Tigerman10 Posted May 29 Report Posted May 29 Hard to beat a good team 3 times so Richlands definitely has a shot at Lebanon.
Westisthebest Posted May 29 Report Posted May 29 8 hours ago, Tigerman10 said: Hard to beat a good team 3 times so Richlands definitely has a shot at Lebanon. Richlands plays Lebanon? They dont cross bracket like in softball?
Tigerman10 Posted May 29 Report Posted May 29 21 minutes ago, Westisthebest said: Richlands plays Lebanon? They dont cross bracket like in softball? Richlands was the 3 in baseball and upset the 2 from M7 so its an all SWD semi
bleedblue89 Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 Hope to see the blues pull off another upset. That would make it a good day in Richlands. tornado99 1
tornado99 Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 Let me preface this by admitting it’s a speculative long term view of Richlands baseball (and possibly Tazewell being closely connected) and not a prediction. Declining enrollment, more choices in spring sports, and the nature of the necessary investment into travel sports to compete makes it very difficult to consistently compete. The biggest challenge is location, location, location. Using Stelly’s explanation for Lebanon’s success it costs a lot of money and time for travel sports. That cost is higher simply due to being farther away from the Tri-Cities and a shrinking monetary base. Every weekend costs more with shrinking margins than those located closer. For comparison, the programs that are arguably on par/better than Lebanon (John Battle/Abingdon) have greater enrollment and are closer. (I have no explanation for the Bearcats fall). I think some of Tazewell’s and Richlands players already combining somewhat but not as seamlessly as say Honaker/Lebanon since the Tigers have been down. I think Richlands has a good core group of kids and parent/coaches. They will be successful some years it’s just tougher to be elite in baseball and softball. Congratulations to this year’s team and coaches and hopes they continue. cityofRaven and Stelley 2
Tigerman10 Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 43 minutes ago, tornado99 said: Let me preface this by admitting it’s a speculative long term view of Richlands baseball (and possibly Tazewell being closely connected) and not a prediction. Declining enrollment, more choices in spring sports, and the nature of the necessary investment into travel sports to compete makes it very difficult to consistently compete. The biggest challenge is location, location, location. Using Stelly’s explanation for Lebanon’s success it costs a lot of money and time for travel sports. That cost is higher simply due to being farther away from the Tri-Cities and a shrinking monetary base. Every weekend costs more with shrinking margins than those located closer. For comparison, the programs that are arguably on par/better than Lebanon (John Battle/Abingdon) have greater enrollment and are closer. (I have no explanation for the Bearcats fall). I think some of Tazewell’s and Richlands players already combining somewhat but not as seamlessly as say Honaker/Lebanon since the Tigers have been down. I think Richlands has a good core group of kids and parent/coaches. They will be successful some years it’s just tougher to be elite in baseball and softball. Congratulations to this year’s team and coaches and hopes they continue. Va high downfall is directly correlated with Daniels not being able to recruit pitching from Russell County/elsewhere. His best runs were with two pitchers from Honaker (and almost one from Lebanon who stayed last minute) Stelley 1
Westisthebest Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 21 hours ago, Tigerman10 said: Richlands was the 3 in baseball and upset the 2 from M7 so its an all SWD semi So all 4 teams left are SWD?
BigWinners Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 2 hours ago, Westisthebest said: So all 4 teams left are SWD? No, Battle baseball plays Lee, two M7 teams. softbsll I dunno.
1inStripes Posted May 30 Report Posted May 30 No. Lee plays Battle on one side of the bracket after Lee upset VA High.
1inStripes Posted May 31 Report Posted May 31 Softball was chalk. Central clobbered Tazewell. Richlands beat Battle in extras in Richlands (best game of the 4 by far). Lebanon defeated Union and Lee beat Marion 11-7. This leaves Central vs Richlands and Lebanon vs Lee.
Westisthebest Posted May 31 Report Posted May 31 2 hours ago, BigWinners said: No, Battle baseball plays Lee, two M7 teams. softbsll I dunno. Is it setup like softball? Um still lost. Someone said it was an all SWD semifinal. 2 semifinals. What am I missing? Cuz in softball if Tazewell, Marion, lebanon and Richlands won then it would be an all SWD semifinals. So thats what I assumed when the poster posted that.
Stelley Posted May 31 Report Posted May 31 8 minutes ago, Westisthebest said: Is it setup like softball? Um still lost. Someone said it was an all SWD semifinal. 2 semifinals. What am I missing? Cuz in softball if Tazewell, Marion, lebanon and Richlands won then it would be an all SWD semifinals. So thats what I assumed when the poster posted that. Tigerman said it was a SWD Semifinal yes. But not SemifinalS
Westisthebest Posted May 31 Report Posted May 31 4 minutes ago, Stelley said: Tigerman said it was a SWD Semifinal yes. But not SemifinalS Oh...my bad. Misread apparently. Thanks
Widespread_Panic Posted May 31 Report Posted May 31 23 hours ago, tornado99 said: Declining enrollment, more choices in spring sports, and the nature of the necessary investment into travel sports to compete makes it very difficult to consistently compete. The biggest challenge is location, location, location. Using Stelly’s explanation for Lebanon’s success it costs a lot of money and time for travel sports. That cost is higher simply due to being farther away from the Tri-Cities and a shrinking monetary base. Every weekend costs more with shrinking margins than those located closer. This is why it is critical for the varsity head coaches to organize and work with their youth programs. Their is a myth, in my opinion, that travel sports will make your team better. It would be more beneficial for the youth teams to spend a majority of their time practicing and then play teams closer to home. I've seen a lot of money wasted on travel ball with parents and players sold the lie of college offers and receiving poor coaching at the same time. tornado99 and cityofRaven 2
Ryan4VT Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 If I’m Richlands, I’m raising a BIG fuss today. Didn't start the game until 11:30. Then get to 2am, down 2 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 7th and they called the game for fog. That’s not right at all. That game never should have even started that late in the first place. Westisthebest 1
Weatherman Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 19 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said: If I’m Richlands, I’m raising a BIG fuss today. Didn't start the game until 11:30. Then get to 2am, down 2 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 7th and they called the game for fog. That’s not right at all. That game never should have even started that late in the first place. This is insane. What were the umpires and/or administrators reason for not waiting it out?
Ryan4VT Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 9 minutes ago, Weatherman said: This is insane. What were the umpires and/or administrators reason for not waiting it out? It was 2am and the fog wasn’t leaving. But why the fuck are we starting playoff baseball games at 11:30 anyway?!? Bush league stuff.
SwvaOG Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 Whoever decides to start a VHSL baseball playoff game at 11:30 at night should be fired. There was simply no reason to start this game. The teams are 25 minutes apart. Reconvene are start this morning at 10/11 am. Richlands should file an appeal and someone should justify their decision to have kids playing baseball at 2 am. Stupidity….all the way around. Ryan4VT, Westisthebest and vicobras 3
Gridiron60 Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 1 hour ago, Ryan4VT said: If I’m Richlands, I’m raising a BIG fuss today. Didn't start the game until 11:30. Then get to 2am, down 2 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 7th and they called the game for fog. That’s not right at all. That game never should have even started that late in the first place. Starting at high school game well any level game at 11:30pm is insane. I’d be on phone to somebody first thing this morning. Calling it with bases loaded & one out is even crazier. Who does that to kids? Shameful.
Gridiron60 Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 9 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said: Did both coaches agree to it? I cannot imagine a world where the Richlands’ coach would agree to call the game with bases loaded and one out only down by two but if so, that’s on him then. If he protested, then it’s on the umpires.
Fairlawncat Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 18 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said: I cannot imagine a world where the Richlands’ coach would agree to call the game with bases loaded and one out only down by two but if so, that’s on him then. If he protested, then it’s on the umpires. I'm referring to starting the game at 1130. Game should not have ever started. 1inStripes 1
Gridiron60 Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 9 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said: I'm referring to starting the game at 1130. Game should not have ever started. Oh, I agree with that. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard of in recent years. I’d never agreed to that but can the umpires still proceed even if he didn’t agree? If they said , game on, what choice did he have?
Stelley Posted June 3 Report Posted June 3 45 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said: Oh, I agree with that. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard of in recent years. I’d never agreed to that but can the umpires still proceed even if he didn’t agree? If they said , game on, what choice did he have? People can get mad all they want at the umpires but I feel like some of the blame should be on Jimmy Gobble. Rains a little bit in Lebanon and he’s out there throwing a fit and is not wanting to play for 2 hours just over one little shower. Add on a 30 minute delay for a singular lightning strike. Lost all respect for gobble with that plus having his players spitting at and giving other players the bird while shouting expletives at them.
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