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May 4, 2009 Check Out previous Blogs
At this time of the year, most baseball coaches are "tweaking" their lineup, preparing their pitching staff for post-season, nursing injuries. Not so at Diamond HS. Coach Nathan Cook installed an "expectation policy" regarding grades. All the players signed the policy. Basically, it was a "NO F" policy. Grades checked each 2 weeks, then 2 weeks to elevate grades from failing level. At first grade check, 8 players were below the passing mark. Two weeks later, none had raised their grades from the F level. Thus, Coach Cook cancelled games against opponents this week. When the players return (we hope that they do), if the games may be reschedule --fine. If not--fine too. Coach Cook has received support of community on this decision.
HOT TEAMS AROUND STATE.... ....Forsythe Panthers (17-0) have built on their 16-0 fall record. This Class 3 team is led by the 2008 Branson Daily News Player of the Year-Sam Adams. Adams is pounding the ball at a .610 clip ! Just moved into class 3 this year, the Panthers have a rugged district with #8 ranked Monnet and #9 Cassville in the same district ! ....Oakville Tigers (19-1) knocked off the Hickman Kewpies in a wild one 13-10 and Parkway South 4-2 this week. ....Winfield (10-4) has rattled off 7 straight wins as the leader of the Eastern Missouri League. Using Dane Gronewald as the leader of a very strong pitching staff, Winfield has registered 6 shutouts in 09. Gronewald is 6-1 with a sizzling 0.34 era. He has hung up 61 strikouts in 41 innings. ...HIllsboro has bounced back from a 2-loss weekend with 5 straight victories. The Hawks are pounding the ball at 13.2 runs/game clip. ...Kirksville (14-3) has won 6 game consecutively including a win over GAC powerhouse- Ft Zumwalt South. ...Pattonville Pirates (9-2) have quietly won 7 in a row in the Suburban North.
You just never know.... How often do we expect a #8 seed to knock off a #1 seed (much less an unbeaten #1 seed) in a tournament ? Poplar Bluff (9-10) upended Notre Dame-Cape (16-1) 13-8 in a first round game of SEMO Tournament. The Mules benefitted from 6 ND errors and 9 unearned runs to build a 12-3 lead. Tyler Qualls went 2-4 with 3 ribbies to lead the Mules to this big-time upset.
IN A HITTING RUT... Mason Hardin drove home winning runs on back-back days for the Harrisburg Bulldogs(6-4) this week. Hardin's game winning hit againt N. Calloway iced the 6-5 win on Wednesday. On Thursday, Hardin blasted two long home runs to provide all the offense for the Bulldogs as they beat the Hallsville Indians (9-4) 4-0.
Some great goose-egg games (lots of zeroes) this week... ...on Saturday night, Matt Meyer scattered 4 hits and shut out the Lindbergh Flyers 13-0 in 5 innings. Marquette erupted for 9 runs in the bottom of the 4th to break this one wide open. Kyle Grieshaber and David Ullrich blasted home runs for the streaking Mustangs(11-3). Listen to the replay of this 75 minute game on www.prepcasts.com ...in 9 innings, the Sullivan Eagles(7-3) edged the Pacific Indians (9-3) 2-1 to jump in the front seat of the Four Rivers conference. Scott Jones went the distance for Sullivan. The winning run scored in the top of 9th on a single, sac bunt, ground out and passed ball--small ball pays off in these tight games. ...Boonville snapped Hannibal's(12-6) 4 game win streak with a 2-1 win. Boonville's Grant Davis pitched to contact with just 3 K's to notch the win. Meanwhile, hard-luck loser Neil Hugenberg mowed down 14 batters with strikeouts (including the last 7 batters !)
How would you like these numbers ? Hume High School (7-1) is being led by ace Ryan Austin. This class 1 team is 7-1 for the year. Fireballing Austin (clocked in 90's) has struck out 66 in 26 1/3 innings. Folks...that's 66 of 79 outs by strikeouts ! At the plate, Austin is hitting .808 !!! Austin has signed with Ft Scott Community College for next year.
Runnin' Wild Games (runners all over the place) of the week ! ...Blue Springs South (6-3) piled up a 14-2 lead and had hopes for a short game. Not so...the Rock Bridge Bruins batted for an hour and crossed the plate ten tims in a half inning to battle back but...not quite far enough. Final Score BSS 15 Rock Bridge 12 ...John Burroughs Bombers lived up to their name and dropped plenty of salvos in a 14-11 win over the Clayton Greyhounds. The Bombers had a huge 9 run 3rd inning and fought off a late Clayton rally for the win. ...Oakville Tigers(19-1) trailed 6-2 after 4 innings against a determined Hickman team. The Tigers scored 6 runs in the 5th and 5 in the 6th to knock off the Hickman Kewpies(5-8) 13-10 on Friday at Oakville.
Lots of LIVE baseball (and more) this week on Prepcasts ! Two games on Tuesday (SLUH vs DeSmet ; CBC vs Vianney) and two games on Wednesday (Parkway South vs Parkway Central; Westminster vs Lutheran South) are already scheduled. WE're looking for more top-notch games later in the week ! WE also have boys volleyball (Fox vs Seckman) on Tuesday and girls lacrosse on Thursday (MICDS @ St Joseph Academy) Catch us LIVE or LATER on Prepcasts !!
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