-First off, I’m sure Florida Gulf Coast isn’t going to miss Athens. Those guys were a handful of pitches away from winning three games this weekend. Of course, these aren’t played in a vacuum and today would have looked different if we were 1-2 on the weekend. Still. Friday, game two yesterday, and today all had a similar theme in that we just found a way to make the plays when we needed to make them. And FGCU didn’t. Take that 8th inning today… Slate Alford’s ball should have been a DP and inning over. Instead it was bobbled, they only got 1 out, and we scored a run.
-Unlike Friday and game two yesterday, we pitched really well today. That 3-spot they scored shouldn’t have shown up and wouldn’t have without the defensive miscue. Really impressed today with Quinn, Byrd, and Stephens. McLoughlin pitched well too. And Fairley looked like a different guy after the pick off. These guys all look like they want the baseball. They work quickly, they pitch with confidence. It seems like it’s “contagious” for lack of a better term.
-I loved what happened during that offensive time out we called in the 7th. Coach Johnson called it, but it didn’t look like he or Coggin did much talking. It appeared that Tre Phelps was the one talking. I figured it was more on a report on their pitcher as Tre had just had that great AB where he’d fought off a few pitches and coaxed a walk. I’m not saying I loved it because “wow, look at the leadership” or anything like that. I loved that Johnson and Coggin didn’t feel the need to take that over. In the past, “over-coached” is a term that always seemed applicable. That was a big spot in the game, and neither the head coach nor hitting coach felt the need to take that over. It says so much about the confidence of both of those guys and the trust they have in their players.
-How about ole Trey King? First pitch, shoots it the other way to put the tying run on base. I don’t know how he fits into it this year, but that guy has made the most of his opportunities.
-I can’t believe that we are three weekends in, and Kolby Branch has 1 RBI. He started a bit slow last year also and he’s not taking it to the field with him. Still, I don’t think anyone saw this start at the plate.
-Lastly, I’ll be honest. I didn’t think we were winning this one. When Kolby flies out to end the 7th, I just figured it wasn’t our day. When we only got the 1 in the 8th, I thought the same thing. Today was a bit flat at the plate. Just not a lot of intensity up there. And we had some bad luck too (though to be fair, we also scored two runs on balls that didn’t leave the IF, so I guess it balanced a bit). Lot to be said about a group that grinds for all 27 outs. And that’s what today was, a grind.
We’ve got the right guys and the right coaches, though. We can win a low-scoring grind-it-out kind of game. I remember saying in the past that when you’re a bad team, you lose many different types of games. When you’re a good team, you win many types of games. We saw some different types of games this weekend won them all.
Wasn’t the most fun game today until the 9th. But man, that walk off made it all worth it.
Can’t wait to get back next weekend. This group is special.
-Unlike Friday and game two yesterday, we pitched really well today. That 3-spot they scored shouldn’t have shown up and wouldn’t have without the defensive miscue. Really impressed today with Quinn, Byrd, and Stephens. McLoughlin pitched well too. And Fairley looked like a different guy after the pick off. These guys all look like they want the baseball. They work quickly, they pitch with confidence. It seems like it’s “contagious” for lack of a better term.
-I loved what happened during that offensive time out we called in the 7th. Coach Johnson called it, but it didn’t look like he or Coggin did much talking. It appeared that Tre Phelps was the one talking. I figured it was more on a report on their pitcher as Tre had just had that great AB where he’d fought off a few pitches and coaxed a walk. I’m not saying I loved it because “wow, look at the leadership” or anything like that. I loved that Johnson and Coggin didn’t feel the need to take that over. In the past, “over-coached” is a term that always seemed applicable. That was a big spot in the game, and neither the head coach nor hitting coach felt the need to take that over. It says so much about the confidence of both of those guys and the trust they have in their players.
-How about ole Trey King? First pitch, shoots it the other way to put the tying run on base. I don’t know how he fits into it this year, but that guy has made the most of his opportunities.
-I can’t believe that we are three weekends in, and Kolby Branch has 1 RBI. He started a bit slow last year also and he’s not taking it to the field with him. Still, I don’t think anyone saw this start at the plate.
-Lastly, I’ll be honest. I didn’t think we were winning this one. When Kolby flies out to end the 7th, I just figured it wasn’t our day. When we only got the 1 in the 8th, I thought the same thing. Today was a bit flat at the plate. Just not a lot of intensity up there. And we had some bad luck too (though to be fair, we also scored two runs on balls that didn’t leave the IF, so I guess it balanced a bit). Lot to be said about a group that grinds for all 27 outs. And that’s what today was, a grind.
We’ve got the right guys and the right coaches, though. We can win a low-scoring grind-it-out kind of game. I remember saying in the past that when you’re a bad team, you lose many different types of games. When you’re a good team, you win many types of games. We saw some different types of games this weekend won them all.
Wasn’t the most fun game today until the 9th. But man, that walk off made it all worth it.
Can’t wait to get back next weekend. This group is special.
