Thursday, April 30, 2009

11th inning thriller ...


Just in case you don't already know ... and judging by the attendance figures ... you don't ... the Pirates played almost 11 full innings with the Centennial Cougars last night. Now, those of you who know about pitchers and pitch counts, don't get too upset until you read the WHOLE story. My junior pitcher threw a COMPLETE GAME. That's right. 10 2/3rds innings (because we lost in the bottom of the 11th at Centennial).

Here's the scoop: their pitcher threw well. Ours threw better. The umpire behind the plate was "horrible" (that's the word I'll use, because I want this blog to be family-friendly). And I don't complain about umpires. Our pitcher threw a no-hitter into the 6th inning, giving up an infield single that I don't believe the hitter beat out at first - but no matter. Then, he didn't give up another hit until the 11th inning. Only threw 140 pitches in 10 and 2/3rds innings - never an inning above 17. Not bad. Really good, in fact. Lots of strikes. Not a lot of well-hit baseballs.

Lead off single for the Cougars in the 11th was probably the best-hit ball. Bunted him over. One out. Next batter - out. Two outs, runner on second. Ground ball to the 1st basemen. E-3. The inning continues. Next batter, runners on 1st and 3rd, slicing fly ball to left. Left fielder takes the wrong first step then busts his hind end to get to the ball ... but never does. Game winning single. Pirates lose.

I'm proud of our effort. Some Centennial students behind home plate were "chirping" at our players all game. We ended up saying and doing some things I wasn't proud of at the end, but in a hostile environment, sometimes you get pulled into the unsportsmanlike behavior. Never again. Last night, we deserved victory - we just didn't get it.

Today's another day. We expect to play well again - and with class! Defend our home field. And Deserve Victory! Again!

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