Week 10 - 4/30-5/5

AK OVER PROV

AK defeats Providence 8-3. Thornton with the win AK 8 walks and three hits. Jake Gavin 1-2 3RBI. Brandon Donahue with RBI. Lets get the hat for the seed.

 

Thornton was impressive. The blow away strikeout to Campana with 2 men on was just gigantic.

 

*****1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
AK***0 1 2 0 4 1 0 8 3 2
PROV*0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 5 5

Hitting

AK
Jacob Gavin 1-2 3 rbi's
Brandon Donahue 1-4 2 rbi's
Preston Tiller 1-2 2 runs scored
Myles Garner scored 3 times

Prov
Andrew MacLatchie 3 run HR
DeJuneas, Rothman, Campana, and Buttrey with a hit a piece.

Pitching

AK
Trent Thorton 6IP 9K 2BB 5H 3ER
Justin French 1IP 1K 0H 0ER

Prov
Ty Buttrey 4IP 7K 6BB 1H 4ER
Sam Dugdale 2IP 4K 2BB 2H 0ER
Jimmy Doolittle 1IP 0ER


There's the numbers, I'll let others paint the picture for you.

 

Indy 7 Butler 6

Butler blows 4-0 lead with at least 5 throwing errors , pickoff errors and way too many walks. Indy had a few huge hits at the right time. Bad end to the season by the Bulldogs. Gotta regroup by Thursday. Sorry for weak post, just kinda lost interest to details due to poor play. Give credit to Indy for taking advantage and getting the win.

 

South Meck 4 East Meck 3

SM scored two in B7 to Win.

 

Wow! 5 errors and 8 walks for Providence....must have been painful for the Panthers faithful....

 

Pitching and defense wins.......

 

MP over RR 10-5

More on all the SW4A games at www.southwestern4abaseball.com/news.html

 

Ardrey Kell vs Providence:

This was only my second game I have attended all year...and unfortunately for Providence, both games they lost. I assume this means I have been banned from their facility during the conf playoffs.

Providence clearly has the stronger talented team, but Coach Bagwell's Knights appear to be a gritty team that gets things done.

AK played a nearly flawless game at the right time. However, last night was The Trent Thornton Show. The young man is impressive with his "stuff", but his makeup is what seperates him from most. He just challenges you---tells you "here it is. If you hit it, I'll tip my hat." But it's usually others that is tipping their hat. In every game there are key pitches that will determine an inning. That one pitch that will either get you an out or extend the inning and bring more pressure. It is that one pitch that makes Trent different than most----and bignatsfan nailed it. The strikeout of Campagna set the tone that he was in command this night and he was going to carry his team to victory.

The funny part for me started before the game. For the last 6 years I have always stood in the same place each year--over by the opposing bullpen--with my youngest son. All of a sudden I heard what sounded like a bullet go past me. I turned around and it was Trent throwing in the bullpen. Now, I thought he had already warmed up and was just staying loose. I asked him, "Are we in your way?" he said, 'Yeah!" I wasn't sure if he was kidding, so I asked him again. This time he gave me a look--you know, the kind that says I ain't playin' and he replied, "yeah!!!!" Well, I thought "hmm...maybe I don't want to catch a fb in the head." I'm a father of a pitcher and the one thing I learned is to not interfere or distract a starting pitcher before a game---especially a big rival game. So we moved...and dagummit, soon as he was through, I tried to go back to my usual section and it was flooded with people. Oh well, Vance Tiller showed me where the PSL seats are, so I now have a new seating section for next year's game.

You know, after years attending this series, this was the least competitive game I have witnessed between these two programs in..........wow, I can't remember a time when it wasn't. I'm sure Coach Hignight will use this loss to his advantage, while Coach Bagwell's team continues to overachieve in what may be Hal's best year coaching (outside of the championship team.) which brings up a point that I didn't know. For the first time in his coaching days Hal is not coaching 3rd base. I have no idea what his reasoning is for doing that, but I like it alot. I've had many conversations with college coaches about this same subject and they all have differing reasons. However, the one I like best is Coach Kermit Smith at Lander explaining why he doesn't coach 3rd base:

- He likes a young coach that is aggressive and not afraid to make a mistake at 3rd. He feels that will generate many more runs than outs.
- Being in the dugout allows him to get a feel for his team each night. It also allows him to address, immediately, any "coaching" situation with a player.

I've always been a proponent of it and I'm glad to see Coach Bagwell doing the same...for whatever his reasons.

 

Standing Invitation

Braves, that was a secret spot for just us and thirty or so of our best friends. You have a standing invitation to join me for any future AK/PHS game as my guest. There are special seating arrangements that you must accept, and I sincerely apologize for anything above PG-13 that your young son may hear from OTHER parents.

The game may not have seemed as competitive as you are used to seeing from these two teams, but you can't find that atmosphere just anywhere. Trust me - the participants on the field would tell a different story -- they are all competitors - giving all they had.

To quote a philospher "what lies behind us and what lies before us compares little to what lies within us" --- neither of these teams look back and both coaches do a great job of keeping them in the "moment." A win or loss last night was neither team's ultimate goal nor defining moment.

As with all of the AK/PHS games I've seen - the one thing that is predictable is that Coach Bagwell and Coach Hignight always compete on the field as fiercely as any rivalry around.

Respect.