BlueTip

What will Ryle's lineup look like this year? I think they had a big junior class last year so I assume they'll be senior heavy.

This is exactly right and was the difference in the game. Conner's point guard got her 4th foul around mid-point of the 3rd quarter. That left Conner with Scott as the only ball handler and led to all the turnovers against the press.

From the new Avett Brothers album...

Congrats to Emily and her family.

It's common for sports to share fields, including baseball fields. But if you can afford a turf football field, you can afford to fill in and roll the infield. The last time my son played there he took a grounder in the throat and another three hopper bounced over his head. If my son played infield for Beechwood I'd be concerned for his safety.

The turf football field seems like a good spot for soccer.

Yes.

Hopefully he negotiated some improvements to Beechwood's field. It's awful.

I will check it out.

Thanks for the heads up.

Nice. My favorite band. And I've never heard one of their songs on the radio.

Sorry, off topic... 2HC = Wilco fan?

Thanks for the info on Cameron. He's got the tools to be a hell of a baseball player but it's not his first love obviously. Don't go to too much trouble to get more info. I'm just surprised I haven't heard rumors yet, since info like pro/college interest seems to spread like wildfire. I know other kids asked my son about recruiting visits and what was being spread around about him was only about half true.

Thanks for the answer but I was most curious about the Conner players mentioned previously. (Though, I have to admit I didn't expect to see a local kid being recruited for baseball by Baylor. ) I'd like to know which professional baseball teams have contacted Cameron Fogle. He didn't play summer ball as far as I know. And I'd like to know which schools are interested in Maines and Padgett. I know this past spring that a Transy coach informed Arlinghaus of interest in Fogle and Maines.

Which colleges are recruiting these players for baseball? Or perhaps I should say which schools are showing interest?

He would have taken State. You guys should read this: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/albert_chen/05/07/dylan.bundy.trevor.bauer.long.toss/index.html

Clyde I'm astounded at how few people know even basic rules. Obviously it doesn't matter if the ball bounced first. You can hit a ball that bounces. And you can be HBP on a ball that bounces. Reminds me of a game a couple nights ago when I observed an argument about the hand being part of the bat on a HBP vs. foul ball.

I've never met Coach Baioni (I hope I'm spelling that right) but would like to compliment him on his work on the field. In addition to that, after my son's team was eliminated by Highlands Monday night, Coach Baoini took the time to talk briefly with my son and congratulate him on his high school career...then gave him a game ball. That was a very classy thing to do and it meant a lot to my son (and to me). So count me as a fan. I will be rooting for Highlands to move on to State.

Yes, Jared Williams. He's the younger brother of Senior 1B Jake Williams.

Thank you for asking. Conner's first baseman is Jake Williams. When he slid into the fence, he hit the metal pole and tore a large gash in his right shin. It was 9cm by 2.5 cm. He received numerous internal stitches and 13 staples to close it up. And of course he'll be out for an undetermined amount of time. If anyone has an update on Brady Reese please post that as we are also obviously concerned about his health. Thanks.

This was the first Colonels game I've seen. You've obviously been there a few times. I didn't see or hear a lot of coaching going on. Would you view that as normal? They just let the boys go out there and play?

There are times when you can say that the game was closer than the score made it appear. This isn't one of those times. Team Cincinnati has a really nice hitting team. They squared up a bunch of pitches. I didn't think Gorbandt threw a bad game. I think the PU could have given him some strikes on his curve early, but he didn't, so more fastballs in the zone means more hits for TC. I don't keep a book but just kept running totals in my head. I had Gorbandt with 5 strikeouts. I counted 4-5 errors by the Colonels and (again just counting in my head) figured maybe 7-8 of the runs were earned. I'd have to go back and re-create the innings to know for sure. Either way, the better team won. TC was aggressive which I like. And they held the Colonels to maybe 3 or 4 hits. Their starter threw a nice game and was effective primarily by throwing inside fastballs getting jam shots for easy outs. I don't understand why the Colonels in the dugout aren't watching what the pitcher is doing. He was struggling with his offspeed. He's busting guys inside consistently with the fastball. But Colonels hitters get up there and crowd the plate wanting to jerk the ball to their pull field. I'm somewhat surprised one of the coaches didn't tell them to make an adjustment.

Stein's bunt in the 4th was a clean hit. As mentioned before the pitcher was slow to the ball. Stein beat it for sure. His bunt in the 5th was not a hit. Third baseman was in and fielded it cleanly. The throw beats Stein easily but it's pulled low to the inside and 1B can't make the dig.

After Ryle got out of the bases loaded, no outs, jam the previous night, the suspension of the game seems to have worked in Conner's favor. Ryle definitely had the mo last night. But both teams showed up today and for today's pitchers (Isler and Maines) there was little time to work into the game and find a rhythm. Maines threw really well in the 10th and 11th. Isler looked ok in the 10th but really didn't throw many strikes. Conner's hitters chased a lot. In the 11th Leichty hits the grounder down the third base line that gets caught up in the mud and turns a single into a double. Double by Ryle, single by Williams, and a sac fly by Maines and that's it. 2 runs. It's hindsight now of course but it seems Ryle might have been better served starting Lonkard in the 10th. He doesn't pitch much but looked good out there, probably in the low 80's and he was aggressive. But it was too late when he was brought in. I got to talk to Gorbandt and Downs today and congratulated both on how well they pitched last night. I was really impressed. I was also impressed with Way for Conner who pitched 3 scoreless innings last night to get through the 7th, 8th, and 9th. It's a shame that one of these teams has to be eliminated. Both are capable of winning multiple games in the regional.

Definitely a lot of suspense. Both starting pitchers pitched well enough to win most games. Just enough hitting to keep it interesting. I'm not sure but I think Mark Downs didn't see the pop up in front of him to start the 9th. Walked the next batter then for some reason on a grounder right to him, the first baseman tried to throw to 3rd when he had no chance to get the lead runner. Bases loaded. Strike out, botched squeeze, and strike out and the inning is over with no damage. Crazy. On a side note, the PU had a nice tight zone the entire night until late then called 4-5 low pitches that he hadn't called all night. I could live with that. The first base ump had no business being on the field in a big game. Two terrible calls and I noticed 3 different occasions that the other umps had to move him because he didn't know what position to be in on the field. Obviously inexperienced and should have been given the 3B spot rather than 1B. It should be an interesting finish tomorrow, weather permitting.