Game Recap

The Petrels played their only fall game this past Friday and tied 0-0 in game one, then lost game two 7-5. Overall it was an OK day, some players stood out while others need to work on certain phases of their games. Here is the breakdown with grades of each phase of the game.

Pitching:
The staff held ACC hit less through the first 4 1/3 innings of game one. Nick Greenfield, Casey Kuebler, Spencer Kennedy, Patrick Falco and John Hale (in that order) held ACC to only 4 hits while striking out 4, walking 3 and not allowing a run. In fact only 1 runner reached third base.

In game two starter Brad Brickhouse pitched two hit less innings, then Sean Tuttle entered and could not pitch around an error, that led to two runs. He did strike out 4 in his two innings. He was followed by Jonathon Joseph, Chris Lucas and Sam Briend.

Grade: B
Overall it was a solid performance. A few too many walks in game two but for the most part we challenged hitters and made them put the ball in play.


Offense:
Only four hits in game one and really nothing could get started. Brendan Pilger led off the game with a hit but Matthew Cornwell lined into a double play to the SS. Andrew Llano, Cornwell and Austin Benedict each had a hit.

Game two showed a little more punch with the sticks. We collected 5 runs on 8 hits. Ben Giddens and Jason Mitchell each knocked in runs in the 3rd. In the 7th Austin Benedict and Theo Stathakis each had sac flies.

Grade: D
Even though we used wood bats we gave away at-bats. Only 3 walks to 12 strikeouts...not a good ratio. There were a few bright spots but the key word is few. No excuses, just execute.


Defense:
We turned 4 double plays, including 3 in the first game. 3B JJ Rizzo had 3 putouts, 7 assists and o errors in game one. He started a couple of double plays and looked confident in the field. Matthew Cornwell had a solid game at SS and 2B Theo Stathakis made all the plays. The outfield was not really tested but did make a few good plays.

Grade: A-
If the pitchers did not believe in their infielders before this game, they should now. A couple of really nice double plays and overall solid performance was very nice to see. This was our achilles heal last year. Consistency is key here, but a good start.


One part of the game where we absolutely stunk at was baserunning...3 pickoffs, not knowing how many outs, not being aggressive on turns...pathetic! When you don't hit you need to manufacture runs. The way we ran bases will not lead to runs but costs us runs. The biggest part of baserunning is hustle, we CAN do better. Something that needs to improve before the spring.


Black vs. Gold World Series Starts on Thursday. Should be a lot of fun.