After reading all the accounts and the paper and seeing how the game unfolded, I think those saying Bertke should have been pulled in the 6th have a good argument. If you can keep the game at 5 or 6 - 2 against Doyle (or even Schmits or Sullivan IMO, though I know many will disagree with that), Beechwood has a very good chance of pulling it out. Obviously they scored a couple in the top of the 7th off Doyle and had two runners on at the last out. If it is a 1 or 2 run game at that point, it is a lot different. The question becomes though who do you bring in. Personally, I think Johnson is a bad match up against NCC. He is too "straight". For those who post bring someone else in, tell us who and why they would have been effective. Back up your argument with an option instead of just taking pot shots. Coach M could have rolled the dice and hoped someone else could come in and pull a Nathan Snyder. I can see both sides of the argument. I just want to hear who the next pitcher should be and why, and I don't think it should be Johnson.

 

The fact of the matter is Beechwood and NCC were a lot alike this year. They have one "shut down" pitcher and good hitting. The NCC hitters were able to do damage against Bertke and the Beechwood hitters couldn't keep pace. I think you will see what I mean when NCC plays Boone. I know Boone has had some ups and downs at the plate and maybe Sullivan or Schmits will keep them in check better than I expect, but IMO if NCC is going to win that game they will need to put up at least 5 runs off Laumann.

IMO, the Boone / NCC game will come down to NewCath's pitching. Laumann's been solid all year, and NewCath's offense has been pretty consistent--they'll get their hits. What remains to be seen is how well Boone will do at the plate against NewCath's pitching. Not sure who NCC is going to throw---both Schmits and Sullivan have had great outings...but they've also laid an egg once or twice. It will come down to control---If either of them can keep Boone off balance by controlling their off-speed pitches, then NCC will do well. However, if either Schmits or Sullivan get behind in the count and are forced to thrown FB's, then Boone Co can put on a hitting clinic. These teams played last weekend, but it wasn't really indicative of both teams at full strenght. NewCath just came off a big win at Harrison Co, which ended late---most of the kids probably didn't get home until well after midnight the night before the Boone game. And on top of that--it was NCC's Sr. day---and NCC pitched a Sr. who is last on the depth chart. Also, there were others in the field who normally wouldn't be there. Sounds like a bunch of excuses---maybe so. But I think Boone is smart enough to know that NCC will be a different team Wednesday compared to the one that Boone smoked last weekend.

I think Boone wins 8-2. Laumann will be tough to score on.

Maybe, just maybe the Best team won this one irregardless of the heat, pass balls, wild pitches, botched plays, coaching decisions, etc, etc. The better teams usually come out on top when its all on the line. Great season to BW and to the Srs, Good luck to the Breds in the next one.

Maybe, just maybe the Best team won this one irregardless of the heat, pass balls, wild pitches, botched plays, coaching decisions, etc, etc. The better teams usually come out on top when its all on the line. Great season to BW and to the Srs, Good luck to the Breds in the next one.

 

Very true comment Sweeperboy. In the two biggest games of the year for Beechwood, they faced NCC and lost both times in similar fashion. Beechwood couldn't do much against Cain and the NCC hitters scored off Beechwood's best pitchers. It's hard to argue with results when it has happened twice.

I think Boone wins 8-2. Laumann will be tough to score on.

 

One thing for sure is that NewCath's draw will require them to play solid ball in they are going to live to see another day. I hope you're wrong on the score, but regardless of the outcome--you're right about Jackson...he's a player. Does anyone know if he's ever really been tested by an opponent who hits as well as NewCath?

After reading all the accounts and the paper and seeing how the game unfolded, I think those saying Bertke should have been pulled in the 6th have a good argument. If you can keep the game at 5 or 6 - 2 against Doyle (or even Schmits or Sullivan IMO, though I know many will disagree with that), Beechwood has a very good chance of pulling it out. Obviously they scored a couple in the top of the 7th off Doyle and had two runners on at the last out. If it is a 1 or 2 run game at that point, it is a lot different. The question becomes though who do you bring in. Personally, I think Johnson is a bad match up against NCC. He is too "straight". For those who post bring someone else in, tell us who and why they would have been effective. Back up your argument with an option instead of just taking pot shots. Coach M could have rolled the dice and hoped someone else could come in and pull a Nathan Snyder. I can see both sides of the argument. I just want to hear who the next pitcher should be and why, and I don't think it should be Johnson.

 

I don't know BW's staff well enough to suggest who should have/could have been brought in. I'm just assuming that with 30 wins on the season, they have someone on the staff that would have potentially been a solid relief replacement for a starter that was pretty clearly tired and starting to struggle and get hit. If not, so be it and I won't argue otherwise. But I do think the last 2 or 3 runs scored by NCC were pretty critical and were simply too big a mountain for BW to climb in one final inning.

Josh is Beechwood best pitcher,but he was not the only one on the field playing his heart out. Both catchers worked just as hard, if not harder than anyone on the field wearing that hot gear,all I am saying I do not think it was right to rest a whole season on one kid. They did not win 30 games because of one kid and they surely did not lose to NCC because of one kid it take a whole team to win and lose. Great job by NCC coaches for having faith in the kids on the bench.

Good post Marley

I was at the game and I have to say it was the worst coaching I've seen in a while. I was shocked when Beechwood's pitcher stayed in to pitch the 6th inning, much less the 7th. They were still in the game at 3-2, NCC's starter was out so you'd figure you would score some more runs. I'm sorry but this one was on the Beechwood coaching staff.

I was at the game and I have to say it was the worst coaching I've seen in a while. I was shocked when Beechwood's pitcher stayed in to pitch the 6th inning, much less the 7th. They were still in the game at 3-2, NCC's starter was out so you'd figure you would score some more runs. I'm sorry but this one was on the Beechwood coaching staff.

 

Over the top comment. Even if Bertke is pulled after the 5th, Beechwood still didn't score enough to win. In baseball, as in most sports, it never comes down to one play, decision, etc. As marley stated above, it takes a whole team to win or lose and hindsight is 20/20. For those who know Beechwood and want to question keeping Bertke in, I want to hear your pitching plan for the rest of the tournament. Who comes in for Bertke in the 6th? Who pitches Wednesday? Who pitches Friday? Yeah, yeah, yeah ... I know ... you have to win the first game to keep playing ... blah, blah, blah ... but you have to have a plan for the tournament too.

He gave up 5 in the 6th so while hindsight is 20/20.... if a fresh pitcher comes in and, who knows, he may give up 10 but he may give up 0. NCC, with the 2 in the 5th has 3 runs and Beechwood ended up with 4. I think Josh is a very good pitcher, the best they have, but it was a heat index of 100 and he did very well against a very good hitting team. Josh could still pitch Friday and he didn't win 30 games by himself. I don't know their pitchers very well so I would say they should have gone to their #2 (you tell me who that is), then on Wednesday you go with #3. On Friday you come back with Bertke, if you are still playing. I felt bad for Bertke as he is a competitor and never want to come out but that's why coaches are there and Myeroff is one of the best, that's why I'm shocked he didn't go get him. Just my opinion though.

Over the top comment. Even if Bertke is pulled after the 5th, Beechwood still didn't score enough to win. In baseball, as in most sports, it never comes down to one play, decision, etc. As marley stated above, it takes a whole team to win or lose and hindsight is 20/20. For those who know Beechwood and want to question keeping Bertke in, I want to hear your pitching plan for the rest of the tournament. Who comes in for Bertke in the 6th? Who pitches Wednesday? Who pitches Friday? Yeah, yeah, yeah ... I know ... you have to win the first game to keep playing ... blah, blah, blah ... but you have to have a plan for the tournament too.

 

I don't think the comment was over the top---in fact, I think it's right on the money. In a one-and-done format, you play for today's game...not tomorrow's. It's ridiculous to think that Myerhoff was worrying about who'd pitch in semi's if they pulled Bertke--if they didn't win the game, there are no semi's. The heat was surely affecting players on both sides--so it's conceivable that the guy who's workign the most (pitcher) would be affected the most--by the heat. And I think that point that is being made is this: worrying about a plan for the rest of the tournament should not have been a consideration when the team was fighting to survive. Of course, I'll give you this much---no way for Coach M (or anyone else) to know that NCC would get to Josh in the 6th like they did. But once they started knocking the ball around the park, IMO, he should have been pulled.

I don't think the comment was over the top---in fact, I think it's right on the money. In a one-and-done format, you play for today's game...not tomorrow's. It's ridiculous to think that Myerhoff was worrying about who'd pitch in semi's if they pulled Bertke--if they didn't win the game, there are no semi's. The heat was surely affecting players on both sides--so it's conceivable that the guy who's workign the most (pitcher) would be affected the most--by the heat. And I think that point that is being made is this: worrying about a plan for the rest of the tournament should not have been a consideration when the team was fighting to survive. Of course, I'll give you this much---no way for Coach M (or anyone else) to know that NCC would get to Josh in the 6th like they did. But once they started knocking the ball around the park, IMO, he should have been pulled.

:thumb:

I don't think the comment was over the top---in fact, I think it's right on the money. In a one-and-done format, you play for today's game...not tomorrow's. It's ridiculous to think that Myerhoff was worrying about who'd pitch in semi's if they pulled Bertke--if they didn't win the game, there are no semi's. The heat was surely affecting players on both sides--so it's conceivable that the guy who's workign the most (pitcher) would be affected the most--by the heat. And I think that point that is being made is this: worrying about a plan for the rest of the tournament should not have been a consideration when the team was fighting to survive. Of course, I'll give you this much---no way for Coach M (or anyone else) to know that NCC would get to Josh in the 6th like they did. But once they started knocking the ball around the park, IMO, he should have been pulled.

 

NCC's coach did the same thing. He didn't "play for today's game" when he put Doyle on the mound. If he were pulling out all the stops to win the Beechwood game, Schmitts or Sullivan would have followed Cain. Why pitch Doyle? Because he wanted to save Schmitts and Sullivan for Boone Co. Did CCH follow Shumate with Severson in a close game versus Newport? No, because you have to think about winning the whole thing too.

 

But I don't want to belabor this further because everyone has made good arguments in favor of pulling Bertke to the extent that I think I agree with you. I would have sent Bertke back out for the 6th and had a reliever ready at the first sign of trouble. Try to keep the game within a couple of runs knowing it is likely we would score off Doyle or whoever else in the top of the 7th.