Hard Week To Endure

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Rocky Mount Little league playing in the  Williamsport Little League for the first time began district play this weekend continuing this week.  The Senior Little League Red team or the National Legue All stars won twice in Elizabeth City and are in the championship waiting for what ever team comes from the loser's bracket.    The Blue team or American League Seniors lost Saturday but won Sunday to stay alive in the tournament.

The  9/10 year olds playing in Greenville the Red team was eliminated while the Blue plays in the championship Tuesday.
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Just eight days ago Coleman Pitt Post 58 stood waiting  to Play Post one in a doubleheader in which two wins Post 58 just might win the top seed. The first game was a 2-1 loss where  with an umpire in the field doing his job just might have been a 2-1 win instead of a loss.  Post 58 had their pitching all set up for the doubleheader and yes a 2-1 loss the pitching was all you could ask.  Game two changes had to be made as the intended starter decided to go on vacation and even as late as the fourth inning P 58 lead 5-2.  Since that point they gave up eight runs in three innings, 11 runs in a season ending lost to Apex.  A three game series with Cary P 58 gave up 15-10 and 9 but managed to win two of three against a team with pitching woes just like us.

Here is my theory as to what has happened to Post 58 pitching down the stretch.  Remember according to the Rocky Mount Telegram All Area team two pitchers are pitching elsewhere this summer.  The staff we have there is not a one who can throw over 85 miles and hour so most of this staff relies on curves and change ups so when you have played one team five times and three days in a row hitters understand to wait on the curve because they can't throw a fastball by me with two strikes. So hitters foul off two strikes until they either hit it fair or they get walked.

Then there is the umpires.  Seems to me this year's umps have squeezed pitchers to having to throw the ball down the middle.  The first game of the Cary series  with threatening skies from Hurricane Arthur you would think the umpire would try to move the game along as fast as possible but the game went three hours and forty five minutes with more than 25 walks.  Once the rains started in the sixth pitchers were throwing wet balls on every pitch.  Please Mr umpire let's try to make the hitters go up to the plate swinging the bat.

All of a sudden Post 58 pitching is tire and depleted and yet they win a series despite giving up 34 runs in three games.  The offense scored 36.  There is lots of talk in college baseball about the bat.  Next year they are trying a new ball to improve hitting.  This year I have seen only three home runs hit and one of those was aided by Hurricane Arthur.  There have been many times when it looked like a hit  heading to the wall would just be a lazy fly.

The 14 innings Post 58 played Raleigh they gave up two runs in one and two the first four innings of the second.  Post  one just did not dominate Post 58.  Round two of the Western Division  Area one playoffs begin Monday night at 7pm at American Legion Field.  This is a three out of five series and there will be a game every night at least through Wednesday depending on the outcome of the first three games.  If necessary game four will be in Rocky Mount so there is a possibility  of four straight nights of playoff ball again this week at home.

If you were there last Thursday or Saturday you got your money's worth of excitement.  The second  round the intensity picks up as Post 58 is a step closer.  They must beat the best in the division and then next week beat the 2/3 bracket winner. There have been times this team was on the verge of being good.  They have just finish one of the worse weeks in years and yet they survived and advanced.  Come out and see if Post 58 can continue to score 12 a game or see if they can hold Raleigh under 10.  It could be exciting.