Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Stanly County American Legion baseball team loses at Rowan County

Stanly County jumped out to an 8-1 lead but would suffer a 12-8 road loss Monday night at Rowan County.

SC 600 200 000 8 13 2
RC 100 140 24x 12 15 2
WP - Caleb Henley (3 IP, 0 R, 1 hit, 1 BB, 3 K)
LP - Jake Lowder
Leading Hitters: SC - Corey Dick 3-5, RBI; Drew Cole 3-4, RBI; Josh Cochran 3-5, 2 RBI; Kevin Van Asch 1-4, HR, 3 RBI. RC - Matt Mauldin 4-5, 2B, 5 RBI; Nathan Fulbright 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Andy Austin 2-4, RBI.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Weekend Stanly County American Legion Results

The road struggles for Stanly County may be starting to turn to the postive.

After losing Friday night at Kannapolis for a 1-5 record overall on the road this season, Stanly County won Saturday night at Concord 14-4 in seven innings, then split a doubleheader at Wilkes County, losing the first game 7-5 and winning the nightcap 8-6, making them 2-2 for this five-game road trip.

Results from tonight's games at Rowan County will be available on the blog as soon as possible, as well as in the Tuesday print edition!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

An Amazing Story of Overcoming Obstacles

I was just sent a link to this amazing story about a golfer who was headed to Pfeiffer University this past fall but suffered immeasureable tragedy, yet has bounced back and will be playing in a tournament this weekend.

Here is the link to this touching story from the Star Phoenix in Saskatoon, Saskatchwan.

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Back+from+tragedy/4893589/story.html

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Top 7

1) Blackmon flies out to center
2) Weiker singles to left-center
3) Ford grounds into a 6-4-3 DP, game over, East wins the title.

Congratulations to South Stanly on an amazing run that just came up a little short.

Bot 6

1) Stevens flies out to center
2) Freeman singles to left
3) Bracey reaches on an error
4) Smith reaches on a fielder's Choice (Lisk gets the force out at third)
5) Connor triples over the South CF's head, two runs scored, game tied 7-7
(Weiker into pitch, multiple changes in the field for South) Connor scores on a wild pitch, 8-7 East
6) Barnes flies out to center

South had led since the 2nd inning, now has three outs left to keep their season alive for another half-inning at least.
Blackmon, Weiker and Ford up for South!

Top 6

1) Poplin grounds out to second base
2) Lisk grounds out to third
3) Wallace doubles to the corner in right field
4) Fraley singles just over the head of the second baseman, Wallace scores!
5) Starnes singles to center, Fraley to second
6) Short strikes out

South leads 7-5...

Weiker is warming up in the bullpen...may take the mound in the sixth...Blackmon is back out on the mound.

Bot 5

1) Barnes singles to left
2) Jenkins flies out to right
3) Bridgers strikes out swinging
4) Bowen (sorry, not Brown, realized I wrote it down wrong) grounds out to second base

Poplin was heading down to the bullpen in the last inning but had to hit fourth and came back, he may be heading back down to get warmed up.

6-5 South, top 6 coming up!

Top 5

1) Blackmon reaches on an error (caught stealing at 2nd for the second out)
2) Weiker strikes out
3) Mabry grounds out to third

Bot 4

1) Stevens singles to left (advances to 2nd on a passed ball with no outs)
2) Freeman doubles down the RF line, Stevens scores, gets to third on an overthrow from the South RF
3) Bracey singles, Freeman scores...6-5 South
4) Smith grounds into a double play, Wallace to Weiker (6 to 3 if you're scoring at home).
5) Connor flies out to right

It's a one-run game now, South leads 6-5. The final three innings are sure to be drama filled if the first two games of this series are any indicator.

Top 4

1) Wallace walks
2) Fraley strikes out looking
3) Starnes grounds out to third (Wallace moves to third)
4) Short grounds out to the pitcher

We are at the halfway point of the game!

Bot 3

1) Bracey grounds out to third
2) Smith doubles to the fence in the right-center field gap
3) Connor reaches on an error (second baseman couldn't come up with it)
4) Barnes singles to left field, Smith scores (6-2 South)
5) Jenkins reaches on an error, Connor scores when the ball gets away from Weiker at first, 6-3 South)
6)Bridgers singles to center
7) Brown lines out to second

East gets two runs back and South leads 6-3 after three complete innings.
A lot of baseball still left!

Top 3

1) Starnes gets on with an infield single
2) Short singles to left field (Hunter Smith comes on to pitch for the Gators)
3) Blackmon sacrifices Starnes and Short over to second and third with a bunt
4) Weiker intentionally walked
5) Mabry singles to right field, Starnes and Short score! 6-1 South (Mabry to second on a wild pitch)
6) Lisk grounds out to third base

South adds two runs and forces an early pitching change, leads East Columbus 6-1!

Bot 2

1) Jenkins walked (advances to second on a wild pitch)
2) Bridgers grounds out to second base.
3) Brown delivers a sac fly to right field, Jenkins scores
4) Stevens reaches first on an infield single
5) Freeman grounds out to short


South leads 4-1 through two innings.

Top 2

1) Short grounds out to the pitcher
2) Blackmon line drive single to left
3) Weiker reached on a fielder's choice (second baseman dropped the ball on the attempt at 2nd)
4) Mabry reached on a fielder's choice (Austin Smith, running for Blackmon, avoided the tag and is safe at third)
5) Poplin reached on an error, Smith scores
6) Lisk hits a sac fly to CF, Weiker scores.
7) Wallace hits a line drive double to the fence in left-center field, two runs score!
8) Fraley stikes out

4 runs, two hits, two errors, South leads 4-0!

Bot 1

1) Bracey singles (is picked off by Blackmon for the first out of the inning)
2) Smith flies out to third base
3) Connor reaches on an error by South's 2B (steals second, reaches third as the throw from the catcher got past the South player covering second)
4) Barnes strikes out

No score through one

Top 1

1) Lisk strikes out
2) Wallace grounds out to thi
3) Fraley reached on an error
4) Starnes grounds out to second

The East pitcher threw 26 pitches that inning, we'll see if that affects him later.

Blackmon takes the mound for South.

Starting Lineups

South will be the visiting team in Game Three of the 1A state finals...here are the lineups!

South Stanly
1) 3B #3 JP Lisk
2) SS #4 Stephen Wallace
3) CF #6 Landon Fraley
4) LF #12 Jordan Starnes
5) RF #10 Grayson Short
6) P #9 Heath Blackmon
7) 1B #15 Russ Weiker
8) C #7 Trey Mabry
9) 2B #1 Chase Poplin

East Columbus
1) SS #2 Derrick Bracey
2) 3B #3 Hunter Smith
3) C #6 Ben Connor
4) DH #4 Houston Barnes
5) 1B #7 Ben Jenkins
6) CF #1 David Bridgers
7) LF #10 Skylar Brown
8) 2B #5 Taylor Stevens
9) RF #8 Ty Freeman
and the startint pitcher for the Gators, #11 Forrest Wayne

Game Three to start at aprox. 5:45 p.m.

According to officials here at Five County Stadium, Game Three of the 1A state finals series between South Stanly and East Columbus is scheduled to start at approx 5:45 p.m.

My beautiful wife and I are in the press box again and will bring you all the plays on the blog, plus we are taping video highlights for later this week on the website!

Bot 7

1) Weiker walks
2) Ford flied out to right
3) Poplin flies out to first base
4) Lisk flies out to first

We will see you back here on 4:45 p.m. to blog the third and final game of the series.

Top 7

1) Barnes flies out to right
2) Jenkins walks
3) Bridgers strikes out swinging
4) Bowen grounds out to second

Blackmon is no longer catching, so possibly saving him for a Game 3.

Three outs to go, four runs to tie, five for the win.

Bot 6

1) Wallace flies out to right
2) Fraley singles to center
3) Starnes singles to center (Fraley and Starnes move to second and third on a passed ball)
4) Short grounds out to short (The east first baseman appeared to possibly have been off the bag but Short was called out)
5) Blackmon flies out to second place in short right field

South has had seven fly outs in this game and three groundouts. They have not put the ball on the ground and hit line drives as they have all year. They have three outs left to rally.

East leads 5-1 through six innings.

Top 6

1) Bracey singles to left (steals second) (caught stealing third for the third out)
2) Smith strikes out
3) Connor flies out to left

South has the heart of the order up in the bottom of the sixth!

Bot 5

1) Blackmon strikes out
2) Weiker singles to right field
3) Ford singles to center field
4) Poplin pops out to second base
5) Lisk flies out to center (great diving catch by the East center fielder)

South breaks up the no hitter but still trails 5-0.

Top 5

1) Barnes strikes out (8 Ks)
2) Jenkins singles to center
3) Bridgers grounds out to second base
4) Bowen triples to the gap in right-center field, Jenkins scored, 4-0 (Bowen steals home on a designed play where Wilkinson at first base goes halfway down the line; the throw was in time at home but Bowen avoided the tag and was safe, 5-0 East
5) Wilkinson walks
6) Stevens grounds out to second base

Never seen a throw beat a runner at home by that much and him called safe. Coach Tucker complained but to no avail.

bot 4

1) Wallace walks
2) Fraley strikes out
3) Starnes flies out to center field
4) Short pops out to short (diving catch by the Eats shortstop)

3-0 East through 4

top 4

1) Jenkins hit by a pitch (reaches second on a passed ball)
2) Bridgers strikes out looking
3) Bowen walks on a 3-2 pitch
4) Wilkinson reaches on a fielder's choice (Wallace from deep in the hole at short throws to second and just gets the out on Bowen)
5) Stevens singles past Wallace at short, falling down on the play...Jenkins scores, 2-0 East.
6) Bracey RBI single to right, Wilkinson scores, 3-0 East
7) Smith singles to center, runner held at third (Grayson's good throw would have gotten him)
8) Connor grounds out to first base

East leads 3-0 going to the bottom of the fourth

Bottom 3

1) Ford flies out to center field
2) Poplin grounds out to shortstop
3) Lisk flies out to left field

Top 3

1) Smith strikes out swinging
2) Connor strikes out swinging
3) Barnes strikes out swinging

Fraley has seven strikeouts through three innings, but he needs some run support if the Bulls are going to get back into this game.

Going to the bottom of the third, East leads 1-0.

Bottom 2

1) Starnes reaches on a throwing error by the shortstop
2) Short reaches on a fielder's choice (fly ball dropped by the second baseman, throws Starnes out at second
3) Blackmon strucks out swinging
4) Weiker grounds out to first base

East leads 1-0 after two innings.

South can't afford to not get hits again for as long as they did last game; you can only do that for so long before it comes back to get you.

Top 2

1) Jenkins singles to center (cut off by Short) (scores on a bad pickoff attempt by Fraley with two outs, the throw got past Weiker at first base)
2) Bridgers strikes out swinging
3) Bowen strucks out swinging
4) Wilkinson singles to right field (Ford cuts the ball off and prevents extra bases and a run)
5) Stevens hit by a pitch
6) Bracey flies out to center field

East takes a 1-0 lead on the unearned run.

Bottom 1

1) Lisk grounds out to third base
2) Wallace strikes out looking
3) Fraley strikes out swinging

No score through 1 inning

Top 1

1) Bracey flies out to left field (Starnes up against the wall to make the catch)
2) Smith walks (reaches second on a passed ball with one out)
3) Connor strikes out swinging
4) Barnes strikes out swinging

0 runs, hits or errors, 1 left on

South coming to the plate!

It's much hotter today then yesterday, due probably in part to the sun being overhead instead of behind the grandstand.

Starting Lineups for Game Two

We are back on the air with the blog live from Five County Stadium in Zebulon! Here are the starting lineups today for both teams (South is the home team):

East Columbus (22-5)
1) SS #2 Derrick Bracey
2) C #3 Hunter Smith
3) 3B #6 Ben Connor
4) P #4 Houston Barnes
5) 1B #7 Ben Jenkins
6) CF #1 David Bridges
7) LF #10 Skylar Bowen
8) DH #9 Nick Wilkinson
9) 2B #5 Taylor Stevens
and in RF #8 Ty Freeman

South Stanly (25-9)
1) 3B #3 J.P. Lisk
2) SS #4 Stephen Wallace
3) P #6 Landon Fraley
4) LF #12 Jordan Starnes
5) CF #10 Grayson Short
6) C #9 Heath Blackmon
7) 1B #15 Russ Weiker
8) RF #5 Connor Ford
9) 2B #1 Chase Poplin

Friday, June 3, 2011

Bottom 7

1) Smith singles to center field (scored on a wild pitch)
2) Connor singled to left field (Blackmon in to pitch)
3) Barnes bunts the runners over
4) Jenkins, on a suicide squeeze, lines out to third base; Lisk to Wallace to double up the runner.

Game Over...South Wins 3-1!!!!

Top 7

1) Ford walked
2) Poplin walked (
3) Lisk flied out to the catcher on a two-strike bunt attempt
4) Wallace flied out to shortstop in short left field
5) Fraley singled to left field; Ford scored!
6) Starnes ground out to first base.

South gets an insurance run, leads 3-1...Weiker takes the mound in the 7th!

Bottom 6

1) Bowen doubles, advanced to third on a wild throw from right field
2) Wilkinson flies out to second base
3) Freeman called out on strikes
4) Bracey grounded out to first base.

East tried a suicide squeeze but the bunt attempt by Wilkinson went to the screen.

The Gators tried again and South pitched out, nearly getting Bowen out. On the second squeeze attempt, Freeman bunted it foul down first-base line.

Still 2-1.
Still South leads.

Seventh Inning to come next!

Top 6

1) Starnes flies out to second base
2) Short singles to right field (first south hit of the game); stole second base with two outs
3) Blackmon flies out to first base in foul ground (made the play on top of the pitching mound in the bullpen)
4) Weiker lines out to second base

South leads 2-1 going to the bottom of the sixth

Bottom 5

1) Connor grounds out to short (throw was high, Fraley jumped, caught the ball and tagged the runner)
2) Barnes hits a long fly ball that hits a sign just below the scoreboard...a long discussion of whether or not it was a home run...ruled a triple
3) Jenkins strikes out swinging
4) Bridgers grounds out to first

This may be the oddest baseball game I've ever seen in my life! Illegal bats, umpires not sure of whether or not time was called, triples that might could be home runs...controversy, angst, pressure...and that's just up here in the press box!

Top 5

1) Lisk strikes out looking
2) Wallace strikes out swinging
3) Fraley strikes out swinging

Seven straight outs recorded by Bowen (five of them strikeouts).

South continues to lead 2-1 despite having no hits in the game having scored those two unearned runs in the third inning.

Bot 4

1) Wilkinson (reenters) grounded out to the pitcher
2) Freeman strikes out swinging
3) Bracey doubled down the left-field line
4) Smith flies out to shortstop Wallace in short left field

2-1 South STanly through four innings!

Top 4

1) Weiker grounds out to short (close play but he was out)
2) Ford flies out to first base in foul territory
3) Poplin strikes out swinging (the second striked looked awfully low)

2-1 South Stanly heading to the bottom of the fourth

Bot 3

1) Smith doubles to right field
2) Connor grounds out to second base; Smith to third
3) Barnes called out on strikes (high pitch)
4) Jenkins RBI single, scoring relief runner Wayne from 3rd
5) Bridgers singled to the hole between short and third (Wallace made a play on it but his throw was late)
6) Bowen grounded to short, Wallace at short bobbled the ball, Jenkins tried to score from third and was thrown out!

East tried to bring in a courtesy runner, but then time had appeared to have been called. A long discussion ensued with Coach Tucker. I have video running on the play and I will check on in later tonight!

What a long inning of drama and controversy!

Top 3

1) Poplin walks; reached second on a wild pitch with two outs; scores on a throwing error by the East catcher (went over first base and into the bullpen on the first-base side)
2) Lisk out on illegal bat
3) Wallace flies out to center
4) Fraley walks; advances to third on the catcher's error
5) Starnes reaches on an error by the shortstop; Fraley scores
6) Short reaches on an error by the first baseman (ground ball to second, throw dropped); Starnes to second
7) Blackmon strikes out swinging

South scores two runs on no hits with three errors and two left on...lead 2-0 top 3!

There was some discussion after Lisk's at-bat regarding whether or not he was using a legal bat. The umpires pulled out their list and the bat was deemed illegal. Lisk is out and Poplin went back to first base

Bottom 2nd

1) Bridgers grounds to first, but beats Weiker to the bag, safe (caught stealing at second for the second out)
2) Bowen flies out to shortstop
3) Wilkinson singles to right field (Andres brought in as a pinch runner)
4) Freeman walks
5) Bracey flies out to center (Short had to cut the ball off in the gap but makes a great running catch for the final out)

no score through two!

Top 2nd

1) Short walks on a 3-2 pitch (caught stealing for the first out)
2) Blackmon called out on strikes
3) Weiker walks on a 3-2 pitch
4) Ford flies out to center field

0-0 going to the bottom of the second

Bowen seems to be having some control issues but is still keeping South a little off-balance right now.

Bot 1st

1) Bracey singles to left field (thrown out at second base for the second out - CS)
2) Smith strikes out swinging
3) Connor hit by a pitch
4) Barnes walks
5) Jenkins flys out to first base in foul territory

No Score through 1 inning!

Top 1st

1) Lisk ground out to third base
2) Wallace walks
3) Fraley called out on strikes
4) Starnes flied out to left field

Through 1/2 inning, no score

First Blog from the NCHSAA 1A State Finals!

Ok fans...the game is about 8 minutes away from starting. Here are the lineups for Game One of the 1A State Finals! South will play the first game as the away team.

South Stanly
1) 3B #3 J.P. Lisk
2) SS #4 Steven Wallace
3) 1B #6 Landon Fraley
4) LF #12 Jordan Starnes
5) CF #10 Grayson Short
6) C #9 Heath Blackmon
7) P #15 Russ Weiker
8) RF #5 Connor Ford
9) 2B #1 Chase Poplin

East Columbus
1) SS #2 Derrick Bracey
2) C #3 Hunter Smith
3) 3B #6 Ben Connor
4) LF #4 Houston Barnes
5) 1B #7 Ben Jenkins
6) CF #1 Ben Bridgers
7) P #10 Skyler Bowen
8) DH #9 Nick Wilkinson
9) RF #8 Ty Freeman