BB: Regionals (West) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

[chakote]

Disappointment in the Abilene TX Regional is letting Chapman off the hook!

Really Ralph  ???let them off the hook I know that you want the Panthers to lose in the worst way and there is still a lot of baseball to play. The difference is that there is playoff experience in play here and like DIII said a timely hit and it could be the difference in the tournament BUT the WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPS have shown why they are in the tournament and they are the WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPS FOR THE PAST HOW many years for a reason and they know how to win. I think Jack said it best and they are the # 1 team for a reason!!!!!

[BigCat43]

Big win for Chapman today, and once again they showed that they can win the tough close ones.  Very Very Impressive.  Look for that to continue tommorrow as they should punch their 4th STRAIGHT ticket to Appleton.  CATS ROLL!!!!

[Ralph Turner]

The "off the hook" means getting out of tight jams.  There are lots of nuances to the idiom.

In fishing, you can get the hook into the fish's mouth, but if you cannot set the barb, then fish will get away, sometimes with the bait.

I think that we are saying the same thing, but from different dugouts.   

Let's look at this situation from the opponent's dugout playing in the regionals versus #1 Chapman.  You know that you must take advantage of every situation in the game.

To wit,

La Verne University 7th (trailing 4-2); Jordan grounded out to ss. Larini singled down
the lf line. Mehl hit by pitch; Larini advanced to second. Munoz, J singled
through the left side; Mehl advanced to second; Larini advanced to third. Yacko
to p. Redding to ss. Evers to 2b for Kitchens. Marcus flied out to rf, SF, RBI;
Mehl advanced to third; Larini scored. Mondotte pinch ran for Munoz, J.
Hattabaugh flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

La Verne University 9th (trailing 4-3) - Jordan struck out. Larini reached on an error
by ss. Mehl flied out to lf. Belcher pinch hit for Mondotte. Belcher singled to
left field; Larini advanced to second. Kalankiewicz pinch ran for Belcher.
Marcus flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.

McMurry University 2nd (no score);  Derrick homered to right field, RBI. Voorhees
singled through the right side. Franco singled to left field; Voorhees advanced
to second. Jones singled to third base; Franco advanced to second; Voorhees
advanced to third. Beckham singled through the left side, RBI; Jones advanced
to second; Franco advanced to third; Voorhees scored. Love reached on a
fielder's choice; Beckham advanced to second; Jones advanced to third; Franco
out at home 3b to c. (Did not get the ball out of the infield.) Yurchick reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Love out at second 2b to ss; Beckham advanced to third; Jones scored. Whitten reached on a fielder's choice; Yurchick out at second ss to 2b. 3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.  (Did not score the runner from third.)

McMurry University 9th - (Tied at 3-3.)  Voorhees grounded out to 3b. Franco singled to center field. Jones doubled down the rf line; Franco advanced to third. Yacko to p. Evers to 2b for Hyman. Redding to ss. /  for Clear. (Two runners in scoring position) Beckham grounded out to 3b. Jackson pinch hit for Love. Jackson struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

McMurry University 12th - (Still tied at 3-3.  Yacko is appearing in his fourth inning.) Jones reached on an error by 2b. Beckham struck out. Bennett walked; Jones advanced to second. (Runners on first and second with one out), Yurchick grounded into double play ss to 1b; Bennett out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Trinity 1st, trailing 1-0,  Jackson hit by pitch. Calbick flied out to cf. Hoover reached on a fielder's choice; Jackson out at second 3b to 2b. Jones homered to right center, 2 RBI; Hoover scored. Felix singled up the middle. Claydon
singled up the middle; Felix advanced to second. Pennington singled to right
field, RBI; Claydon advanced to third; Felix scored. (Runners on 1B and 3B, two outs,) Early grounded out to 2b.  3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Bottom  of the (Trinity) 7th, trailing 9-7; Calbick lined out to 1b. Hoover grounded out to p. Jones walked. Felix reached on an error by 2b; Jones advanced to second. Claydon hit by pitch; Felix advanced to second; Jones advanced to third. Yacko to p. Redding to ss. Evers to 2b for Sigman. Pennington struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.

Bottom of the (Trinity) 9th, trailing 10-7;  Hoover grounded out to 3b. Jones reached on an error by 2b. Felix singled through the right side; Jones advanced to second. Claydon reached on a fielder's choice; Felix out at second ss to 2b; Jones advanced to third. Hurst to 2b for Evers. Pennington singled down the rf line, RBI; Claydon advanced to third; Jones scored, unearned. Paillet pinch ran for Pennington. Early singled to left field, RBI; Paillet advanced to second; Claydon scored, unearned. Ramos grounded out to p. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.

When you have the hook in the fish's mouth, you have to set the hook!   

Yes, Chapman is a great team.  They maintained their composure in these eight tight situations! They only have to win one game tomorrow to go onto Wisconsin.

[Ralph Turner]

Trinity 9, CSU-EB 5!  Go Tigers!

[Ron Boerger]

Gonna be a very tough road to hoe tomorrow.  Chapman is much more rested and obviously knows how to win the close games.

[HALLEBASEBALL]

The big question Kitchens or Lazur. Kitchens would pitch game 2 if needed so just throw him game 1?

[beachlover]

The big question Kitchens or Lazur. Kitchens would pitch game 2 if needed so just throw him game 1?

kitchens spent the first part of the season on the bench because of injury.... he gets game 2.

[Just_Some_Guy]

kitchens spent the first part of the season on the bench because of injury.... he gets game 2.

Personally, I think Luzar has shown he's capable of pitching at this level and against teams of this caliber so why not give him a go, and see if you can limit more inning son Kitchens' arm.

That said here's what Kitchens did last year:

May 17th against UT Dallas: 7 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
May 19th against Pac Lu: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K

So if they got Kitchens it wouldn't surprise me?

I assume Scannell roles out Bronson to see if he'll give him a gritty performance ...

JSG

[Krakatoa]

I think you have to go with Bronson in #1 and try and squeeze some more out of Oates for #2.  Bignall did a nice job the other day after rehabbing much of the season. Robertson has done well........whomever TU puts on the bump, it's going to be a fun one (or two) to watch.

[infielddad]

I doubt Trinity will use Bronson all that much, even if he does start. Evan clearly has a potential future beyond college baseball and Coach Scannell is one of those who will be very careful.  I know there are many who post about the ring and how it is more important than pitch counts, the future, etc.  Very tough decision, but I think the Trinity staff will be very careful. 

[Ralph Turner]

I doubt Trinity will use Bronson all that much, even if he does start. Evan clearly has a potential future beyond college baseball and Coach Scannell is one of those who will be very careful.  I know there are many who post about the ring and how it is more important than pitch counts, the future, etc.  Very tough decision, but I think the Trinity staff will be very careful. 

That is a long term approach to a successful coaching tenure.

Having a reputation as a "manager" of not burning out arms is a good one to have when talking with the high school and junior college pitching prospects.

[Ralph Turner]

Chapman batting in the bottom of the 4th, leading 4-0.

Chapman's Luzar has a no hitter thru 4.

Halfway back in the top of the 6th...

2 runs on 3 hits with 3 LOB, most occurring with 2 outs remaining.  Chapman 4-2.

[Browneagle64]

Howdy Folks.
I finally got a hold of a computer (i decided to head up to northern cali to visit friends and family and let my good ol' computer @ home) that can show me updates from thursdays, fridays and today's games. Not a bad start to this tourney.
I was shocked that the leo's finally got eliminated, but, glad that they indeed represented our SCIAC league really well. This ball club will indeed be missed until the start of next season.

However, i am still glad to hear that the SCIAC co-champs are showing every one from the west all the way to the east coast, why they are considered the best team in the nation. As i mentioned before, these guys always happen to start off slow but know when to pick-up it and walk away with a strong victory. (thus why Mr. Turner mentions that you can't let this team off the hook)
Anywho's, i hope that all clubs that are playing today will enjoy their shot's at trying to punch their tickets to the next big stage of the dance. Best wishes to every team and thank you guys for keeping this board up dated.

Go West regional champs.... I mean Go oxy. Hahaha

[Jack Parkman]

Congrats to Chapman on making it back to the Series.  I hope they represent the west well and I am sure they will.  Hats off to Trinity as they played very well in the Regional.

[utilitycat17]

Congrats Chapman West Region Champs 4 years running.  Let's hope this is the year they can win their second crown.  After the performance that Luzar gave today, Chapman has proven that they are indeed 4 starters deep.  That is certainly enough starting pitching.  With Yacko in the pen, the only question is whether they will need more than him to come in for relief.  Either way, this definitely looks like a very good team, and an excellent representative for the West region going to Appleton.  I would think that they would have to be early favorites to win it all.  Let's just hope that their past experience combined with their talent, and a little luck mixed in, will be enough.