butler7

I am not aware of any video of the collision, or any of the game for that matter. I was sitting on the first base side, so the catcher's back was to me. I did speak to couple of infielders who said from their vantage point it was ugly. I was also a little surprised that more was not made of it from the McEwen coaching staff. I was under the impression that a runner had to attempt to slide. There was absolutly no attempt made by the runner to avoid this collision. It looked like Pete Rose/Ray Fosse all over again.

It should also be mentioned that McEwen's catcher and captain broke his arm in a home plate collision in the 2nd inning. That demoralized McEwen. When Gray, their pitcher, pulled himself because of the same arm trouble that has plagued him most of the year, it was pretty much over for them. E.R. hammerd Cross, and easily advanced on passed balls and no throws by a freshman 3rd baseman catching his first game EVER. Cudos to E.R.'s coach for not running up the score and making it a total blood bath. Truly a sad and unfortuante way for McEwen to be eliminated after a solid tournament. E.R.'s players and parents acted with class and concern after them game reguarding the catcher and his injury. Good Luck to them tonight.

That really is the key in this district. The pairty. It seems like almost every team has 1 fairly dominant pitcher, and a few average-to-good ones. Everyone has 3 or 4 hitters they can count on game after game along with the rest of their bats. The difference maker I have seen this year has been fundamental defensive errors. I have personally watched Houston County, McEwen, East Lit, and Heritage lose games they should have won because of errors. I am sure it has happened to the other teams as well. Average pitching and great defense will beat good pitching and weak defense all day long. The team that wins the district tournament will be the one that plays the most fundamentally sound throughout.

Actually, McEwen's run in the first game came from a base hit up the middle from Cross, McEwen's centerfielder. He stole 2nd (on the pitcher) and then took 3rd and home via passed balls. Coffee did have 2 hits but only scored once. Clinard and he scored on the ball hit by Chewning and misplayed by the McEwen right fielder. There were no other hits, nor errors in the first game. Clinard struck out 14. Gornowitz (or whatever his name is) from McEwen struck out 7.

ER and Clinard beat McEwen 2-1. Clinard gave up 1 hit, and Gornowitz (I think) gave up 2. Both ER runs scored on a McEwen error. ER took the 2nd game 5-2.

Clarksville Acadamy split 2 with McEwen. CA won 13-3 at home on Monday. McEwen won 4-3 Tuesday in McEwen.

McEwen and Heritage split a double header yesterday. McClung went the distance in game 1, giving up 3 hits and striking out 12. McEwen pitched Hooper and Ross giving up only 4 hits, but walked 5. Game 1, Heritage 6-McEwen 4. Nathan Gray for McEwen pitched a 3 hit shut out in game 2, striking out 9. Ethen Cross homered for McEwen. Game 2, McEwen 2-Heritage 0.