The breeze that blew through Gladewater around 10:15 Tuesday night wasn't the beginning of a new Southern front. It was a collective sigh of relief from the Sabine family and fans as the Nationals dodged a "come from behind" effort by Winona. Sabine ran out the clock in topping the Wildcats, 7-5, to increase their season record to 7-0.

Observations from the front row:
(1) WILDCATS WIN!! WILDCATS WIN!! WINONA HALTS SABINE'S 6-0 UNDEFEATED SEASON, 3-2!!! Say what? You have to count the unearned runs? The Nationals didn't earn them, so why do you have to count them? Oh, it's in the rule book. Okay ... new headline please...
NATIONALS WIN .. 7-5! EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 7 GAMES!!
................................................... **
.................................. Earn ..... "Un-"
(a) . Team ...... Err ..... Runs ..... Earn ...... Total
.....Sabine ....... 4 ......... 2 ......... "5" ......... 7
.....Winona ...... 5 ......... 3 ......... "2" ......... 5
........................ 9 ......... 5 ......... "7"......... 12
** Sometimes it's your birthday party ... sometimes it's the other fellow's .....

(b) POPTEST TIME!!
Which phrase applies more to Sabine's 7-5 error-plagued win over Winona?
-- 1. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
-- 2. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
-- 3. To err is human .. to forgive divine.
-- 4. Tis better to give than to receive.
-- 5. I get by with a little help from my friends (Beatles).

© It's not necessarily the error that's a killer; it's the OPPORTUNITY given the other team that can be a killer ... multiple times. The Nationals' 1st inning was a perfect example.
-- 1. Zack Martin reached on E-3 (dropped throw).
-- 2. Spencer Gregory doubled to drive in Martin. ................................... Unearned Run ..... 1-0
......Thrown out going for a triple (9-6-5).
-- 3. Dylan Cook blooped a single to right field.
-- 4. Jared Streeter grounded out to pitcher. This should have been 3rd out.
-- 5. Cook scored on a wild pitch to Chase Clifford. ................................. Unearned Run ..... 2-0
-- 6. Blake McCann walked .. stole 2nd and 3rd base.
......Scored on E-2 .. catcher overthrew pitcher after a normal pitch. ....... Unearned Run ..... 3-0

(2) The biggest impact from errors on the game occurred in the bottom of the 5th inning.
-- Winona scored 4 runs in the 4th and 5th inning to narrow the lead to 6-5, Sabine.
-- 10 minutes remained in the game when Sabine came to bat.

............................................. # of ....... Foul ................................ On
Pos ..... Player .................... Pitches ... Pitch .... Play .... Outs .... Base ..... Score
. 3 ... Chase Clifford ................ 6 .......... 2 ........ 4-3 ....... 1
. 5 ... Brandon Florence ........... 3 .......... 1 ....... HBP ....... -- ....... 1st
. 7 ... Jay Horan ....................... 6 .......... 1 ........ KO ....... 2
. 9 ... Johnathan Chambers ..... 5 .......... -- ........ W ........ -- ......1st/2nd
. 8 ... Zack Martin .*.................. 2 ......... -- . **.. E-8 ..S/B 3 ......2nd/3rd ... 7-5
.................................................................. ***. E-5 .. 9 at 3rd (dropped ball after tag)
................................................22 ......... 4
* .... It was right at one minute to go when Martin came to the plate.
** ...Would have gone into the 6th inning @ 6-5 Sabine if Winona centerfielder had caught the ball for the 3rd out.
***.. I believe that there was a small amount of time left when Chambers was safe at 3rd base on the dropped tag.

(3) In a close game, stolen bases can have a huge impact on getting runners in scoring position. Once again, Sabine had the DECIDED advantage.
................ Stolen ...... Def ...... Caught
................. Base ....... Ind ...... Stealing ........ Runs
Sabine ....... 10 ........... 2 ........... -- ................ 6
Winona ........ 2 ........... -- .......... 3 ................. 1

(a) Sabine had a 6-1 advantage in runs scored involving stolen bases.
(b) Winona's 2nd inning = W, 1B, KOK, W ... trailing 3-1. Making of a rally, right? WRONG!!!
--- 1st walk ... CAUGHT STEALING 3rd ... 2-5 ... 2nd out.
--- Single ...... CAUGHT STEALING 3rd ... 2-5 ... 3rd out.
© When is a stolen base NOT a stolen base? Well ...
--1. Wildcats had runners on 1st and 2nd base ... 5th inning.
--2. Runner at 2nd slides under tag at 3rd .......... stolen base.
--3. Runner at 1st thrown out at 2nd (5-4 .. caught stealing).
--4. Runner at 3rd call changed from stolen base to fielder's choice per rule book on stolen base attempts by multiple base runners.

(4) Contributing on the offensive side were:
Sabine ..........................AB ..... Hits ..... Runs ... RBI ... W ... SB ... HBP ... Sac
Dylan Cook ................. 2-3 ... 1B, HR ..... 2 ........ 2 ..... -- .... 1 ...... -- ...... --
Spencer Gregory ..........1-3 ...... 2B ........ 1 ....... 1 ...... -- .... -- ..... -- ....... --
Brandon Florence ........ 0-1 ...... -- ......... 1 ........ 1 ..... -- .... 1 ...... 1 ....... 1
Jared Streeter ............. 0-1 ...... -- ......... 1 ........ -- .... 2 ..... 2 ...... -- ...... --

Winona
Colton Chadbourne ..... 1-1 ...... 1B ........ 2 ....... -- ..... 1 ..... 1 ..... 1 ....... --
Jacob Mosely ............... 1-2 ...... HR ........ 1 ....... 2 ..... -- .... -- .... -- ....... --
Ronnie Marsh ............... 2-2 ....1B, 2B .... -- ....... -- .... -- .... -- .... -- ........ --

(5) Pitchers for Both Sabine and Winona exchanged home run SHOTS off each other.
(a) Bottom of 3rd - Winona's Mosely threw a high inside pitch to Sabine's Cook.
-- Cook tomahawked it to left field "in a split second" for a solo home run ............... Sabine up 4-1.
(b) Top of 4th - Sabine's Cook pitches away from Winona's Mosely.
-- Mosely hits a 2-run homer just to the left of the Sabine scoreboard in right field ... Sabine up, 5-4.

(6) 3rd base was a busy place Tuesday night. Someone once said that the longest distance in baseball is the 90 feet between 3rd base and homeplate. I'd also include runners "left on 3rd" after the 3rd out ends the inning. Sabine ended up with a close win, in part, because of the runners THEY LEFT stranded on 3rd base.

Runners "left on base" (LOB) and impact plays at 3rd were as follows:
Inning .......... Sabine .....................................Winona
..1st ............... 3rd ........................................ scored .... (E-2 on PO attempt)
..2nd ........3rd, 2nd, 1st ................................ 2-5 CS(2). (two runners thrown out @ 3rd base)
..3rd .............. 3rd .......................................... 3rd
..4th ............ 3rd, 2nd .................................... 2nd
..5th ............ 3rd, 2nd .... (EOG) ..................... 3rd
LOB @ 3rd ........ 5 ............................................ 2
Thrown Out ...... -- ........................................... 2
Scored E-2 ....... -- ............................................ 1
......................... 5 ............................................ 5

Sabine left a runner stranded on 3rd base EVERY INNING .. including the 5th inning when time expired.