The Bulldogs threw a “change up” at the Nationals' offensive machine and kept them off balance throughout the game. Opportunity knocked at Chapel Hill’s door so many times that you’d thought it was a bill collector. However, when push came to shove, the Sabine “D” and pitching staff held them off until that fateful 7th inning … when the Bulldog pitcher lost his focus, and the walks followed.
Observations from the front row:
(1) I’ve heard it said and proved over the years ... techniques taught in baseball, especially in the batter’s box and on the pitcher’s mound, are extremely important. These techniques are used as tools to combat/help overcome the mind games that occur in the game of baseball.
Well, the mind games “came a callin’" on the mound as Sabine came to bat in the top of the 7th inning. It could be said that one pitch made the difference ... a 3-2 pitch, if you will ... at least in the 7th.
-- Bruce Broyles, 11th batter in the lineup, came to bat ... and took all 6 pitches thrown to him… walked on a 3-2 count.
-- Johnathan Chambers, 12th batter took 4 pitches to walk ... leadoff Jared Streeter took 4 pitches to walk, loading the bases.
-- These three batters “TOOK” 14 consecutive pitches to load the bases on walks.
How were the three runs driven in? Now, it really got crazy ...
THE BALL NEVER REACHED THE BASE PATHS ... and three runs scored to give Sabine the lead, 6-3.
(a) Spencer Gregory – slow grounder to 2nd baseman, who ran in to field ... batter beat throw to first base .......... RBI .. 4-3.
(b) Dylan Cook – pop up, just behind and to the 3rd base side of mound ... ball dropped short of diving shortstop . RBI .. 5-3.
...(play ruled “Infield Fly Rule” .. batter out, but all runners advanced).
© Zack Martin batting – Streeter scored from 3rd base on wild pitch ........ ........ ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ... 6-3.
(d) Martin struck out and Chase Clifford grounded out to the pitcher, but the damage was done.
(2) The games-to-date for the Sabine Nationals leading up to the Chapel Hill game ...
-- Sabine . 9-0 Winona
-- Sabine 10-4 Carthage
-- Sabine 15-1 Arp
-- Sabine 16-1 West Rusk
The secret to beating the Nationals? Chapel Hill may have found it.
Kudos to the Bulldogs' Tray Allen, who pitched a great game, trailing 2-1 when he left after 4 innings.
-- 4 innings .. 2 hits .. 2 runs .. 1 earned.
-- 2 hits in 1st Inn’g .. blooper to left and medium grounder between short and pitcher into center field (RBI).
-- 3 walks, all erased by a double play and two by "caught stealing" on the base paths.
-- Allen's pitching repertoire seemingly consisted of three pitches .. slow curve, slow "balloon" pitch, and then his "change up".
I thought for a minute that I'd come to a slow-pitch softball game. Then I realized that the Nationals weren't getting the timing down on Allen's pitches. He kept them off balance his 4 innings.
-- Kept the ball around the plate. He faced 14 batters, 11 of which had no more than 2 b.alls called ... the other 3 batters walked.
(3) RISP (Runners In Scoring Position)
In a close game, you can't waste opportunities (ducks on the pond) to score runs. In the Sabine-Chapel Hill game Thursday night, the game was tied 3-3 after 6 innings. How did Sabine win it ... how did Chapel Hill lose it?
..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..."Runs Scored Via"
..............RISP ... Batters ... At Bats ... Hits ... Walks .... Runs .. RBI ... Errs .. WP/PB ... K's ... Total K's ... % K ... LOB
Sabine .... 5 .......... 5 ..........1-5 ........ 1B ........ - ........... 3 ....... 2 ........ - ........ 1 ......... 2 ........ 8 ........... 25 ...... 1
C/Hill ..... 18 ........ 15 ........1-13 ........ 2B ........ 2 .......... 3 ....... 1 ....... 2 ........ - .......... 9 ...... 12 ........... 75 ...... 6
Remember .. this doesn't include the 7th inning, when Sabine loaded the bases with three consecutive walks, then proceeded to score all three. This involves only the first 6 innings.
(a) Chapel Hill had 13 more opportunities to score, with 10 more batters up with RISP. However,
(b) the Bulldogs went 1-13 at the plate (.077). Runs could have scored on groundouts; but,
© 9 of the 12 outs were K's (strikeouts). There was no opportunity for the runners to score on K's.
(d) the other 3 "at bats" ... flyout to 8 .. 8-2 double play (3rd out), batting out of order (3rd out), fly ball dropped E-7 .. run scored from 2nd.
(e) Chapel Hill had runners on 3rd base at the end of:
-- 1st Inn'g .. thrown out at home on double play for 3rd out.
-- 2nd Inn'g .. left on 3rd.
-- 4th Inn'g .. left on 3rd.
-- 5th Inn'g .. left on 3rd.
-- 6th Inn'g .. left on 3rd.
The Sabine Cardinals didn't have ANY runners left on 3rd in the first 6 innings. And the score was tied, 3-3 after 6 innings.
(4) The "Mr. Consistency" Award goes to winning pitcher, Jared Streeter, of the Cardinals.
-- 3 innings ... 1 hit ... 1 run.
-- 8 of 9 outs = strikeouts.
-- 5th Inn’g .. 3-2 Sabine .. Runner 2nd, adv 3rd on SB .. 1 out ... STRUCK OUT THE SIDE .. KO, KO, KOK.
-- 6th Inn’g .. 3-3 tied ....... Runner 3rd .......................... 0 outs .. STRUCK OUT THE SIDE .. KOK, KOK, KO.
(5) Leading hitters in the game were ...
Sabine ....................... A/B ....Hits ...Run .RBI .W ..SB
-- Gregory Spencer .... 2-3 ... 2-1B ... 1 ... 2 ... - ... -
-- Jared Streeter ........ 1-2 ...... 1B ... 2 ... - ... 1 ... 2
-- Bruce Broyles ......... 0-0 ...... 1B ... 1 ... - ... 2 ... 1
Chapel Hill
-- Brandon Douglass .. 1-1 ...... 2B .... 1 ... 1 .. 2 ... 1
-- Chevy Bevis ............ 1-2 ...... 1B .... - ... - ... 1 ... 1
(6) When you think of double plays, you normally think of 6-4-3, 4-6-3, or 5-4-3 (around the horn). This game saw 3 double plays in 3 consecutive half innings.
(a) Sab “D” – Bot 1st …– F8 – 8-2 .. great throw from left-center field to the plate to get the runner from 3rd.
(b) C/H “D” – Top 2nd – P3-3U ...... runner on 1st was attempting to steal 2nd base when pop-up occurred.
© Sab “D”. – Bot 2nd – 4U - 4-3 ... 2nd baseman Spencer Gregory fielded grounder, tagged runner and threw to 1st.
(7) There were two IMPACT moments in the game for Sabine ..
(a) 1st Inn’g .. 2-1 Sabine – CH runner on 3rd .. 1 out
-- batter hit a fly ball to left-center field. Zack Martin made the catch and threw a perfect strike to catcher Dylan Cook, who tagged the runner out at the plate and completed the DOUBLE PLAY!!!
(b) 6th Inn’g .. 3-3 tie game – Chapel Hill runner on 3rd .. 0 outs.
-- the Chapel Hill crowd was going wild. In fact, I thought I heard shouts of “Who, who .. who let the Dawgs out?”
-- Jared Streeter struck out the next three batters .. KOK, KOK, KO.
-- 12 pitches ( 7 swinging … 2 fouls … 1 called strike … 2 b.alls).
-- batters in 3rd – 5th positions … the Heart of the Order.
(8) The final putout of the game was a classic move by 1st baseman Dakota Stewart of Sabine. He fielded a routine grounder behind 1st base. Easy out, right?
-- No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!!! He takes one step ... and falls flat on his ... derriere. Fortunately, he jumped up in time with the ball and his pride in-hand, and beat the batter to the base for the final out of the game.
POPTEST TIME ... the reason Dakota fell down ...?
(a) his mother was filming a sure-fire winner for the "AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS" show.
(b) he was perfecting his ballet move for the lead male audition next week for Swan Lake.
© he was practicing the moves for Hannah Montana's "Hoedown Throwdown", the latest line-dance craze.
(d) he was turning to moonwalk (ala Michael Jackson) to the base when he slipped down.
(e) it was after 10 pm and the evening dew had settled on the grass, making it slippery