In what was essentially the continuation of the
previous night’s four-inning tie game, the 919 Nationals jumped on top early
and held off multiple rally attempts to earn an 8-7 win over the Evoshield
Seminoles.
The Nats were outhit by a whopping 10-3 in the
game, but made the most of four walks, a pair of hit batters and four errors to
help generate the offense. 919 pitchers, meanwhile, issued just one free base
in the game while the defense committed just two errors. Another important
stat: the Seminoles got just one free base off passed balls or wild pitches.
919 runners, meanwhile, got seven free bases from wild pitches or passed balls.
When the game was tied 4-4 going into the bottom of
the fourth, Coach Sean challenged the team in the dugout. “The tougher team is
going to win this game,” he said. The 919 offense promptly churned out two
go-ahead runs with just one hit to take a lead they would not relinquish.
The victory advanced 919 to the Ripken Experience
championship game for the third straight fall.
Semifinal 919 Nationals scoring plays
First inning
Bryce reached on a shot to third and then dug all
the way to third on a passed ball. Banks walked, and when a wild pitch scored
Bryce, Banks raced all the way to third. Gavin walked and stole second. Ben
ripped a two-run single and went to second on a passed ball. A wild pitch moved
him to third, where he scored easily on Andrew’s double.
Score after one inning: 919 Nationals 4, Seminoles
2
Third inning
Banks walked and went to
second on a passed ball. Gavin’s fielder’s choice moved him to third, where he
was able to score on a wild pitch.
Score after three innings: 919 Nationals 5,
Seminoles 3
Fourth inning
Ben was hit by a pitch
and stole second. Andrew’s shot to third wasn’t fielded. JT beat out a shot to
third, loading the bases. Colin coaxed an RBI walk. Elias lined an RBI single.
Score after four innings: 919 Nationals 7,
Seminoles 5
Fifth inning
Gavin ripped it through
third and ran to second on an errant pickoff throw. He stole third, then scored
on Ben’s fielder’s choice.
Score after five innings: 919 Nationals 8, Seminoles
5
Pitching Performances
Bryce started and went three and two-thirds very effective innings.
Colin stranded a pair of runners in the fourth and
threw a 1-2-3 fifth.
Banks closed it out with some solid relief work in
the sixth.
Dugout
wisdom
I thought that instead of sharing the actual conversations
between Coach Kevin and the base umpire, we could provide some possibilities
for Coach Kevin in future conversations:
Semifinal Web Gems
•
The Nationals ended the second inning with a big
momentum-building play. Up 4-2 and with runners on second and third and just
one out, it was a precarious moment. The batter lined a hit to center. One run
scored, and Eli came up throwing. The ball hopped over Asher’s head, at which
point the trail runner decided to try and score. Bad idea. Asher retrieved the
ball and flipped to Bryce for the tag at the plate. Then the hitter thought he
might enjoy advancing to second. Also a bad idea, as Bryce fired to Gavin for
the tag and the unconventional 8-2-1-6 inning-ending double play.
•
Gavin went deep in the hole at shortstop and made a
great play on a grounder, then completed the play with a strong throw to first.
•
Holding a 7-5 lead in the fifth, the leadoff man
slapped what looked like a sure single to right. But Brady came up throwing and
hosed him at first for the first out of a 1-2-3 frame.
•
Bryce made a leaping play at second of a line drive
that ended the fifth.
•
Hard to know what was more impressive in the sixth:
that Gavin fielded a grounder and threw to JT at third for the tag out of a
runner trying to advance to third, or that the base umpire actually called anopposing runner out at third base.
•
Solid six-inning catching effort from Asher in
helping out the 919 pitchers.
|
Semifinal line score
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
R
|
H
|
|
Seminoles
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
10
|
|
919 Nationals
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
X
|
8
|
3
|
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