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Submitted by grammy on Mon, 2008-04-14 22:28.
I was expecting to see a report on the BHS vs BCHS baseball game; how did our boys do tonight? I hear it was a great night for the BHS girls with a JV/Varsity sweep. The BMS girls also notched another win, along with my two Tiger girls' teams, so it was a great softball evening for Grammy and her crew - busy, but great! We almost didn't feel the cold..... almost! LOL!
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Ric Flair once said "to be the man, you've got to beat the man". He also said "Space Mountain is the oldest ride in the park but it also has the longest line". The last quote has nothing to do with baseball but it's among my favorite Flairisms.
So anyway we failed to beat the Dolphins. They beat us 5-4 in the bottom of the 7th on a wide throw to the plate with the bases loaded. We had the lead, lost the lead, battled back to tie, and then lost. We had chances in the 5th and 6th but we needed to manufacture runs and instead chose to play it straight up. So with that loss we finish dead last in the region, and much worse lose 2 of 3 to Creek on the year. It was senior night for Creek. Coach Tooman is losing some good kids. And how about that new Creek coach. I've got to tip my hat and congratulate him on going in there amidst some calamity and taking those boys to the playoffs. Good job Coach, keep it up.
As for the Eagles, well it is indeed dark times. One game remaining, Hilton Head on Wednesday at Hilton Head, and then it's time for travel ball. Perhaps for that final game Coach D. will give his seniors the night off and bring up a couple of real potential Varsity players from J/V. I keep hearing the names of Brown and Dixon. I've never seen them play but I hear a lot of good things.
Thanks to all the parents and fans who sat in the rain and cold for last night's game. Despite the dismal season the same fans came out regardless of conditions. For those fans who weren't parents I give a ginormous shoutout. A lot of Eagle coaches were on hand as well as the AD. Ms. Kirkland was there cheering hard and rooting for an Eagles win.
Speaking of travel ball. It is imperative that all boys desiring to play varsity baseball play some travel ball. Play Legion if you can but once the Legion season ends go find a traveling team. BTW the scuttlebutt is that this years Legion team has a new extremely qualified coaching staff. And I don't believe they have any kids on the team so there will be no appearance of preferential consideration. I know a lot of dads who are good coaches but after a boy reaches high school level the Daddy Ball needs to cease. That's the great thing about playing for a travel team. Most of these teams are businesses and rarely have the parental conflict.
Big big congrats to the girls for their softball wins.
OK, last game Wednesday night and then it's back to blogging about politics, cycling, and road side litter.
....this ruins my day.
Adracer says
"I know a lot of dads who are good coaches but after a boy reaches high school level the Daddy Ball needs to cease. That's the great thing about playing for a travel team. Most of these teams are businesses and rarely have the parental conflict."
Could not agree more, but that is what happened this year at BHS JV Baseball. Bringing PALS coaches, with PALS politics to the high school level it disappointing at best. The kids, all the kids deserve better.
Brown and Dixon combined last night with pitching to win against Fort D. They looked great on the mound. Brown started the game and Dixon finished. Dixon went 4 for 4 on hits and had one walk. Some errors caused runs to get in by Fort D. Other than that great game. Last game of the season for the JV team. Up and down year this year, but hey it's been fun. Looking forward to next season already. There is always American Legion baseball to report and travel ball.
Keep us updated Adracer as to the games you travel to and Grammy please keep us updated as to softball this summer. Not enough information gets passed around regarding softball.
OUTSTANDING!!! I'm looking forward to seeing them play on the varsity squad next year. I'll keep you posted on travel ball. If my son doesn't play Legion, we'll need someone to cover that. I think Grammy can multitask all the rest.
Ok, season over, time to think:
Why is it BHS baseball consistently has a losing record in the weakest region in AAAA baseball? How about high school baseball in general north of the broad? Why is HH baseball so much better?
Does middle school athletics ultimately slow down a players readiness to step up to the next level? Why can't a player with the ability play up to his ability in Beaufort County (its not like this at other programs in the region)?
Is PALS and the volunteer coaches in PALS doing what they can to make sure they are developing talent for the next level or are they only concerned with winning?
Is high school soccer better in Beaufort County because of select programs such as Blue Crab and does baseball need a similar program to develop players?
Have an opinion? What do you think?
Yes, absolutely ! Beaufort desperately needs some travel baseball teams to build better high school players. While the volunteer (Dad) coaches do their best and are to be commended for their time and dedication, most are not coaching material. PALS offers NO coaches training and does nt encourage or promote coaching education or seminars. There are absolutely NO requirements to coach PALS (other than a clean record). There are a lot of families who would jump at the chance for their boys to play travel ball (or even fall PALS baseball would be better than nothing).
I can tell you all of the Beaufort area high school coaches, middles school coaches, former college players, former college coaches and other qualified coaches have been approached about helping these kids in the summer. Most of the time there are no takers. Thus the dads have to fill in or the kids won't play at all.
In Charleston, Columbia and other areas most of the travel teams are coached and organized by high school coaches and people in the baseball business.
Hearing we will have Scott Mullen and a few others coaching the Legion team this year is exactly what these kids need.
Travel ball is essential. I wish our boys had played more on travel teams. Baseball has become so competitive that you can't wait until spring to get ready. The days of "the boys of summer" are gone. You either play year round or you get left behind. Charleston, Columbia, Rock Hill, Greenville, area boys have opportunities for year round ball starting no later than age 11. Most of our kids start at 16.
I believe that Beaufort has the capacity to host travel ball tournaments. We have the hotel rooms and the fields needed to host 25-30 teams for a Fri-Sun tournament. Unfortunately, as GSgamecock stated, the more qualified coaches are normally not interested. I'm really excited about Scott Mullins and Keith Riley taking on the Legion team this year. Travel ball is an excellent venue for Middle school and high school coaches to stay competitive and hone their skills. Let's not leave the coaches out of the mix. They need some help too, and I'm not talking about additional assistants. I'm talking about increasing their coaching skills through competition just as their players do by playing travel ball.
I think an excellent scenario would be a 16, 17, or 18 y/o travel team coached by a retired coach or a college coach with no genetic connection to the players and who would have local middle school and high school coaches as his assistant. Everybody gains knowledge and improves their skills and we keep it local. Until that day comes I guess we keep driving to Charleston.