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Hey Cotty Whatcha doin?

bowhunter1023 said:
Sure wish I had played for a coach like you Mike!!! Certainly one with some stability. I firmly believe that we had state championship talent my senior year. We had 2 kids on that team play at Marietta under Brewer and there were 4 seniors that turned down scholarships. (I could have went to Muskingum, but OU sounded like a lot more fun after my visits!) We had 3 different coaches in our 4 years at Warren and it killed us. Both times we lost coaches, the team was split down the middle and it hurt morale. When we finally got a coach we all like (and one that could coach) it was TOO late to gel develop like we needed to. We lost in the Elite 8 to a team we should have beat. We were up 4-1 at one field when rain hit. They put us on buses and shipped us 45 minutes to a minor league field where both teams had to unroll the tarp and work on the field. Two hours later, we resumed the game but the damage was done. They pulled the pitcher we were killing (he had a verbal with OSU) and put in this kid that threw 60 with a 12-6 curve and he ate us up. The umps were also ready to get the game over and the strike zone blew up. I struck out looking on 3-2 counts with 2 outs twice in one game on the same pitch in the same location. To this day, I know I looked at ball 4 both times, but I also know I should have swung. We lost 5-4. I've never cried so hard in my life. I barely completed the top of the 7th because I was so torn up. The team we would have played in the Final 4, we beat in a pre-season scrimmage.

Ah, if only right?!?
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A couple years ago we (Indian Creek) were one game away from a matchup with Warren. We ended up losing to Dover in the district. They had Percy Garner on the mound. He was clocked at 94. Don't see many of them fastballs in the regular season. We lost 5-4. One costly error by our pitcher on a sac bunt killed us and gave up two runs.

My soph year as a player we were 26-0 going into the regional finals (back then we were Wintersville HS... later consolidated with Mingo to make Indian Creek). We lost to Austintown Fitch who was like 12-11 or something like that. We had a down day and they played their asses off. Our starting nine was 8 seniors and me. We were stacked. Of the 8 seniors, 6 went division I. We had players go to Ball State (OF), Wright State (P), Penn State (P), Mercer (OF), The Citadel (1B), and Akron (OF). Then I made it to Akron (3B), so that made 7 division 1 players on one team. It was just one of them lucky cycles that we hit with some really good players.

That's why I think, once you get beyond the sectionals, games should be best of 3. No way to do it in sectionals with so many teams, but I think it could be done from the districts and on. The way it is now, if you have one stud pitcher you can cruis to the regional finals.

The previous summer in legion ball for Steubenville we were one out away from going to the Legion World Series. We had beat Ashtabula to win the State Title in Athens then lost to Wisconsin in the Great Lakes Regional final in Illinois. That was a heartbreaker. We had the lead going into the bottom of the 9th and they put together a solid inning and won in walk off style. One more out and we would have gone to Tacoma, Washington for the World Series.
 
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I should add that that regional final team had two other really good players on it. A player from Edison that went to Ohio State then was draftee by the Indians. And a player from Steubenvile Central that went to Kent and was drafted by the Cardinals.
 
I love when it snows and we go to school. All you have to do is yell don't worry guys we are getting out early. They all yell really! and get excited.
 
Just start walking and look for the highway too the food source.... The up coming storm should have them up and moving today.... Got feed the boilerroom before the big hibernation lol....
 
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