: Ken BLOG's From WV
Thursday, July 30
Welcome to Ken's BLOG from West Virgina
Ken Blogs from West Virginia!
As many of you know, Milford Little League's own, Ken Fitt's will be calling the 10 year old regional tournament in West Virginia this year. You can follow his exciting journey here. Ken will begin posting soon!
Saturday, August 1
Day #1 From WV TOSC..
Just checking things out!!! About to head to Opening Ceremonies! More to come... Stay tuned!
Saturday, August 1
Day 1 is in the books!
Day 1 is in the books! The tournament coordination team has done a great job to get all of the day’s games in. The first three games of the day were played at the Marshall University Softball complex due to wet conditions at Ritter Park. Once the grounds crew received the word that the first games were being moved, a temporary dirt pitchers mound was constructed on the softball field. The playing surface was very fast! The all dirt infield coupled with the artificial turf out field, made for some fast action. My first game of the tournament was the “The battle of the Virginias” between the hometown favorite West Virginia and the team from Virginia. I had 1B for this game. Virginia jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back! The game ended in the sixth with the score 9-1 with Virginia the Victor. Tomorrow is my first plate of the tournament (hopefully not my last J) I have the 2:30 PM game between South Carolina (1-0) and. West Virginia (0-1).
Sunday, August 2
What a “Grand Slam” of a Day!
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Day 2 is in the books! Rain played another part in the TOSC again today. The first three games of the day were again moved to the Marshall University Softball Complex due to a late night weather system that brought rain again to the fields at Ritter park. I had the PLATE for the second game of the day, between South Carolina and WV. South Carolina seemed to be cruising with a 4-1 lead until pitching trouble loaded the bases in the top of the 3rd. The WV pitcher came to the plate hoping to help himself by getting a base hit to help narrow the 4-1 margin. The WV batter managed to run the count to 3 balls and 2 strikes. South Carolina was almost out of the inning but………. The WV batter decided that it was a good time for a hit…... or should I say a GRAND SLAM! WV took the lead 5-4 in that inning, and I settled in for what was shaping up to be a great ball game. For the next few innings the lead would change hands several times, but WV outlasted South Carolina to win its first game at the TOSC since 2007….7-6. Tomorrow, I will be pulling double duty. I have 3B for the 10:00AM game between South Carolina vs. Virginia, and then 2B for the 1:00PM game between North Carolina vs. Florida.
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| Grand slam to help lift WV to first win since 2007 |
Monday, August 3
Heart break Monday……
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Day 3 is in the books! Day 3 brought to a close the end of pool play at the 2009 TOSC. Even though most had an idea who would be making the semi’s, I don’t think anyone expected the final brackets…… First lets get my two games out of the way. I had 3B for the game between South Carolina vs. Virginia. Virginia, entered day three with a 2-0 record, with South Carolina with a 1-1 record fighting to keep their semi final hopes alive. SC played small ball with timely bunts, well placed hits and a uncanny lack of defense by the Virginia team. Long story short…..SC beats Virginia, 10-4, making both teams 2-1 in pool B. In the second game of the day I was at 2B for the North Carolina vs. Florida. Not much excitement here…..Florida slugged their way to a 10-0 victory. Florida finished pool play 2-1. In the late games tournament stud Georgia, 2-0 in Pool A, was set to face a scrappy bunch from Alabama, 1-1 in pool play. Entering into day 3, Georgia had only played a total of 8 innings in this years TOSC. GA’s first two games ended in 4 inning mercy rule games. So every one expected GA to walk over Alabama and waltz into the semi final round. There was just one problem…… someone forgot to tell that to Alabama. Georgia jumped out to an early lead exploiting timely miscues by the AL defensive unit. Alabama, managed to rally back to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the 5th. Georgia led off the top of the 6th with a lead off double, but in 3 attempts could not get the run in. Alabama came to the bottom of the 6th needing just one run to stage the biggest comeback upset of this years tournament. Well…..let’s just say that it didn’t take long for Alabama to create that stage! First pitch of the bottom of the 6th, was deposited over the left field fence. Alabama wins 5-4 and finishes 2-1 in pool A. But wait…… Georgia was also now 2-1 and with Florida’s earlier win, they were also 2-1! Yes sir… we have a good old fashion 3 way tie! So that means that run differential now comes into play. Remember when I told you that Georgia had only played 8 innings in its first 2 pool games…… well both Florida and Alabama played a total of 12 innings in their first 2 games. This meant that Georgia had fewer games to be factored in to their equation….which is a bad thing. After the dust settled and the calculators cooled off… Georgia was on the outside looking in. This was unfortunate because many had picked GA to win the tournament. In the late game the math was much more simple…. If Cinderella WV wins they are in….If they loose South Carolina is in………. Cinderella just couldn’t make it to the big dance…..WV loses 6-5 in a heart breaker to Tennessee. Both teams finished 1-2 in this years TOSC. I was informed after tonight’s late game, that I will have the PLATE for the semi final game #1 between Florida vs. Virginia. I was hoping for the championship plate, but this will do nicely! So time to go get some sleep!!!!
Tuesday, August 4
Rain, Rain Go Away....
Day 4 started with a nice thunder and lightning show that started about 30 min before game time. We are now waiting to see if we will be able to move today’s semi final games to Dot Hick’s Field at Marshall University.
Stay tuned…..
Well it looks like we are a total wash out for today. It looks like Wednesday will be a busy day. They will play both semi’s in the morning, then have a 1 and a half hour break then play the championship. All games will be played at Dot Hick’s Field at Marshall University. Game one will start at 9:30 AM.
Wednesday, August 5
It’s Judgment Day!
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The day begins with a visit from our old friend……..rain! We were determined not to let it put a damper on the days games. The Marshall softball complex was well equipped to handle rain on the field. The field surface is a synthetic dirt blend that dries quicker after a rain. The grass areas are also synthetic field turf. In between each inning, the Marshall grounds crew would come out with leaf blowers and water squeegees a dry the field! Totally amazing!!! Semi final game #1 was between Florida (pool A winner) and Virginia (pool B runner-up) This was the first meeting between the two teams in this years TOSC and the atmosphere was loud and electric!!! A 6-man Umpire crew was in place for the game. Florida jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and appeared to be in control. In the bottom of the 4th Virginia’s lead off batter walked to start the inning. The next batter worked deep in the count and hit a screaming line drive towards first base. The runner attempted to leap over the ground ball, but the ball grazed the side of his foot and went into left field! Naturally I called TIME!!!….TIME!!!…and TIME again. With the tons of fans screaming and cheering, the first base runner was no standing on 3B before everyone noticed me standing in the middle of the field. I immediately pointed to the runner on 3rd and called him out for being touched by the batted ball. The Virginia fans went ballistic! As you can expect the coach came out to argue and asked me to get help. I went to the first base umpire for a brief discussion……after the short conference….the decision was rendered….OUT! The loud and electric atmosphere now turned HOSTILE! Every single ball and strike call was scrutinized by the fans! When Virginia fans would boo…. The Florida Fans would cheer louder! Virginia managed to plate 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th to pull within one 4-3. Neither Florida or Virginia could score in the 5th, and Virginia set Florida down in order in the top of the 6th. Virginia had one shot to tie the game but could not string together any hits. Florida moved on to the championship game….defeating Virginia 4-3. What a game! In the second Semi final between Alabama and South Carolina, Alabama had no trouble with the under matched SC team. Alabama won the game 14-9 in 6 innings. In the championship game, Alabama built an early 4-0 lead, but Florida answered the call in the second inning scoring five runs, the first two unearned, to take the lead. In the fourth inning, a Gus Cunningham RBI single gave Florida a two-run cushion. On the mound, Florida's Mike Morris allowed no hits in 3 and 2/3 innings, striking out 7 and allowing only 1`unearned run before reaching the pitch count in the fifth inning. Florida carried a 1 run lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Micah Pepper's bases loaded, 2 out single brought home the winning run on a walk-off hit to earn the title of "Champion of Champions". Last minute heroics in pressure situations was the main storyline of the 2009 Tournament of State Champions. This was evident both on and off the playing field. On the field, 6 of the 15 games were decided by 1 run and came down to the final pitch or swing of the bat, including Alabama’s walk-off single in the championship game to win the championship for Westside Little League from Mobile, Alabama. Likewise, the grounds crews also found themselves under pressure all week long with over 5 inches of rain falling during the five days of the tournament. I would like to personally thank the Tournament staff for pulling off what most leagues would have folded attempting to do! Job well done!
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