Will's Tuesday Doubleheader

Playing for the first time in 32 days (with just one muddy practice in between), Will played every inning of Crown’s doubleheader sweep over South Atlanta Tuesday afternoon. Though quite rusty, he was the second most productive player on the team.

Will made it on base in seven of the eight times he came to bat.

Game One: Leadoff hitter

1st inning: Will walked on four pitches, then went first to third...ON A BUNT! He didn’t realize the pitcher hadn’t thrown to first after dropping the bunt. The third-baseman had charged, so no one was covering third. Will slid into third ahead of the diving pitcher, who was trying to tag him out. He then scored on a single.

2nd inning: Will singled to right, stole second and third, and scored on an error.

Game Two:

1st inning: With runners on second and third Will singled up the middle. The runner on third scored, but the slow runner on second was thrown out at the plate, ending the inning.

3rd inning: Will hit a grounder in the hole at short. The shortstop bobbled the ball, and Will beat the throw to first. He stole second and scored on a double.

4th.inning: Will walked, and advanced to third before the inning ended.

5th inning: Will reached first when the shortstop’s throw pulled the first-baseman off the bag. He stole second, but again the inning ended.

In game Two Will was the starting pitcher. He was credited with the win, despite little defensive support. He struck out five in three innings, throwing 60% strikes. After run-ruling South Atlanta in Game One, Crown started backups at five positions in Game Two, weakening the defense at six positions.

In the third the leadoff batter walked, after Will just missed with several close pitches. The catcher couldn’t block a tough pitch, allowing the runner to advance to second. The next batter hit a slow grounder right where the second-baseman normally plays, but he couldn’t reach the ball after holding the runner close to the base. The runner on first broke for second, but the catcher aired his second straight throw into centerfield. A grounder through the hole into leftfield easily scored the runner from second. The throw from leftfield missed the first cutoff man, then was dropped by the backup third-baseman, allowing the batter to reach second base. A passed ball put the runner at third base. Rattled, Will walked the next batter, putting runners on first and third. Again, the runner on first broke for second, and again the catcher aired the ball into centerfield, allowing the runner on third to score.

So Will had faced four batters in the inning, and six defensive miscues had led to three runs to score. With a runner on second, the next batter was a tall, athletic, Jason Heyward wannabe. In the previous inning he had hit a tremendous shot high off the tall centerfield wall, over 365 feet away. Will threw three straight curveballs to strike Rumeal out, making him look bad in the process (and his loudmouth mother!). Then Will struck out the next two batters as well, stranding the runner on second.

If Crown plays like they did yesterday, they will not win next week’s Florida tournament.

Braeden…6-7, HR, 3 doubles, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 6 runs, HBP…25 points

Will…2-6, 2 BB, 3 runs, 3 SB, RBI…11 points

Patrick…2-3, BB, 3 runs, 2 RBI, 2 SB…10 points

Adam…3-4, 2 runs, RBI, SB…7 points

Nathan…1-3, 2 BB, 3 runs…6 points

Nick…1-2, 2 runs, RBI…4 points

Ian…1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, CS…4 points

Tanner…1-4, run, sac, RBI…4 points

Sam…0-3, run…1 point

Jake…0-1, BB, HBP, run…3 points

Franklin…1-3, RBI…2 points

Jordan…1-3, RBI…2 points

Michael…0-4, 2 runs…2 points

Ray…1-3…point

Russell…0-1

Norman…0-1

Russell…0-3