In one of their most fundamentally-sound games of the season, Riverheads coasted to a 6-0 win over Waynesboro this evening to even their Shenandoah District record at 5-5 after once being only 1-5. The game was moved ahead one day and as a result the pitching staff will be well-rested for Friday's home game against Fort Defiance.
Speaking of pitching, neither team's staff should be hanging their heads tonight as the teams combined for only 9 hits even though the game went a full seven innings. If Waynesboro had a weakness, it was control as they plunked four Gladiators by my count, one of them twice.
But once the Gladiators got on base, no matter how they managed it, they made the most of their opportunities as they basically stole their way to a 4-0 lead after four innings on just one hit up to that point.
So the game did not feature any big rallies, no home runs, and no special drama. In fact it would have been a fairly calm game if not for an odd little controversy in the bottom of the 7th that from my vantage point was not only instigated by the home plate umpire but he carried it further than it needed to go.
With the game winding down and RHS clearly in control, there was a pitch where it looked questionable as to whether or not the Waynesboro batter had swung. Someone from Riverheads, I assume the catcher, requested a check with the first base umpire, which we all know is a fairly routine matter.
But the home plate ump said "No we're not checking that one." Now I don't know the rules well enough to know whether he can deny a check, but it does seem like it would only have taken a few seconds and the game would have proceeded.
Instead he turned his attention to the Riverheads dugout and said "Are you the head coach?" He then proceeded to stroll all the way to the dugout where he and Coach Painter had a brief discussion that did not really seem all that animated. So whatever the point of contention had been, it momentarily appeared to have been settled.
But then came the weird part. On his way back to the plate the ump turned to a section of RHS fans and gave them a hard time, saying words to the effect of "If you think you can do better, come on down here."
However the strange part about that little speech was that the fans he was speaking to had been rather quiet and were saying very little about the situation at the time. So if he felt justified, I sure did not hear what pushed him in that direction. All things considered, it just seemed unnecessary to me and I thought umpires were supposed to rise above interacting with the fans.
The game ended shortly thereafter but in my opinion, it spoiled what had been a pretty even-tempered game to that point. But life will go on and the Gladiators will turn their attention to Fort Defiance.
Still no mention of a make-up date for the Draft game and there is even some speculation that it may not be made up. One thing is for sure........you will hear about it on here one way or another!
Speaking of pitching, neither team's staff should be hanging their heads tonight as the teams combined for only 9 hits even though the game went a full seven innings. If Waynesboro had a weakness, it was control as they plunked four Gladiators by my count, one of them twice.
But once the Gladiators got on base, no matter how they managed it, they made the most of their opportunities as they basically stole their way to a 4-0 lead after four innings on just one hit up to that point.
So the game did not feature any big rallies, no home runs, and no special drama. In fact it would have been a fairly calm game if not for an odd little controversy in the bottom of the 7th that from my vantage point was not only instigated by the home plate umpire but he carried it further than it needed to go.
With the game winding down and RHS clearly in control, there was a pitch where it looked questionable as to whether or not the Waynesboro batter had swung. Someone from Riverheads, I assume the catcher, requested a check with the first base umpire, which we all know is a fairly routine matter.
But the home plate ump said "No we're not checking that one." Now I don't know the rules well enough to know whether he can deny a check, but it does seem like it would only have taken a few seconds and the game would have proceeded.
Instead he turned his attention to the Riverheads dugout and said "Are you the head coach?" He then proceeded to stroll all the way to the dugout where he and Coach Painter had a brief discussion that did not really seem all that animated. So whatever the point of contention had been, it momentarily appeared to have been settled.
But then came the weird part. On his way back to the plate the ump turned to a section of RHS fans and gave them a hard time, saying words to the effect of "If you think you can do better, come on down here."
However the strange part about that little speech was that the fans he was speaking to had been rather quiet and were saying very little about the situation at the time. So if he felt justified, I sure did not hear what pushed him in that direction. All things considered, it just seemed unnecessary to me and I thought umpires were supposed to rise above interacting with the fans.
The game ended shortly thereafter but in my opinion, it spoiled what had been a pretty even-tempered game to that point. But life will go on and the Gladiators will turn their attention to Fort Defiance.
Still no mention of a make-up date for the Draft game and there is even some speculation that it may not be made up. One thing is for sure........you will hear about it on here one way or another!
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