MIF04

Lets get by Baytown Lee first...then we'll worry about Sterling.

Vidor and PNG had better weeks than did Jasper. That's not to knock the Bulldogs (they did go 2-0) but they beat WOS 6-0 (nothing impressive there) and HF 3-1 (ditto). Its not so much that Jasper dropped as it was that Vidor and PNG leapfrogged 'em.

Any idea on who HF is throwing?

At the risk of doing something that SETXsports.com shouldn’t have to do, I will reply about the Top Ten and some of the criticism levied against it. 1. First, some consideration is given to how a certain school compares within its classification. That is so that the schools from 5A down can all be ranked in one poll. We do look at strength of schedule but, admittedly, do not keep a running total of how many runs are scored, allowed, etc. Vidor scored 22 runs against Lumberton. That’s great (unless you’re a Raider fan) but doesn’t tell us that much. At what point did Lumberton ‘throw in the towel’, etc.? 2. Next, there is some consideration given to ‘who beat who’ but that is not a precise science since, here in SE Texas, we are blessed with a wealth of talented teams and a large number of teams who can beat anyone else on a given day. One of the criticizers noted that BC barely beat OF but Vidor beat OF by 20 runs. True, but West Brook beat Vidor by 10. The logic is too circuitous to be used as a perfect science. 3. I am unclear exactly who the “Three Stooges†are but assume it to be a reference to BC, BH and WB. These schools are all ranked outside of our poll and are ranked higher than any of our other schools. That may not be an exact science, either, but at least someone agrees with us. Since it is my lunch hour, I will press on (especially to address the “its not only 1 great pitcher or 1 great player†argument that, personally, I feel insults a lot of other very good players on our ‘ranked’ teams). BRIDGE CITY is currently our #1 team. They have lost 1 game all year…to Louisiana 5A Sulphur (last year’s state finalist and this year’s #6 ranked team in LA). They also beat Sulphur once as well as Nederland and Silsbee. No one doubts that Dishon is a great player and, most days, Stringer is a great pitcher. But Meeks is a tested pitcher who is very effective (esp at 3A level) and the freshman Hicks has been outstanding, both as a P and SS. And who can forget Casey Jackson, last year’s area leader in HR? Their 2b Bolton was last year’s newcomer of the year. This is not a 1-man team by any stretch of the imagination. They have been to the state tourney the last 2 years in a row. They have won 37 district games in a row. They have lost only 1 game all year. They are talented and deep. Does that mean they’ll go undefeated this year in district? I don’t think so. Their district is very talented this year. They were fortunate to escape OF…but, when you have their tradition and talent, things like scoring 6 runs in the 7th seem to happen. BARBERS HILL is currently #2 although you could certainly make the argument they could be #1. They are #1 in the Houston Area for 4A schools. Their pitching staff has LHP Hales who has been dominant this year but also the Thamm kid has been nails for them. Hitters like Townley and Campbell are equally exceptional. They have quality wins against teams like West Brook and Hou Christian and their only losses are to (1) state ranked 5A Flower Mound (2) state ranked 5A Elkins and (3) PNG (2-1, in a game where the Indians threw their ace and the Eagles did not). They lost one of their best sr. players (Barrera) and kept on ticking. They have played as competitive a schedule as anyone (considering they are a ‘new’ 4A school) and have won. WEST BROOK is next at #3 but may be the most talented of all our teams, certainly in terms of position players. They are ranked #10 in 5A for the Greater Houston area. They have probably the biggest # of quality wins of anyone: LC Barbe (ranked #8 nationally), Vidor, Houston Christian (twice), PNG, Kingwood, West Monroe (state ranked 5A) and DeRidder (state ranked 4A). Their pitching may be suspect at times but Murphy beat Kingwood and Josiah Svoboda pitched exceptionally well in his first 2 outings after injury rehab. They have 4 returning 1st team All District guys (Armstrong, Ferguson, Murphy and Serna). Talent-wise, they are the most dangerous team in the area. They not only play a competitive preseason schedule, they are also in one of the toughest 5A districts in the state. VIDOR comes in at #4 and, admittedly, we could have flipped them and PNG. The Pirates got the edge for now given their better overall record. They have quality wins over Jasper and Nederland. If anyone has depth, it may be the Pirates. Except for Bunner, no one on this squad is recognized around the area as a ‘star’ yet they keep finding kids who contribute both on the mound and at the plate. Robiceaux was outstanding this week against Nederland. Guidry has played well for them as has Kilmer and Fontenot. Kyle Green has ‘sold’ the team concept and, for now, its paying big dividends for them. PNG follows at #5. This is also a deep team with Eric Harrington and Shawn Flores as legitimate presences on the mound. Harrington got the win in their 9 inning game vs. LCM but Flores threw the first 7, holding LCM’s lineup to 2 runs. Jon Carnahan is a legit hitter at catcher and Drew Barnett is a dynamo at 2b for them. Of course, Jay Stone is no slouch in the dugout, either. They have big wins against 5A Lufkin, LCM and BH and suffer from a less that glittering overall record because they played in 3 very tough 5A tournaments. So, there’s some extra info on this week’s top 5. It may not be our top 5 next week. That’s why they play the games. And one more thing – we do the rankings to spark conversation and garner interest. Looks like we’re stirring the pot just fine…

Pretty interesting early week matchup. They're playing at Jasper and the 'Dogs are hard to beat at home. On the other hand, this is HJ's 'big game' for the week so they'll throw the kitchen sink at 'em. Jasper also has Silsbee on Friday and you have to think they'll save pitching for that (altho' their coach hasn't shown much concern about the # of pitches his guys throw). I'll give the edge to Jasper because I think they're the better team overall and are playing at home. It wouldn't be a huge upset, tho', for it to go the other way. HJ just needs a big night from their starting P. Playoff type game and must win for HJ but still the edge to Jasper.

Really a huge win for the Bruins. Besides Murphy's performance (which is in a league of its own), Mark Serna had 3 hits, incl a HR and the entire Bruins defense played very well. In the 6th, with WB up 9-3, the 'ghost' of last year emerged (WB had 9-3 lead at Kingwood in the 7th, only to lose 10-9). KW scored 3 quick runs to make 9-6. In the 7th, the 1st 2 KW hitters singled bringing the tying run to plate before Murphy coaxed a DP ball out of KW's 3-hole. That DP was started by jr. Austin Huff who was pressed into duty due to injury to 2B Thad Lycan. Collective sigh of relief in stands on that DP.... By the way, Lycan took a bad hop off his face in the 1st, left and has a nasty gash above his right eye. I would imagine he is getting several stitches. Get well soon !!!!

you think 3 hrs would be enuf? not for david murphy. he was the (complete game) winning pitcher, too. i like his chances for player of the week.

Most expensive bat is probably Sam Bat, around $140-150. Demarini sells a maple bat for $125. Other maple bats are around $75. A Rawlings 'Big Stick' is around $20. It depends if you get maple or ash, quality of wood, etc. Heck, George Brett sells bamboo bats. The new Easton Stealth alum? $379. Louisville Exogrid? $350.

West Brook is scheduled to play at Kingwood today, but the game time is now 6:00 p.m.

First, I have put the mask on. Second, the point is that the strike zone was 'equal' for both teams. BC thought it was too tight when Stringer was walking the park and OF thought it was too tight in the 7th when they were walking the park. I don't think that anyone doesn't appreciate it the work the 'men in blue' do but 'disagreeing' with the umpires is as much a part of the game as hot dogs, etc. You love 'em when you get the call, and don't love 'em when you don't get the call. Part of the game...simple as that. I also think everyone would agree that the strike zone is not what the rule book says...it is what the umpire says/sees it as. As long as that zone remains consistent throughout the game, then at least both sides have an equal shot...and isn't that what umpiring is really about? Do they miss some calls? Sure. That's also part of the game. But it probably evens out over the course of a season for you and against you.

I would love to see HS go back to wood bat if (and this is a big if) the NCAA would follow suit. Minor and Major League Baseball use wood bats. Colleges do not. I think there should be uniformity from the top on down. As far as cost, alum bats cost $300. You could buy 4 or 5 wood bats for that (unless you had to have a 'Sam' bat, then only 2 or 3). I think the cost issue is minimal. You could also approve composite wood bats which would add to the bats longevity. I do think there is a safety issue as well but, in the long run, it is about the game...and I simply like it better with wood (although I am sure we are all guilty of this: when your kid 'mishits' a ball with aluminum but it still somehow jumps thru the infield for a hit, then you gotta think "Thank goodness for aluminum). I vote wood.

Rawlings Sporting Goods has announced their 2007 All American team. Two of our local products have been named as Rawlings All-Americans: Tim Ferguson of Beaumont West Brook and Johnny Dishon of Bridge City. Also, both of these young men were named to the All Region teams as well. Congratulations to both. I am, obviously, very proud.

Congrats to both. It is well deserved.

It may have not been the best played game ever, and it certainly was not the best 'umpired' game ever but it did have just about everything else. Walks, hit batters, big hits, errors, wild pitches and passed balls...you name it. The emotions in the stands were enormous. OF had it won...then OF was trying to just hang on...BC is down to their last strike...then tied on 0-2 wild pitch...then 2b from OF makes a heckuva stop but the throw gets away and BC is winning. Remarkable game and remarkable effort. The old adage of 'leave all you have on the field" was in play last night. Both teams left all they had... Wow.

West Brook now scheduled to play at Kingwood on Thurs at 3:30 with game vs. Atascocita on Sat. Location and time TBA.

of leadoff triple. 2 quick outs then error on bolton. of leads 9-6 after 5. dishon doubles, jackson walks. willey doubles (he had the double earlier as well...my mistake). 9-7 of. no outs . bc @ 2nd and 3rd. new pitcher for of (lhp).

huge 2 run double by bc's clark. tied @ 6 in 4th.

felts walks 2 and hits 1. lafleur in to pitch. fly ball to cf who throws out tagging runner for dp. last hitter flies out. of dodges bullet and still leads 6-4.

stringer k's first 2 hitters then walks bases loaded. bryant brings in hicks. bloop single to rf scores 2 and gives of lead. error by bolton and another run scores. 6-4 of after 2.

bc leads of 4-3 after 1. of scores 3 on 5 bb, 1 hbp and 0 hits. stringer on bump for bc.

Scheduled for tomorrow but unclear on time (or place for that matter). They had moved it from Humble to Beaumont earlier today but WB field too wet.

West Brook vs. Atascocita cancelled for today. Scheduled for tomorrow (Wed) but unsure if they'll play here or there.

UPDATE ON 13U SUN DEVILS: Finished 2nd in 14U tourney, losing in extra innings to 14 Major team (March 3-4). Won 13U Major WS Qualifier (March 10-11). Congrats to players and coaches !!!!

No doubts that Johnny is off to a great start. He is hitting the ball well and for power. He has 6 HR to date with district play remaining. To set the record straight, he has not received any offers, etc. regarding the June draft, professional baseball, etc. That has not even been discussed and would not be discussed less he run afoul of the always-diligent UIL. He has received some written inquires from some MLB clubs for initial information, etc. How the draft plays out for him is still up in the air but a good clue would be if/when the scouts start showing up at his games, etc. Do I think Johnny gets drafted? Yes. Will it be high enough to cause him to rethink his commit to LSU? We'll see but it is an extremely deep draft this year, especially for position players. I would think he'd have to go pretty high for that to happen. Also, the ball he hit against Central was a bomb...but it didn't hit on top of the building. It "only" hit about 1/2 way up on the side of the building. But...the legend grows. Gotta love it.

According to reports, LCM defeated Huntsville (twice), and Hemphill but lost to Jasper. Did they play Vidor? Jasper defeated LCM and Hemphill and lost to Vidor. Who was their other game(s) against? Vidor defeated Hemphill, Huntsville and Jasper. Who was their 4th game? Thanks.