Loudon vs. LC

[lhsredskin]

Who won the Loudon and LC game, and did anything happen?

Did the Everett kid pitch well?

[LCborn]

It was a heck of a baseball game. Scoreless through five, with Everett and Erik Draper dominating. LC tallied one in the bottom of the sixth. Loudon got 4 in the top of the seventh on three LC errors (two in the outfield, one that turned a routine fly into a double and a bad throw that allowed a run to score) and a very, very questionable call.

 

With the score tied 1-1 and Loudon runners on 1st and 3rd (the first LC error allowed the first Loudon run to score), I believe 2 strikes on the batter, Loudon ran a suicide squeeze. Draper threw at the batter in response to the squeeze.

 

Now, it gets controversial. The call was that it was a good bunt, Draper fields it and throws to the second baseman covering first. Throw sails over his head, right fielder backs it up but throws over third base, and all three runs score.

 

The controversy is this: everyone on the LC side thought the bunt went off of the batters foot, which would have made it two outs and still 1-1. According to Draper, not only did the bunt go off of the batter's foot, but that foot was planted on the plate when the batter tried to simultaneously bunt and get out of the way of the bean-ball. Either foul off of his foot or bunting it with a foot on the plate, it is an out and a dead ball. The umpire at the plate didn't see it and the field umpire apparently wasn't watching it.

 

Personally, I don't know. It was a shame that it ended like that. It was the best-pitched game I've seen all year, by both hurlers. Everett's defense was terrific, giving up only 1 error. Draper's wasn't that spiffy, obviously, giving up 3 errors in that inning and another one in the first. But it was a heck of a high school baseball game.

 

Hats off to both pitchers (both went the distance) and to Loudon, who did what they needed to do to win the game.

[LCborn]

And in the second game, on Tuesday night, Loudon beat LC 7-3 on 5 or 6 LC throwing errors. That's 10 errors in the last 2 games including 3 in the last inning Monday.

 

LC's kids look tired. They've played 33 games, got one tonight (added to the schedule recently) and another Thursday. They're on a 4-game losing streak and won't have more than a day's rest going into the district tournament.

 

They'll have to play OS or Kingston in the first round, looks like. They split with Kingston and beat OS twice. Either one of those teams could give LC an early exit. I wonder about LC's physical and mental readiness to play.

 

Physically, they've played so many games that they haven't been able to practice, and skills degrade if you don't practice. Mentally, it has been a long season and they haven't been playing well, lately.

[treeball]

I was there on the Loudon side where we were not blocked from the view of the plate by the batter and I saw the ball go off the plate, not the batter. If it had hit the batter, the ball would not have gone so high on the bounce? Also why did the ball roll toward third base instead of toward first where the batter was heading? I doubt if Eric saw the batter do more than turn to bunt since he seemed very surprised by the squeeze play. Anyway, as LCBorn said, if LC executed well, there would have been no play to argue over. I wondered how Eric can be leading the district in home runs and Buzz have him batting 6th?

[FrozenRope02]

I saw the game myself and the ball did not come off the batters foot, Draper came hard off the mound as if nothing had happend then when he made the bad throw he tried to say that it did. As for the base hit before that by worley, that was not a routine fly ball, that was a shot into right feild which was hit so hard that the right feilder mishandled it and heads up on worleys part made it to 2nd base. The defense behind Everitt looked tremendous, but not to many people put the ball into play, Everitt dominated with 10+ strikeouts (with the exception of a couple good hits by the speedy 2nd baseman allen moore). It was a great game by both ball clubs until things did not go lc's way, they seemed to want to complain about everything, for example, the lc score keeper would not put the 4 runs that loudon scored in the top of the 7th on the board, until finally the umpire had to take time out of the ball game and make him, the offical score keeper claimed that he did not know the score but then why would he be called the offical SCORE keeper, then after the game when everyone was leaving the scoreboard said 1-1, other than the complaints by the lc fans and 1 or 2 of the players, it was a great game!

[BBall099]

FROZENROPE02 IS WORLEY, glad you think so highly of yourself.

 

<< As for the base hit before that by worley, that was not a routine fly ball, that was a shot into right feild which was hit so hard that the right feilder mishandled it and heads up on worleys part made it to 2nd base. >>

 

Sounds like an error to me.

[LCborn]

Big Ed batting sixth? Excellent question. Natural spot for the kid leading the team in HR, BA, RBI, I guess. One point: the only team LC's beaten since he dropped to sixth is Austin East, tonight.

 

Draper came hard off the mound? Looked like he hesitated first, to me. Complained after and because he made the bad throw? I didn't see him complain once, to anybody. Anyway, what does a good ballplayer do, complain first and not try to make a play, or try to make the play first and then check with the ump? Bad decision on the throw? You bet, and he took responsibility for it afterward.

 

Frozen rope? Looked a like it was thawing quite a bit, to me. Frozen rope or bloop, it still was a single and an error. The next batter hit a deep ball to left for a sac fly and the tying run; but it should have been one out, first and second at that point. And no squeeze play in order.

 

As to the LC scorekeeper taking down the runs and needing to be forced to put them back up by the umpire? Yep, that was pretty juvenile.

[FrozenRope02]

Thawing quite a bit...? hum... almost funny, and you said the next batter hit a sac fly ball and tied the game, dont know what game you was watching but the next batter bunted , which is basically what this thread is about, maybe you should find a new one. Maybe you could hook me up with your phone # and i could take hitting lessons from you, or wait you all couldnt get the bat off your shoulder when everitt was pitching( like i said earlier with the exception of 1 or 2 players), but good luck in the district tourny lc, you guys should make a good run, you have a good ball team.

[CNMbaseball4]

It sounds to me like a couple of pretty good teams had a couple of pretty good games.The only difference is that Loudon had the better of lenoir city in both games.as for the bunt on monday,I was at the game,and i live in lenoir city,so no favorite,but i didnt think the ball hit the batter or the plate.i was on loudons side,with a good view.plus, on top of that,loudon had already tied the game,and was going to score 1 more at the least on that bunt.So,i think lenoir city should stop whining about a close call and give congrats to the victors.before i leave,i'd like to wish both teams good luck in the tourney.

[LCborn]

Thawing quite a bit...? hum... almost funny, and you said the next batter hit a sac fly ball and tied the game, dont know what game you was watching but the next batter bunted , which is basically what this thread is about, maybe you should find a new one. Maybe you could hook me up with your phone # and i could take hitting lessons from you, or wait you all couldnt get the bat off your shoulder when everitt was pitching( like i said earlier with the exception of 1 or 2 players), but good luck in the district tourny lc, you guys should make a good run, you have a good ball team.

Maybe you could hook me up with your phone # and i could take hitting lessons from you

 

Well, if you really are Worley, yes you could. You have good strength and bat speed, but my guess is you haven't hit more than 2-3 homers this year even though you are playing in an average-sized ballpark. My advice to you, based on the few times I've seen you, is this. First, your positioning is a little too close to the plate. That makes it difficult for you to generate the maximal leverage on contact. Second, your stance is a bit too narrow and your stride a bit too short. Widening a bit and striding a bit more (don't over-compensate!) will allow you to strike the ball with more authority. Third, your approach is clearly geared up to driving the ball to right field. That's okay if you are wiling to sacrifice power, but you could generate more power given your size and strength. However, the stance and stride changes I suggest won't have much effect without a commitment to (fourth) getting your front side to clear out a bit earlier and more forcefully. Driving your hips through by (a) stiffening your front leg and ( a more forceful push-through with your back leg (concentrate on ankle action) will accomplish that. Fifth and finally, your hand position is crucial. Currently, your hands seem too high within your stance. Drop them a bit so that it is easier to take them straight to the ball while maintaining a good, line-drive hitter's swing. Also, remember that you shouldn't take your hands forward with you when you stride. Leave them back to give them full action. Be smooth and quick through the ball and, coupled with what I've already said, you should achieve better bat speed and more power than you currently have. Follow this advice, and you should be in the 4-6 homer range.

 

And on a defensive note, to help quicken your release and make your throws from behind the plate both more powerful and more accurate, skipping rope is an excellent exercise.

[BBall099]

Worley hasnt hit any home runs, in fact, no one from Loudon has.

[Guest boomer06]

Well boys I'm not taking up for worley but he did hit better than your whole team did. but, none of that garbage matters now b/c its tourney time and stats don't mean Crap......All I know is Everett Is on the mound for Loudon, and LC I'm sorry to say but Its OVER