The Sabine Nationals completed an undefeated season Monday night in Liberty City by topping the Chapel Hill Bulldogs, 11-2, to go 10-0.
After playing three consecutive close games and having to “come from behind” in the last two, Sabine again trailed early, 2-0. However, they scored 11 straight runs, including a 6-run 3rd inning, to win going away.
Observations from the front row --- through the eyes of Dakota Stewart’s mom ---
(1) The feeling is universal .....
.. Spanish ............ invicto
.. French .............. invaincu
.. Italian ............... invitto
.. German ............ unbesiegt
.. Danish .............. ikke slået
.. Swedish ............ obesegrad
.. Greek ............... που δε νικήθηκε
.. Russian ............ неразрушенный
.. Vietnamese ....... không bị đánh bại
.. Hebrew ............. לא מובס
.. Farsi ................. بدون شکست
.. Latin ................. invictus
.. English .............. UNDEFEATED
No matter what language you say it in --- it still comes out with the same message. You were victorious over everyone you faced. The Sabine Nationals finished the 14U schedule with an undefeated 10-0 record. The wins weren’t always pretty; in fact, they trailed in several, including a 7-2 deficit against Winona. But when everyone “headed for the house” to “call it a night”, the Nationals were ahead on the scoreboard .... all 10 times.
Sabine was scheduled to play another game against Overton in Liberty City the following Thursday night. However, they found out after the game that Overton had cancelled that game. The Overton varsity baseball team made it to the state tournament in Round Rock, and a lot of the 14U team and parents wanted to go support their varsity team. You certainly can't blame them for that.
(2) The FREEBIE FACTOR earned a slot near the top with the advantage Sabine held. Check out these stats ---
----------------------------- (FREEBIE) ------ Error= --------------- RBI --- Run
Sabine ------------- # ---- Run ---- RBI ---- Run ---- WP – SB - Hits -- Total
Walks ------------- 10 ----- 7 ------- 3 -------- --
HBP ----------------- 1 ---- -- ------- -- -------- --
Errors -------------- 1 ------ -- ------ 1 -------- --
KO-PB/WP --------- 1 ----- 1 ------ -- -------- --
--Totals ----------- 13 ----- 8 ------- 4 -------- -- ------- 1 ---- 1 ---- 5 ------ 11
Chapel Hill
Walks -------------- 1 ----- -- ------- -- ------- --
HBP ---------------- -- ----- -- ------- -- ------ --
Errors -------------- -- ----- -- ------- -- ------- --
KO-PB/WP ------- -- ----- -- ------- -- ------- --
--Totals ------------ 1 ----- -- ------- -- ------- -- ------ -- ----- -- ---- 2 ------- 2
The Nationals scored 8 runs from FREEBIE’s, 7 from walks alone --- well more than enough to win this game.
(3) Sabine's most productive inning was the 3rd, in which they scored 6 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. This outburst effectively put the game away for the Nationals.
Sabine ..................... AB ............................................................ ................................. Out .................... Score
Jared Streeter ......... KOK .... Reached 1st on E-2.....................................................
Dakota Stewart ....... 2B ...... Ground-Rule double over center field fence...................
Brandon Florence ..... W ...... Bases loaded..............................................................
............................................ Streeter steals home. ..................................................................... SB ........ 6-2
Blake McCann .......... 2B ..... Down right field line...................................................................... 2 RBI ....... 8-2
Chase Clifford ......... 6-3 .......................................................................... ................. 1 Out
Blane Sinclair .......... 1B ....... Down right field line - out trying for double (9-4).......... 2 Outs ...... RBI ....... 9-2
Bruce Broyles .......... W .............................................................. ..........................
Tell DeFreece ........... W .............................................................. ..........................
Jay Horan ................ 1B ...... Hit to left center - out trying for double (8-4)................ 3 Outs .... 2 RBI ..... 11-2
The Nationals' inning really ended prematurely due to their aggressive base-running.
-- Two hitters were thrown out trying to stretch singles into doubles.
-- Although thrown out on the base paths, those two "AB's" were responsible for 3 rbi's.
(4) On the offensive side of the game, several National players, led by Blake McCann, stepped up in their last home game.
Sabine ................ AB .... R .... H .... RBI .... W
Blake McCann ...... 1 ...... 1 .... 1 ...... 3 ...... 1 ..... 2B
Dakota Stewart ... 1 ...... 2 .... 1 ...... 1 ...... 1 ..... 2B
Jay Horan ............ 2 ...... -- .... 1 ...... 2 ..... --
Blane Sinclair ....... 2 ...... -- .... 1 ...... 1 ..... --
Zack Martin .......... 2 ...... 1 ..... 1 ..... -- ..... --
Tell DeFreece ...... -- ...... 2 ..... -- ..... -- ..... 2
Chapel Hill
Tray Allan ............ 2 ...... 1 ..... 2 ...... 1 ...... -- .... 2B (2)
Chevis Bevis ........ 2 ..... -- ..... 1 ...... 1 ...... --
(5) Dakota Stewart had a "what might have been" moment in time in the 1st inning Monday night.
-- Trailing 2-0, the Nationals load the bases ... with one out, Stewart comes to the plate.
-- He hits a deep fly ball down the left field line and over the fence ... JUST FOUL.
-- he hits a deep fly ball down the right field line and over the fence ..JUST FOUL.
-- Dakota just missed a GRAND SLAM homer ... TWICE!!!!
... What happened? WALK ... they didn't give him a third try.
The Bulldogs walked him with the bases loaded, bringing in a run ... better than bringing in 4 .....
... Would he have hit a home run if pitched to? I don't know, but he did one-hop the center field fence in the 3rd inning for a ground-rule double.
(6) The Nationals' pitching staff came through Monday night with a good effort.
-- Starter Blake McCann, after a 2-run, 4-hit 1st inning, settled down with two K's in closing out a scoreless 2nd inning.
-- Dylan Cook (3rd inning) and Jared Streeter (4th inning) came on to pitch a scoreless couple of innings, each registering 2 K's.
(7) Kudos to Spencer Gregory and Brandon Florence for "QAB's" (Quality At Bats) against Chapel Hill's starter, Brandon Douglas.
-- Quality as in working on increasing the pitch count ... protecting the plate ...
(a) Gregory (2nd Inn'g) 10-pitch walk .. four 2-strike fouls.
-- Moved a runner to 3rd, who then scored on a wild pitch.
-- Increased run difference to 3-run lead, taking away the "single runner/home run" 2-run scoring play for a tie game.
(b) Florence (3rd Inn'g) 9-pitch walk, loading the bases (three 2-strike fouls).
-- Douglas was pulled off the mound with that walk.
-- Blake McCann then hit the reliever's first pitch down the right field line for a double, driving in two runs.
(8) Taking that extra base on a hit in the gap or down the line ... so tempting .. sort of like KNOWING that you can hit the "high hard one"!! There's a couple of problems though.
-- Not many batters can hit the "high hard one" .. even in the major leagues.
-- Outfielders on the other teams also practice. Quite a few can frequently make strong accurate throws.
(a) There were some "less than successful" efforts made to "take the extra base" Monday night.
Chapel Hill
3rd Inn'g - double to center field fence ....... OUT trying to stretch it into a triple.
Sabine
3rd Inn'g - single down the right field line ... OUT trying to stretch it into a double (RBI).
3rd Inn'g - single to left center field ........... OUT trying to stretch it into a double (2 RBI).
(b) POP TEST TIME!!!! Why do hitters get thrown out trying for the extra base? It boils down to TECHNIQUE ... TECHNIQUE ... TECHNIQUE.
-*- They don't get a good jump out of the batter's box.
...... When the coach said, "Dig in", he didn't mean use a shovel!!!
-*- They don't run hard to first base.
....... Of course, it's hard to do while texting your girlfriend about that hard hit you just nailed to the gap.
-*- They don't "cut the inside corner of the base.
....... Again .. it's hard to do while posing for the "rounding first base" action shot for your mom's camera.
-*- They don't glance at the "FIELDER NEAR/WITH THE BALL" to see where the ball is.
....... Of course, that's hard to do when you're mentally deciding which would look better to the crowd ... a pop-up slide or a "HEAD FIRST" slide into the extra base you're trying to take.
-*- Sometimes, the fielder makes a great play to throw you out.
....... It happened in T-Ball ... and it happens in the major leagues. And since you're somewhere in between .......
(9) Just a note on recording a play in the scorebook.
-- 1st Inn'g .. Sabine has the bases loaded, one out, and Brandon Florence at bat.
-- Florence hits a fly ball deep enough to center field to score the runner from 3rd base.
-- No problem, you say .. Sacrifice fly (SF-8) ... RBI ... no "time at bat".
... BUT the fielder drops the ball and Florence reaches first base, while the others advance a base.
... Now you ask, "Does this mean that Florence is charged with a time at bat, and no RBI (runner scores on error - E-8)?
... NO, Florence gets a Sacrifice fly and RBI. And there's no "time at bat" charged to him. The E-8 accounts for him reaching first base, as well as the other runners advancing to 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
