Providence/ SM discussion

PHS SM Update!

Left game in the bottom of the fourth after South had just knocked out starter Alex Martin who battled valiantly yet pitch count got high, and not his usual sharp self! South's hitters were VERY VERY fiesty to say the least. Martin was not sharp yielding a couple of walks as well as some suspect PHS bad bounces and D! South in the early going had their share as well!!! Dietrich continues to swing a hot bat as well as the PHS hitters looking very confident at the plate! Dietrich hit a two run dinger to up the score 5-2 and knocking out starter Worrell (very impressive composure after retiring the side in the top of the 1st BASES LOADED, 3ko's and one run across and NOOOOOOOO outs) who seemed to mirror Martin's valient effort! Dietrich also hit a bomb to dead center that was snagged at the 370 sign in center! Spain in relief for South and Jones for PHS! South had two runners aboard after scratching their third run with one out! wellllll someone else finish it up!?!?!?! Both teams failed to do some vital/crucial communicating as well as executing in the early going! Something they need to improve on if they want to continue to be considered atop the state's elite! :huh: :applause: :xyzthumbs

 

The score knotted up at 5-5 until the top of the 7th when Providence pushed across 3 runs to go ahead 8-5.

The bottom of the 7th, South Meck scored 4 to win 9-8...thrilling game for both sides.

 

Interesting!

as we predicted earlier! MMost 80% of the hard and even soft hit balls driven between 2nd and short! Total the hit and well hit balls and you will see this! Secondly hitters approah to the pitchers was the key! Also, pitchers NOT trying to make i.e. "perfect pitches" they apparently did try and do most of the night??? Resulting in getting behind and having to grove some nooooooo?

 

A few thoughts about the South Meck/Providence game.....agree w/ "O".neither team last night could have beaten the traditional NC powerhouses; too many errors on both sides. This was a hitters game, the strike zone saw to that. Worrell was relieved at the right time, played a tough game, but threw a lot to the bases trying to get the runner...threw well considering he threw last Wednesday. Martin probably was relieved too soon. Agreed, his "A" game wasn't there, but the Providence was winning, & the game was in control....1 out 2 on..make him prove why Clemson likes him...remember...one of those runs was unearned. It became a slugfest after these two left the game. I am going to make this next statement knowing that this board is dominated by South Meck supporters. We need to question the rating system.....#4 in the state winning at the bottom of the 7th, against "lowly ranked" Providence? Either South Meck is overrated or Providence is underrated. As an outsider looking in, if you read the Observer, & didn't know these teams, you would have expected a rout.

 

Great observation, Rockman. Agree with everything except this:

Using this logic, than Alexander Central's 9-8 win against Freedom in extra innings should not warrant their moving up to 2nd...but they did and they deserve it because they found a way to win even while struggling.

Providence is ranked 7th in the State...can't really say they are underrated. But what many people from the outside looking in don't realize is that Providence continues to show strong improvement from each game. I believe they will continue to improve to the point that observers will give them the respect as a powerhouse in the State. I would like to see them play the teams now, who defeated them earlier....their hitting and approach to hitting is so much better.

High School teams go through peaks and valleys. Who would have thought Myers Park would lose 2 games to Vance last year, get blown out by Providence, but come within one game of winning the State title.

I suggest that people don't read too much into one game or even one week of games, but notice how a team rebounds and improves as the season goes along. The end of the year results are so much more important than the beginning of the year.

As far as State powerhouses go....people always point to the east as the favorites. Hoggard is very good...but so...West has many teams as good and at all levels. TC Roberson, West Rowan, Ashbrook, West Henderson, Independence, Providence, South Meck, North Meck, North Forsyth, East Forsyth...etc. All of these teams are capable of beating anyone across the State and at all classifications. Powerhouses?....Hmmm...may not be that one dominating team this year...but are there State Championship quality teams in Charlotte and the western part of the State?..a definite yes!!

PS- forgive me if I left out a particular school...jsut naming some off the top of my head.

 

Wrooooooooooooooong....I would agree that we South Meck supporters are probably more vocal and post more often on TBR but by no means dominate the boards?!?

 

O boy

Rockman, I don't know if you are aware of the history of this game. I am a player on South Meck and I would like to ask you to start coming to some more SM/Prov. games. This is like a Duke vs. Carolina basketball game. This year Carolina was ranked outside of the top 10 in the nation and Duke was #1 and the game was won by 2 and 3 points. Either Carolina was underrated or Duke was overrated. Highway 51 is the tobacco road of this game. We are seperated by 8 miles of road and it doesn't matter if you are 4-8 coming into the game or 12-0 its going to be a good one.

I don't like your opinion but I respect it because its your opinion. This is what I had to say about your comments.

 

Rockman, I gotta agree with my boy Sugarjet on this one. Going into a rivalry game rankings mean nothing, both teams are totally pumped and when both teams bring such high levels of energy you get a great game (like the one Tues.). Now I've played in and have seen plenty of intense games but the SM/PROV game was at the top of the list. I felt that offensively both teams executed very well, especially in clutch situations. As for your mentioning of multiple errors I feel you are incorrect. Because of the baserunning skills and speed of both teams, the defense was often in a position where they had to rush to make a play, often causing a error. However, if they sit back on the ball and field it cleanly, there would be NO chance for an out because of the speed of the batters. Also, both teams bunted balls and hit balls in the infield that were just flat out infield hits.
I felt both teams swung the bat extremely well (26 total hits) against some of the top pitchers in the state. If these two teams can put up 8 and 9 runs against those pitchers, they shouldn't have trouble this season. I don't think either team was or is overrated. South Meck was ranked above Providence and the game showed that, but one can easily see that Providence is going to go deep in the playoffs with exceuction like they showed Tues. I don'r know Rockman, Tuesday was the best day of baseball I've ever been a part off...HUGE crowd, HUGE game, HUGE ending, and I feel your comments take away from all the great stuff that happened. You saw teams scrapping and clawing and coming from behind to win, and you want to talk about how their overrated. What I saw in both teams Tuesday would imply both teams are underanked...both of these teams execute in the clutch and they GET THE JOB DONE, they both have cohesive teams, and everyone stands up for their teammates, and when a team has those things, that team is going to be GREAT. Notice there was not one word mentioned about talent, because I would much rather have a cohesive team with good talent, than a non-cohesive team with great talent...anyday. The great thing about both these teams is they have a cohesive team with GREAT talent, and it's going to be unbeatable.

 

Wow...well said by one of the competitors of that great game.

 

As an independent spectator who went to see this game as a fan of high school baseball, I want to add my 2 cents worth to what has been said.

It was the best high school game I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot of them). After watching playoff games last year all the way to the state championship series, I can say with confidence that BOTH of these two teams are capable of winning a state championship this year. The hitting was unbelievable, especially in the clutch, and as Sugarjet and Hardhitter have noted, it was against high quality pitching. I've seen both Martin and Worrell dominate, but the hitters were the winners tonight. The guys you'd expect to play well didn't disappoint, and many others stepped up, too. The homeruns by Dietrich and Austin were impressive. I thought both Spain for SM and Jones for Prov did quality jobs in relief of the two best pitchers in the conference, but the hitters were just on, using the whole field and staying with every pitch. Not to disagree with other posters, but I thought the two most impressive and clutch hits of the night were the opposite field, down-the line pinch hit double in the top of the seventh by Michael Moore that began the Providence three-run inning, and the opposite field, down-the-line double by Wes Borden that tied the game in the middle of the South rally in the bottom of the last inning.

It is hard to find a weakness on either of these teams. Both play loose and confident, with a lot of intensity. For South in particular that is a huge change from last year, when they seemed to be wound as tight as a top. Both teams know how to hit behind runners, work the count and go with the pitch. Both have good power and good team speed. Both have players on their benches (and on their JV teams for that matter) who would start most other places and who can come off the bench and perform even in the clutch. Players for both teams can get the bunt down. Both play good defense. The coaching was great on both sides.

Add to all that a huge and boisterous (but well-behaved) crowd and excellent umpiring, and I didn't even mind getting in trouble at home for being so late to dinner! It was $5 well spent. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: