We played a very good Wootton team yesterday. Wootton fielded and hit very well. They scored on a 2 run homerun and a few little hits. Playing in a small field was to Wootton's advantage. We did not hit well. Kindermann had our only hit, a long double, until the last inning. With no runs on the board, we went into bat in the last inning knowing that we needed to get something. We came out and put guys on, moved them around, and got three in. That was a very positive way to end the game. In the field, we saw a good outing by Gottenburg and Smeallie. Both pitched well. Smeallie also played a good third base. We were solid in the field, with only a few errors, but couldn't make up for it at the plate. We still are playing too quietly and not putting both parts of the game together. It was good for us to see Wootton doing these things, especially how they seemed to enjoy the game. They were talking and into the game throughout. That's what we need to be doing. We have the potential and we, as a team, are getting compliments from other coaches around the league, but we still haven't played one game where we had an all-around dominant game.
We survived in our "way to close" game against QO. This was the first game that we might have given away because of how we fielded, if our hitting wasn't as good as it was. We let QO stay in the game, but were able to over come their attempts with our offense. We seemed to take a couple steps backwards in the field which may have been due to the moves that we had to make right before the game, or our lack of communication throughout the game, or our lazy play. Either way, we seemed to come in from the field and be confident and alive during our turn to bat and on the base paths. One of our most influential players of the game, Wolen, running for Glass, scored twice in very aggressive situations and helped another run score while he was on. We also saw a huge triple by Smeallie to score 2. McMakin and Kindermann were coming on at the plate. Shirely had another key hit with runners on. The biggest hit of the game was Gottenburg's single in the bottom of the seventh to score the winning run. Overall, it was apparent that our team came together at the plate. We were consistently getting on base through the whole lineup. Our pitchers: Wright for 6 and 2/3 innings threw a great game, giving up two earned runs the whole game. Best outing yet for Wright. Gottenburg only had to pitch to one batter but in a tough situation with the bases loaded. He had no problem getting the out. We need to get our fielding back, which shouldn't be a problem, and continue our hitting. I was proud of how we continued to fight back, with three seperate times regaining the lead from QO. We saw how important it was for our first batters to get on base so that we could move them around and set up situations for runs.
We played a very good game against Walter Johnson. After having a mix up sending us to a different field, we were able to focus and play well against a good WJ team. Our fielding was very solid with great support from the field. Several good plays by our outfielders: McMakin, Smeallie, Shirely, and Sadur. Our pitchers: Glass, Silber, and Smeallie all did a great job. We made few mistakes and got the outs when we needed to. Hitting wise, we started to see good contact by some guys that haven't been consistent yet. We also saw some great bunts and guys hitting with runners in scoring position. Smeallie, our most consistent hitter, drove in some key runs early in the game. Shirely not only bunted well, but had a big hit with runners on to keep the inning alive. As base runners, we saw a catcher that we could move around against. We stole well and took advantage of his sore arm. We still need to be more aggressive and awake on the base paths. There were a couple situations that we could have taken advantage of. We, as a team, are starting to play good baseball!
It was nice to start the week off with a win vs. Northwest. We controlled the game from the beginning. We had another good showing by Wright, who pitched 4 innings. We let one run in during that time. Then McMakin had his debut on the mound going one and a third. Gottenburg came in with the bases loaded and got us out of a jam. He then finished the game. Our fielding was very good throughout the game. We didn't finish a run down and again had problems with a relay, those were the only two times we didn't take advantage of a situation. The rest of time we held strong in the field. Our outfield played really well, taking care of all possible balls that came their way. We even had an excellent relay to throw out the one big hit that Northwest had. McMakin hit Kinderman well out in center on the relay, who then threw the guy out trying to take third. Both Shirely and Smeallie did an excellent job catching the ball while playing in very high grass. Our hitting seems to be turning around, we are seeing more consistent hits from more of our line up. We bunted the ball extrememely well, moving over our base runners to set up all of our runs. Great win RM!
The RM JV lost a hard fought game at Gaithersburg Saturday. We played well, but are still looking for more consistent hitting. We were able to orchestrate 3 runs very well. We had several key bunts and hits that moved our runners around. The score doesn't reflect how well we played as a team. Other than throwing the ball around a little, Gaithersburg had a powerful line-up. They hit the ball consistently hard and into gaps. Our relays were not great at times, which helped them move their runners around. We gave up our first and only home run so far, with a waist high fastball hit over centerfield. Our pitchers learned how important it is to keep the ball down in the strike zone. We were up after 3 innings with a score of 3-2. Gaithersburg then found the gaps and picked away at us. Down 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, we let Gaithersburg score 3 on a big hit. That put the game out of reach. I was proud of our performance, mainly our fielding. We are becoming better hitters, just not all together yet. We also need to chatter more and let guys know what is going on.
I was very proud of our game against Whitman. Mostly because the bottom of the line-up found ways to get on base in the bottom of the last inning with the Rockets behind by 2. They started our rally and Silber, who knocked in all 4 runs, was able to get a long fly ball with two outs to right field which scored both. Our 3 pitchers' performances were also very good. Wright threw the first 5, solidifying his position as our #1 pitcher right now. He gave up 2 in the top of the fifth. In his first outing this season, Wilber came in and pitched two very good innings, also giving up 2. He came in to face the meat of their line up in a very tough situation, having runners on base already. Glass came in to pitch the final inning after having caught the whole game. Of the 5 runs we gave up, 2 were earned. What kept us from getting the win was our hitting. We need to be more consistent at the plate. Our hitters need to be making more line drive contact. We are not far off. Even in the last inning, we had a big double by Smeallie to get our tying run in scoring position.
We played a very good team and faced a couple good pitchers on Monday vs. Sherwood. As a team, we played well in the field. Sherwood was able to hit the ball well. They kept hitting line drives and moving their runners around. They were able to chip away at us each inning. We did not give up one big inning, which shows that we kept our composure throughout the game. Unfortunately, we did not have our bats with us. They were able to set the tone of the game, throwing their ace in the first few innings. Even after they took him out, we still couldn't rally. Part of the reason was that they played really well in the field. We had a couple opportunities that Sherwood diffused by making some nice plays.
We came out a little flat in the first of couple innings with our bats. After that, we controlled the game without a problem. John Wright pitched an excellent game, going into the fourth till he gave up a hit. Defensively, we played great. We had nice plays all around, including an intimidating scoop and throw out from Mr. Glass to second to snub all ideas of stealing for the rest of the game. From the offensive side, our biggest bat came from Logan Smealie. Logan had two triples both with men on, giving him 4 RBIs for the day. Great game. 11-1 in 5 innings.
Richard Montgomery High School JV Baseball Game Recaps - Posted 04/25/08