Gaffney Loses to Inman, Again.

[COHAZE]

http://tinyurl.com/zmbylpy

 

[GHSINDIANS4EVER]

yep. sure did Inman is playing good ball right now.

 

[COHAZE]

I still say Inman is hands down the best team in the league. Gaffney is solid, particularly defensively, but they don't have Inman's starting pitching. From what I've seen, Gaffney's pitching is HS/Legion average. Gaffney's No. 1 and No. 2 starters are above average by Legion standards, and flat out dominant in a weak league like League 6. They also have a 3rd guy (big lefty) who, when he's on, is about as good as 1 & 2. There's also a 4th guy who's primarily an infielder, but can also flash 85. That's 4 guys topping out mid-80's, plus several other kids that can throw strikes, but won't overpower anybody.

Inman should make a run at the state tournament IF: (1) they can shore up their defense, which has some glaring weakness, (2) they don't over pitch the heck out of their starters (long history of that in Inman), (3) whether they can hit upper level pitching, cause they're not seeing much of that in League 6, and (4) how many guys will miss games to go to the beach.

Gaffney should make it past the first round of the playoffs. Defense is good and they strike me as well coached. Their failure to score a single run off of Inman's 1 and 2 does not bode well. Not sure that they have the pitching to go much further than the round of the playoffs.

The rest of the teams in the league pretty much suck. I guess a couple of them will make the playoffs, but none of them deserve to. Spartanburg can hit a little, but they can't field a lick, and they have very little pitching. Wouldn't surprise me if some of the other teams fold.

 

[GHSINDIANS4EVER]

yeah 2 of our starting pitchers are out with elbow injuries.. Tristan Whelchel and Jack Masters both have elbow issues so that doesn't help the rotation and it doesn't look at this time either one of those will get to return the rest of the year.

 

[COHAZE]

Ouch. That sucks for the kids and the team. Between all of these 9 inning games, kids skipping games to go to the beach, and all of these rescheduled games packed into a tight schedule, nobody really has enough pitching. That's the thing I hate about Legion. That, and some of these coaches who will not hesitate to throw guys until their arms fall off.

I am told that 2-3 of the Inman guys have had sore arms, but it sounds like they are getting over them. But, that can always change.

yeah 2 of our starting pitchers are out with elbow injuries.. Tristan Whelchel and Jack Masters both have elbow issues so that doesn't help the rotation and it doesn't look at this time either one of those will get to return the rest of the year.

 

[Skools]

Up here in league 5 we have gotten killed by rain outs. We have had 5 already!

Going into next week this will be the remaining games each team has a piece.
Clover 3
Fort Mill, Rock Hill, York 6
Lancaster 7

They are calling for rain all next week. I don't know what our league director is going to do if we get two days washed out.

I think we are going to 3 game series like the sumter and florence league does. Also 5a baseball is going to be doing that this year.

 

[Dawgpoundit]

Rain-outs in league 5. Re-scheduled games in League 6. They have put too much strain on these high school kids. Inman plays again tonight and tomorrow night. That has them playing 10 games in 12 days. And they still have 2 games to make up next week from games that were re-scheduled a couple weeks ago to go with their regularly scheduled games next week on M,T, W in the first place, so when they cram in both of the make-up games they will probably play that would make 15 games in 19 days. It is ridiculous.

#1 9 inning games are too long. These are high school kids. H.S. games are always 7 innings so WHY are legion games 9 innings?
#2 There needs to be a 15 run rule after 5. If you are getting beat down that bad after 5, everyone needs to pack it up and go home.
#3 A game that is re-scheduled due to whatever reason needs to be taken down to 7 innings to start. It is already a hard-ship on the kids having to cram more games into the week as it is already very "baseball busy" to begin with.
#4 No reason to have to play the same team 4 times. After 2 games you can easily tell who the better team is. If you are going to force 4 games, play a DH with 5 inning games.
#5 Why are there absolutely NO pitching restrictions? If there are, could someone please provide the link, or the rules?
Last week I watched a kid from Union throw over 135 pitches in a 9 inning game. From the people I talk to this is a recurring theme with some of the coaches/teams. This needs to stop.

Feel free to add to the list.........

 

[COHAZE]

1. 9 inning games are definitely too long. If rosters were bigger and teams had more pitching it MIGHT be a different story. You asked WHY it's this way. Tradition. Inertia. Ignorance. Take your pick. Bottom line is Legion is run by a bunch of old guys, extremely old guys in some cases, who cannot or will not change.

2. Agreed on the run rule, but I'd make it 10 after 5.

3. Agreed on the automatic reduction from 9 to 7 for rescheduled games. Very good idea.

4. In principle, I don't have a problem with playing the same team 4 times, particularly if you're in a 5 team league. A 16-20 game schedule is really not that many games over the course of 6 weeks or so. The problem is all of the rescheduling due to kids going to the beach, mission trips, college orientations, etc. Kids, and parents, used to be far more committed to their teams than they are now. The Juice Box Generation has no sense of commitment, and that's one of the main reasons we have the problems we have. Teams like Sumter and Florence traditionally play a lot more games than teams in this area, without all of the drama we have up here. The difference is commitment.

5. Pitching restrictions. I've been on this bandwagon for years. The answer here is the same as to question 1. League 6 has always had a bunch of coaches who will not hesitate to let kids run up high pitch counts. Union and Inman have a long history of doing this. And we're not talking 130, we're talking 150 and more. Spartanburg didn't used to do this, but the current coach threw a kid 169 pitches last year, and has been over 130 this year. Gaffney used to throw guys 130-150 on a regular basis, but that guy moved on a few years ago. Don't know about the current guy. And the problem is not just total pitch counts, it's short rest as well. I know a kid who threw 5 inning in a game a couple of weeks ago. Pretty low pitch count, around 65. Immediately after the game the head coach told him "I hope you're gonna be ready to go again tomorrow." This guy has NO CLUE.

I've been following this on a national level. Approximately 10-11 states have, or soon will, adopt some kind of pitch count rule, and the trend seems to be gradually accelerating. (MN, AL, CO, KY, VE, AZ, WI, OK, TX, WA, and possibly FL). I have also heard that the NFHS is also "studying" the issue. MLB's Pitch Smart Initiative has put a lot of pressure on all youth organizations. Legion claims to be "working towards" adoption of some sort of rule, but they will undoubtedly be the last to the table, as will the South Carolina High School League and groups like USSSA. But, there is finally a LITTLE light at the end of the tunnel.

Rain-outs in league 5. Re-scheduled games in League 6. They have put too much strain on these high school kids. Inman plays again tonight and tomorrow night. That has them playing 10 games in 12 days. And they still have 2 games to make up next week from games that were re-scheduled a couple weeks ago to go with their regularly scheduled games next week on M,T, W in the first place, so when they cram in both of the make-up games they will probably play that would make 15 games in 19 days. It is ridiculous.

#1 9 inning games are too long. These are high school kids. H.S. games are always 7 innings so WHY are legion games 9 innings?
#2 There needs to be a 15 run rule after 5. If you are getting beat down that bad after 5, everyone needs to pack it up and go home.
#3 A game that is re-scheduled due to whatever reason needs to be taken down to 7 innings to start. It is already a hard-ship on the kids having to cram more games into the week as it is already very "baseball busy" to begin with.
#4 No reason to have to play the same team 4 times. After 2 games you can easily tell who the better team is. If you are going to force 4 games, play a DH with 5 inning games.
#5 Why are there absolutely NO pitching restrictions? If there are, could someone please provide the link, or the rules?
Last week I watched a kid from Union throw over 135 pitches in a 9 inning game. From the people I talk to this is a recurring theme with some of the coaches/teams. This needs to stop.

Feel free to add to the list.........

 

[Skools]

I like all your points and here is my suggestion

1. Do I agree 9 inning games are to long Yes! Will it ever change no! As a league you have a option of playing 7 inning games but I believe everyone has to agree. Once playoffs starts it has to be 9 innings. Leagues won't make that change because they want their teams to prepare themselves for playoffs. 2 extra innings is a big difference mentally. Will never change at national.

2.15 run rule after 5. I like the idea but national will never change it

3. If both coaches agree you can do that

4. If you have 5 times in your league you need to go to three game series during the week. That is what they are going to do at the 5a level next year. There is just to much rain, vacations, and mission trips to get 16 games in. Can it be done yes but you can't predict any of those things going into the season. Schedule 12 games as a league and try to join a tournament like the palmetto invitational or schedule 2 home and away series with local teams. If they get rained out you don't have to hurry to make them up. This point is from experience: PLAY AS MANY GAMES AS YOU CAN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE SEASON. More kids around and less rain.

5. I believe pitching restrictions are coming next year. Now you can't throw more than 12 innings in a 3 day period. Here is my issue most high schools are playing 14-21 innings a week with around 18 players. In legion the average team plays 27-36 innings with 18 players. Where does that make sense? We need more players. Why are we limiting kids the opportunity to play? Because the insurance is to much? If its to much get off your butt and go fund raise. We need to be allowed to have 20-22 kids. North Carolina is allowed to have as many kids as they want until June 30th and then they need to cut down to 18. While we are here struggling. We have not had our full 18 man roster once yet.



We need to create a coaches/Athletic Officer committee. Each league needs to nominate a coach and have them meet in Columbia just like the league directors do and talk about issues. It needs to be a coach that really cares about Legion and plans to be coaching for a long time. 1-2 times a year!

League 2- Florence- Coach Derrick
League 3- Sumter- Steve Cambell
League 5- Fort Mill- Tom Skula
League 6- Gaffney- Terry Wright
League 7- Greenwood Mack Hite
League 8- Newberry Rob L

 

[COHAZE]

At one time, S.C. DID allow you to carry more than 18 players up until June 30th. I can't remember whether the number was 20 or 22. Unfortunately, this only lasted for a couple of years. This was around 2005, 2006, 2007. Not sure why they changed back to 18 after that. Personally, I don't buy the insurance expense argument. Years ago I bought insurance policies to cover spring and fall youth teams. The cost per kid was really fairly low because you're only covering them for a few months. The cost to add 2-4 more kids would not require much fundraising. Heck, Legion is such a bargain, most parents would pay a few bucks for their kid to play if need be.

A coaches committee is not a bad idea. But, so long as the real power rests with the dinosaurs on the state committee, I wouldn't expect it to accomplish much. Having members of this committee nominated by the League would be problematic, at least here in League 6 where the dinosaurs roam free. That is not a commentary on the guy you named, because I don't know him. It's just that the people most likely to be nominated from here would be worthless.

I really hope you're right about pitch counts coming. Pitch Smart is starting to embarrass those who are not getting on board. But, IMHO, Legion will delay as long as possible. But, maybe, just maybe, it'll happen next year, and drive some of the dinosaurs into retirement.