SPRING PRACTICE (January - February 2016)
Unofficial Recaps by Roger Tower
February 16, 2016 - Gray 5, Blue 0:
The final scrimmage was played under the lights on a perfect spring evening.
The Gray squad once again won behind stellar pitching from Willy Amador, Austin Solecitto and Kendal Jefferies and a combined five RBI from Charlie Warren and Tristan Gray.
The final was 5-0 Gray in seven innings.
Amador went four solid innings giving up just two hits while striking out five and walking just one. One of the hits was a misplayed pop-up that was turned into an out as Ford Proctor tried to stretch it into an infield double. The other hit was a single up the middle that Dane Myers collected. Those the only hits for Blue on the day.
Solecitto worked two innings. He struck-out the first four batters he faced but then walked two straight on a total of nine pitches. A line drive back to Austin and a throw to first doubled up the runner on first to end his turn.
Jefferies pitched the seventh. Myers reached on an infield error. Jefferies retired the next three hitters on a fly to center, a strikeout, and a pop-up to short.
Zach Esquivel had an excellent outing for Blue. Zach pitched two shutout innings. After a 1-2-3 inning in the first, Dom DiCaprio walked to lead-off the second. Ryan Chandler hit a sinking line drive to center that Dayne Wunderlich made an excellent on. Khevin Brewer dropped a single to right. Dom took second base. The Blue infield turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the second. Esquivel allowed no runs on one hit with one walk.
Nick Orewiler relieved in the third for Blue. Jefferies drew a lead-off walk. A strikeout followed. Jefferies stole second. Chad Tatum singled to left. Jefferies went to third. Warren singled up the middle. Jefferies scored. Tatum reached second.
Tatum advanced to third on a wild pitch. Warren moved to second as the throw to third to get Tatum got past the third baseman. Andrew Dunlap walked to load the bases. Tristan Gray's single to right drove home Tatum and Warren. The inning was called after a soft liner to short.
Orewiler gave up a lead-off double to Chandler in the fourth. Brewer reached on a HBP. Fox walked to load the bases. Orewiler struck out the next batter and induced an inning ending 4-6-3 double play to escape trouble.
In the fifth, Nick struck-out the side.
Orewiler allowed 3 runs on four hits with five strikeouts, three walks and a hit batter.
Dane Myers pitched the sixth. He walked Gray to start the inning. An infield grounder advanced Gray to second. The batter out at first. A strikeout and line-out to right ended Myer's outing.
No runs, no hits, one walk, strike out.
Jackson Parthasarathy pitched the seventh for Blue. Blake Fox looped a single to left. Strikeout followed. Tatum doubled to left-center. Fox raced to third. Warren then singled to right driving home Fox and Tatum. Warren to second on the throw home. The inning ended on a ground-out to third and a strikeout.
Final Gray 5, Blue 0.
I left as the infielders were practicing catching pop-ups after the game.
Bring on the Wildcats.
February 15, 2016 - Gray 2, Blue 1:
The Gray pitching tandem of Jon Duplantier and Glenn Otto held Blue to one run on 3 hits to win 2-1 in five innings today.
Duplantier pitched three innings. He gave up a lead-off single to Charlie Warren. Warren was caught stealing. Two strike-outs sandwiched a walk to Ryan Chandler. Chandler stole second.
Duplantier faced three batters in each of the next two innings. Kendall Jefferies reached on an infield error. He was erased on a 6-4-3 DP. Jon struck out the side in the third.
He had 5 SOs, 1 BB, 1 H and no runs.
Glenn Otto pitched the fourth and fifth innings for Gray. Charlie Warren was HBP (the first pitch). Warren stole second. Otto struck out the next two hitters before walking Dom DiCaprio.
Ford Proctor dropped an RBI double down the left-field line. Warren scored. DiCaprio to third. A line drive to short ended the fourth.
In the fifth, Chad Tatum singled to right with one out. A ground-out and strike-out followed to end the fifth.
Glenn allowed 1 R on 2 H with 3 SOs and a HBP and a BB.
For Blue, the pitchers were Josh Pettitte (2 inn), Ricky Salinas (2 inn) and Ben Schragger. (1 inn).
In the first inning, Grayson Lewis and Tristan Gray each doubled. Lewis scored on Gray's double. A fly out to left, a grounder to second with Gray taking third, and another fly to left ended the inning.
In the second, Cody Staab reached on a lead-off walk. He was forced at second on a grounder to third. The inning ended on a 4-6-3 DP.
Pettitte allowed 1 R, 2 H, and 1 BB.
In the third, Salinas walked Tristan Gray after two outs. A fly to right ended that frame.
In the fourth, Salinas walked Cody Staab with two outs. He struck out the final batter to end his day.
Salinas allowed no R, no H, and walked two.
In the fifth, Gavin Johnson doubled to center off Schragger. Gavin moved to third on a ground-out to the right-side. Lewis hit his second double of the day to drive home Gavin. A fly and strike-out ended the stanza.
Schragger allowed 1 R, 2 H, with 1 SO.
Interestingly all four hits by the Gray team were doubles.
Tomorrow will be the final scrimmage. It'll be an evening scrimmage.
February 12, 2016 - Gray 4, Blue 2:
Today's scrimmage was played in the best weather day of the spring preseason.
Gray rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh to break a 2-2 deadlock. Gray's Dane Myers then shut-out Blue in the bottom of the seventh to capture the win for Gray.
Evan Kravetz started for Blue and pitched through five innings. Brent Schwarz did the same for Gray.
After a 1-2-3 first inning, Kravetz gave up an unearned run in the second. Myers went to second on a combo of infield errors. Charlie Warren singled him home. Warren stole second. A line drive out to short was the first out. Connor Teykl was safe on an infield single. Inning was called on pitch count.
Gray scored another run in the third. Dom DiCaprio walked to start the frame. A fly-out followed. Rodrigo Duluc continued his hot hitting with a sharp single to center. DiCaprio to second. A strikeout was the second out. Ford Proctor singled home DiCaprio. Duluc held at second. Another strikeout ended the top of the third.
With two out in the fourth, Dayne Wunderlich singled to short. He was picked off 1-3-6 to end the inning.
In the fifth, Dom Dicaprio reached on another infield single. A crisp 4-6-3 double play ended the fifth and Evan's outing for the day.
Schwarz faced just three men in each of the first two innings. Khevin Brewer was HBP with one out. A strike'em-out throw'em-out double play produced the final two outs.
In the second, Gavin Johnson walked. He was eliminated on a second to short to first DP. An infield ground-out ended the second.
In the third, Brandt Frazier singled off the left field wall on a exceptionally hard line drive. He was stranded after a grounder to first.
In the fourth, Hunter Kopycinski singled to left with two out. Grayson Lewis made a nice diving stop on a ball hit up the middle to retire the side.
In the fifth, Blue rallied to tie the game up. Blake Fox tripled to deep center to lead-off. Chad Tatum walked. First out was a strikeout.
Cody Staab grounded out to the right-side to score Fox. Tatum moved to second. Brewer singled to left. Tatum scored. Brewer stole second on a delayed steal. A fly out ended the inning and the outing for Schwarz.
After five innings, it was 2-2.
Kendal Jefferies relieved for Blue. Jefferies pitched a perfect sixth.
Dane Myers replaced Schwarz for Gray. Kopycinski reached on an infield error. After a fly out to center, Kopycinski was forced at second. Jefferies reached first. He stole second. A fly out to left ended the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Andrew Dunlap tripled to right-center. Dane Myers singled him home. Myers went to third on Warren's single to right-field. Wunderlich scored Myers with a sac-fly to center. A fly out and pop foul out ended the seventh.
Myers faced three batters in the bottom of the seventh. A fly to right. Frazier hit a ball down the left-field line that looked like a sure double. A good throw from Wunderlich to second cut Frazier down. A ground-out to short and the throw to first ended the scrimmage.
Final Gray 4, Blue 2 Seven innings.
First game is next Friday vs. Arizona at 6:00 PM.
Go Owls!!
February 11, 2016 - Gray 2, Blue 2:
Blake Fox and Jackson Parthasarathy each started and pitched five innings. Blue and Gray tied at 2-2.
Blue scored two in the third on a 2-run single by Jefferies.
Fox carried a shutout in to the fifth. Warren hit a single to center that was played into a LL HR. Myers walked and moved to third on Dunlap's single. He scored on Gray's double.
February 10, 2016 - Gray 5, Blue 4:
Another gorgeous day as Gray won 5-4.
Willie Amador started for Blue and Zach Esquivel for Gray.
With each pitcher giving up two early runs, it looked as if it might not be the pitcher's day. Each settled down after the shaky start.
Amador walked Grayson Lewis. Lewis reached second on a passed ball. Ford Proctor followed with the first of his three singles off the day. Lewis holding at third. Kendal Jefferies singled to left. Lewis scored. Proctor took second. A strike out followed. Dayne Wunderlich Walked to load the bases. Blake Fox singled to left. All runners moved up a base as Proctor scored. A strikeout and pop-up to second ended the inning.
Esquivel also walked the lead-off man (Charlie Warren) in the bottom of the first. Warren went to third on an errant pick-off throw to first. Hunter Kopycinski singled Warren home. Ryan Chandler walked. Runner moved to second. A strikeout followed. Tristan Gray drove Kopycinski home with a single to center. Pitch count ended the frame.
It was 2-2 after one.
Amador allowed only a two out single to Proctor in the second and then retired the side in order in the third.
In the fourth, Khevin Brewer doubled to the left-field corner to lead-off. A wild pitch moved Brewer to third. A short outfield fly was the first out. Brewer held. With the infield drawn-in, a ground-out from second to first didn't advance Brewer. This left the door open for the hot Proctor. His single to center scored Brewer. Inning over on total pitch count.
Esquivel also settled into a good routine. Chad Tatum had a two out single in the second. Rodrigo Duluc singled to center to open the third. A one pitch 6-4-3 double play eliminated Duluc. A ground out to short ended the third.
Esquivel retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth.
Nick Orewiler relieved for Blue in the fifth and pitched three innings (5th, 6th, and 7th).
In the fifth, Orewiler struck-out the lead-off man but walked Dom DiCaprio. Wunderlich singled. DiCaprio to second. Fox hit a grounder to short. Fox was out at first with the runners each advancing a base.
A wild pitch scored DiCaprio. Wunderlich to third. Brewer walked. Inning over on pitch count.
After five innings, it was Gray 4, Blue 2.
Orewiler struck-out three in the sixth but hit Lewis with a pitch.
Austin Solecitto relieved for Gray. He pitched the final three innings.
With two outs in the sixth, Solecitto hit Warren with a pitch. A ground-out ended the inning.
In the seventh, Orewiler was greeted with an infield single by Jefferies. Jefferies stole second. DiCaprio singled to right as Jefferies held at third. A short fly to left once again failed to score the runner at third. Fox hit a deeper fly to left that did score Jefferies. An infield ground-out ended the top pf the seventh.
Solecitto gave up a two out double to Gray. An outfield fly ended the seventh with Gray up 5-2.
Ben Schragger pitched a scoreless eighth for Blue.
Cody Staab dropped a ball into short left. Andrew Dunlap was playing very shallow. He charged the ball and fired over the first baseman's head. If the throw had been on target it might have been an out. Staab reached on the hit and took second on the over-throw. Staab was caught stealing 2-5. Gavin Johnson singled to right. Johnson went to second as Lewis grounded out third to first. Another infield grounder ended Schragger's day.
Blue made it interesting in the bottom of the eighth as they rallied for two runs. Solecitto still pitching. Connor Teykl walked. A strike-out followed. Brandt Frazier walked. Duluc got his second hit of the day with a single to right that scored Teykl. Solecitto got his second strikeout of the frame. Kopycinski reached on an infield error that scored Frazier. Inning over on pitch count.
Final score Gray 5, Blue 4. 8 innings .
February 9, 2016 - Gray 7, Blue 3:
The weather just keeps getting better everyday.
Today the top of the Gray batting order sparked the squad to a 7-3 win in 9 plus innings.
Grayson Lewis, Dane Myers and Tristan Gray combined to score all seven runs, had all seven RBI, and nine of the eleven hits by the Gray squad.
Lead-off man Lewis had two HRs and two singles for ten total bases. Lewis scored three runs and had two RBI.
In the second spot, Dane Myers was HBP and had two singles and scored three runs.
In the three hole, Gray had belted a three run HR. He added two RBI doubles for a total of five RBI and eight total bases. He scored one run.
The other two hits by the Gray squad were a triple from Dayne Wunderlich in the second and a single from Khevin Brewer in the third.
The Gray Squad hit for the cycle on the day. The three combined HRs increased the preseason total to six.
Gray squad scored three runs in the third on Gray's HR.
They scored two more runs in the fifth on a Lewis HR to left. Myers singled and Gray doubled him home.
In the eighth, they repeated that. Lewis HR. Myers single. Gray RBI double.
The Blue squad scored three runs on seven hits. All hits were singles. After a walk to Andrew Dunlap, an infield single by Ford Proctor and a single to center Blake Fox singled home the first run in the fourth off Jon Duplantier.
With the bases loaded, Brandt Frazier walked to send home the second run of the inning.
In the fifth, Rodrigo Duluc reached on an infield hit and advanced to second on a throwing error. Duluc took third on Charlie Warren's fly to right.
Hunter Kopycinski's sac-fly scored Duluc.
Other Blue singles were Frazier in the third and Proctor got his second single of the day in the eighth.
It should be noted that Hunter Kopycinski caught two runners stealing with perfect throws to second base. Dom DiCaprio also picked a runner off third.
Gray Pitching lines:
I . O
O
Duplantier 3.1 inn, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 SO, 3 BB
Pettitte 3.2 inn, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 SO, 2 BB
Schragger 1.0 inn, 0 R, ) ER, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
February 5, 2016 - Blue 7, Gray 2:
In the longest scrimmage of the preseason, Blue won their first scrimmage over Gray today 7-2.
Once the sun set, the temperature fell making for a very chilly evening. However, the cool temps couldn't shut down the Blue batters today.
Blue scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, one in each of the sixth and eight and two more in the ninth.
Gray posted their only two in the sixth.
For Blue, Jackson Parthasarathy pitched four innings of shutout ball. In his outing, he allowed 2 hits, walked one and struck out three. Ryan Chandler doubled in the first and singled in the third for the only hits off Parthasarathy.
For Gray, Blake Fox pitched three and one-third innings. He held Blue scoreless the first three innings. Andrew Dunlap had the only hit.
In the fourth, Grayson Lewis led-off with a single to center. Ford Proctor and Dane Myers each walked to load the bases. A grounder to second forced Myers as Lewis scored.
Blake allowed one run, two hits, two walks and struck-out two.
Brent Schwarz relieved for Blue in the fifth and pitched four innings. He pitched shutout ball in three of the innings. In the sixth, Gray scored twice. Ryan Chandler walked to start the frame.
Chandler stole second and took third on the errant throw to second. A strikeout followed. Tristan Gray reached via another walk. Chandler scored and Tristan went to second on a passed ball. Gavin Johnson's single to right scored Gray. Inning called on pitch count.
Schwarz went 3 2/3 innings. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned run, 3 hits, 2 walks and struck-out 5.
Evan Kravetz pitched innings 5, 6 and 7 for Gray.
Blue scored two runs in the fifth on infield singles by Andrew Dunlap and Hunter Kopycinski. Charlie Warren doubled down the left-field line. Dunlap scored. Kopycinski to third. A wild pitch scored Kopycinski. Warren to third. Kravetz struck-out the next two batters. Rodrigo Duluc and Lewis drew walks to load the bases. Inning called on pitch count.
Blue added another run in the sixth. Ford Proctor opened the inning with a single to right. He stole second. Dane Myers singled to center. Proctor took third. Connor Teykl singled to left. Proctor scored. Myers to second. A 6-4-3 double play followed. Myers to third. The inning ended on a fly to left.
Kravetz retired the side in order in the seventh.
Kravetz pitched 2.2 innings. He allowed 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 walks with 2 strikeouts.
Ben Schragger pitched the eighth for Gray. Duluc struck-out but reached on the wild pitch on the third strike. Gray turned a beautiful 4-6-3 double play. Proctor doubled to right. Teykl singled Proctor home. Teykl was forced out at second on a ball hit to short.
Schragger went one inning and allowed one earned run with one strikeout.
Dane Myers came on to pitch the ninth for Blue. He retired Gray in order on a pop-foul to the catcher and two strike-outs.
In order to get Myers some more work, he pitched the bottom of the ninth for Gray.
Blue would score twice as Warren reached on a bad hop single to first. Wunderlich doubled to left. Warren scored.
Frazier doubled past the diving left-fielder to score Wunderlich. A strikeout followed. Lewis singled to left. Frazier stopped at third. Game called.
Myers total for the day was 1 1/3 innings with 2 earned runs, 3 hits and three strikeouts.
Blue wins 7-2.
Fan fest on Sunday.
February 4, 2016 - Gray 8, Blue 2:
Today the teams played 7 innings with Gray dominating 8-2 scoring two in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh. Blue scored single runs in the third and fifth.
Zach Esquivel started for Blue and pitched the first four innings. He pitched shutout ball through the first three innings. Tristan Gray and Kendall Jefferies each had a single off Esquivel in those innings.
In the fourth, Dayne Wunderlich placed a perfect bunt down the third baseline to lead-off. Hunter Kopycinski tripled to center-field to score Wunderlich. Cody Staab brought Kopycinski home with a sac-fly to left. A come-backer to Esquivel and a strike-out ended the fourth.
Willy Amador pitched the first three innings for Gray. Amador gave up a one out double to Andrew Dunlap. Ryan Chandler drew a walk. The inning ended on a fly out to center and a pop to short.
Amador worked out of trouble again in the second. Chad Tatum walked to lead-off. A strike-out followed. An infield error followed pushing Tatum to second. Frazier reached first. A fielder's choice to second forced Frazier. Tatum moved to third. Blake Fox reached first. A strike-out ended the second.
In the third, Dunlap hit his second one out double of the game. Chandler pushed Dunlap to third with a Texas Leaguer to center. Chandler and Dunlap pulled off a double steal when Chandler remained in the pickle long enough for Dunlap to score. Chandler took second on the throw to home. Dom DiCaprio walked. A double play from second to short to first ended the third and Amador's outing.
Nick Orewiler relieved in the fourth for Gray. Orewiler pitched the third, fourth and fifth for Gray. Nick gave up only an unearned run in the fifth as Rodrigo Duluc reached on an outfield error. Duluc to second. Charlie Warren singled to center or score Duluc. Orewiler struck out the next batter and got the final out of the fifth on a grounder to second.
In the sixth, Orewiler worked out of trouble after DiCaprio singled to right center and Ford Proctor followed with another. DiCaprio and Proctor each moved up on an infield ground-out. With the infield drawn in, Gray made a nice stop and throw home to get DiCaprio at the plate. A fly-out ended the sixth and Orewiler's outing.
Austin Solecitto pitched the fifth, sixth and seventh for Blue.
In the fifth, Grayson Lewis was HBP. Gray singled to right. Lewis to third. Dane Myers then crushed a ball over the fence in left for a three run HR. Two strike-outs sandwiched an infield single to end the fourth.
After five, it was Gray 5 Blue 2.
In the sixth, Staab doubled to lead-off. Jefferies singled to left. Staab to third. Jefferies moved to second on the throw home. Khevin Brewer scored Staab with a sac-fly to right. Two quick outs ended the rally.
After 6, it was Gray up 7-2.
After an opening strike-out, Connor Teykl walked. An infield error followed that placed Teykl at second and Wunderlich at first. Kopycinski singled to left. Teykl scored. Two strike-outs ended Solecitto followed.
Kendal Jefferies finished the game for Gray. Strike-out. Warren Singled. Fly out. Come-backer to Jefferies pitcher to first. Scrimmage over.
Final Gray 8 Blue 2.
Again tomorrow.
3, 2016 - Gray 4, Blue 2:
Gray powered their way past Blue today thanks to two two-run homers. Ryan Chandler got Gray even with the first shot in the fourth inning and Andrew Dunlap hit the winner in the top of the seventh to give Gray the victory.
Jon Duplantier pitched the first three inning and started the fourth for Blue.
Ricky Salinas pitched the first three innings for Gray.
Duplantier held Gray scoreless in the first three innings. He struck out two in the first after Charlie Warren had a lead-off single. Warren was caught stealing. Duplantier retired the side in order in the second.
In the third, Jon walked Fox to start the inning. Two strike outs followed and a pop-out to short ended the third.
Blue greeted Salinas with three straight hits in the bottom of the first, Garyson Lewis singled to center. Tristan Gray doubled to right. Lewis to third. Dane Myers singled to right-center. Lewis scored. Gray held at third with Myers out in attempt to take second base on throw home. A fielder's choice grounder to first had Gray cut down at the plate. Dayne Wunderlich was HBP. A fly to center ended the first.
Salinas struck-out the lead-off man, walked Kendal Jefferies then retired the next two batters on a pop to short and a grounder to short.
In the third, Gray walked with one out. Myers was HBP. Each runner moved up a base on a ground out to first base with the pitcher covering. Wunderlich reached on an infield single to short. Gray scored. Myers to third.
Wunderlich was caught stealing to end the inning.
After three, it was Blue 2 Gray 0.
Duplantier started the fourth with a limited pitch count. Dunlap walked on a full count. Chandler then hit over the right-center field fence to score Dunlap. After three balls to the next hitter, Duplantier had reached his pitch limit.
Glenn Otto pitched for Gray in innings 4-6. Glenn didn't allow a run and gave up just a single to Myers in the fifth. He struck out 6. However, as always, Glenn walked enough (6 to be exact) to keep it much too interesting.
Josh Pettitte pitched the fifth and sixth innings for Blue. He faced the minimum of six batters as he struck-out 2 and walked one. He retired the side in order in the fifth. With one out in the sixth, Chad Tatum walked. Blue turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the sixth.
Ben Schragger pitched the seventh for Blue. Warren led-off with a walk and came home on Dunlap's homer to left. An infield out was followed by a called strike-out. Ford Proctor singled to center. He was out in an attempt to steal second. This ended the scrimmage.
Gray wins 4-2.
There will be another squad game tomorrow about 4:15 PM.
January 31, 2016 - Gray 4, Blue 0:
Today we had our first winner of the spring as Gray won 4-0 over Blue in 6 innings. Weather was perfect again.
The Gray pitchers held Blue scoreless and allowed only 3 hits on the day.
Gray batters put together the first multiple run rally of the spring scoring 3 in the third inning.
Blake Fox started for Blue and held Gray scoreless in his two innings of work.
With one out in the first, Kendal Jefferies reached on a high hop infield single to second. He took second on an errant throw to first. Ryan Chandler walked. An infield fly rule pop to first and a grounder to short ended the inning.
In the second, Fox hit Andrew Dunlap with a pitch. Chad Tatum reached on an infield single to short. Dunlap to second. Fox then struck-out the next three batters. That ended his day.
Jackson Parthasarathy pitched the first three innings for Gray. He pitched to only 9 batters in his three innings. Grayson Lewis reached on a sharp single to left to lead-off. A fly to left was the first out. A grounder to second was turned into a double play. He retired the side in order in the next two innings.
Evan Kravetz relieved Fox and pitched the next three innings.
In the third, Jefferies doubled to right. Chandler doubled to left. Jefferies scored. Dom DiCaprio singled to center. Chandler scored. A fly out followed. Dunlap singled up-the-middle. DiCaprio to second. Chad Tatum walked to fill the bases. Kravetz struck-out the next batter. Charlie Warren was safe at first on an infield single as DiCaprio scored from third. Inning called on pitch count.
Kravetz retired the side in order in the fourth.
In the fifth, DiCaprio walked to start the inning. Tristan Gray singled to right. DiCaprio made it safely to third. Dunlap drove home DiCaprio with a fielder's choice grounder to third that forced out Gray at second. A line drive out to third followed. Inning called on total pitches.
Brent Schwarz pitched innings four and five for Blue. He retired the side 1-2-3 in the fourth.
In the fifth, the first out was a ground out to first. Hunter Kopycinski singled through the middle. Dayne Wunderlich singled to left. Hunter to second. a strike-out and fly out ended Schwarz's outing.
After five innings, it was 4-0 Gray.
Dane Myers pitched the sixth for Blue. Charlie Warren reached on a two bunt single to third. A fielder's choice grounder to short forced Warren at second to end the frame.
Ben Schragger pitched the sixth for Gray, tossing another shut-out inning. Cody Staab walked on four pitches. Scrhagger struck-out the next batter, induced a ground-out to first and ended the scrimmage on a fly out to right field.
Final line:
Gray 4 R 9 H 0 E
Blue 0 R 3 H 1 E
Men's tennis rallied to beat LSU 4-3. The women's team fell short. Both matched were very exciting.
IG T
Go Owls!!!
January 30, 2016 - Gray 1, Blue 1:
Chapter 2 reads much like Chapter 1 of the book for Preseason Baseball Scrimmages. Blue and Gray each scored once in 6 innings.
Once again the weather was perfect. Enjoy it while you can.
Three Blue Squad pitchers (Kendal Jefferies, Willy Amador and Austin Solecitto) each pitched in 2 innings.
The two Gray Squad pitchers (Zach Esquivel and Nick Orewiler) each pitch in three innings.
As yesterday, there were pitch count limits of 20 pitchers per inning and 45 pitches total. This shortened some innings.
Jefferies pitched the first inning for Blue.
Gray broke on top in the first with one run. Grayson Lewis reached on a HBP. He was out caught stealing. Dane Myers walked with two outs. He stole second. and scored on Connor Teykl's single to left. Inning ended on pitch count. Jefferies retired the side in order in the second.
Zach Esquivel pitched the first three innings for Gray. Ryan Chandler doubled to left with two outs. Esquivel struck-out the final batter of the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Andrew Dunlap singled to center. Blake Fox followed with a single to right-center. Dunlap to second. Esquivel retired the next two hitters on a strike-out and a fielders choice to third base.
In the third, Brandt Frazier singled to short and Charlie Warren walked. The inning ended on total pitch count as Esquivel struck out the third batter of the inning.
Willy Amador pitched the third and fourth innings for Blue. With one out, Myers singled to center. Myers stole second again and took third on a fly out. An infield pop-out ended the fourth.
In the fifth, Amador retired the side in order with two strike-outs to end his outing.
Nick Orewiler pitched innings 4-6 for Gray. Ryan Chandler got his second hit of the day with an infield single to short. Dominic DiCaprio blooped a single to right. Chandler to second. After a fly-out to right, Dunlap walked to load the bases. Orewiler struck-out the next batter.
Chad Tatum singled to third driving home Chandler for Blue's only run of the day. Inning called on pitch count. Orewiler settled in and allowed only a two-out singled to Warren in the fifth. He retired the side in order in the sixth.
Austin Solecitto pitched the fifth and sixth innings for Blue. In the fifth, he retired the side in order with a fly-out to center and two strike-outs. The sixth started with Solecitto striking out the lead-off man. Lewis singled to right. Tristan Gray walked. Lewis to second. Lewis and Gray pulled off a doubled steal. Myers walked to load the the bases. Blue turned a nice 4-6-3 DP with a 3-0 count on the batter.
The scrimmage ended when Lewis made a great diving stop of Ford Proctor's shot up the middle. Lewis recovered in time to throw Proctor out at first.
Final was once again 1-1.
The squads do it again tomorrow afternoon with practice starting at 2;30 PM and squad at 3:30 PM
January 29, 2016 - Gray 1, Blue 1:
The press was out early in hopes of catching a quote from Coach Graham. The scouts were out with their radar guns in hopes of catching many 90+ mph fastballs.
The weather was delightful. It should be as pleasant again tomorrow.
The pitching on each side was impressive. Jon Duplantier and Ricky Salinas held the Gray team to one unearned run in six innings.
Josh Pettitte and Glenn Otto allowed one earned run in five innings of work.
On the day, Duplantier struck out 4, walked 3, hit one and gave up one unearned run and no hits. Salinas pitched shutout ball with four strikeouts and no walks. He allowed one infield hit that bounced off his lower body toward the third baseline that Ryan Chandler beat-out for the only hit by Gray.
Josh Pettitte allowed one run in his outing. He gave up a single to Dane Meyers in the first and an RBI double to Khevin Brewer in the second. He had 2 strike outs and 2 walks.
Glenn Otto pitched three innings of no hit and no run baseball. He recorded 4 strikeouts with 2 walks.
It's an early start tomorrow. Practice starts at 10;30 AM with the intrasquad an hour later.
Thanks to Barry Schulte and Bruce Chase for covering the scrimmage as I left to attend the Rice VB team's annual banquet. Good people and good food to celebrate a great season.