Disclaimer: I'm not RR, not pretend to be. I do love college baseball and the Diamond Dawgs. I did catch all 27 innings this weekend. Friday night online and a wonderful but chilly DH (live with my 10 year old son) on Saturday. Kudos to him for legging out 8 straight chilly hours at Foley without complaint or asking to leave.
Thoughts:
Intense series. Both teams wanted it, and that emotion intensified during the course of the series. Almost felt like a Super Regional except the weather in Feb VS the weather in June
Overall I really felt we were the superior squad. This was not an "underdog" sneaking up and catching a couple of breaks to squeak by with a series win. We were the aggressor all weekend and the noles should feel fortunate that we didn't sweep them back across the Stateline.
That Said: Friday was crazy. To their credit, they maximized both our mistakes and their hits (as few as they were). It took a combination of an inordinate amount of LOB, couple of uncharacteristic errors by Tyler, a blown Ump call on the King bunt, a phantom balk (which cost us three runs) and some other freaky things for us to lose. Again, to their credit, good teams find a way to win, which is what they did.
I love the moxie this team showed coming out of the gate in game 2. Set the tone for the day. I gotta think much of this team's culture is CSS.
Our Offense might be better than we thought going in. Wrenn is legit, Weber too. Kieboom might be that middle of the order bat we've been missing. Walsh looks like he's ready to go out with a bang. Z-Bow, B Stephens, Nichols, and even Bell look to like they have a better idea In the box. We competed in the box and that was encouraging. I know it's early and I know we'll see better pitching but gotta feel good about the offense against a legit staff.
Pitching looked stout. I can't remember a Dawg staff with this many power arms. I look for that to get even better when the temp rises and they can better stretch it out. Tyler has thrown better than the record looks and believe he'll give us a chance every Friday night. Lawlor looks like a Friday guy and David Sos really competes. He almost looks better when he gets in a jam. Credit to all those goose eggs after a rough 1st. He was nasty in the 5th. Sean M, Tucker, C Jones etc... but most surprising was Moody. We really have a chance to pitch like A-Town hasn't seen in a while. It's early but I'm optimistic.
Bad: Even though I'm not sure about the call, you can't end a game like we did on Friday. Kid is a FR and he will learn from this. Defense had some bad moments, but some of that (for both teams) was the weather and being early in season. That said, the decision in RF wasn't due to temp, but just a mental mistake. That Kid played a good RF all weekend and he too will learn. NK had a tough weekend at the dish. As baseball will prove, when it's going bad it goes bad. He continually found himself 0-2 and struggled to even drop a bunt. I think he will adjust and his attitude seemed solid. The team seemed behind him as did CSS. His glovework is Plus so he'll get a chance to work it out and I think we'll see improvement.
Keegan M is Legit. I'm coining him the "Governor". He doesn't act, hit, run, or defend like a true freshman. He'll cool some, but he can play. I already dread the day I hear his name in the MLB draft because I think (barring injury) we're going to seem some awesome baseball from him over the next 3 years.
Lost a little of respect for M Martin this weekend. I know he's a legend and all, but I got a tad tired of his whiny drama.
Stewart (#8) can rake, he is a beast, surefire bonafide MLB prospect. BUT, his swag is silly. He pre-at-bat landscaping around the plate was ridiculous. I meant straight up stoopid. I understand baseball superstitions and rituals and all, but that was nothing but arrogant non-sense. If he makes it to the Show, he'll do it once before he gets drilled by a Strasburg type heater. I haven't witnessed that level of flamboyant arrogance at Foley Field since the Shane Monahan (Clemson) days in the mid-90's.
It's early, but really strong start. Reasonable call for optimism, not just this season but for the program being built by CSS.
Thoughts:
Intense series. Both teams wanted it, and that emotion intensified during the course of the series. Almost felt like a Super Regional except the weather in Feb VS the weather in June
Overall I really felt we were the superior squad. This was not an "underdog" sneaking up and catching a couple of breaks to squeak by with a series win. We were the aggressor all weekend and the noles should feel fortunate that we didn't sweep them back across the Stateline.
That Said: Friday was crazy. To their credit, they maximized both our mistakes and their hits (as few as they were). It took a combination of an inordinate amount of LOB, couple of uncharacteristic errors by Tyler, a blown Ump call on the King bunt, a phantom balk (which cost us three runs) and some other freaky things for us to lose. Again, to their credit, good teams find a way to win, which is what they did.
I love the moxie this team showed coming out of the gate in game 2. Set the tone for the day. I gotta think much of this team's culture is CSS.
Our Offense might be better than we thought going in. Wrenn is legit, Weber too. Kieboom might be that middle of the order bat we've been missing. Walsh looks like he's ready to go out with a bang. Z-Bow, B Stephens, Nichols, and even Bell look to like they have a better idea In the box. We competed in the box and that was encouraging. I know it's early and I know we'll see better pitching but gotta feel good about the offense against a legit staff.
Pitching looked stout. I can't remember a Dawg staff with this many power arms. I look for that to get even better when the temp rises and they can better stretch it out. Tyler has thrown better than the record looks and believe he'll give us a chance every Friday night. Lawlor looks like a Friday guy and David Sos really competes. He almost looks better when he gets in a jam. Credit to all those goose eggs after a rough 1st. He was nasty in the 5th. Sean M, Tucker, C Jones etc... but most surprising was Moody. We really have a chance to pitch like A-Town hasn't seen in a while. It's early but I'm optimistic.
Bad: Even though I'm not sure about the call, you can't end a game like we did on Friday. Kid is a FR and he will learn from this. Defense had some bad moments, but some of that (for both teams) was the weather and being early in season. That said, the decision in RF wasn't due to temp, but just a mental mistake. That Kid played a good RF all weekend and he too will learn. NK had a tough weekend at the dish. As baseball will prove, when it's going bad it goes bad. He continually found himself 0-2 and struggled to even drop a bunt. I think he will adjust and his attitude seemed solid. The team seemed behind him as did CSS. His glovework is Plus so he'll get a chance to work it out and I think we'll see improvement.
Keegan M is Legit. I'm coining him the "Governor". He doesn't act, hit, run, or defend like a true freshman. He'll cool some, but he can play. I already dread the day I hear his name in the MLB draft because I think (barring injury) we're going to seem some awesome baseball from him over the next 3 years.
Lost a little of respect for M Martin this weekend. I know he's a legend and all, but I got a tad tired of his whiny drama.
Stewart (#8) can rake, he is a beast, surefire bonafide MLB prospect. BUT, his swag is silly. He pre-at-bat landscaping around the plate was ridiculous. I meant straight up stoopid. I understand baseball superstitions and rituals and all, but that was nothing but arrogant non-sense. If he makes it to the Show, he'll do it once before he gets drilled by a Strasburg type heater. I haven't witnessed that level of flamboyant arrogance at Foley Field since the Shane Monahan (Clemson) days in the mid-90's.
It's early, but really strong start. Reasonable call for optimism, not just this season but for the program being built by CSS.
