Athens @ Belpre 4-9-09

[gpgm6566]

?????

[bulldog0909]

both are tied for first right now,should be a good one

[93Bulldog]

Man, I wish I could get down to watch this one ... Last time I credited Gibby for holding Cline to pitch @ Wellston it worked ...

So .... Great job again on the part of the veteran coach ... I believe they got by VC tonight with the soph Maffin starting ... If Cline goes tomorrow and they somehow beat Belpre ... it will turn out to be a great call once again ...

Hopefully a great call I guess i shoudl say ...

[questionmark]

Athens defeated Belpre (4-3)...

Daniel Gillespie blasted a Homerun for Athens...

[diamondD1]

It was a good, hard-fought, come-from-behind win. Belpre took an early 3-0 lead by the 3rd inning, and then Cline shut them down for the next 4 innings. Got some "hustle" hits and a little help from Belpre's infield to make it 3-2, then in the top of the 5th Gillespie hit a 2-run blast that cleared the left field fence by 20 feet. Great effort by the team. These are the kinds of wins that build character and maturity, which can really help down the road.

[g w mclintock]

Nice win for the Bulldogs. Congrats to Dan on the dinger and Cline on another win.

[pkp76]

Quality win over a pretty good team. The Belpre pitcher was problematic.

Prediction, a couple of guys in the Athens batting order will shake off the cobwebs this weekend as this team emerges as a "way better than average" offensive team. The defense is coming along. Now all Athens has to do is figure out the pitching. When they do, its reasonable to start thinking about a league championship and beyond.

For now, win the next one!

[gpgm6566]

If the Belpre pitcher was problematic it was because the Athens third base coach was telling his players to "turn into the ball, take one for the team". My understanding of the rule is that you have to make an attempt to get out of way.

Since when is a 4 hit, 11 strike out, complete game performance considered problematic?

What was problematic, was the 5 errors, and the 3 runners picked off. ( two at first and one at home )

[Orestes]

If the Belpre pitcher was problematic it was because the Athens third base coach was telling his players to "turn into the ball, take one for the team". My understanding of the rule is that you have to make an attempt to get out of way.

Since when is a 4 hit, 11 strike out, complete game performance considered problematic?

What was problematic, was the 5 errors, and the 3 runners picked off. ( two at first and one at home )

Well, considering the poster above is looking at things from an Athens perspective, I am assuming he/she was meaning that the pitcher was good. He was problematic for Athens.

[g w mclintock]

JMO...
I don't think you have to "make an attempt" according to high school rules. If you're hit, you're hit.

Regardless of the rule, most umpires will award the base unless they feel you tried to get hit, such as leaning into a pitch or sticking out your elbow.

Most hitting coaches teach "rolling" so that if contact occurs it will be in the back and less likely to cause injury. Rolling lets the hitter maintain a solid balanced stance by not moving his feet.

No high school coach would encourage his players to get hit and possibly injured but they do encourage them to hold their ground as long as possible and not be afraid of the ball.

[gpgm6566]

GW, the third base coach yelled to the batter at the plate," Turn into the ball, take one for the team" on more than one occasion.

[diamondD1]

That is because turning your shoulder in and staying inside the pitch is exactly how you teach a hitter to approach the breaking ball. GW, there was a considerable lack of understanding about hitting mechanics which caused people to assume the phrase "turn into it" means "get hit by the pitch".

Once a hitter bails out from an inside pitch he will never be able to hit a curve ball. You have to stay put, keep your hands back, and assume it is going to break.

The Belpre pitcher was good and was in fact problematic for the Athens hitters. He threw his breaking ball on the inside part of the plate, starting it at the hitters and having it break over the middle of the plate. It was being called for strikes, therefore a hitter must approach that pitch with an intent to hit it, not "get out of the way". Later in the game he threw one that didn't break, which hit an Athens batter. That is what this discussion is about.

It wasn't a factor in the game, which I will say again was a very good, competitive game between both teams.

[g w mclintock]

Very well stated as usual DD1. The finer points of the game are often misunderstood.

[hunting1]

this was a good game between two good teams. Belpre is still trying to find there way. They have lost two starters because of grades, and Logue hurt his leg , so now you have three starters out. Athens played well they didn't make any baserunning errors and only a couple fielding errors, Belpre has a habit of averaging I would say 4 to 5 errors a game, usually allowing the lead off batter of every inning to get on, and getting picked off on bases, base running errors have taken Belpre out of rally's many times, there is absolutely no talking from the coaches for some reason. Any how very good game good luck to both teams.

[Gib25]

As the third base coach in question, I can tell you that no one would ask their players to take a fast ball from a pitcher throwing as hard as the Belpre pitcher was throwing. We were "bailing out" on his slider and I simply wanted them to tuck their front side and hang tough. If you don't see the validity of that, then everyone is wasting their time trying to explain what was happening. Belpre has a very nice team and Coach Mullen always does a very good job. Azar and Watkins are very sound and the catcher did a very nice job. Cline was dominating after the 3rd and Summers made a great throw to cut down a run in the second that may have saved the game. Getting wins at Belpre and Wellston have been big. Not many teams will escape those venues with a win. This was our first trip to Belpre and I don't think some of their fans like me very much. I'm afraid I'm too old to change. We love being in the new league and we are well aware that that the baseball played in the TVC Ohio does not have to take a back seat to any league. And I think we have our pitching figured out. We just seem to have the other teams pitchers confused with Brandon Webb.

[93Bulldog]

Im not sure the TVC-Ohio is quite ready for the 'baseball' intensity that the Bulldogs third base coach brings to every game ...

GREAT WIN for Athens on the road @ Belpre ... 2 HUGE league wins at two very tough places to compete ... If Athens can somehow pull out a win @ Meigs, they should be in a real nice position to win it all ...

Definitely - still too many games to play - but they would be creeping into that 'drivers seat'.

[hunting1]

I like the intensity of the Athens coach, not taking anything away from the Belpre coaches but they are the least vocal of any coach I have ever seen. I have been areound baseball all my life in coaching, umpering, and playing, and there was always talking whats next what happens if the ball is hit to the right side of the field and a runner on second, you were always talking to your hitters and your baserunners. I believe the lack of talk by Belpre coaches is the sole reason we get so many kids picked off on bases. I like coaches like the Athens third base coach I have seen him around for awhile and he does know baseball