I simply wouldn't want him not pitching for 8 days.

For what it's worth, Schumacher did throw Scheetz for two innings (I think) on Wednesday after an extended relief outing on Monday.

Most us in the stands were suprised to see Sheetz yesterday. had to have thrown 30 or 40 pitchs the day before and relies on lot of breaking pitches which are tough on the arm.
Parnell throws alot of stuff that will challenge JR catcher. Godwin seems to have good team speed and should be able to run at will.

Not sure when Cosby's fire "flickered" against other teams this year? Guess it is hard to not follow up a criticism of the preseason champs without taking a shot at the Dominion regular season and Tournamnet champs.

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What are your final thoughts?

I like the Diamond, but would have liked it better yesterday if I had one of those air conditioned suites. Also, I would think the players would prefer the experience of playing at the Diamond as well....it has been a Richmond institution for many years....and its days are numbered. Shepherd stadium is also be a great place to see a game, but there would be issues with parking.

I think Central Virginia region is well represented with Godwin and James River advancing to the States. Best of luck to both!

PS...I'm trying to find a business meeting up in NoVa so I can stop by to see the games. I know some of you are doing the same.

Randolph Macon Coach has expressed interest in hosting Regional on their new baseball field which is very nice

As for fast food near Westfield HS, there are numerous options, East, North, and South of the high school, each within 1.5 miles of the school. Within walking distance, no, but short drive, yes:

- South, at corner of Stonecroft and Westfield Blvd, just off the Wesfield Blvd exit from Route 28 there are two adjacent shopping centers that have Chipotle, Subway, Southwest Mo's, Foster's Grill. There are numerous full fledged restaurants in this complex including Texas Roadhouse, Applebees, Eggspecations, and others.

- East, at Willard Road and Route 28, there is the area known as 'fast food central'. It includes McDonalds, Wendy's, Arby's, Taco Bell, Chick Fil A, Burger King, plus Hooters, Willard's BBQ, and others.

- North, Stonecroft and Route 50, Wendy's and several others. There is great Thai restaurant, Thai Basil in this complex.

Take your pick.

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Guess it is hard to not follow up a criticism of the preseason champs without taking a shot at the Dominion regular season and Tournamnet champs.

No cheap shot intended. Just didn't see the same fire against, say, Powhatan that is there when they suit up against James River. Beyond that, there were some district games where wins happened but not the kind of scores you'd expect in a mismatch. Just saying, it's a rivalry and things get pumped up.

I've also noted here that James River has had some lackluster performances in those situations, too. E.g., against L.C. Bird and Monacan. And given that last night's game was in some ways a snoozer, they'll need to find that fire to get past Tuesday.

RF&P is a nice little place with great atmosphere, but I strongly prefer the Diamond. First of all, as mentioned previously, the dimensions of the field at RF&P are inappropriate for a high school regional tournament. The Diamond is a little too big, but, having to choose between watching 14-10 games where three or four balls that would normally be outs leave the park or are off the wall OR watching a 5-4 game where two or three balls that would have been extra-base hits / homers get caught, I will choose the latter scenario ten times out of ten.

Empty seats don't bother me. They block off the upper deck, and I like that there's plenty of seating available. Probably the best thing about the Diamond is its location. It's right off the interstate, and it's located centrally in the region. RF&P is back in the woods out in Glen Allen. The very best place to have the regional tournament in my opinion is Shepherd Stadium, except for its geography.

Westfield has a nice complex, and it's great that they can hold all the spring AAA championships, but I still think Shepherd Stadium or the Diamond are superior locations.

All in all, I'm just glad they don't hold regionals at Prince George like they did a few years back. That never made sense to me.

Not sure last nights game was a snoozer but certaintly Godwin appeared to some what less emotional. I think a hard fought 1-0 game with Cosby took a lot out of them. If the Squirrels werent returning to town tonight an extra day of rest would have helped them still the game had it's moments. Some good plays and some not so good. The umps didn't have a very good night either. Several strange and some very bad calls,especially on the appeal play at third base. Still both teams are in the states and that is all that matters. Good luck to the Rapids and the Eagles!

Was just getting in a little jab .
They were flat against Powhatan. Seemed to be the team that always did enough to win whoever they were playing. Kind of fell apart against powhatan who was a very good team I thought and give them credit. I remember that game was played the day after a car load of their friends were nearly killed and a young lady was killed- i dont like to make excuses but that was a tough day to play ball that took the fire out of alot of people.

Last night's umps took a lot of guff from the fans, and I was one of them. From where I sat not far behind home plate, the strike zone was all over the place -- and that went both ways. There were also situations where batters requested time with ample time before the pitch and it was not granted; no idea what was up with that.

There was a lot of barking in the JR first about the potential third out reaching first after a third strike struck the ground. The batter was about halfway to the dugout when someone got his attention and he re-routed to first. Godwin's fans were upset that he was allowed to reach, not called out for "out of the baseline" or abandoning the play or whatever. I regret to inform them that this is a situation that has occurred hundreds of times in the past, it is covered in umpire training, and the umpires called it exactly correctly. You may not like the rule, but they did apply the rule correctly.

As for the appeal at third, that guy did not leave early. I had a great line of sight on that play, as my angle had me looking down the third base line with the runner, the base and the catch in sight all at once. You cannot see that play from the third base stands because if you're watching the play in left, you have to turn your head to see the runner, and by that time of course he will have left the bag. This is why umpires position themselves on the line of sight that I had, not over near the dugout in foul ground.

The Virginia independent schools hold the semis and finals, for all 3 divisions, at Shepherd Stadium. Older facility and the infield could use some work, but they do a real nice job there. Plenty of seating and parking. The concessions are good as well.

IMHO it would be nice if this event could be held at one of the better college stadiums.

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one of the better college stadiums

Like where? Are we still talking Central Region, or states?

For states, I did like CNU a lot.

For the region, there's not much seating at UR, and VCU plays at the Diamond. I hear RMC has a new field but haven't seen it -- anyone? What's VSU like?

I was talking States. GMU would nice, but it doesn't appear that is made available.

Now, UVA would be cool.

Unfortunately, the way things are up there, they tend to need that place for their own games every year at this time!

Randoph Macon has a very nice new field - beautiful - their coach has told me he would love to host it.
The issue is they have no lights unless they have added them. RMC location would make hanover,patrick henry,atlee,lee davis and members of the Capital Distict happy!

I concur with rmc being a nice location. Their new place is as beautiful a facility as any other that has been mentioned.

i love how they did that iron work at the entrance...really a classy look

CNU was also a good host. I liked it down there as well. I think, objectively, that's a better place to hold it than the current location. It's too bad UR doesn't have more seating. With school out, and the huge Robins Center parking lot right next to it, that would be a super place to play it - but, I agree: Too small in terms of potential attendance.