Watauga vs. South

SC- 7
Wat.- 1

 

All I know is SC whooped Asheville 11-0 by hitting either 3 or 4 homeruns. They have hitters up and down their lineup. Even though Asheville threw their #3 and #4 pitchers, those guys can hit! It was good for our team to see what "big time" baseball is all about. I applaud our coach for scheduling SC. I just wish we would have played better. But their pitcher(Metts?) had a lot to do with how we swung the bats, or rather, didn't swing the bats. Wish I could have seen Messer pitch some. Now we have to go to West Henderson today for a make-up game. Those guys can hit a ton too.

 

South welcomes TBR members

Here's a name tag for you all to edit appropriately and wear to the game Friday night.

 

Hey--I love it!

Now, will that get me in free? Tell Coach P I need 3 passes. I've got my braintrust coming with me.

 

someone explain to me the hype about watauga. they were 11-16 last year,11-12 the year before. i continue to read about how great a program watauga is and how good they are but why am i hearing this when the results don't bear that out?

 

.

 

TBR Guru

Don't you just love know it all's? Hey Braves who is going to win the Democratic nomination?

 

hype

You are absolutely right. It has been 5-6 years since we have been considered a contender. A great program doesn't always mean winning. If you play the game right and play hard you can have a good program anywhere. Now to have a winning program you have to produce wins on the field. We have to go out and prove we are a team to be dealt with. I feel like we are closer to contending this year but we have to go out and prove it. To be the man you have to beat the man.

 

Difference is... Hitting for one. There are times that Watauga puts up 1-9 with kids that can hit it out of the park at any time. Cal Hardee batted 9 yesterday and hit a missile for a triple to the fence. In years past Watauga has not had that luxury. Another thing is you it is almost impossible to get a fastball by them. Their real test was Darnell pitching wise and if you were at the game you cant account for all of their hits were pulled. They didn't get blown away at all. The first inning they lead off with a ball up the middle, a groundball to the left side of the infield and a lineout to the third baseman. They have had three homeruns this year not including the scrimmages and all 3 have been from different people. Adam Church hit it off of Darnell to the deepest part of Ardrey Kell and there was no doubt. He was batting 7th at the time. Trey Lowder who was batting 6th yesterday hit one oppo off the back of the football stadium. The returning varsity players they had were the best batters last year. They returned their lead off man and both homerun leaders. Trey Dunnigan is scary big. He hit the homerun against West Wilkes a country mile. But yet still they don't get respect. They play a close game the whole way through with Kell which could have gone either way in the middle of the game when it was tied 3-3. They got beat bad by Tabor but then showed the ability to bounce back and won 5-4. Now one thing that will be interesting to see, is it looks like Watauga is a home team this year. They wont be as good on the road as they will be at their house. But dont think for one second Watauga is intimidated. They have been waiting for this game since last year and I promise they are going to get after someones tail on Friday night. Good Luck Watauga. Ill be there.

 

I hope this helps to explain it.

What makes Watauga an interesting team starts with their coach. Coach Hardee is a very unique man. He is respected for the way he coaches his players and the way his teams play the game. They play it the right way and he coaches it the right way. They play every game to win. He is not going to hold his best pitcher from a competitive game thinking he can get a sure win later. He doesn’t schedule his non–conference games against Cupcake HS. He doesn’t coach his games based on the polls and how he can move up in them. He wants to play the toughest games he can find and realizes he has to come off the mountain to do so. Each year, he realizes they may have 7-8 losses going into the conference schedule. Once you play Providence twice, Ardrey Kell twice, Mount Tabor twice and some of the other tough games they schedule, it’s not difficult to understand why they have the record that they do. But come conference time, it is a tough, scrappy, mentally strong team that nobody wants to face….and they do this with a less talented team than their opponents.

But that’s not true this year. They still are playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules, but this year they have talent to compete with the others. Is it the most talented team in the state? No, it’s not the most talented team in the west, but don’t tell them that….you don’t see any of their players playing for the Dirtbags, SC Panthers, Heat, Megastars, etc. There is no AFLAC All American. There is no high profile player. What you do have is a group of players that have grown up together playing baseball all their life. They’ve learned the fundamentals and play the game with enthusiasm, hustle, teamwork and fellow support. It is a team in the truest sense of the word. The players pick each other up and never “whine and complain”. You can pick any player top to bottom (including the bench) and find a player that is respectful to others and respectful towards the game. They are fun to watch, they are fun to be around and their enthusiasm is contagious. How can you not like a team like that!!!!! Is this a team that deserves recognition…you betcha!

Now the game on Friday against South Caldwell will be fun. Why? Because Jimmy Messer never loses; nobody has found a way to beat him. Most of the time teams going into Sawmill already believe they have lost. Jimmy Messer is that good!

But the “Rednecks” from Boone don’t believe that. They believe they can beat him. They have the confidence to do so. Will they? Who knows? But it is refreshing to watch a team that believes it can. This is the most talented team that Pete Hardee has had in many years. They have guys that love to swing the bat. It’s a team that may have 10+ K’s in their game against Messer, but they will go down swinging. They don’t like walks!

They have guys that can set the table in Cal Hardee and Ethan Moyer. They have guys that can drive them in with Martin, Dunnigan, Church, Story, Wallace and others. They have two quality pitchers with Tyler Moore and John Sharpe and when Ethan gets healthy he provides a strong closer.

Instead of spending time discussing transfers, poor coaching, showcase baseball and the “Why do they do that?” questions, I spent the time to highlight and promote a TEAM; one that I am proud of. I can think of many other topics that are less important that get HYPED.