[Commanche]

Does the play at 2nd by Pikeville keeps Brossart from scoring 4?

Nope, but not starting your number 1 does, at least after the third bring him in as Brossart was hitting the ball hard off Randy and right at them.

After Hamilton came in, Brossart never got a hit.

As far as the call I agree it may be within the rules to call it, but without any contact between the two it should not have been made. Judgement calls do effect the outcome of games, just a part of baseball.

Congrats boys on leaving it all on the field.

Congrats to Brossart and good luck.

[Stardust]

Thanks Commanche, what inning was this play in? I have the replay of the game on now.

[jetpilot]

Does the play at 2nd by Pikeville keeps Brossart from scoring 4?

No, it keeps Pikeville from scoring 4 (or more). Idiotic call, but as others have said, Pikeville still should have won. You have to knock a guy throwing 70mph out of the box, and the Panthers didn't.

[Stardust]

^ What inning was the play?

[jetpilot]

4th I believe but I'm still so mad I'm not thinking straight.

[Stardust]

Thx. I'll fast forward to that inning

[PHSForever]

:Thumbs:way go Mustags

Blaming the umps?eriously::lame:

Congrats to Brossart on the win, good luck against St. X, they will need it. Not super impressed other than with Fardo and Hahn, I thought the talent matched up evenly on both sides of the field. I don't mean that as a slight to Brossart at all, I simply mean that Brossart was not a far superior team, just the better team this night. If they play 10 games, I suspect it would be 50/50 split.

Now, for the call at 2nd, I don't blame umps for wins/losses, BUT it did break momentum. Pikeville had at least one other opportunity to push runs across with a bases loaded scenario and didn't. Having said that, it is RARE that a runner is called out for interference on a slide into 2nd base. I'd have to see a replay before I would believe it was really interference. Nevertheless, the ump called it (right or wrong), and it is what it is. Pikeville played a heck of a game, and with 2 of 3 years appearing in state, have proven they are a program with tradition to be reckoned with (along with their other regional wins), and have nothing to be ashamed of at all. Last night, they just wasted good opportunities that you can't waste at that level of play and expect to win consistently.

Hats off to Randy Maynard, I think many expected Hamilton to get the start. But Randy goes out a winner in my book, excelling in school, athletics AND life. He will be a winner at whatever he does.

[Stardust]

OK, it wasn't the 4th inning I'll go to the 3rd to see if it was there

[PHSForever]

Nope, but not starting your number 1 does, at least after the third bring him in as Brossart was hitting the ball hard off Randy and right at them.

After Hamilton came in, Brossart never got a hit.

As far as the call I agree it may be within the rules to call it, but without any contact between the two it should not have been made. Judgement calls do effect the outcome of games, just a part of baseball.

Congrats boys on leaving it all on the field.

Congrats to Brossart and good luck.

Have to disagree a bit here. Randy pitched well enough to win for 5 2/3rds innings. Just left him in ONE inning too long, really just a couple batters too long. I think the plan was to get a solid 5-6 out of Randy and bring in Ward if they had the lead. Win, looks like a genius for having his #1 ready to go against St. X. Lose, and he gets 2nd guessed here.

[PHSForever]

OK, it wasn't the 4th inning I'll go to the 3rd to see if it was there

Picture in post #25 on this thread shows the play. Doesn't look like interference, no spikes high, and not out of the baseline, no apparent contact prior to the throw. Hmmm, I may have to look for this replay myself. But it was either the bottom of the 3rd or bottom of the 4th inning, as I recall.

[Stardust]

^ I'm at the bottom of the 3rd, bases loaded, PHS just popped out to first for the 1st out

[PHSForever]

^ I'm at the bottom of the 3rd, bases loaded, PHS just popped out to first for the 1st out

Correct sequence if Hamilton is on 1st

[Stardust]

It's really hard to see from the video, but what you can see is an awkward or late slide by the runner. You can't see contact in the video because it shows the throw to first, but it looks like there might have been body to leg, more from where the slide started that forced the finish. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means saying it did it didn't happen, but it looks like the body's may have hit.

As for the rule, it was clear in the rules meetings last year at the State convention that body contact on a thrower will be called. I've seen it called at least 3 times at 2nd over the last two years in our games, as well as the no call that may have cost us one when a Harrison Co. player actually reached up and hit the elbow of the 2nd baseman and there was no call.

Again, the umpire have been instructed contact to a thrower will be called. It's very hard to coach your kids to break up a double play.

There is no clock on the video to tell you where to scroll to, but it's about a 3rd of the way on the video: http://www.ihigh.com/khsaa/broadcast_228...verlight=1

[jetpilot]

It's really hard to see from the video, but what you can see is an awkward or late slide by the runner. You can't see contact in the video because it shows the throw to first, but it looks like there might have been body to leg, more from where the slide started that forced the finish. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means saying it did it didn't happen, but it looks like the body's may have hit.

As for the rule, it was clear in the rules meetings last year at the State convention that body contact on a thrower will be called. I've seen it called at least 3 times at 2nd over the last two years in our games, as well as the no call that may have cost us one when a Harrison Co. player actually reached up and hit the elbow of the 2nd baseman and there was no call.

Again, the umpire have been instructed contact to a thrower will be called. It's very hard to coach your kids to break up a double play.

There is no clock on the video to tell you where to scroll to, but it's about a 3rd of the way on the video: http://www.ihigh.com/khsaa/broadcast_228...verlight=1

Awkward or late slide? No. And you're reaching with "might" and "may".
Look at post #25 again - ball coming out of thower's hand, no awkward or late slide, no contact.

[Stardust]

[Image: http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2012/06...St.79.jpeg]

JP, I have no dog in the fight and am not arguing. As an outsider, I'm watching a video, thus the actual play, not a still shot that does not show the beginning and end. Based on the video, this angle that you see is the beginning of the slide. The slide occured right on top of the bag, not out front, and the players body popped up. What you can't see in the video is when the player popped up if he made contact with his right shoulder. From the video, you can see it was "bang, bang".

I'll do this for you, I will ask Nate Verst (2nd baseman) if the runner hit him. I'll be riding done with Ron (head coach) and get his opinion of the play as well. He would have no reason to deny at this stage. If he say's the runner did not make contact, then that should help appease the question. If he said yes, well then we are back to "he said, she said" and that doesn't get us any further.

Again, I'm not arguing the play, just stating what I could see from a limited video.

[Ike Cooter]

Picture in post #25 clearly shows that contact is about to be made. If you look to the left of the base runner you can see the edge of the base which would imply the runner is sliding in the direction of the fielder rather than directly into the base.

Why take away from a great contest. Brossart won. Congratulate these kids and move on. Pikeville had a good season and represented well. Congratulate them and move on. Because no matter what anyone post here, it will not change the game.

[Commanche]

Have to disagree a bit here. Randy pitched well enough to win for 5 2/3rds innings. Just left him in ONE inning too long, really just a couple batters too long. I think the plan was to get a solid 5-6 out of Randy and bring in Ward if they had the lead. Win, looks like a genius for having his #1 ready to go against St. X. Lose, and he gets 2nd guessed here.

When you are playing to be able to play tommorrow, you do exactly what St. X and Woodford did, you pitch your best. They are still playing tommorrow and Pikeville is not.

I did not expect to see Hollon pitching last night but guess what he did. Powell would have beat them if he had not.

St. X threw number 1 as well.

If there is another reason, they chose to do so then that was certainly there call. So be it there is no tommorrow because of this decision and if you cant take the heat dont make the call.

As for griping about the call, it is a mute point. Judgement call just like the pitching call.

Two years in a row he left the pitcher in too long also. SHOULD have had 3 Region titles in a row. The definition of stupid is making the same mistakes over and over and expecting different results. They were tagging Randy the inning before hitting right at Pikeville. You had to see they were timing him at that point and a pitching change was needed. Randy did pitch well, but with 4 hits scattered through 7 innings you arent gonna win many anyway. One of those hits was an infield pop up that should have been caught by the 3rd baseman.

Again congrats to both teams on a good game to watch.

[Commanche]

Have to disagree a bit here. Randy pitched well enough to win for 5 2/3rds innings. Just left him in ONE inning too long, really just a couple batters too long. I think the plan was to get a solid 5-6 out of Randy and bring in Ward if they had the lead. Win, looks like a genius for having his #1 ready to go against St. X. Lose, and he gets 2nd guessed here.

Randy pitched 4 2/3 innings, Jake pitched 2 1/3.

[Bob Seger]

LEXINGTON - While the Bishop Brossart baseball team left numerous runners in scoring position and senior starting pitcher Zach Fardo admittedly didn’t have his best stuff, both the Mustangs’ hitters and Fardo did just enough for the team to earn its first Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Tournament win.
Brossart, which had at least one runner in scoring position in all seven innings and left 12 runners on base, scored two runs in the third and two more in the fifth and Fardo allowed four hits over six innings as the Mustangs went on to beat Pikeville, 4-2, in a first-round game on Monday night at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
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Brossart (26-12), which is appearing in its first ever KHSAA state baseball tournament, advances to play Louisville St. Xavier in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. St. Xavier (30-11) advanced with a 4-0 win over Mercer County in a first-round game earlier on Monday.

“They have a confidence about them that they’ve picked up over the last few weeks and I don’t think they show any intimidation no matter who they play or whatever the situation is,” said Brossart head coach Ron Verst. “They’re playing hard, they’re going at teams and they’re confident with who we put on the mound.”

After Brossart failed to score in the top of the first inning despite getting leadoff batter Jared Hahn to third with one out, and then left the bases loaded without scoring in the second, Pikeville took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the second.

The Mustangs came right back to score two runs in the top of the third. The first came when junior catcher Tanner Norton doubled home sophomore shortstop Nate Verst, and the second when senior center fielder Trevor Bezold’s drive to center field went off the glove of Pikeville center fielder Jacob Burke for a three-base error allowing Norton to score easily and put Brossart on top, 2-1.

Fardo then pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the third when he first induced Burke to pop out to first baseman Bobby Roderick and then got Reese Ward to ground to Nate Verst at short. Verst threw to second baseman Jesse Orth for the force and second and while Orth’s relay throw was late to first, Ward was also ruled out when the runner sliding into second, Jacob Hamilton, was ruled to have slid across the base and interfered with Orth.

“That was huge,” said Ron Verst. “That was a momentum boost for us. (Fardo) has battled all year for us and his teammates work hard for him.”It marked the second time in as many games that Brossart had benefitted from an umpire’s call. The Mustangs also got a hit batsmen that would have driven home the tying run for Harrison County in last Thursday’s 10th Region championship game reversed when the batter was ruled to have not attempted to get out of the way. Brossart held on to win that game, 4-3.

“We have a saying that Coach Ed Schultz (a former assistant who passed away two years ago) is looking out for us,” said Ron Verst. “We’ve had some calls go our way, but we’ll take them.”Brossart then went up 4-1 with two runs in the top of fifth. Norton led off the inning with a single and scored when Bezold tripled to the base of the wall in right center. Bezold scored two outs later on Orth’s single to deep short.

“I thought it was a pop up to right field at first and I was running around first base and I saw it kept going,” said Bezold. “We did leave a lot of people on base, but we still did enough and that was big there. After the first couple of innings it got quiet, but we got some runs and then the insurance runs and it gave us some confidence.”

Fardo, a left-hander who improved to 8-5 on the season, kept Pikeville off balance with a fastball that never got past 74 mph and then an assortment of off-speed pitches.He retired nine in a row from the end of the third through the fifth, then gave up a run in the sixth. He allowed just four hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out four before giving way to sophomore Conner Verst, who pitched a perfect ninth and struck out two to record the save.

“I didn’t have my good stuff, but I battled out there,” said Fardo. “It was good to get the lead and we might have left a lot of guys on base, but I always look at it like if you’ve got a lead then you’re good.

“This is huge. This is the first time we’ve ever been here and first ever win here. We’re still making memorieshttp://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120604/SPT0302/306040076/Brossart-reaches-state-quarterfinals?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Which IMO is where Pikeville batters struggle the most.

[PHSForever]

Picture in post #25 clearly shows that contact is about to be made. If you look to the left of the base runner you can see the edge of the base which would imply the runner is sliding in the direction of the fielder rather than directly into the base.

Why take away from a great contest. Brossart won. Congratulate these kids and move on. Pikeville had a good season and represented well. Congratulate them and move on. Because no matter what anyone post here, it will not change the game.

That's the back of his cleats, not the edge of the bag. Look at his right leg folded under him, you see it looks exactly the same as what you think is the edge of the bag in this picture, plus the dirt being pushed out away from what you say is the edge of the bag shows it is his foot. Brossart player's almost on top of the bag as he throws, so contact is going to be a given. I think it is an asinine rule that takes away the umps ability to use common sense (was defense on the bag, was contact unavoidable, etc). But, as I said, NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM Brossart. Better team in this game, whether we agree or not. I do wish them luck against St. X.

As for discussion on this thread, it isn't taking away from Brossart either. I've seen a lot worse discussion about far less. Simply a passionate fan base expressing their views, which this forum allows.

[PHSForever]

Randy pitched 4 2/3 innings, Jake pitched 2 1/3.

My bad. Shew. I was just making a point. :-)

[PHSForever]

When you are playing to be able to play tommorrow, you do exactly what St. X and Woodford did, you pitch your best. They are still playing tommorrow and Pikeville is not.

I did not expect to see Hollon pitching last night but guess what he did. Powell would have beat them if he had not.

St. X threw number 1 as well.

If there is another reason, they chose to do so then that was certainly there call. So be it there is no tommorrow because of this decision and if you cant take the heat dont make the call.

As for griping about the call, it is a mute point. Judgement call just like the pitching call.

Two years in a row he left the pitcher in too long also. SHOULD have had 3 Region titles in a row. The definition of stupid is making the same mistakes over and over and expecting different results. They were tagging Randy the inning before hitting right at Pikeville. You had to see they were timing him at that point and a pitching change was needed. Randy did pitch well, but with 4 hits scattered through 7 innings you arent gonna win many anyway. One of those hits was an infield pop up that should have been caught by the 3rd baseman.

Again congrats to both teams on a good game to watch.

Last comment. Jake had thrown a high pitch count Thursday. 126 pitches I believe someone else said. Yeah, he is young and probably could have gone, but a coach plays the percentages. Would you be complaining about it if Priode sticks with Maynard and he gets the win? Or if he had pulled Randy and put in Ward and they got the win? Of course not. Would I have done it different? Doubtful. I think Randy was the smart start considering St. X was the likely next opponent. Even if they (St X) lost, Jake against mercer's 2nd is a matchup you like, and potential is there for a complete game, giving Burke an extra day of rest, or a solid 5 or 6 and Ward to close out, depending on the pitch count.

I won't disagree that 2 years in a row he has left someone in too long, and that has to change. You are dead on about that.

[Bob Seger]

When you are playing to be able to play tommorrow, you do exactly what St. X and Woodford did, you pitch your best. They are still playing tommorrow and Pikeville is not.

I did not expect to see Hollon pitching last night but guess what he did. Powell would have beat them if he had not.

St. X threw number 1 as well.

If there is another reason, they chose to do so then that was certainly there call. So be it there is no tommorrow because of this decision and if you cant take the heat dont make the call.

As for griping about the call, it is a mute point. Judgement call just like the pitching call.

Two years in a row he left the pitcher in too long also. SHOULD have had 3 Region titles in a row. The definition of stupid is making the same mistakes over and over and expecting different results. They were tagging Randy the inning before hitting right at Pikeville. You had to see they were timing him at that point and a pitching change was needed. Randy did pitch well, but with 4 hits scattered through 7 innings you arent gonna win many anyway. One of those hits was an infield pop up that should have been caught by the 3rd baseman.

Again congrats to both teams on a good game to watch.

If you are Pikeville you have to have the option to start Hamilton to have a chance at advancing. In all honesty and with all due respect there is such a tremendous dropoff after Hamilton. But as I said , after 126 pitches on friday, he had to have had a jello arm.

On a side note, I think that PHSForever mentioned that Burke would be eligible tuesday. I think he pitched 7 innings saturday, which would not have made him eligible till wednesday. In short Pikeville was somewhat screwed from the get go, as far as being able to come into the tournament full strength. In my opinion, Pikeville started their #3 pitcher.

[Bob Seger]

Last comment. Jake had thrown a high pitch count Thursday. 126 pitches I believe someone else said. Yeah, he is young and probably could have gone, but a coach plays the percentages. Would you be complaining about it if Priode sticks with Maynard and he gets the win? Or if he had pulled Randy and put in Ward and they got the win? Of course not. Would I have done it different? Doubtful. I think Randy was the smart start considering St. X was the likely next opponent. Even if they (St X) lost, Jake against mercer's 2nd is a matchup you like, and potential is there for a complete game, giving Burke an extra day of rest, or a solid 5 or 6 and Ward to close out, depending on the pitch count.

I won't disagree that 2 years in a row he has left someone in too long, and that has to change. You are dead on about that.

It was on friday.

[PHSForever]

It was on friday.

Jake Hamilton pitched Thursday. I was there. Jacob Burke pitched in the championship Friday, I was also there.

[Bob Seger]

Jake Hamilton pitched Thursday. I was there. Jacob Burke pitched in the championship Friday, I was also there.

I was there as well, and yes you are correct, it was the girls softball championship game that was saturday, not the baseball championship. It was such a screwed up week altogether. Too many straight nights of getting home at 1 and 2 in the morning. I apologize.

[Commanche]

Last comment. Jake had thrown a high pitch count Thursday. 126 pitches I believe someone else said. Yeah, he is young and probably could have gone, but a coach plays the percentages. Would you be complaining about it if Priode sticks with Maynard and he gets the win? Or if he had pulled Randy and put in Ward and they got the win? Of course not. Would I have done it different? Doubtful. I think Randy was the smart start considering St. X was the likely next opponent. Even if they (St X) lost, Jake against mercer's 2nd is a matchup you like, and potential is there for a complete game, giving Burke an extra day of rest, or a solid 5 or 6 and Ward to close out, depending on the pitch count.

I won't disagree that 2 years in a row he has left someone in too long, and that has to change. You are dead on about that.

POINT 1 Yes he had a high pitch count on Thursday, however start him and monitor his arm and give your team a chance. It is obvious that Pikeville is not a strong offensive team, so you gotta eliminate giving up over 2 or 3 runs to anybody. My point is not to bash Priode, I just didnt agree.

Point 2 I am not complaining, but if you are the coach who makes this call then you gotta be able to take some heat for it when it does not work out as planned. IMO Pikeville was lucky to get to State and to then try and Pitch around any opponent was not a good decision. To get to St. X as they knew the opponent before they took the field you had to win yesterday. I was told along time ago, to win the game you are in as you cannot control tommorrow unless you make it to tommorrow.

I am proud of these boys for making it down there and I think they all played their hearts out. Just dont agree with the decision made by the staff, that is all.

[Commanche]

If you are Pikeville you have to have the option to start Hamilton to have a chance at advancing. In all honesty and with all due respect there is such a tremendous dropoff after Hamilton. But as I said , after 126 pitches on friday, he had to have had a jello arm.

On a side note, I think that PHSForever mentioned that Burke would be eligible tuesday. I think he pitched 7 innings saturday, which would not have made him eligible till wednesday. In short Pikeville was somewhat screwed from the get go, as far as being able to come into the tournament full strength. In my opinion, Pikeville started their #3 pitcher.

Poor decision by the committee to cancel Tuesday nights games, as anybody who made it through region was gonna be screwed up on pitching. Nobody in this region has a deep enough staff to endure that.

As a side note, I am not a fan of any high school kid pitching that many pitches in a game anyway. Hollon was pulled at 100. He had almost 4 full days of rest, but I am sure his arm was not quite 100 percent. He hit 78 on the gun at Applebees, which they say is actually 81, so he was off a couple mles per hour for sure.

[Live Maroon]

Pikeville had two starting pitchers with ERAs below 2.00. Neither were named Hamilton. I have no problem with Priode pitching Maynard in first game. Winnable game. Next game would be David v Goliath and really needed Hamilton to go in that one. In all honesty, this team overachieved compared to last year's team. I don't see blaming the coach. Players make plays - or don't. I have no problem with the way this team was handled. It's an honor to get to Whitaker Bank Park.

[Commanche]

If you are Pikeville you have to have the option to start Hamilton to have a chance at advancing. In all honesty and with all due respect there is such a tremendous dropoff after Hamilton. But as I said , after 126 pitches on friday, he had to have had a jello arm.

On a side note, I think that PHSForever mentioned that Burke would be eligible tuesday. I think he pitched 7 innings saturday, which would not have made him eligible till wednesday. In short Pikeville was somewhat screwed from the get go, as far as being able to come into the tournament full strength. In my opinion, Pikeville started their #3 pitcher.

Pikeville had two starting pitchers with ERAs below 2.00. Neither were named Hamilton. I have no problem with Priode pitching Maynard in first game. Winnable game. Next game would be David v Goliath and really needed Hamilton to go in that one. In all honesty, this team overachieved compared to last year's team. I don't see blaming the coach. Players make plays - or don't. I have no problem with the way this team was handled. It's an honor to get to Whitaker Bank Park.

According to stats on the state tourney website, they had 4 pitchers with era's under 2.0 and Jacob was second at 1.19, Reese was lowest at 0.62. The overall team total runs per game was 2.11, so team ERA has to be lower than that. Totally meaningless as Jake got the tougher opponents, so his era was higher. Would you believe because Jake lost more games than any pitcher on the staff that he is the worst pitcher we have, dont think you do. High School stats are meaningless without taking all things to be considered into account. I do have a problem as Pikeville is not playing tommorrow and Brossart is, totally due to this call. If making it there satisfies anyone then I disagree with them. They could have been the third team from Pikeville to make the Elite 8 and that could have been something for those players to hang onto. I agree it is an honor to get there, but dont overlook anybody cause all 16 teams made it as well. David vs. Goliath would have been nice but you gotta get there to make it happen.