SE DII DIstrict & Regional Tournament

[mhs95_06]

Just have a few Questions... How Many years has Unioto hosted the district tournament for SB???... How many times has Unioto made it to the regions?? My personal opinion is that home field advantage is quite overrated and can sometimes be a detriment...

I have no idea, I just know it is not fair!

[danicalifornia]

Unioto has hosted got around 7 or 8 years and have only been D2 for 2 or 3 years, while not making the Regionals.

[mhs95_06]

When they were D3 did they host D2?

[danicalifornia]

Yes.

[superblue]

Unioto has hosted got around 7 or 8 years and have only been D2 for 2 or 3 years, while not making the Regionals.

Thanks for the info... So if they haven't made the regionals where is the advantage??? I will concede that Maybe an advantage occurs . I know football is different, but you would be surprised how often the visiting team wins in the first round.. When my son was a senior we had to travel to East Liverpool from Gallipolis, so I feel your pain about the travel.... But no matter where the games are played travel will be an issue for one or maybe both teams....

[JChipwood]

Simplest solution would be to play until the regional at the higher seed's field or to have neutral sites with the provision that sites are subject to change if any team's home is also the host site. In this case it only makes sense, since GA is the higher seed, that Unioto have to offer to come to Gallipolis first. The better team should win but in NO way should a higher seed be playing at the other team's home field. Advantages lie in knowing the tendancies of the ball in different areas of the ballpark i.e. the bounce off the fence, the bounce on the infield (huge advantage), low and high spots in the outfield, getting used to catching flies with your normal backdrop, etc.....

Hopefully none of that affects the outcome especially for Coach N and the Angels but also for Warren.

I don't really have a dog in the hunt other than being a Devil/Angel fan but to me it isn't so much the travel as it is the other variables that CAN determine the outcome of a game. Travel is an issue but that can also be good in some ways as it provides more unity and structure than driving your own car to the field or worse yet riding with a boyfriend or upset or overbearing parent. The bus ride can be a time to get the mind ready and focused without a lot of other distractions and can also give the coaches a time to inspire or finalize gameplanning if needed.

[FANOSPORTS]

Logan Elm 9 - Gallipolis 1

(Congrats to the Blue Angels for a good year and SEOAL title. The Mid-State League has 2 or 3 teams every year that are very good so there is nothing to hang your heads about. Great season !!!!!)

[Xtoxxviii]

Unioto 10
Warren 9

It was a great game with the lead changing hands several times.

I think Warren had two runners in scoring position when the final out was made.

[Cap'n Scoop]

Tough night for the SEOAL. I think the lack of quality competition throughout the season got the best of Warren Local and Gallia Academy tonight. Goodluck to Unioto and Logan Elm in the Finals.

[Futurebkstar]

Great season GA!!!!

[FANOSPORTS]

I agree with what 4ever said above, if the Warren Local fans were cheering for Logan Elm and not Gallipolis from their own league in the first game then what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Whether you lose by 8 runs or 1 run it's still a loss so maybe Warren fans got a little to cocky and it came back to bite'em. A little Karma maybe )

[hititbaby]

The one comment about the quality of teams that Gallia played during the regular season sure was a slap in the face to those who played them. I guess I was really surprised they were ranked in the state. Good Luck to both Unioto and Logan Elm, should be a good game.

[Cap'n Scoop]

The comment about quality competition was not a slam against SEOAL teams. The league is in a rebuilding phase with the exception of Warren and Gallia. The other league teams will be much better next season which will make for better games. Warren played one game outside of the league that was against a good team...Alexander (they knocked off Gallia). 5 inning, 10 run games does not prepare you for District games. I would rather lose 4-3 than win 15-1. I hope that the Lady Warriors can step up their non-league schedule.

As far as Warren cheering against Gallia...I wasn't able to go and know nothing about it. I do know that my daughter really wanted another shot at the Angels.

[mhs95_06]

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/conte ... l?nav=5025

[mhs95_06]

I was blessed to be able to go to these two high stakes games that were played with great intensity. They did get them in with the dreary conditions, although I thought it might be a 10-10 score in the 2nd game and get to 10pm, or maybe even 11-11 at 11pm if Warren would have gotten the two runners they had at 2nd and 3rd with one out in the top of the 7th. It was the first time I had seen any HS softball this year and the field conditions were perfect for the bunt game. I think they changed the pitching distance this year by 3' longer and you can tell that the hitters have more of a chance now, which is good, which makes it more of an all-around game like it should be and since there are more balls in play, defense even has a higher importance than before.

In the first game, the horse got out of the barn early for Gallia on defense, in an inning that shows there can be poor defense without any plays that the ruling should have been an error. With one on and one out, an ill advised fielder's choice to try for the force at 2B resulted in not getting an out, and then after the 2nd out was recorded, a pop-up could have been handled by any of 3 defenders who each deferred to the others allowing it to fall for two runs and then a shot went over an outfielder's head for the 3 spot in the first half inning. That pretty much took the suspense out of the game. I would have liked to have seen what would have happened if it had been 0-0 after one inning. All Gallia was able to muster was a long home run, so I think Logan Elm would have won the way they bunted and hit, but it would have been more fun to have proceeded from no score in the 1st.

In the 2nd game the difference was the 7 runs put up in the bottom of the 6th by Unioto. Kevin gives an excellent write-up of it in the Marietta Times. Unioto hit the ball well in that inning, but there would have been many less runs scored if all the defensive plays had been made. I have seen coach Coffman's team play for several years in the SEOAL, and it is my impression that they are usually the most fundamentally sound and best defensive team in the league. The first chink came with it 7-4 with one out and a runner on first. The bunt went down, not that good of a bunt, very similar to the ill fated one in the Gallia game that resulted in no out being made. The pitcher made the right decision with a 3 run lead to throw to first which would have made two out and runner on 2nd. But her foot slipped on the plant to throw and the ball sailed high over fist base 10' ahead of the runner. That put runners on 2nd and 3rd, still not the tying runs, with still one out. A hit brought them in and the tying run ended up at 2nd. Then the most important play of the game, a grounder to SS on which the SS faked the throw to first and had the tying run hung up between 2nd and 3rd. For many years I have noticed a lot of weakness in getting tags down quickly like they should, and I think over the years the umps generally give the defense the benefit of the doubt and call the runners out because the ball beats the runner, and in this case I think the ump called it unconventionally correct. Then that runner on 3rd came in on an infield grounder for an out at first on a play they had no chance to try to cut down the tying run at home. The next batter popped up a ball that was only about 6' foul and was a relatively easy play for the 3rd out to keep the game at 7-7 but it was muffed, and then 3 more runs were scored before the side was finally retired. If that out was recorded it would have set up an exciting 7th inning in which Unioto would have batted and it may have been called for darkness before it would have been over, and the teams would have had to come back and pick it up there another day.

[ManitouDan]

sometimes league rivals are so heated there is zero chance of cheering for one another. Not saying thats right or wrong , just reality. myself I would sit quietly and say nothing .

[Xtoxxviii]

Here is the Chillicothe Gazette coverage of the U vs Warren:
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/artic ... |Frontpage

The Marietta Times account is more accurate of the game but still it is great to see this type of game getting some press coverage.

Side note from the X:
Props to the U’s field crew for getting the diamond in playable condition. I didn’t think it was possible after the rains we had this week.

The U now faces Logan Elm. Earlier in the season The Braves downed the Shermans 4to3 or something like that.

[mhs95_06]

Logan Elm leading the championship game 4-0 in the 4th.

[FANOSPORTS]

Just got home from the game. I was going to stay and watch Alexander and Rock Hill but I figure Alex should win that one easily. Logan Elm didn't use small ball but a couple times and busted the heck out of it hitting away for the most part with a couple of no doubters over the fence and other hits to all parts of the outfield with the exception of the shortstop who's just a sophomore I believe. She made a couple great plays on defense and when she was at bat Unioto's coach had 5 people playing around the pitcher waiting for a bunt with a couple outfielders right behind the second and shortstop positions. Even LE's outs were hard hit balls. Their coach was aggresive on the basepath's and that drew a couple bad throws that allowed unearned runs to score. Not a flashy team but very fundamental and focused. It's definitely not the uniform's that make a team. The other 3 teams there today (Rock Hill, Alexander and Unioto) had their nice multi colored uniforms with bold logos, some stitched, under armour all over the place, various colored piping down the sides etc. with almost every other girl with ankle straps and wraps (I never did understand this unless you have a problem but some of them just want to look good I guess), knee pads etc. and then here comes Logan Elm with full length plain black pants with plain black cleats and basically a tee shirt with Braves written across the front (they did have names on the back). You gotta luv it !!!!!

Note: The Philo Electrics beat Dover 4-1 so it'll be Logan Elm and Philo next Thursday in Pickerington @ 5:00 in a Regional semi. I'll probably go over and check it out. It should be a good one.

[bman]

Teays Valley, which LE split against this season in the MSL, won a D1 Central District title 2-0 over Groveport in 10 innings. Canal Winchester, another split in the MSL, lost by a run to defending state champ Lakewood in a district semi. The MSL is very, very good softball. We're kind of a softball hotbed.

Gallipolis and Unioto are nice teams. I don't want to take anything away from them either. Congrats to both on fine seasons.