WHo Won?

Manchester won 3 - 1. Good game. Manchester scored 1 in the 1st on a passed ball. Cosby tied it up in the 5th. Manchester scored 2 more in the 7th.
Birnbaum pitched a fantastic game for Cosby, really kept Manchester off balance all day. Morrison pitched well the whole game and stays undefeated.

Wow...sounds like that was a great game- so maybe they are the legitimate #1 and #2 teams in the Region?

Manchester is # 1 wire to wire this year.

Cosby is probably # 2 right now, i.e., the toughest other team to play at this particular moment. They held Mooney out of their two district matchups this week and still got outstanding pitching, which shows they are deep in that department. I guess Mooney is going today vs. Powhatan? That prevents Manchester, or anyone else, from getting a look at him close to the district tournament.

From what I can tell, Cosby has only Monacan left to face in district play (in addition to Powhatan today and Hanover next week). They have the # 2 tourney seed sewn up, which gives them a tourney bye and only one game to win to make regionals. I haven't seen formal standings lately but I'm thinking Midlothian doesn't get to the tourney, James River and Monacan have the 3-6 game and L.C. Bird and Clover Hill have the 4-5 game, is that right? If so, Cosby would get the winner of JR-Monacan, which probably means facing JR with its top pitching having already been spent in the opening round. You have to like their chances of getting to regionals in that situation.

Thought the headline in the RTD was a little off base today- "Strategic Walk Backfires..."

The assumption is always the intentional walk is issued to avoid a particular hitter and face a weaker one you feel like you have a better chance with-

However more than that the walk usually create an easier defensive play for the defense- maybe a double play or its even easier to deal with that runner in scoring position if the ball is hit on the ground- as it is a quick force play instead of a fielder having to wonder if the guy is going to run

With a runner on second and no force with no outs you also only two bunts away from scoring the guy- a first and second force creates a more difficult and less likely bunt situation.

MidloDad,

Yes, that looks like the seedings going into Dominion District tournament. I don't think any results next week will change the seedings.

stilllearning,

I agree the RTD headline was off base. Coach Lowery was playing the percentages, and it is difficult to argue with his logic. I don't think I would classify that decision as "strategic".

quote:

With a runner on second and no force with no outs you also only two bunts away from scoring the guy- a first and second force creates a more difficult and less likely bunt situation.

Not that it's always accurate, and I wasn't there to verify, but the RTD story indicated there was already one out prior to the IBB.

Cosby is definitely in the driver's seat. However, they have some work still left to do.

Cosby has a 1 game lead over James River. They split there regular season games. Both play their final (and only remaining) district game next week against Monacan.

If by chance Cosby loses to Monacan and James River beats Monacan, I believe they will be tied in the final standings. Does anyone know what the tie-breaker procedure is? head-to-head score? coin toss?

As noted, second seed has huge advantage. One win wold get them into the regionals. If last years big upset, Manchester loses in semi-finals, doesn't reoccur.

Current standings
Manchester 10-0
Cosby 8-3
James River 7-4
L.C. Bird 5-6
Clover Hill 5-6
Monacan 2-8
Midlothian 0-10

That may be true- if so then could not move the baserunner around like that.

Having that guy on second is almost like playing the international tie breaker rules sometimes employeed in tournament play-

Although I did not see the game I think headline should have been "Morrison pitched a great game coming up with big outs when he needed them" instead of putting emphasis on the strategy which was obviously the right thing to do if I am reading the article correctly....i would be inclined to question a coach that didnt create a force/double play situation given those circumstances.

If those two teams meet in the District tournament it will be a huge game that any fan of HS baseball would want to attend- i think they met last year for championship?

I think when JR beat Cosby it was 1-0. When Cosby beat JR it was 17-5. If Cosby doesn't get the tie breaker out of that somehow, something is seriously wrong.

But I can't see Cosby losing to Monacan anyway.

quote:

i think they met last year for championship?

No, Manchester flubbed its semifinal last year. Cosby ended up winning, but I can't remember who it was who beat Manchester and then lost to Cosby in the finale. Either Bird or Clover Hill ... Clover Hill had both Ackerman and Santalucia so that would be my bet.

I thought it was Midlothian who beat Manchester last year. Midlo had a lot of seniors last year, and they came through in that game. Bird beat Clover Hill then lost to James River in last years districts.

Noew that I think about it I think last year Cosby beat somone in the first round, then Manchester came off the bye and lost to Cosby in the Semi final....Cosby beat maybe JR in the final?
At some point I know manchester/cosby went head to head in the tournament

Anyone know how Regionals match up in the first round? #1 from Central vs. ? and so on...

James River beat Cosby earlier in the season 7-3, but don't see them losing to Monacan whose only wins are against Midlothian.
As far as the playoffs last year, Bird beat Clover Hill who was missing Ackerman. Bird then lost to James River. JR would have then played Manchester. Cosby beat Manchester in the finals. Mooney pitched a great game against them.

Speaking of district tie breakers, is there any consistent way as to how they work?

Regarding the Capital District, Atlee is currently tied for first with Lee-Davis with both having two district losses. Atlee has beaten L-D twice (5-1 and 11-1) while Atlee's two losses are to Henrico and Hanover.

Assuming an end of season tie (if Atlee beats Henrico and if L-D beats both Henrico and Highland Springs), I'm told that Atlee would not receive the tie breaker (two head to head wins). Instead, a one game playoff would be played next Saturday to determine the district champ and automatic regional qualifier.

To me, that puts the loser at an extreme disadvantage in the district tournament (granted only four teams make it so you may only have to win one game). This still just seems strange to me...you would think two head to head wins would be the first tie breaker. Just my opinion.

There seems to some confusiuon regarding last years results in the Dominion District tournament.

Cosby beat Midlo and Bird beat Clover Hill in the first round.

Cosby defeated Manchester and James River beat Bird in the semis.

Cosby beat James River in the district finals.

Thanks for setting us all straight hokiebyrd!

Thanks. I knew I'd seen Cosby knock JR out of the tourney last year ... JR had that game almost won but Cosby rallied at the very end on its home field to win it ... I forgot it was actually the championship game!

I had also forgotten that JR had gotten the 2 seed last year, which was a surprise, at least to me. How soon we forget.