It has been said that defense wins championships, and if that is the case, the Greenville Oaks Mens' softball team has made an early statement. The team turned 3 double plays in the game to set a new franchise record for double plays in a seven inning game. They led the team to a tidy 8 to 3 victory over Suncreek, to start the season 1 - 0.
The first double play came courtesy of the two middle infielders David Strickland and Michael Shivers on a classic 6 -4 - 3. The middle infielders were put to the test early and often in this game, and they did not disappoint, although their shirts after the game clearly showed that they had quite the workout.
The next double play came on a fly out to the left center fielder Curtis Damor, who was a late free agent pick up for the team in the offseason. After catching a lazy fly ball, Damor, with the help of some poor base running by Suncreek, threw to first base to double up the runner trying to get back. General Manager Michael Shivers had some nifty maneuvering in the offseason, as he was able to sign Curtis on a short budget. "It is always exciting when we can go out into the free agent market and find talent like Curtis," Shivers added after the game.
The third and final double play of the evening came on a sharp grounder to the pitcher, Bryan Brokaw, who quickly threw to Strickland at 2nd an on to 1st for the 1 - 6 - 3 double play. That play marked the franchise record.
The one common denominator in the trio of double plays was the first baseman Dustin Swart. Underappreciated? Maybe, but his efforts were equally important. First basemen are usually only noticed when they drop it, and that is not something the team had to worry about all night.
Although Blake Wattenburger did not catch the double play fever, he was responsible for 4 outs over at third base, three of witch were scorching line drives that he managed to haul in with catlike reflexes. His offseason hockey workouts are really paying off so far.
The benefactor of all of the defense was the man on the mound Bryan Brokaw. The quality the defense displayed gave Brokaw a complete game quality start as he went 7 innings and only allowed 3 runs. He also managed one strikeout and no walks.
Randy Way almost had a really nice play on a foul ball at catcher, but he missed it.
Mike Mabry filled in very nicely at left field in place of Clay Platt, who is currently on a 2 week rehab assignment in Austin. Interestingly enough, I don't believe a single ball was hit to Mabry all night. That is a perfect fielding percentage for the season so far.
The story on offense was the bottom half of the batting order. Although the hits were not homeruns, James Manley, Randy Way, Brian Edwards, and Curtis Damor combined for seven hits and a sacrifice. They in large part were responsible for half of the runs scored by Greenville, which proved to be all the team needed on a night where defense was king.
Greenville will look to add to their win total next Monday night, as they get set to host the Harvest Thunder. There may be more baseball pants in the other dugout next Monday night than you would see in the Texas Rangers dugout. Some of them even have pants with stripes. It could prove to be a tough test for Greenville Oaks. Make plans to come out at 8:30 to see the show.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment