Game versus Braves

Well we finally came together and did some hitting winning 8-4. We were never seriously in jeopardy after a big 5 run first inning. Now granted we left runners in scoring position in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, all with less than 2 outs. That was frustrating. Still it was good coasting to a nice easy win.

Steve and I did two things that I think helped contribute to our big day. First, we didn’t put any pressure on about hitting. I think we caused the team to obsess a bit too much and so we were swinging at bad balls. We also redid our lineup, using the one time a season allowance for that. It’s not a whole lot different than before, in that many of the same players are still grouped together but here is our modified versus original:

Cameron (+1) Jeremy Ma
Jeremy F (+9) Cameron
Nick (+2) Justin
Jeremy Ma (-3) Jared
Justin (-2) Nick
Alec (+2) Matt S
Jeremy Me (+5) Austin
Jared (-4) Alec
Sean (+1) Noff
Matt S (-4) Sean
Austin (-4) Jeremy F
Noff (-4) Jeremy Me

Considering we hadn’t seen Jeremy Me or Jeremy F before our first game, and they were the biggest movers, I think we did pretty well overall at crafting our original lineup versus what we have now that we’ve seen them and have some stats.

On the good side of the game was Jeremy Me. The kid had been lock down good for us when he came in relief, but had been rather poor when he started an inning. We’re dealing with a small sample size here, given, but his stuff just looked better when we’ve seen him in relief than starting an inning. However, we need him to start innings for us come the play offs (after yesterday’s game only 3 left). Anyhow we decided he needs some pressure to focus (the opposite of most kids) and so we tried starting him. He pitched well for us, which was a great difference to how we’ve been starting games. We then responded with that monster first inning capped off with a bases loaded legitimate triple by Jeremy Me.

Justin also was a positive for the game. He had some absolutely amazingly heads up base running in the 3rd. After a well hit ball to right center he tried to stretch it out to a double. When that didn’t work he forced a run down. While that rundown went on Jeremy Ma was able to score. When they diverted a throw from the run down to home, Justin then ended up at second anyway. After being advanced to third, he drew a throw home on a dribbler allowing the batter (either Jared or Jeremy Me) to reach safely, but while the throw went home he was standing back at third . He also pitched an OK 5th inning to cap off our victory.

On the negative side is Nick. Both Steve and I commented that he looked out of it before the game started and this was true. He struck out twice, only his second and third strike outs for the season. He also didn’t look too commanding his first inning and fell apart in the second inning we threw him. Part of this was compounded by two throwing errors by Jeremy Ma, which advanced runners farther than they should have, and one error by Nick. Still while these runs can’t be fully attributed to Nick, the fact was he just didn’t have his stuff. We seem to have to seriously consider the idea that as much as we would like he might not be up to pitching two innings. I really think he is up to it, but we have to face the reality that he might not be up to it. If he’s not that means for the playoffs we’ll need six pitchers instead of the five I had thought we’d need. In the playoffs, unless math interferes, you play six innings. Using a 2-2-1-1 pitching schedule you need four pitchers, plus one in relief, plus having 5 pitchers allows you to mix-up who is throwing in a game keeping people fresher. If we go 2-1-1-1-1 we’ll need a sixth pitcher. This means that someone out of the group of Alec, Matt S, Noff, and Cameron will need to emerge. I feel like we’ve given Cameron his shot and he just doesn’t have it. The most likely candidates out of that group are Matt S and Alec, I feel, so we’ll have to see how each of them do. We won’t have Jeremy Ma or Nick on Saturday so that should give us some opportunities to try out some pitchers.

We needed a good performance and it was good to get it. Hopefully we’ll keep the momentum up tonight.