South Caldwell vs. Charlotte Christian GAME PREVIEW

Tonights game

"You guys seem to forget that the big stud is in the wings for Christian..Gaines...could be a great pitching dual....it will be interesting to see who pitches..sounds like Christian has 2 great choices!"



I love the idea of Bard starting and Gaines in relief. Bard is as tough as nails or maybe tougher and Gaines can come in to shut down this game. If Christian's hitters are patient and they don't run themselves out of a rally, they will be in it till the final out.

 

For CCS, Gaines pitched earlier in the week vs Burns... he might be available for an inning or two but i doubt it
bard is tonight's starter for CCS
caldwell, bradley, nichols in the pen

For SC, Madison pitched 9 last night so he is spent. but after that i'm betting everyone is good to go and most importantly want to go.

should be a great game

 

All I know is CCS better get ready for a crazy game where the fans could make a little...or a lot of an impact. Having played against grueling Caldwell County and Shelby legion teams/fans this past summer I can vouch that their fans will make it a home field advantage and should CCS make an error or have a bad call against them, they better not IMPLODE becuase the fans will sure make it easy and frustrating.

All in all though should be a dandy of a game. I am predicting 3-2 CCS with the edge.

I think all these could go either way but I am gonna say.
Starting Pitching - CCS
Relief Pitching - SC
Infield Defense - CCS
Outfield arms - CCS
Hitting - SC
Coaching - even

But just like someone said....the team with the fewest errors will win.

 

Rocket posted the score

CC-4
SC-0

Bard pitched a 2 hitter. I hope people realize that these kids are mentally tough, talented, road tested and won't quit

Please post details and thoughts of the game

 

Well, it was quite a night for the Knights. Sweet 16 #1 South Caldwell (19-0) vs #4 CCS (21-5). SC coming off an 11 inning 3-2 victory over #2 East Rutherford. Drum roll...

The Knights were as relaxed as could be pre-game. Then, J Bard took the mound and just shut them down. Under 80 pitches. 60 some for strikes. Virtually all fastballs. 0 walks. And he added a double and a single. This outing was better than his win against the Ohio Warhawks in Jupiter this past fall with the On-Deck O's. This kid will compete against anybody, anytime. He's proved it again and again.

With Gragg on the hill for SC, Knights struck first: top of third, Fronk leads off with an infield hit that bounced off the pitcher. C Bradley with the sac. M fulginiti with a hit up the middle - again off the pitcher. 1st and 3rd 1 out. K Fulginiti with a deep sac fly to rt puts the Knights on the board scoring Fronk. 2 out. M Fulginiti advances to 2nd on balk. Kirkpatrick laces a ball into left driving in the 2nd run.

Later like the 5th maybe, with runners again at 1st and 3rd, K Fulginiti safety squeezes the 3rd run in for his 2nd rbi. In the 6th Bard leads off with his double. Chester Martin triples to rt. Thats all she wrote. CCS 4, SC 0.

Defensively, I can't think of an error SC made. CCS might have had 1 so it was a very, very well played game. SC had a man on 2nd once if I recall.

Bard rec'd best pitcher in his bracket. M fulginiti rec'd best tournament hitter. M Bumgarner was best pitcher in his bracket and a SC player got best defense.

This is the second tourney championship for CCS this, the other at Wesminster Academy in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Conference play begins next week at PDS. And if you don't think the PDS-CCS match-ups are much... you just don't know the history. Anything baseball goes and its always a donnybrook!

 

Congratulations to Charlotte Christian from a South Caldwell fan. You guys had a very impressive performance and Bard is definitely one of the overall best players in the state. South was limited to only 2 hits which goes to show just how good Bard's performance was. The infield of CC is very impressive robbing South on what looked like base hits against any other team. Hopefully this loss will help South in the long run. It is hard to imagine South having to face better pitching then it has seen in the past 2 nights. South is really effective as are most teams when they can get their leadoff guy on base. The past 2 nights I can't remember this happening. Best of luck to both teams the remainder of the season.

 

South Caldwell vs. Charlotte Christian

ditto to the SC fan!! CCS seemed to have their night tonight..Bard didn't dissappoint , and the infield was very impressive....solid team.....liked watching them play....I've watched them over the tournament and really like their aggressive hitting....it's easy to be intimidated by such a large school with such talent, but gotta give it to CCS they came out fighting and never looked back!! Look like they are having fun too!! Love to see that in baseball.....old guys notice these things...

good luck to both teams...impressed to hear about the win in Florida too..12to6.....

 

wow what an exciting game. CC came out aggresive and confident and really wanted to prove something to alot of people across the state, they don't get to play the #1, undefeated team very often and they wanted to make sure not to dissapoint folks who've never seen them play. Bard was phenomenal tonight and was just located his fastball wherever he wanted, only threw 3 curveballs and a couple changeups. Christian just played a flawless game, made all the plays in the field including the play of the game when charles "cheeto" bradley made a circus diving catch of a blooper in RF. CC hit the ball very well posting 9 hits. its hard to believe these guys have 5 losses but right now they are playing great baseball and its fun to be apart of. CC's record stands at 21-5 as of now and SCs is 19-1, SC will be fine and i look for them to make a deep run into the playoffs.

 

Must have been a great performance to see! Congratulations to CC and to SC for a game that lived up to the hype. What is exciting to me is to read a couple of posts about Bard being able to locate his fastball at will. Seems to be a lost art.

If you are a high school pitcher who throws 85+, there is no reason to fool around with a curveball very often. If you can locate that fastball with some movement, you'll get most out at this level. That seems to be lost on so many coaches who fall in love with calling the curve.

Nothing like those awkward swings on strike three to bring back memories of that 10 year old who could throw a spinner and make everyone look sick. That kid could make you look like a genius. But how does that help the pitcher in the long run?

If you are throwing 85+, I would argue that is probably your best pitch. Why not try to maximize your stengths? Learn to throw that sucker any place you want in the zone and I guarantee you that those batters will not be dug in and hanging over the plate. The coaches who know, understand, and teach this will be successful - not to mention the kids.

It's just baseball.....it's not rocket science.

But.....you either know it, or you don't.

 

I agree with you to a point. The better hitters will be able to time that fast ball and that's all it will take. Learn to throw the two and the four seam. Spotting your pitches is the key. If you can't do that as a high school player, you will not succeed at the next level. As far as the curve ball and change up, you HAVE to have it and show it. Don't believe for a minute that the Morris's, Bray's and the Small's of this county would be looking at the major colleges if they didn't have it. Don't throw it all the time, (which they don't) just let the opposition know you have it.