Thursday Wildcat Baseball…Thing (It's More Difficult Than Wednesday)

Boy howdy, what a day that was yesterday, eh? So full of anticipation and when the moment finally came and the announcement was made public, I nearly jumped for joy. I would like to be the first writer to personally congratulate Chuck Dickerson, who was named the Central Region’s Gymnastics Assistant Coach of the Year. The work required for that kind of honor was hard and he earned it, with scores on the vault apparatus improving steadily since he arrived. The 49.15 rating sets a school record and….what? Why is everyone looking at me? Did something else happen yesterday? Well, whatever everybody else is all excited about doesn’t matter now, because you’re getting a spring fresh load of baseball news and tidbits, now with twice as much static guard and half as much waiting on high schoolers to talk into a microphone.
With conference play in full swing, it’s time for your performers to start becoming leaders and your young talent to start fading or coming on. Unfortunately one young standout will be on the bench for at least the next three weeks with a more unusual ailment to hit a baseball player. Sophomore slinger Alex Meyer (4-2) will be out of the rotation with mononucleosis. Now I’m no doctor, but if my memory of high school serves me correctly, there’s only one or two ways you can get mono, and I say to young Alex this one thing: congratulations man, I hope that make-out session was awesome. Moving on to actual baseball news, the Cats had a few days off to prepare for 19th ranked Alabama coming to town for a three day series at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

4/9 v #19 Alabama (W 7-6)- This game was exciting to say the least, finding the Cats down one with two outs in the eighth before senior Keenan Wiley put a single down in the right-center field gap that was converted into the tying run on a Cory Farris pinch-hit single. Alabama starter Adam Morgan had pitched all eight innings until Farris was subbed into the lineup, but his work prior to that could not put distance between the tide and the Cats. Third baseman Andy Burns posted multiple home runs on the night, his third night accomplishing such a contribution. It was a great game to start the series and was an indicator of the games to come.

4/10 v #19 Alabama (W 8-2)- The youth of the rotation has been paying dividends for coach Henderson as freshman Taylor Rogers pitched 7 2/3 innings of five hit baseball and only allowing two runs on the day. The other Taylor, shortstop Taylor Black, decided he wasn’t going to take this display of superiority from the pitcher and went 3-4 from the plate, including his third round-trip hit of the season. Senior Keenan Wiley also continued his hot hitting with another three hit night, but fellow senior Gunner Glad saw his 11-game hitting streak end with an 0-4 night.

4/11 v #19 Alabama (L 11-9)- The good feelings couldn’t hold out for the series sweep against the tide, with the Cats carrying a 9-0 lead for 5 innings before getting popped with an 11-0 run from the Crimson Tide to which the Cats couldn’t respond. Outfielder Chad Wright had a 3-6 night but his most important AB wasn’t one he ended up on base, but the one he didn’t. In the bottom of the 9th, All-American Chris Bisson ht a one-out double which brought Wright to the plate for the potential tying run. The sophomore had a cracking shot that was snagged out of the air by an infielder and seemingly took the fire out of the team, and a caught-looking strikeout by Gunner Glad ended the game.

This week had to have been one of the best weeks of baseball for the Big Blue, starting by beating the Filthy Cardinals and ending by taking a series from Alabama. The Cats have now played 12 games in a row against ranked teams, and and now 21-12 and 4-8 in conference. The BatCats now get a few days off before taking on Florida for three games this weekend at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Games will start at 7 Friday and Saturday and 1 on Sunday. If you want to see Operation: Win general Joker Phillips throw out the first pitch Friday, be there. I’m betting he’s not gonna make it a roller to the plate.

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