Huffman vs. Bridge City Game Thread/Bridge City advances 7-5!

[aggieballer96]

Is no one talking about how bad huffman coach mismanaged a 5 run lead. Why bring in carver the lhp and not listi in the 5th with 1st and 2nd no out. Most athletic pitcher to get an out. Did he really just play 2nd base the entire game. He is a great player use him in teh right way. What about the panic mode the coaching staff was in the entire game. There is a reason BC was able to come back and the Huffman squad paniced with 5 errors. It starts and ends with a visor.

[Rake1]

This game was excatly what makes high school playoff baseball special, everything and anything can happen! Had some crazy stuff and amazing individual performances take place last night along with a tremendous team effort by BC to figure out a way to win. Before last nights game BC had not been behind in a game since mid March so nobody really knew how they would respond.

A couple of observations from last night....

1. Hayden Guidry was just aboslutely clutch last night and that's a testament to him for sure. 5 1/3 innings of no hit ball with 4 walks and NO RUNS ALLOWED. Incredible.

2. Austin Listi was as advertised, great athlete with a tremendous upside. Impressive bat speed for sure.

3. Biggest play of the night that nobody will talk about is the 3rd out on Huffman when the ball hit the runner going from 1st to 2nd. BC had just scored 2 runs and was trying to regain momentum when Huffman had another potential rally happening that could have really changed the game. If that ball gets through Huffman probably scores another run and puts more runners in scoring position. Instead BC gets out of the jam and goes in to bat and scores 2 more runs. HUGE, HUGE , HUGE swing right there!

4. Both head coaches played percentage baseball. Coach Deberry chose to play a 1 game instead of a series and Coach Landry decided to keep the ball away from the the most dangerous guy in the Huffman lineup. Smart decisions by both.

5. They say during every great playoff run a team needs a little luck and has a defining moment or win that propels them along, BC got theirs last night.

Congrats to Huffman on a great season.

Way to go CARDS! Keep it up!

Rake1

[Sammy]

One of the best games i have seen in a long time.  A showcase battle between two big D1 pitchers, ended up being a dominant performance by Junior Hayden Guidry.  I like the way BC just didn't lay down.  Great job CARDS, keep it going.

[ya_know]

[quote name="aggieballer96" post="1223656" timestamp="1337350552"]
Is no one talking about how bad huffman coach mismanaged a 5 run lead. Why bring in carver the lhp and not listi in the 5th with 1st and 2nd no out. Most athletic pitcher to get an out. Did he really just play 2nd base the entire game. He is a great player use him in teh right way. What about the panic mode the coaching staff was in the entire game. There is a reason BC was able to come back and the Huffman squad paniced with 5 errors. It starts and ends with a visor.
[/quote]

Congrats to Huffman on a great season. 

Two questions for you, aggieballer96, have you watched a lot of Huffman games this year?  I have seen about 5 and Listi pitched in 2 of them, Orangefield and Klein Forest.  He seemed to have a lot of control issues.  Did I just catch him on a bad night?

Also, DeBerry acted the same way in those games as he did last night.  I just thought he was always like that.

Keep it going Cards and bring home the championship.

[aggieballer96]

you may have caught him on a bad night. He may have had some control issues but i would want to lose with my best player on the mound. DeBerry is like that all the time which creates a bad atmosphere for your players. It is why kids fold in a tight game. If you panic the players panic. For the most part they were just that much better than most of the teams they played.

[ya_know]

It is just hard for me as a parent to put blame on the coach when you commit 5 errors. You would think if he has been like that all year the kids would be use to it by now.  I am not saying that it is never the coach's fault because I have seen some do some pretty interesting things, but at the same time I have never seen a coach field, throw, catch, or hit a ball.

[aggieballer96]

How many games did they have this year when they had 5 errors? If it is out of character then they were not prepared. I am not in the business of blaming coaches for the most part. I just know that the Huffman team I saw this year should have had higher expectations. That team should have played in the state tournament this year. Bottom line kids were not prepared for a big game.

[j_dog]

[quote name="OhBilly18" post="1223523" timestamp="1337307289"]
Congrads to BC. Would love to see a regional final with them facing off with Jasper. One round at a time though.
[/quote]
yeah, de ja vu all over again!  :)

[I_Can_Do_It_ALL!]

Hasn't DeBerry won over 300 games as a HC? Oh no, wait!!! I am sure those wins were due to his demeanor!!
aggieballer, you son I guess didn't play much this year?

[Socrates]

Great post, rake.
I had forgotten about the ground ball hitting the runner, that was big.

[ya_know]

1 that I know of.  They had a few in game 1 vs Orangefield.  I saw the first baseman drop another ball last night.  I don't know how you say they weren't prepared when they jumped out to a 5 run lead.  They pushed Bridge City more than any other 3A team this year.  Huffman kids, coaches, and parents should be proud of what they accomplished this year. 

[aggieballer96]

Fortunately my son did not play that much this year but why would that matter. Visor has won over 300 games as a head coach. The problem is that he has not won any important games. There are a lot of average coaches who win a lot of games. A true measure of a coach is can he prepare his players to win a big game.

[ya_know]

So what do you consider big games?  I know he did some great things at Dayton.

[ya_know]

Also, does anyone know how many times Huffman has been to the 3rd round and what is the furthest they have been?

[aggieballer96]

What big games did he win at Dayton?

[ya_know]

Took them to playoffs 9 out of 10 years.  Also took them 4 rounds deep.  Beat Vidor in Vidor to snap their home winning streak.  The more important question is how many time has Dayton been to playoffs since he left?  I will answer for you NONE.  Some people do not realize what a good thing they have until it is gone.

Also, I thought when Huffman was 4A, they beat PNG in the playoffs, then lost to Texas City 3-1.  I believe Texas City went to the state tournament that year.

[ya_know]

Also, don't forget you just played toe to toe with a team that has been to the regional semi's 7 out of 8 years.

[aggieballer96]

You gave me a loss in one of the big games he coached in. A loss to Texas City. In 10 years at Dayton he only played in 2 big games? I think there are 8 years missing, but thats with my poor se texas math.

[aggieballer96]

So winning is not important. Toe to toe is not winning the game. Especially after having a 5 run lead. We should have given the players blue ribbons for playing toe to toe with teams all year. Maybe we should give prizes for everyone who played hard.

[adminbaberuth]

Most five run leads hold. Guidry just stepped up and put goose eggs the rest of the way.

Huffman has a solid team, but Bridge City clawed back because of putting the ball in play and forcing Huffman to execute.

You seen a Div 1 hitter in Listi last night, just so happens it was do or die and BC couldn't take a chance with him, just like Coach Deberry couldn't take a chance on a series.

[ya_know]

I did give you a loss in a big game because you can't win all the big games.  He also lost last night which was a big game.

I am still waiting to hear what you define as a big game?

[gfy77336]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME AGGIE???  DeBerry is the same everygame.  He has won big games.......Every Playoff win is a big game.  Avg Coaches may get to the PLayoffs but good/great coaches win in the playoffs.  Not sure of DeBerry's resume but I know that he took Dayton to the playoffs several years and before he was there they were not considered to be any good at baseball.  If the majority of his wins were at 1A I may view the 300 wins as not as big a deal but the majority are at 4A.... 

As for Huffman the made it to the regional SEMI's in the 90's 94 I believe but you can look for yourself http://www2.uiltexas.org/athletics/archives/baseball/index.html

Now as for the state tournament........If you have never been, go, you will see they were not a state tournament team.  Maybe had some state tournament players but team.......NO

[ya_know]

Please show where I said winning is not important. 

You said they weren't prepared.  I don't understand how they are not prepared when they have the number 2 team in the state on their heels.

[Critter]

[quote name="adminbaberuth" post="1223727" timestamp="1337356999"]
Most five run leads hold. Guidry just stepped up and put goose eggs the rest of the way.

Huffman has a solid team, but Bridge City clawed back because of putting the ball in play and forcing Huffman to execute.

[b]You seen a Div 1 hitter in Listi last night, just so happens it was do or die and BC couldn't take a chance with him, just like Coach Deberry couldn't take a chance on a series.[/b]
[/quote]

I agree totally.... I think every Cardinal fan held their breath last night as Listi's second shot went foul!!!!!  Great job Landry on putting him on and not taken any chances!

[Football Freak]

aggieballer96 : If you ACTUALLY believe anything you're saying about DeBerry and his coaching - [b]YOU'RE A MORON[/b]. Not prepared..? that's ridiculous. They were up on one of the top 3A teams in the state...!!!

Now, if you're just trying to rile people up with that idiotic statement - no problem.  ;D