FALL BALL (October - November 2010)
Unofficial Recaps by Roger Tower
November 6, 2010 - Blue 2, Gray 1
It seems as if the fall ball season just began last week. Although it may have been hot and humid early in October, the campaign was blessed with great weather. The rain-out on Wednesday is the only day a scrimmage was postponed.
It was another heavenly day for baseball. A very good crowd showed up for the RBI BBQ. The crowd was very appreciative of the great play of the Owl's today. There were several great defensive plays, great pitching. and some timely hitting.
The pitchers dominated for much of the fall. The first week was especially tough on the batters. Once the Louisville bats arrived, the batters improved. I will update the unofficial stats later. They will be available by Monday.
In today's action, Blue held on for a 2-1 win.
Pitchers for Blue were Matt Reckling (3 innings), Taylor Wall (2 innings), Abe Gonzales (2 innings) and John Simms (2 innings).
Pitchers for Gray were Chase McDowell (3 innings), Tony Cingrani (2 innings), Jeremy Fant (2 innings) and Austin Kubitza (2 innings).
The Blue scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Michael Aquino and Keenan Cook hit back-to-back singles. Shane Hoelscher laid down a perfect sac-bunt to move the runners to second and third. After Craig Manuel was hit-by-pitch to load the bases, Jeremy Rathjen singled to left scoring two runs. Those two RBI gave Jeremy the RBI leadership for the fall. The inning ended with no other runs scoring.
Reckling pitched three shut-out innings with 5 strikeouts, earning him the low ERA of the fall and the high strikeout total.
The score remained Blue 2 Gray 0 until the top of the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, Michael Fuda lead-off with a single to center. That was his third hit of the day, assuring him of the high batting average of the fall. Michael Ratterree walked. Fuda to second base. Austin Kubitza hit a single to right-center with Fuda flying home. Ratterree stopping at second. A bunt attempt was popped up for the first out of the inning. A hard hit up the middle was stopped by the pitcher John Simms. John made a great play to force the runner at third. A strikeout ended the inning.
Blue had won 2-1 but got to take their last at bats. Two strikeouts were followed by singles by Manuel and Kyle Mueller. An infield ground-out ended the game and the fall ball season.
See you in January!
Pitching Lines:
Reckling: 3 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 5 SO, 0 BB
McDowell: 3 innings, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 SO, 1 BB
Wall: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Cingrani: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Gonzales: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 SO, 2 BB
Fant: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 SO, 0 BB
Simms: 2 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
Kubitza: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 SO, 0 BB
Offense Stats:
Double: Rathjen
Single: Fuda (3), Cook (2), Hoelscher (2), Rathjen (2), Kubitza, Pearson, Manuel, Mueller, Spurlin, Aquino
RBI: Rathjen (2), Kubitza
SB: Fuda
November 5, 2010 - Blue 8, Gray 2
On an absolutely beautiful fall afternoon, the Blue Team dominated the Gray Team.
Tyler Duffey (3 innings), Brad Kottman (2 innings), and Matt Evers (2 innings) held the Gray to five singles and two unearned runs on the day.
Jeremy Rathjen had three of those hits. The other two hits were an infield hit by Tyler Spurlin and a single to center by Michael Aquino.
Andrew Benak (4 innings) and Holt McNair (3 innings) took the mound for Gray.
Blue scored two unearned runs in the first on two errors and a walk. They scored another run in the third on a walk to JT Chargois and Chase McDowell's triple to left-center.
Benak closed his four innings with a 1-2-3 inning.
Holt McNair pitched the final three innings for Gray.
Blue scored one run in the fifth. Chargois lead-off with a double. He went to third on Michael Ratterree's hard single to left. Ratterree stole second. Chargois scored on an infield out.
Blue 4 Gray 2 after five innings.
In the sixth, Blue doubled up their score. With one out, Will Maxwell doubled. Andrew Murphy doubled. Will scored. Derek Hamilton singled with Murphy going to third. Fuda doubled down the left-field line. Two runs scored as the ball caromed off the fence in foul territory and away from the left fielder. Ratterree got an RBI on a single to center scoring Fuda.
McNair faced three batters in the seventh as he picked-off Pearson to end the game.
Pitching lines:
Duffey: 3 innings, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 1 HBP
Kottman: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Evers: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Benak: 4 innings, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 SO, 5 BB
McNair: 3 innings, 5 R, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
Offense Stats:
Triple: McDowell
Double: Fuda, Chargois, Maxwell, Murphy
Single: Rathjen (3), Ratterree (2), Hamilton, Maxwell, Spurlin, Aquino
RBI: Fuda (2), Ratterree, McDowell, Murphy, DGL
SB: Maxwell, Ratterree
It's off to VB game. See you at the RBI Club BBQ and Intrasquad game tomorrow.
November 4, 2010 - Blue 5, Gray 1
The rain from yesterday left a damp infield. The wind was blowing some but not nearly as hard as earlier in the day.
JT Chargois (4 innings) and Kyle Mueller (3 innings) pitched for Blue. Tyler Spurlin (4 innings) and Doug Simmons (2 innings) pitched for Gray.
JT Chargois was nearly perfect for Blue. He allowed a first inning single to Keenan Cook and a walk to Chase McDowell in the second. JT retired the last eight batters he faced.
Tyler Spurlin struggled in the first. With one out, Michael Ratterree doubled to left. After a fly-out to left, Jeremy Rathjen singled home Ratterree. Jeremy took second on the throw home, Ryan Lewis singled to center scoring Jeremy. The throw home missed the cut-off man allowing Lewis to move to second. DGL walked. Abe Gonzales singled to left. Lewis came home for the third run of the inning. DGL was thrown out trying to steal home with Andrew Murphy at the plate.
Blue lead 3-0 after one inning.
Spurlin settled in and kept Blue off the scoreboard the next three innings.
JT Chargois doubled with one out in the third. Two strikeouts stranded him at second-base.
Abe Gonzales singled with one out in the fourth but was eliminated on a 4-6-3 DP.
Kyle Mueller took over in the fifth for Blue. An infield ground-out was followed by a double to left by Austin Kubitza. Tyler Spurlin then doubled Austin home. An infield error put runners at first and second. A line drive to second resulted in an unassisted DP to end the inning.
Doug Simmons pitched the fifth and sixth for Gray. With one out, Shane Hoelscher singled. Ratterree walked. A strikeout followed. Rathjen walked to load the bases. A passed ball scored Hoelscher. A strikeout ended the inning.
Score Blue 4 Gray 1 after five innings.
Spurlin retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Abe Gonzales walked. Andrew Murphy singled. A fly-out to center was the second out. Hoelscher singled to score Abe. Ratterree walked. The inning ended on a ground-out, first baseman to the pitcher covering first.
Final was Blue 5 Gray 1.
Pitchers lines:
Chargois: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
Spurlin: 4 innings, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
Mueller: 4 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 SO, 0 BB
Simmons: 2 innings, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 SO, 4 BB
Offense Stats:
Double: Kubitza, Spurlin, Ratterree, Chargois
Single: Gonzales (2), Hoelscher (2), Cook, Rathjen, Lewis, Murphy
RBI: Hoelscher, Rathjen, Lewis, Gonzales, Spurlin
SB: none
November 1, 2010 - Blue 2, Gray 2
I brought my umbrella. It worked and held off the rain. The wind was tricky in left field.
Matt Reckling pitched five innings and Jeremy Fant went four for the Blue. Taylor Wall pitched four, Brad Kottman three and Abe Gonzales returned and pitched two innings for the Gray.
Geoff Perrott and Michael Ratterree did not play today.
Derek Hamilton greeted Matt Reckling with a line-drive single to left. Ryan Lewis, hitting in the two-hole, followed with a single to right. Hamilton going to third and Lewis taking second on the throw.
Hamilton was thrown out at home attempting to score on a ball that squirted away from the catcher. Lewis moved to third. He scored when Mike Fuda grounded-out to the right-side. Reckling settled down after that and held the Gray team scoreless in his next four innings.
Taylor Wall pitched four scoreless innings. Allowing Tyler Pearson and Keenan Cook to each single.
Brad Kottman relieved Wall in the bottom of the fifth. After one out, Tyler Spurlin doubled to left. Austin Kubitza followed with a double scoring Spurlin. Shane Hoelscher's RBI single to center scored Kubitza.
After five innings, it was Blue 2 Gray 1.
Jeremy Fant relieved Reckling in the sixth.
After a scoreless sixth inning by each team, Gray would rally and tie the game at two. Michael Aquino doubled into the left-field corner. Aquino took third on Craig Manuel's sac-bunt. Aquino scored when Andrew Murphy singled to right-center. Will Maxwell drilled a single to right. After a strikeout, Hamilton would walk to load the bases. The inning ended on a fly-out to center.
Score 2-2 after seven.
Fant held Gray scoreless in the eight and ninth.
Abe Gonzales took over for Kottman in the eighth. With none out in the eighth, Rathjen singled. A DP grounder eliminated the runner.
Gonzales walked Pearson to lead-off the bottom of the ninth. A fly-out to center was followed by Spurlin's single. Pearson went to second. Abe struck-out the next batter looking for the second out. The final out was a pop-out to right-field.
The final was 2-2 in nine full innings. It was a quick two hour game.
Tomorrow is an off-day. Looks as if it may rain anyway.
Don't forget to vote.
Pitching Lines:
Reckling: 5 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 SO, 1 BB
Wall: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 SO, 2 BB
Fant: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 SO, 2 BB
Kottman: 3 innings, 2 R, 2 ER,4 H, 1 SO, 1 BB
Gonzales: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H,1 SO, 1 BB
Offense Stats:
Double: Spurlin, Kubitza, Aquino
Single: Lewis (2), Fuda (2), Pearson (2), Hamilton, Murphy, Maxwell, Hoelscher, Cook, Rathjen, Spurlin
RBI: Fuda, Murphy, Kubitza, Hoelscher
SB: Rathjen, Maxwell
October 31, 2010 - Blue 6, Gray 2
Geoff Perrott sat out today's game. Michael Ratterree played third for Gray and Mike Fuda played second for Blue. Will Maxwell played center-field for Gray.
Today's pitchers were Chase McDowell and Tony Cingrani for Blue and John Simms and Austin Kubitza for Gray.
There were 16 strikeouts and only 6 walks today. A total of 8 runs and 16 hits.
The scoring got started when Jeremy Rathjen (Blue) worked the count to 2-0 on Simms. On the next pitch, he smashed his third HR of the fall over the left-field fence. That's the eighth HR of the fall.
Gray rallied with two runs in the top of the third. With one out, Hoelscher singled to left. Shane then stole second. Keenan Cook walked. The runners advanced on a passed ball. Mike Ratterree drove home Hoelscher with a grounder to third. Craig Manuel followed with a double to drive home Cook. Those were the only runs Gray would score.
Blue tied the game in the bottom of the inning. With two out, Fuda singled, stole second, and went to third on the misplayed throw to second. JT Chargois singled to center, driving home the run.
No scoring in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Derek Hamilton walked to lead-off. Fuda singled to center. Chargois had an infield single to load the bases. Rathjen hit a grounder to short. There was no play at first but the attempted force at third skipped past the third baseman and allowed Fuda and Hamilton to score. After a strikeout, DGL hit a hard ground-ball toward short for an infield single. Chargois scored.
Austin Kubitza replaced Simms. An infield hit by Tyler Pearson scored Rathjen. Pearson was caught stealing to end the inning and the scoring for the day.
Kubitza and Cingrani each pitched scoreless ball after that through nine innings.
Pitching Lines:
McDowell: 5 innings, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
Simms: 4.1 innings, 6 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 6 SO, 4 BB
Kubitza: 4.2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 5 SO, 0 BB
Cingrani: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
Offense Stats:
HR: Rathjen
Double: Manuel, Fuda, Aquino
Single: Cook (2), Aquino (2), Chargois (2), DGL (2), Pearson (2), Fuda, Hoelscher
RBI: Rathjen (2), Chargois, DGL, Pearson, Ratterree, Manuel
SB: Aquino (2), Lewis (2), Pearson, Hoelscher, Fuda
October 29, 2010 - Gray 6, Blue 4
What an absolutely gorgeous afternoon for a fall ball scrimmage. Tyler Duffey, Andrew Benak, Holt McNair and Matt Evers each pitched four innings. Boogie got to call balls and strikes from behind the mound.
The Gray team started with a lead-off double by Shane Hoelscher. Keenan Cook walked. Jeremy Rathjen singled home Hoelscher. Cook was forced at third on a grounder to short. DGL hit a sharp grounder toward third that took a nasty hop and hit Geoff Perrott in the face. Geoff left the game and was replaced at third by Tyler Spurlin. The next two batters were retired.
Blue was retired in order.
After one out, Andrew Murphy singled to center. Hoelscher delivered a HR to left for two runs. Duffey retired the next eight batters.
Ratterree hit a HR to left in the bottom of the second. Blue would score two more in the fourth on back-to-back singles by Chargois and Ratterree. Craig Manuel would drive home Chargois with an infield ground-out. Ryan Lewis would later drive home Ratterree on a dropped sac-fly to center.
After four innings and with Duffey and Benak finishing their four innings, the score was tied at three.
Holt McNair would pitch for the Blue and Matt Evers for the Gray.
In the top of the fifth, Hoelscher doubled, Cook singled him home. Rathjen followed with a two-run blast to left-center. It was the third HR of the afternoon. It was just one shy of the four hit previously in all of fall ball. That was the last that Gray would score on the day.
Blue would rally for one run in the bottom of the fifth. Spurlin singled up the middle. Hamilton also got a single to center with Spurlin going to third. Fuda dropped down a beautiful bunt toward third. Spurlin scored and Hamilton went to second. Fuda was safe at first. Chargois walked to load the bases. Ratterree ripped a liner to DGL at third. The throw to first doubled off Chargois.
No other runs scored.
Pitching Lines: Each pitcher 4 innings
Duffey: 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 SO, 1 BB
Benak: 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 SO, 0 BB
McNair: 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
Evers: 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 SO, 3 BB
Offense Stats:
HR: Hoelscher, Ratterree, Rathjen
Double: Hoelscher (2), DGL, Aquino
Single: Fuda (2), Hamilton, Chargois, Ratterree, Lewis, Aquino, Spurlin, Cook, Rathjen, DGL, Kubitza, Murphy
RBI: Rathjen (3), Hoelscher (2), Cook, Fuda, Ratterree, Manuel, Lewis
SB: Lewis, Fuda
October 28, 2010 - Blue 11, Gray 7
As Yogi once said It was "deja vu all over again." Today's scrimmage was very reminiscent of last night's World Series game. The pitchers struggled with their command, the batters had some timely two-out hits, and the final score was Home (Blue) 11 Visitor (Gray) 7.
The big difference from the game last night and today's game is that Gray got out to an early 7-3 lead only to have Blue rally from behind to win 11-7.
JT Chargois (3.2 innings) and Kyle Mueller (3.1 innings) pitched for the Blue. Anthony Fazio (2 innings), Doug Simmons (3 innings), and Tyler Spurlin (2 innings) pitched for the Gray.
Gray scored three runs in the first on back-to-back walks to Cook and Fuda, with McDowell singling home Cook. Fuda scored on a wild pitch. A fielder's choice by DGL eliminated McDowell at third. Kubitza singled to right. DGL taking third. Pearson drove home the third and final run of the inning with a single to right.
Blue scored one in the bottom of the first on walks to Fuda and Ratterree. Two wild pitches followed, allowing Fuda to score.
Gray added another two runs in the second on a double by Murphy, a single by Spurlin, a fielder's choice by Hoelscher moving Spurlin to second. Cook doubled to right-center with Murphy scoring. Rathjen's grounder to third drove home Spurlin. There was some unusual base running involved but two runs did eventually score.
A nice double play initiated by DGL with a great turn by Keenan Cook erased a lead-off single by Ryan Lewis in the bottom of the second. A pop-foul to third ended the inning.
Gray did not score in the third. Doug Simmons took over for Anthony Fazio in the third. Blue closed to within 5-3 with two runs on a single by Hamilton, a Fuda single, a walk to Ratterree and Manuel's two run single. Perrott singled but was erased on a DP.
Gray would "chase" Chargois in the fourth on McDowell's two RBI single. Kyle Mueller took over and ended the inning on an infield ground-out.
Blue added three unearned runs after two quick outs in the bottom of the fourth. After the two outs, it was a single by Fuda, single by Chargois, an E4 with Ratterree batting, followed by RBI singles by Manuel and Perrott. It was now 7-6 Gray.
Mueller struck-out the side in the fifth. Simmons followed with a perfect inning.
Mueller walked one and added another strikeout in the sixth. No runs or hits.
Tyler Spurlin relieved Simmons in the sixth. Blue rallied back to take the lead 11-7. Fuda ripped his third single of the day. Chargois had an infield single to third. Ratterree walked for the third time. Manuel got his fourth RBI of the day with a grounder to the right-side. Perrott was hit by a pitch. Ryan Lewis walked to drive in the second run of the inning. Aquino drove home a run with a fielder's choice to third. A wild pitch and throwing error resulted in two more runs. Maxwell singled to center but was stranded as Hamilton grounded-out.
Mueller struck-out his fifth batter in a perfect seventh.
Spurlin pitched a scoreless seventh with a strikeout.
Pitching lines:
Chargois: 3.2 innings, 7 R, 7 ER, 9 H, 1 SO, 3 BB
Fazio: 2 innings, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 SO, 2 BB
Mueller: 3.1 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 5 SO, 1 BB
Simmons: 3 innings, 5 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
Spurlin: 2 innings, 5 R, 5 ER,4 H, 1 SO, 2 BB
Offense Stats:
Double: Cook, Murphy
Single: Fuda (3), Chargois (3), Manuel (2), Perrott (2), McDowell (2), Kubitza (2), Hamilton, Lewis, Maxwell, Pearson, Spurlin, Murphy
RBI: Manuel (4). McDowell (3), Cook, Rathjen, Pearson, Perrott, Lewis, Aquino
No SB
Note that Fuda scored four runs.
October 26, 2010 - Blue 2, Gray 1
On a day with excellent pitching by all four pitchers, it was the catchers who gave them the chance to shine. Geoff Perrott threw out Kennan Cook trying to steal second in the first. Tyler Pearson threw out Michael Fuda in the third and Craig Manuel nailed DGL in the seventh.
DGL and Shane Hoelscher also made great infield plays. Doug Simmons made a nice catch in left and doubled up the runner off first.
Matt Reckling, Jeremy Fant, Taylor Wall and Brad Kottman each pitched four excellent innings. Reckling continues throw a great breaking ball with his fast ball in the mid-90s. Wall had his best outing of the fall and continues to get better. Fant and Kottman also were sharp. There were 17 SOs and only 3 BBs.
The pitching lines were as follows:
Reckling: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 7 SO, 2 BB
Fant: 4 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 4 SO, 1 BB
Wall: 4 innings, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 SO, 0 BB
Kottman: 4 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 SO, 0 BB
Michael Fuda recovered from his three strikeout day yesterday with three straight hits. He was left in the on-deck circle so did not get a chance to go four for four.
Michael Ratterree had two singles and an RBI.
Blue scored in the first with three straight singles. One each by Fuda, McDowell and Ratterree. The other run came when Craig Manuel singled off the shortstop in the seventh. Craig was safe at second with an inventive slide on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on Geoff Perrott's single to right and would score when Austin Kubitza hit a hard grounder to DGL at third. Daniel threw from his knees to nip Austin at first with Craig scoring.
The only run that Gray scored was in the seventh. Ryan Lewis looped a single into left. DGL laid down a perfect bunt toward third and beat it out. Lewis went to third when the throw by Taylor Wall to first skipped past Kubitza. Doug Simmons followed with a deep sacrifice fly to center that scored Lewis.
Offense stats:
No extra base hits.
Single: Fuda (3), Ratterree (2) McDowell, Manuel, Perrott, Kubitza, Maxwell, Hoelscher, Lewis, Cook, Rathjen, DGL, Simmons
RBI: Simmons, Ratterree, Kubitza
SB: Maxwell
October 25, 2010 - Blue 7, Gray 1
Each of the four pitchers was scheduled to throw four innings today. It didn't quite work-out that way as Austin Kubitza struggled to find his command of the strike zone. Austin went three. John Simms, Chase McDowell and Tony Cingrani each got four innings in.
Simms faced five batters in each of the first two innings but kept the Gray team scoreless. He gave up one run in the third when Derek Hamilton hit a lead-off double. Craig Manuel had a two-out single to score Derek. Simms pitched a perfect fourth.
Kubitza started with a strikeout but walked Kennan Cook. Jeremy Rathjen hit a HR onto the hill in left. A walk, a single by Tyler Pearson and an RBI single by JT Chargois followed. DGL had an RBI fielder's choice ground-out. Four runs in for the inning. Blue would score single runs in each of the next three innings.
Blue 7 Gray 1 after four innings.
The seventh Blue run scored off Tony Cingrani in his first inning of relief. Cingrani's final three innings were scoreless.
Chase McDowell came on in the fifth for Blue and pitched four scoreless and hitless innings, just walking two.
Note that Chase was DH for the Gray team. He did not, however, attempt to bat against himself!
Pitching lines:
Simms: 4 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H,4 SO, 2 BB
Kubitza: 3 innings, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 SO, 2 BB
Cingrani: 4 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
McDowell: 4 innings, 0 R, 0 ER,0 H, 4 SO, 2 BB
Offense Stats:
HR: Rathjen
Double: Hamilton
Single: Rathjen (2), Hoelscher (2), Pearson, (2), Chargois, Murphy, Aquino, Manuel
RBI: Rathjen (2), Chargois, DGL, Hoelscher, Murphy, Manuel
SB: Rathjen (3)
October 24, 2010 - Gray 8, Blue 4
The weather continues to be beautiful for fall ball. With scattered clouds and a breeze blowing in from right, Holt McNair and Andrew Benak each pitched four innings in leading the Gray to an 8-4 win. For the Blue, Tyler Duffey and Matt Evers threw 3 innings each with Anthony Fazio pitching two perfect innings.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the second when the Blue scored two runs. A walk to Ratterree, a single to right by JT Chargois with Ratterree taking third. Chargois would steal second. DGL singled past a diving Derek Hamilton. Ratterree and Chargois each scored.
Gray would tie the game in the third. Derek Hamilton and Kennan Cook each got their second hit of the game. Hamilton going to third on Cook's single to right. Duffey dropped the ball balking home the runner on third and sending Cook to second. Geoff Perrott would get a two-out single to send home the second run of the inning.
The score was 2-2 after three innings.
Matt Evers relieved Tyler Duffey in the fourth. The Gray would score one run. Michael Aquino lead-off with a double to right. A two-out single by Hamilton would score Aquino. It was Hamilton's third single of the afternoon.
Holt McNair finished his outing by retiring the last five batters he faced.
In the top of the fifth, Gray scored a handful of runs. After one out, Ryan Lewis walked. A grounder to short was booted. Runners at the corners. Craig Manuel drove a single to right. Lewis scoring with Geoff Perrott reaching third. Michael Aquino hit a dribbler toward third and beat the throw to first. An infield hit that scored Perrott. Doug Simmons followed with a double on a well hit ball to the gap in right-center. Two runs score. Kyle Mueller drove home Simmons with the fifth run of the inning. Mueller was thrown out trying to take second after the play at the plate.
Blue would tally two runs after Andrew Benak relieved McNair in the bottom of the fifth. Austin Kubitza singled. Tyler Pearson followed with another. Kubitza going to third. A FC grounder back to the pitcher followed. The throw to second was in the dirt. Pearson was safe and Kubitza scored. After a strikeout, Shane Hoelscher singled to left scoring Will Maxwell. Michael Fuda laid down a perfect bunt for a single to load the bases. A 1-2-3 DP followed to end the inning.
Score was 8-4 Gray after five.
The pitching settled down with Evers and Fazio retiring the last ten Gray batters. Benak held Blue scoreless over the final three innings.
Pitching Lines:
Duffey: 3 innings, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
McNair: 4 innings, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 SO, 2 BB
Evers: 3 innings, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
Benak: 4 innings, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 SO, 3 BB
Fazio: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Offensive Stats:
Double: DGL, Cook, Aquino, Simmons
Single: Hamilton (3), Cook, Perrott, Manuel, Aquino, Mueller, Hoelscher, Fuda, Chargois, DGL, Kubitza, Pearson
RBI: DGL (2), Simmons (2), Hoelscher, Maxwell, Hamilton, Perrott, Manuel, Aquino, Mueller
SB: Chargois, DGL
October 22, 2010 - Gray 5, Blue 1
It was the Craig Manuel show today. Craig had 3 hits, 4 RBI, a walk and a run scored.
In the fist, Craig doubled home two. In the fourth, he walked and scored on Shane Hoelscher's sac-fly. His line drive singles in the fifth and sixth each knocked home a run.
Blue scored a first inning run off Doug Simmons, thanks to two walks and a loping single to left center for Michael Ratterree.
Pitching lines:
Chargois: 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 SO, 1 BB
Muellar: 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB
Simmons: 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 SO, 3 BB
Fant: 0 R, 3 H, 2 SO
Offense:
Double: Manuel, Aquino, Lewis
Single: Hoelscher, Rathjen, Perrott, Manuel (2), Aquino, Fuda, Ratterree, Chargois, Murphy
RBI: Manuel (4), Ratterree, Hoelscher
No SB
October 20, 2010 - Blue 1, Gray 0
It's back to the soccer scores. A first inning run that scored on a passed ball. That was it. Each team had just four hits.
Spurlin, Reckling, Wall and Kottman pitched today and each was very good. Two of the pitchers were able to go four innings today. The game ended so quickly I failed to notice the moon this evening.
Spurlin faced 13 batters in four innings. He walked three, struck-out three and allowed one hit. Two ground ball DPs helped. He also had a runner caught stealing.
Reckling pitched four innings today. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases in the first. A passed ball allowed the runner on third to score. That was the only run of the day.
With two out in the second, Maxwell and Hamilton singled. Maxwell was thrown out at third trying to get an extra base. Inning over. A perfect third followed. In the fourth, Simmons walked with two out. Simmons broke for second. Reckling threw to second but the throw was high and went into center-field. Simmons was out trying to go to third. Reckling gave up the unearned run, four hits, 3 SOs, and two BBs.
Wall pitched three innings. He allowed no runs on 3 hits, 3 SOs, 1 BB, and 1 HBP.
Kottman pitched the last three innings for the Gray team. He did not allow a run or a hit, 2 SOs, and 1 BB.
Offensive stats:
Double: Chargois (another opposite-field dinker with the Demarini for JT)
Singles: Hamilton, Fuda, McDowell, Maxwell, Hoelscher, Kubitza, Murphy
No RBI
SB: Simmons
October 19, 2010 - Blue 3, Gray 2
When practice started, it was a little warm and humid. As the scrimmage ended with the sun setting in the west and a waxing gibbous moon over the medical center in the east, it was a beautiful autumn evening.
Blue nosed out the Gray 3-2 on an unearned run in the fifth.
Each of the four pitchers went three innings. Austin Kubitza and Tony Cingrani for the Gray. Chase McDowell and John Simms for the Blue.
There was no way that Chase McDowell could be as spectacular as he was in his previous outing but was still good. He gave up one earned run when Tyler Spurlin homered in the top of the second. An unearned run scored in the third after a single by Shane Hoelscher, a walk to Austin Kubitza, a strikeout, a fly-out, and another walk to Ryan Lewis, Hoelscher would then score on a passed ball.
Austin Kubitza struck out six in his three innings. He was throwing some very nasty pitches. Two runs scored in the third. With one out, Derek Hamilton singled. Michael Fuda followed with a slow grounder to third. All runners were safe with Hamilton moving to third as the throw to second escaped Hoelscher. Fuda then stole second. After a strikeout, each runner would score on Michael Ratterree's single.
John Simms pitched shut-out ball in his three innings. He allowed two hits and struck-out three.
Tony Cingrani gave up four hits and struck-out two. The run in the fifth scored after Derek Hamilton singled. An attempted pick-off throw sailed past first and allowed Hamilton to move to second. Hamilton scored on Fuda's single. Fuda would steal second but was caught attempting to stealing third for the final out of the inning.
There was a bit more offense tonight but the pitching continues to be excellent.
Pitching lines: 3 innings each
Austin Kubitza : 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 SO, 2 BB
Tony Cingrani: 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 SO
Chase McDowell: 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 SO, 3 BB
John Simms: 0 R, 2 H, 3 SO
Offensive stats:
Home Run: Spurlin
Singles: Hamilton (2), Fuda (2), Ratterree (2), Perrott (2), Cook (2), Hoelscher, Pearson
RBI: Ratterree (2), Fuda, Spurlin
SB: Fuda (2), Cook, Pearson
October 18, 2010 - Blue 2, Gray 2
It was a 2-2 tie. The biggest news of the day is that Anthony Fazio made his first pitching appearance of the fall.
All the pitchers had good days. The "A-Team" (stolen from Bruce) of Abe Gonzales, Andrew Benak and Anthony Fazio held the Blue team to one hit. At one point, Blue retired 17 straight batters.
The Gray pitcher's of Tyler Duffey, Holt McNair and Matt Evers only allowed three hits. Gray retired eight straight batters.
I'll dispense with the offensive highlights quickly. Michael Ratterree had the solitary hit for the Gray team, a first inning double scoring Chase McDowell. McDowell reached on a two-base throwing error. Gray would score again in the seventh on a hit batter, a walk, a fielder's choice and a wild pitch.
The Blue scored in the first on a walk, a fielder's choice, a single by Jeremy Rathjen and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lewis. Blue scored their second run in the fourth. Ryan Lewis got hit-by-pitch, stole second. DGL tried to bunt him to third but Lewis was tagged out. DGL then scored on JT Chargois's double to right. Chargois added a single in the seventh for the last hit of the day.
Pitching lines:
Gonzales: 3 innings, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 SO, 0 BB
Duffey: 3 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, 1 HBP
Benak: 3 innings, 0 R, 0 H, 2 SO
McNair: 2 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 SO, 1 HBP
Fazio: 2 innings, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 1 SO, 3 BB, 1 HBP
Evers: 3 innings, 0 R, 1 H, 1 SO
Offensive stats:
Doubles: Chargois, Ratterree
Singles: Chargois, Rathjen
RBI: Lewis, Chargois, Ratterree
SB: Lewis, Chargois
October 17, 2010 - Blue 5, Gray 3
The four pitchers today were JT Chargois, Jeremy Fant, Boogie Anagnostou and Doug Simmons. Each pitcher went three innings.
JT Chargois pitched three scoreless innings for the Blue. He gave up two singles, walked two and struck out one.
Jeremy Fant had a rough first inning. Shane Hoelscher singled. After a strikeout, Jeremy Rathjen singled to left. Hoelscher to second. Ryan Lewis hit a sharp ground ball that Ratterree made a nice play on to get Lewis at first. Hoelscher moved to third; Rathjen to second. Tyler Pearson singled to center scoring Hoelscher and Rathjen. DGL continued his great hitting with a double down the left-field and pushing Pearson to third. Abe Gonzales got two RBI on his single. A fly out to center ended the first.
In the second, Keenan Cook was the only base-runner when he walked. Two fly balls and a pop-up were the outs.
In the third DGL singled; stole second; took third on a WP; scored on Gonzales' Sac Fly.
After three it was 5-0 Blue.
Boogie pitched the fourth for Blue. For Gray, Chase McDowell singled to lead-off. A strikeout looking followed. Craig Manuel singled McDowell to third. Geoff Perrott drove home McDowell with a Sac Fly. Austin Kubitza singled; Manuel holding up at second. When Tyler Spurlin singled, it looked as if it could be a big inning. Ryan Lewis made a great throw from right to get Manuel at the plate. Four hits but only one run scored.
In the fifth, Boogie got three straight infield ground-outs.
In the sixth, Mike Fuda singled. Fuda took second on a fly to center and moved to third on a WP. A pop-out to the catcher was the second out. Craig Manuel walked. Fuda scored and Manuel took second on a passed ball. Perrott doubled home Manuel.
Doug Simmons pitched the last three innings for Gray. Simmons faced nine batters in three innings. One single was erased on a caught stealing and the lone walk was eliminated on a 5-4-3 DP. The perfect sixth featured two nice defensive plays by Derek Hamilton at short.
Final: Blue 5 Gray 3
Pitching lines: 3 innings each
JT Chargois: 0 R, 2 H, 1 SO, 2 BB
Boogie Anagnostou: 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 SO, 1 BB
Jeremy Fant: 5 R, 7 H, 1 SO, 2 BB
Doug Simmons: 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB
Offensive Stats:
Doubles: DGL, Perrott
Singles: McDowell (2), Fuda, Manuel, Kubitza, Spurlin, Murphy, Hoelscher, Rathjen, Pearson, DGL, Gonzales, Aquino, Murphy
SB: DGL, Perrott
October 15, 2010 - Blue 17, Gray 3
The score looks like football but it was a baseball game.
The game started out looking like a repeat of yesterday. Matt Reckling and Kyle Mueller were each pitching a shutout through two innings.
Things changed in a hurry in the third. Matt walked the lead-off man Andrew Murphy. A wild pitch sent him to second. Will Maxwell reached on an infield error that scored Andrew.
A fly to center was the first out. Mike Fuda singled to center sending Will to third. Michael Ratterree walked. Chase McDowell hit a Sac Fly to center scoring Will. With DGL batting, an attempted double steal scored Fuda from third. Ratterree got hung up between first and second long enough to allow the runner to get home before the third out was made.
In the bottom of the inning, things started okay. After a walk, a fly out, and a pick-off there were two outs. At that point, things did not go well for Kyle in the bottom of the third. Two walks and three singles followed, scoring three runs. A fly to right should have ended the inning but was dropped as a result of some Alphonse-Gaston confusion.
The dropped fly sent home the fourth run. Four more runs scored in the inning after two walks, a two RBI double by Derek Hamilton and another walk. Brad Kottman relieved at that point and got the final out on a fielder's choice ground ball.
Reckling came out to pitch the fourth to work on his pitching motion. He must have made progress as he struck-out two in a 1-2-3 inning.
In the fourth, Blue continued to put runs on the board. A walk to Ryan Lewis was followed by Geoff Perrott's HR to left. JT Chargois and Craig Manuel each singled. Michael Aquino doubled a run home. Austin Kubitza singled home two more. Derek Hamilton hit a hard grounder off DGL for an infield single. A Ground ball DP wiped him off the bases. Two outs. Jeremy beat out a slow roller. He stole second and scored on Ryan Lewis' hard grounder just past second. A great play by DGL at third ended the inning.
At this time, it was 15-3 Blue after four innings.
Tyler Spurlin come on for Blue and pitched two perfect innings. One strikeout and five ground-outs.
In the bottom of the fifth Blue added two more runs on singles by JT and Craig. Hamilton drove them home with his second double.
Blue did not bat in the sixth.
Pitching lines:
Reckling: 3 innings, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 6 SO, 2 BB
Spurlin: 2 innings, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 SO
Mueller: 2.2 innings, 8 R, 3 ER, 1 SO, 8 BB
Kottman: 2.1 innings, 9 R 9 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB
Offensive stats:
HR: Geoff Perrott
Double: Hamilton (2), Aquino
Single: Chargois (3), Manuel (2), Lewis (2), Hamilton, Cook, Rathjen, Perrott, Kubitza, Fuda, Ratterree, Pearson
SB: Fuda, Rathjen, Cook
RBI: Hamilton (4), Kubitza (3), Perrott (3), Lewis (2), Rathjen, Chargois, Aquino, McDowell
October 14, 2010 - Gray 2, Blue 0
Don't forget the C-USA Food Drive Challenge. Yesterday I dropped off a large bag of rice and several cans of food. You can help too. Here is a reminder from Cat Fitzsimmon's message:
This week, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee is collecting canned goods, rice and monetary donations to benefit the Houston Food Bank. Please lend your support to this C-USA Food Drive Challenge as Rice competes against other C-USA schools to beat hunger one grain of rice at a time. Drop off your canned goods and rice at the designated containers around campus. Or donate 10 items at a Rice Athletics event on compus and earn a free Rice ticket! Thank you for supporting the ‘Rice SAACs Hunger’ food drive this week through Sunday!
The weather was drier and cooler than Tuesday evening when the batters went wild. Today was all about the pitching.
Gray won with two runs in the top of the seventh after six scoreless innings. The Blue team did not bat in the bottom of the seventh.
Chase McDowell started for the Blue team and was unbelievable. He threw 32 pitches and 26 were strikes. I think he had 13 or 14 in a row at one point. He faced the minimum number of batters in each inning. A first inning single by Keenan Cook was eliminated on Rathjen's 6-4-3 DP ball. Chase had four strikeouts and no walks.
John Simms was nearly as good in his start for the Gray team. He allowed a first inning single to Craig Manuel. He would walk one batter in each inning but stranded a runner at third in each inning. He had the three walks and struck out two.
Tony Cingrani came on in the fourth for Chase. After a perfect fourth, Tony got Ryan Lewis to ground-out. JT Chargois walked. Austin Kubitza lined a single to left. DGL hit a fly ball to left for the second out. Tyler Pearson was walked to load the bases. Will Maxwell hit a hard line drive that Craig Manuel caught for the third out. In the sixth, Cingrani developed his own technique. Walk a batter. Pick'em off. Repeat. Another walk. Finally a fly-out to center to end the inning.
Austin Kubitza relieved Simms in the fourth for Gray. Austin came within one batter of retiring nine straight. He walked Michael Ratterree after eight straight outs. Craig Manuel made the final out for Blue on a fly to left. Austin had two strikeouts to go with the walk. No hits. Blue had one hit for the afternoon. Austin was also the batter to get two hits for the day.
Tyler Duffey pitched the top of the seventh. Ryan Lewis and JT Chargois hit back-to-back singles. An attempted double steal failed as Geoff Perrott threw a perfect throw to Manuel at third to catch Lewis. JT took second. DGL rifled a ball into the left-field corner for a double scoring JT. Austin Kubitza singled home DGL. Tyler Pearson grounded into a 6-4-3 DP to end the game. Duffey allowed four hits, no walks or strikeouts.
Offensive stats:
Double: DGL
Singles: Kubitza (2), Cook, Lewis, Chargois and Manuel
RBI: Kubitza, DGL
SB: Fuda, DGL
October 12, 2010 - Blue 12, Gray 5
For the first time all fall, there was a player sitting out on Bikini Hill fetching HR balls in BP. Mike Fuda became the first player to go deep this fall.
Jeremy Rathjen ripped three doubles to left-center.
There was a total of twenty-one hits and seventeen runs.
Pitchers for Blue were Benak (3 inn), McNair (3 inn), and Fant (2 inn). Pitchers for Gray were Gonzales (3 inn), Evers (3 inn), and Wall (2 inn).
Gray scored one in the first on back-to-back singles by Fuda and McDowell. Ratterree drove home Fuda with a deep Sac Fly to center.
In the bottom of the first, Blue plated their first six batters. Three walks were sandwiched between three hits. The big hits were Rathjen's double driving home two runs and DGL's single driving home two more.
Gray would score single runs in each of the next two innings. The big one being Fuda's blast over the left-field fence in the third.
Blue did not score in the second or third as Gonzales faced only three batters in each inning.
Score after three: Gray 3, Blue 6
Gray failed to score off McNair in the fourth.
Blue scored three in the fourth off Evers. The runs were the result of four singles and a walk. Hamilton got two RBI on his single.
In the fifth Hoelscher singled, took second on a grounder to second, reached third on a WP, and scored on the second of Ratterree's Sac Flies for the game.
In the bottom of the fifth, Rathjen hit a lead-off double. Lewis walked behind him. Rathjen took third on JT's fly to deep right. Lewis moved up on a WP that bounced out in front of the plate. DGL singled to left for two more RBI.
It was a 1-2-3 inning for reach McNair and Evers in the sixth.
Score after six: Gray 4 Blue 11
Jeremy Fant pitched for the first time this fall. He came on in the seventh. Gray scored one run on three singles and a FC RBI by Fuda.
Taylor Wall relieved in the seventh. Rathjen's third double started the inning. He stole third and scored on a Sac Fly by Ryan Lewis.
Neither side scored in the eighth.
Final: Gray 5, Blue 12
Pitching stats:
BLUE PITCHERS
Benak: 3 R, 4 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 2 ER
McNair: 1 R, 1 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, 1 ER
Fant: 1 R, 4 H, 1 SO, 1 BB, 1 ER
GRAY PITCHERS
Gonzales: 6 R, 3 H, 0 SO, 4, BB
Evers: 5 R, 7 H, 1 SO, 3 BB
Wall: 1 R, 2 H, 1 SO, 0 BB
Hitting Stats:
Extra-base Hits: Hamilton
Singles: DGL (3), Pearson (2), McDowell (2), Manuel (2), Hoelscher, Fuda, Simmons, Spurlin, Hamilton, Cook, Maxwell
RBI: DGL (4), Rathjen (2), Hamilton (2), Fuda (2), Ratterree (2), Lewis, Aquino, Pearson
SB: DGL (2), Hamilton, Rathjen, Pearson, Kubitza
October 11, 2010 - Blue 7, Gray 1
The new Louisville bats have arrived. There was almost the old familiar "ping" of college baseball in the air. It was obvious from the first swing of BP that these bats had more power. Maybe not quite as much as last year's model but real close. Line drives had zip and carried into the gaps. There were around half-a-dozen HRs in BP today. Anthony had some more. DGL and other players joined in the fun. Still none hit in the scrimmages.
In addition to the bat changes, there some were some position changes today. Ratterree played SS. Hoelscher and Cook each moved to second. Fuda played center. Mueller and Maxwell each played left. McDowell was in right. Abe Gonzales, Spurlin and Chargois each played at first.
Each of the four pitchers went three innings today. (Simmons, Boogie, Duffey and JT Chargois)
Doug Simmons started for the Blue team. He had a very good outing, striking out six and allowing only two hits and no runs.
Boogie Anagnostou started for Gray (don't be fooled by his blue jersey). In the first, Fuda hit a sharp single to right. He stole second and scored on McDowell's single. Ratterree got HBP. Manuel doubled to the right-field wall scoring McDowell. Ratterree came home on a Sac Fly by Perrott.
Boogie's second inning was much smoother. Michael Aquino led the inning off with a single but was stranded at third after three straight ground-outs.
The third inning started with Fuda hitting another line-drive single. Two walks loaded the bases. Manuel hit a sharp grounder to first plating Fuda. Abe Gonzales hit a double to left-center scoring two more runs.
For the day Boogie allowed six runs on six hits, two walks and one HBP.
Tyler Duffey relieved Simmons in the fourth. With one out, Jeremy Rathjen beat out a slow roller to third. Ryan Lewis walked. DGL hit a single through the hole on the left-side to score Jeremy. A strikeout and fielder's choice grounder ended the threat.
Tyler retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth. His stats included one run on two hits. He had one strikeout and one walk.
JT Chargois pitched the final three innings for the Gray. He gave up one run in the fourth on a walk, HBP, fielder's choice and a wild pitch.
Manuel singled off JT to lead off the fifth. He moved to second on a ground-out to third. Abe Gonzales singled to right. Manuel held up at third. A DP around the horn ended the inning.
Chargois pitched a 1-2-3 sixth. His stats were one run, two hits, one strikeout, HBP, and two walks.
Offense:
Double + Single: Abe Gonzales, Craig Manuel
Two Singles: Fuda, Rathjen
One Single: McDowell, Aquino, DGL, Spurlin
RBI: Manuel (2), Abe Gonzales (2), DGL, McDowell, Perrott
SB: Fuda, Spurlin, Rathjen
Unofficial stats through 10/10
October 9, 2010 - Blue 1, Gray 0
The big excitement of the day was Anthony Rendon taking BP. It didn't take him long to up the buzz as he hit one out on the second pitch he saw.
In the scrimmage that followed, it was all about pitching.
Matt Reckling pitched 3 shutout innings getting four strikeouts looking. His fastball was consistently above 90 mph. No walks and one single allowed.
Shane Hoelscher ripped a double past Craig Manuel on the first pitch thrown by Tyler Spurlin. Michael Ratterree plated Shane with a single to center. Spurlin allowed no other hits. He walked two and struck-out two in his three innings.
Brad Kottman relieved Matt in the fourth. He pitched three scoreless innings also. His line included 2 hits, 2 walks, and one strikeout.
Kyle Mueller took over for Spurlin in the fourth and had three shutout innings. He had 6 strikeouts. He walked one and allowed 2 singles.
Abe Gonzales came on to pitch the seventh for each team. He pitched well facing just six batters. His only walk was eliminated on a 4-6-3 DP to end the scrimmage after seven innings.
The only extra-base hit was Hoelscher's double in the first. Singles were collected by the following: Rathjen, Spurlin, Maxwell, Ratterree, McDowell, and Pearson.
That's it. Unofficial stats to follow. No scrimmage tomorrow.
Women's Tennis tournament starts at 8:30 AM tomorrow. Lots of Owls playing great tennis.
VB beats Tulane 3-0 the second night in a row.
Go Owls.
October 8, 2010 - Blue 3, Gray 3
It was another great fall afternoon. Just a little bit warmer but a beautiful day for baseball and the tennis tournament. I don't know but maybe the warmer weather is bringing life to the bats. A total of 16 hits were ripped out in 6 innings today.
It appeared that Austin Kubitza and Tony Cingrani were going to pitch the Grays to a 3-0 shutout win.
Kubitza threw three scoreless innings allowing just two singles in the second inning. He had three strikeouts. His only walk was eliminated on a DP grounder.
John Simms pitched the first three innings for the Blue team. He allowed two runs in the second. Tyler Pearson doubled to right . DGL singled him to third. DGL then stole second. They each moved up on a wild pitch with Pearson scoring.
DGL scored from third on a ground-out to the right-side by Kubitza. Simms pitched a scoreless first and third. In his three innings, Simms allowed 2 earned runs, 3 hits, and one walk. He struck-out two.
Chase McDowell relieved Simms in the fourth. In the fourth, JT Chargois doubled to left and scored on DGL's second single. Chase pitched shutout innings in the fifth and sixth.
However in the sixth, Jeremy Rathjen hit a hard shot to deep left-center that looked as if it would leave the park. It hit the top of the fence for a double. I was told that if hit with the Louisville bats we'll be using in the spring the ball would gone out.
Cingrani came in for Kubitza in the fourth. He scraped through the fourth without giving up a run. Keenan Cook singled. Tony picked him off. A come-backer was good for the second out. Geoff Perrott hit a hard shot off the second baseman. Craig Manuel walked. A grounder to short ended the inning. Tony struckout three in the fifth. Kyle Mueller singled with two outs.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Blue offense came to life. Keenan Cook ripped a single up the middle. Ratterree doubled to center scoring Cook from first. McDowell dropped a single into center with the Ratt scoring. McDowell took second on the throw home.
Perrott kept up his solid hitting with another single which scored Chase. Game tied at 3. Craig Manuel popped to left. Geoff reached second on a ground-out. Cingrani got his fourth strikeout to end the game.
Offensive stats:
Perrott: 3 singles
DGL: 2 singles
Cook: 2 singles
Rathjen, Chargois, Pearson and Ratterree with a double each.
Lewis, Hamilton, McDowell, Manuel and Mueller with a single each.
October 6, 2010 - Blue 5, Gray 1
The batters shook some solid hits out of these new metal bats today. No scoreless draw as the Gray team beat the Blue team 5-1 in five innings.
The Blue team scored first with an unearned run off Holt McNair in the bottom of the first.
Shane Hoelscher reached on a two-base throwing error. He moved to third on a ground out to first and scored on Michael Ratterree's grounder to short.
Gray rallied back with two runs off Matt Evers in the top of the second.
J. T. Chargois walked. Tyler Pearson singled to right. JT moving to third. DGL singled to center scoring JT and moving Tyler to third.
DGL stole second. After a strikeout, Andrew Murphy hit a hard grounder to third. The play went back to second with DGL out in a rundown. Pearson scoring the run.
Murphy was forced at second to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Craig Manuel walked but was doubled-up on a come-backer to McNair.
2-1 Gray after two innings.
Michael Fuda ripped a double to left. Ryan Lewis pushed him to third on a ground-out to the right-side. Jeremy Rathjen hit a Sac-Fly to score Fuda.
McNair was perfect in the third.
3-1 Gray after 3 innings.
Pitching changes in the fourth were Taylor Wall for Matt Evers and Andrew Benak for Holt McNair.
After one out, Will Maxwell hit a slow roller to second for an infield single. Andrew Murphy followed with a single to left-center. Derek Hamilton grounded into a double-play to end the inning.
The Blue Team failed to score even though the first four batters in the inning each reached base. Say what?
Keenan Cook walked. He reached second on an errant pick-off throw but was tagged out trying to go to third on the play.
Ratterree and Chase McDowell followed with singles. When Geoff Perrott singled to right, Ratterree was cut down at the plate trying to score. The inning ended when Craig Manuel hit a fly-out to center.
Still 3-1 after four innings.
Gray scored twice in the fifth. Fuda walked. He stole second and then third. Ryan Lewis popped out to the catcher in foul territory. Jeremy Rathjen tripled to left-center scoring Fuda. Jeremy scored on a grounder to short. Taylor Wall struck out Tyler Pearson to end the inning.
Benak allowed a Texas-Leaguer to Mike Aquino after a strike-out and ground-out. The game ended on a fly to right.
Final Gray 5-1.
Pitchers lines:
Evers: 3 innings, 3 earned runs, 4 hits, 2 doubles, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, 1 wild pitch
McNair: 3 innings, 1 run (unearned), 0 hits, 1 strikeout, 1 walk
Wall: 2 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits (a triple), 1 strikeout, 1 walk
Benak: 2 innings, 0 runs, 4 hits, 1 strikeout, 1 walk
Offense:
Rathjen - triple, sac-fly with 2 RBI
Fuda - double, 2 walks
Chargois - double, walk, RBI
Pearson - single
DGL - single, RBI
Maxwell - single
Murphy - single, RBI
Ratterree - single, RBI
Cook - walk
McDowell - single
Perrott - single
Manuel - walk
Aquino - single
Unofficial stats to follow.
October 5, 2010 - Blue 0, Gray 0
Going to Fall Ball is beginning to feel a lot like going to a soccer game. A 1-0 game may be commonplace. Yesterday's 3-1 game was a high scoring affair.
Today, there were no runs scored in 6 innings. Please note I was very liberal in what I called a hit today. If I had any doubt, I gave the batter the hit. Hits are hard to come by.
The weather continues to be absolutely perfect.
All four pitcher's today (Boogie, Simmons, Chargois, and Duffey) each threw 3 shutout innings.
Boogie: one hit, one strikeout
Simmons: five hits
Chargois: one hit, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, one HBP
Duffey: one hit (triple), 3 strikeouts
Hits today:
Kubitza had a triple to the fence in right-center. It felt as if it took the ball forever to get out there. Austin failed to score on a grounder to third when he was caught in a pickle between third and home and tagged out.
The other hits were all singles. One each by Simmons, Spurlin, Fuda, Rathjen, Pearson, Daniel Gonzales Luna and Murphy.
Unofficial stats to follow.
October 4, 2010 - Blue 3, Gray 1
The Blue team won today's eight inning game 3-1. The sound of the college game has changed with the new bats. There is no longer the metallic ping. The ball no longer jumps off the bat.
Kubitza and Simms each pitched shut-out ball. Kubitza pitched three innings, striking out three, walking one, and giving up one hit. Simms worked two innings allowing one hit, walking one, hitting one, and one strike out.
Simms was relieved by McDowell in the third. He pitched a perfect third then gave up a run in the fourth on Ryan Lewis's triple to the rightfield corner. Ryan scored on Rathjen's infield grounder.
Cingrani took over for Kubitza in the fourth and looked good in his one inning with a strike out in a perfect inning.
Spurlin relieved Cingrani in the fifth. He had trouble with his contr fifth, walking three. A fielding error cost him a run. He was better in the sixth pitching a 1-2-3 inning. He had two strike outs giving up no hits.
Reckling pitched the fifth and sixth for Gray. No hits, one walk, and four strike outs.
Kottman pitched the seventh and eighth for Blue. He pitched to six batters. A line drive double play erased a runner that reached on an error. A great pick-off play eliminated another runner. One hit and one strike out.
Mueller pitched the last two innings for Gray. He gave up an unearned run in the seventh and another run in the eighth. He was touched for three singles and walked three batters.
Extra base hits are going to be a premium this year. Ryan Lewis had the only one of the day. He had a triple.
Other hits were all singles: Cingrani had two; and one each by Hoelscher, Simmons, Hamilton, Perrott and Manuel. Kubitza walked three straight times.
10/31
2/14