Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Colt world series! Nick's incredible pitching performance vs Mexico


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My son Nick helps put our team in The Final Four in The Colt World Series!!!


http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/sports_wlfi_lafayette_Lafayette_advances_to_medal_round_200908092230

For winning pitcher Nick Stone, closer Tanner Hieatt and first baseman Spencer Long, Sunday night's Colt World Series game against Mexico was an opportunity to destroy some demons.
Stone gave up the game-winning hit in Friday's loss to Tampa. Hieatt suffered a one-run loss to Puerto Rico on opening night. Long's defensive miscues in a 2008 CWS loss to Mexico cost Lafayette a medal round berth.
But when they were needed most Sunday in front of 2,454 fans, all three helped deliver Lafayette a thrilling 4-3 victory and a berth in Tuesday night's medal round.
Lafayette, Mexico and Puerto Rico each finished 2-2 in the Red Division, but Lafayette advances by virtue of the fewest runs allowed (13) among those three. Puerto Rico allowed 15, and Mexico allowed 26.

Stone earned the victory with 32/3 innings of relief, striking out three and walking none. Hieatt earned the save by retiring Gilberto Ortega on a long fly to left with the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the seventh.
Long's sixth-inning double was the centerpiece in a three-run inning that extended Lafayette's lead to 4-0. While Stone was upset when coach Dave Alexander replaced him with Hieatt in the seventh, the Central Catholic sophomore was thrilled with the end result.
"I probably pitched the best I've pitched all season for this Lafayette team," Stone said. "I'm glad to finally get out here and do some good work for my team. I threw first-pitch fastballs to the first few batters, but they were contacting that, so I started throwing first-pitch curveballs, and they didn't seem to like that too well.
"Easily, this was one of the best games I've been involved in. I tried to forget what's in the past and just go out there like it's the first game of the tourney. This was the game that mattered."
After an 0-2 start, Lafayette has made an improbable comeback that gives them a shot at Santa Clara, Calif. on Tuesday night. Hieatt wondered if the season was over when Ortega hit a shot to left with two outs.

"I was a nervous wreck in that last at-bat," Hieatt said. "After those base hits they had, I was nervous, but it ended up being a good outcome. I threw (Ortega) a first-pitch fastball, and at first, I thought it was over our left fielder's head.

"Then, I saw that he could get to it. I was so happy when he caught it."
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Long, who was 2-for-3 against Mexico, also helped turn two slick double plays.

"The double did two things for us," Long said. "It boosted my confidence at the plate, because I had a rough start. It also created a momentum shift in this game. It helped put us on top 4-0. The two double plays we turned also were big momentum shifts.
"We made the plays, and now we are in the medal round. This is what I've always wanted to do since I was a kid. Nick Stone came in and did a phenomenal job. He was a little ticked off when coach took him out, but I like to see a little fire when a guy comes out. Nick wanted it. Then Tanner came in and threw strikes."
Alexander said he went to Hieatt in part because Stone had pitched too well to risk being the losing pitcher.
"My philosophy is that when a pitcher is on the mound, I don't want him to get the loss," Alexander said. "I'm going to see that he doesn't have to face the winning run. I wanted to get Nick out before he could get a possible loss.
"When a guy throws several really good innings, you want to get him out of there if you feel you have a closer who can do the job. Nick absolutely did what we had to have him do. My problem was that he threw to first on a pickoff in the last inning when we're up four runs. That run meant nothing. Then he threw some pitches way out of the strike zone."
Alexander is happy for Long and his team.

"Spencer Long had an excellent game for us," Alexander said. "He turned a 3-6-3 double play, which at this level, you don't see very often. Then he absolutely got the hit we had to have in the sixth inning.
"I'm proud of these guys, but I don't think the 0-2 start affects them. I'm absolutely proud of the way these guys responded."

Colt World Series tune-up!

My son's Lafayette Colt World Series Team has a tourney in Tippecanoe County this next weekend. We then play opposing county team Hoosier North the next weekend & 3 days after that the biggest games of my son's career since The State Championship will be here.....Go Lafayette Colt All-Stars!!!

CC baseball makes more news

The 2008-09 school year produced a state champion, as well as several near misses.

Central Catholic's baseball team capped the school year with a blowout victory in the Class A state championship to highlight area athletics. It was the program's third title in the last six years.

Harrison's softball team and McCutcheon's cross country team fell just short of state titles, as did West Lafayette's Raymond Mahon and McCutcheon's Megan Gallagher in the 500 freestyle events at the swimming state finals.

McCutcheon's baseball team and Delphi's softball team each lost by one run to the eventual state champion in the regional finals of the state tournament, while Benton Central and Crawfordsville each fell a few points short of competing in the Class 3A girls basketball state finals.

Delphi junior Braden Atwood also bowed out to eventual state champion Michael Duckworth in the quarterfinals of the individual state wrestling tournament.

Central Catholic's volleyball team made a second straight trip to the Class A state semifinals, while Harrison lost the 4A regional championship to eventual state runner-up Muncie Central.

For the third straight season, Central Catholic's boys basketball team lost the north Class A semistate game at Crawley Center. The Knights fell to Triton for the second year in a row.

Feels like the first time

Harrison's trip to the softball state finals marked the first time the Raiders were among the final two teams.

Coach Abby Willis' team put on an improbable run that included an upset of top-ranked and previously unbeaten Homestead in the regional. The Raiders lost to Center Grove 2-0 in the state championship game.

McCutcheon's girls swimming team outscored Twin Lakes by 31 points to win the program's first sectional title this season.

The Mavericks won five events in the process, including two individual titles by Megan Gallagher, who also was a part of two victorious relays.

That team was one of three Mavericks programs to win a first sectional title.

McCutcheon's boys soccer team won its first, while the girls soccer program claimed its first sectional and regional titles before falling one game short of the state finals.

Likewise, Crawfordsville's girls basketball team won its first sectional championship this season, then followed with the program's first regional title. The Athenians lost 49-44 to Owen Valley in the Class 3A Southport Semistate.

Southmont also won the program's first softball sectional.

Long time coming

Lafayette Jeff broke a drought of 14 years without a girls basketball sectional title when the Bronchos defeated McCutcheon for the title this year.

That pales in comparison to Rensselaer's boys track team. The Bombers claimed their first sectional crown since 1990, while Fountain Central's wrestling team hoisted its first sectional trophy since the 1991-92 school year.

West Lafayette's boys basketball team overcame a regular-season loss to Frankfort to win the program's first sectional since 2000 and North Montgomery's football team won its first sectional title since winning back-to-back state championships in 1995 and '96.

CC determined to repeat

INDIANAPOLIS -- Minutes after winning their second state championship in three years, Central Catholic's senior leaders shared a unanimous vision for the program's future.
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"Nothing less," senior shortstop Dru Anthrop said. "If they have the will, they have the way. They can do it, and all they have to do is set their mind to it and they'll be fine."

The Knights must replace senior starters Anthrop, Tyler Child and Matt Combs and reserves Michael Lippai and Ben Wiley. But Central Catholic returns enough talent to make another run to Victory Field next season.

Every significant arm on the Knights pitching staff returns, as does the bulk of a lineup that scored 60 runs in six tournament games.

"Those guys are going to be tough to replace," CC coach Tim Bordenet said of his outgoing seniors. "At the same time, we do have a lot of guys back with experience, and this tournament run will definitely help them as well."

Junior pitcher Taylor Glaze finished off a 9-0 season with five one-hit innings in a 14-1 state championship victory over Vincennes Rivet. He compiled a 1.19 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings as the Knights' ace.

Central Catholic also returns juniors Brett Haan (6-1, 2.42 ERA) and Chas Bobillo (4-1, 2.74 ERA) and promising freshmen Austin Munn and Nick Stone. The top five pitchers return from a staff that finished with a 2.26 ERA.

"It's going to be great next year; I'm going to come and watch," said Child, a three-year starter at catcher. "I'd like to see another championship next year."

Cleanup hitter and second baseman Reed Drysdale (.439, 51 RBIs) will be a four-year starter next season. Junior center fielder Scott Windler (.454, 3 home runs, 50 runs) enjoyed a breakout season, and juniors Bobillo, Cole Hruskovich and Jason Aldridge took on bigger roles.

After losing six starters from the 2008 team to graduation, the Knights relied on the emergence of several first-time starters. As those players improved, Central Catholic won 15 of its last 16 regular season games.

"Every game, everyone got better, and it carried on into this game" Glaze said.

Strong freshman seasons from Munn and Stone set the foundation for the program's next three seasons.

Munn capped his rookie season with a 3-for-4 performance as the designated hitter in the title game. He also went 3-0 and struck out 28 batters in 21 innings.

Stone also went 3-0 while posting a 1.77 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings.

Expectations will be high again next season, but that's nothing new to the Knights.

"Same thing -- nothing less," Glaze said. "We can do this again, we really can. We've just got to work at it.

"I'm not saying we will, but we can. We definitely can."

Colt World Series


My son Nick has just made The Colt World Series Team for Lafayette, IN. Now that his high school team won The State Championship focus has turned to this Colt tournament that features some of the best 15-16 year olds around the world, an unbelievable opportunity & experience.

He will be playing in tournaments leading up to The Colt World Series which is played at this ball park across the street from our house.

Loeb Stadium-Home of the Colt World Series!

My sons baseball team are state champs




STATE CHAMPS ARE THE CENTRAL CATHOLIC KNIGHTS IN LAFAYETTE, IN!!!!!! A 14-1 thumping of Rivet. BUT!!! Before I go on, kudos to this team (Rivet) to have made it this far. Most have read the article on JCOnline. They had trouble getting enough players to field the team. They begged a female to play & she did & she did it right. She started in left field & had a designated hitter for her. She made some routine plays in left field, did have an error on a routine fly ball as she dropped it. I think as the storm was blowing in the wind played some tricks on a couple fly balls. She did have a nice sliding catch. And came to bat once before the game ended. The girl drilled one into right field & right to our right fielder. Nice contact, the girl has game.


Kudos to our fans and our parents. She got a standing ovation from our fans when she drilled that line drive into right field.

JCOnline news:
INDIANAPOLIS — Behind an offensive onslaught and Taylor Glaze’s masterful pitching, Central Catholic defeated Vincennes Rivet 14-1 Friday night in the Class A state championship game at Victory Field.
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The Knights (28-4) won their third state title in six years. Central Catholic set a record for most runs scored in a Class A championship game.

Dru Anthrop and Reed Drysdale drove in three runs apiece for the Knights, and Scott Windler and Austin Munn each scored three. CC scored at least three runs in each of the first four innings.

Glaze (9-0) allowed one unearned run on one hit while striking out nine over five innings. Brett Haan relieved and closed out the victory.

After the game, Anthrop was presented with the IHSAA’s mental attitude award.