Street Kids/Suburban Finish 7th at Worlds
SKS finish a respectable 4-2 in Kentucky despite some questionable officiating
SKS finish a respectable 4-2 in Kentucky despite some questionable officiating
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| Game 1 vs. Chief's LOST; 28-27 Game 2 vs. Trademark Mtg. WON; 15-14 Game 3 vs. Pepco WON; 17-7 Game 4 vs. Hilgoats WON; 26-20 Game 5 vs. Production Eng. WON; 19-8 Game 6 vs. Hooded Frog LOST; 17-7 |
Owensboro, KY-
The Street Kids/Suburban South softball team - proudly sponsored
by Easton and Pennsylvania Avenue Sports - didn't have the best
tournament this weekend, but played well enough to manage a
4-2 record and a seventh place finish at the 2008 NSA Class C
World Series in Kentucky.
The Kids opened the tournament with a tough game against Chiefs
from Kentucky, and despite scoring 27 runs, the SKS team lost to
Chiefs by one run on a walk off home run, 28-27. That loss thrust
the SKS team into the losers bracket, where they were set to face
Trademark Mortgage, who lost their opening game to Standafer
and Sons. The Kids won that game, 15-14 and advanced to the
next round.
The next game was against Pepco, who won their first two games
in the winners bracket before losing to 3AC. Street Kids/Suburban
defeated Pepco quickly, 17-7 and then were set to play Hilgoats,
who won two games in the winners bracket and then beat Alton Eagles in their first game of the loser
bracket. But the Kids were on a roll and defeated Hilgoats, 26-20. That win advanced the Kids to play
against Production Engineering from Michigan, who lost their second game in the winners bracket to the
eventual national champions, Team Worth, from the Elkhart/Goshen area. The Kids defeated Production
19-8 and advanced to a rematch against Hooded Frogs, whom they lost to on a bizarre play at the NSA
NIT tourney in Warsaw several weeks back.
The game was actually close until a very inexperienced umpire staff began to make mistakes that led to the
ejection of SKS pitcher Lanny Fisher. There was a play that led a Frog base runner to round third base
and Fisher made a perfect throw to third baseman Dan Garey, who applied a perfect tag. Instead of calling
the batter out, the home plate umpire immediately yelled for help
from the base umpire, who seemed shocked he was asking for
help. After gasping for a quick second out of frustration at being
asked for help, the base umpire yelled "safe", which caused the
entire infield to erupt at the officials.
"The call was not just blown, its the way it was blown," said Fisher.
"A play happened on the field, the only play happening at the time,
and you are telling me that not one but two umpires didn't see the
call? Ridiculous."
Fisher argued briefly that the home plate umpire missed the call,
but did refrain from swearing and saying much more. But that was
not enough for the diminutive official, as he decided he heard
enough and ejected Fisher from the park. That was when Fisher
lost it, and ripped the umpire apart. He was told to leave the
complex, which he did quickly, not wanting the entire team to be
disqualified. At this point, the Kids were only down by a couple
of runs, but with the ejection of their leader and pitcher, the Kids
were clearly frazzled. Joe Richard came into the game at second base and Nick Bishop moved from
second to the pitchers mound. Only a few plays later, the home plate umpire decided his first call was not
enough.
A Hooded Frog player drove a liner down the left field line that
landed 18-20" foul, striking the outfield fence on the left side of
the foul pole, clearly a foul ball. The batter saw where it landed
and slowed down, the left fielder Jake Underwood saw where it
struck the fence and slowed down and the entire team saw where
it landed and began to walk back to their positions when the official
decided to stick his short right arm out signaling a fair ball. The
Frog batter himself seemed shocked as he began to sprint around
the bases. Underwood, clearly upset by the call, ran all the way
from the left field corner to argue with the rest of the team. But it
was to no avail as the umpire would stick to his call.
With the frustration of the calls, and the loss of Fisher, the team
continued to struggle and Hooded Frogs took advantage of it
and scored enough runs to defeat the Street Kids/Suburban team,
17-7, and end their national title hopes.
"This is supposed to be the World Series, where you are supposed
to have the best umpires," said veteran Carl Underwood. "In 32
years of playing this game, this was the worst case of officials I
have ever seen."
"I spoke to three teams who all had one of the umpires we had
and all said that they called a strike on a ball that landed on home plate," said manager TJ Jorgensen. "It
happened three times in our game alone and we almost thought it was a new rule. I mean, the one on me
landed right in the middle of the plate and the catcher looked at me
and mouthed the word 'wow'. That just sums up how the officials
were this weekend."
Bad officiating did not cause the Kids to finish seventh at this
tournament, one the Kids thought they could do much better at.
With the exception of a few players, the team struggled offensively.
More importantly, they struggled with runners in scoring position.
Several players hit the ball hard, but right at the opposition.
A few bright spots for the Kids were Jake Underwood, who
homered 10 times in the six games, giving him an outstanding total
of 98 home runs this season. He broke the single season record
last week during league action. Other bright spots included Carl
Underwood, who had an on base percentage of .800 throughout
the weekend, Lanny Fisher, who had a .759 OB%, Nick Bishop,
who had a team high seven doubles and a .727 OB%, and Zach
Yeaney, playing in his first World Series tournament had an OB% of .714.
After a couple weeks of league games, the Kids will prepare for the NSA Super World Series in St. Louis
in October.
________________________________________________________________________________
The Street Kids/Suburban softball organization would like to congratulate Team Worth on winning
the 2008 NSA North World Series.
The Street Kids/Suburban South softball team - proudly sponsored
by Easton and Pennsylvania Avenue Sports - didn't have the best
tournament this weekend, but played well enough to manage a
4-2 record and a seventh place finish at the 2008 NSA Class C
World Series in Kentucky.
The Kids opened the tournament with a tough game against Chiefs
from Kentucky, and despite scoring 27 runs, the SKS team lost to
Chiefs by one run on a walk off home run, 28-27. That loss thrust
the SKS team into the losers bracket, where they were set to face
Trademark Mortgage, who lost their opening game to Standafer
and Sons. The Kids won that game, 15-14 and advanced to the
next round.
The next game was against Pepco, who won their first two games
in the winners bracket before losing to 3AC. Street Kids/Suburban
defeated Pepco quickly, 17-7 and then were set to play Hilgoats,
who won two games in the winners bracket and then beat Alton Eagles in their first game of the loser
bracket. But the Kids were on a roll and defeated Hilgoats, 26-20. That win advanced the Kids to play
against Production Engineering from Michigan, who lost their second game in the winners bracket to the
eventual national champions, Team Worth, from the Elkhart/Goshen area. The Kids defeated Production
19-8 and advanced to a rematch against Hooded Frogs, whom they lost to on a bizarre play at the NSA
NIT tourney in Warsaw several weeks back.
The game was actually close until a very inexperienced umpire staff began to make mistakes that led to the
ejection of SKS pitcher Lanny Fisher. There was a play that led a Frog base runner to round third base
and Fisher made a perfect throw to third baseman Dan Garey, who applied a perfect tag. Instead of calling
the batter out, the home plate umpire immediately yelled for help
from the base umpire, who seemed shocked he was asking for
help. After gasping for a quick second out of frustration at being
asked for help, the base umpire yelled "safe", which caused the
entire infield to erupt at the officials.
"The call was not just blown, its the way it was blown," said Fisher.
"A play happened on the field, the only play happening at the time,
and you are telling me that not one but two umpires didn't see the
call? Ridiculous."
Fisher argued briefly that the home plate umpire missed the call,
but did refrain from swearing and saying much more. But that was
not enough for the diminutive official, as he decided he heard
enough and ejected Fisher from the park. That was when Fisher
lost it, and ripped the umpire apart. He was told to leave the
complex, which he did quickly, not wanting the entire team to be
disqualified. At this point, the Kids were only down by a couple
of runs, but with the ejection of their leader and pitcher, the Kids
were clearly frazzled. Joe Richard came into the game at second base and Nick Bishop moved from
second to the pitchers mound. Only a few plays later, the home plate umpire decided his first call was not
enough.
A Hooded Frog player drove a liner down the left field line that
landed 18-20" foul, striking the outfield fence on the left side of
the foul pole, clearly a foul ball. The batter saw where it landed
and slowed down, the left fielder Jake Underwood saw where it
struck the fence and slowed down and the entire team saw where
it landed and began to walk back to their positions when the official
decided to stick his short right arm out signaling a fair ball. The
Frog batter himself seemed shocked as he began to sprint around
the bases. Underwood, clearly upset by the call, ran all the way
from the left field corner to argue with the rest of the team. But it
was to no avail as the umpire would stick to his call.
With the frustration of the calls, and the loss of Fisher, the team
continued to struggle and Hooded Frogs took advantage of it
and scored enough runs to defeat the Street Kids/Suburban team,
17-7, and end their national title hopes.
"This is supposed to be the World Series, where you are supposed
to have the best umpires," said veteran Carl Underwood. "In 32
years of playing this game, this was the worst case of officials I
have ever seen."
"I spoke to three teams who all had one of the umpires we had
and all said that they called a strike on a ball that landed on home plate," said manager TJ Jorgensen. "It
happened three times in our game alone and we almost thought it was a new rule. I mean, the one on me
landed right in the middle of the plate and the catcher looked at me
and mouthed the word 'wow'. That just sums up how the officials
were this weekend."
Bad officiating did not cause the Kids to finish seventh at this
tournament, one the Kids thought they could do much better at.
With the exception of a few players, the team struggled offensively.
More importantly, they struggled with runners in scoring position.
Several players hit the ball hard, but right at the opposition.
A few bright spots for the Kids were Jake Underwood, who
homered 10 times in the six games, giving him an outstanding total
of 98 home runs this season. He broke the single season record
last week during league action. Other bright spots included Carl
Underwood, who had an on base percentage of .800 throughout
the weekend, Lanny Fisher, who had a .759 OB%, Nick Bishop,
who had a team high seven doubles and a .727 OB%, and Zach
Yeaney, playing in his first World Series tournament had an OB% of .714.
After a couple weeks of league games, the Kids will prepare for the NSA Super World Series in St. Louis
in October.
________________________________________________________________________________
The Street Kids/Suburban softball organization would like to congratulate Team Worth on winning
the 2008 NSA North World Series.
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