I talked to Tattnall baseball coach Joey Hiller before the baseball season started and he had some question marks as to just how good his team could be.
I mean this is Tattnall and Joey Hiller and he and we figured he would be pretty good. He had a shortstop that has already signed with Georgia Tech with Simmons, and he had a lot of guys coming back that had pretty good years a year ago.
But who was going to pitch behind Garrett Houston?
That question has been answered by a senior who threw about 20 innings over the previous three years of varsity baseball.
This kid is a pitcher only kid. Its not like he was playing the outfield and subbed in as a pitcher.
He was a pitcher.
And now, in my humble opinion, he is the reason that Tattnall is playing for another state championship.
Matt Blair was a kid willing to wait his turn to get his chance to shine, and my god, he has taken full advantage of it.
I admit that until about three weeks ago I didn't know much about him. I was dumb enough to say the Mount de Sales would win the region championship because all Tattnall had to pitch was some kid named Blair.
He shut DeSales down like he has basically shut everyone else down the entire year.
For that reason he wins my first annual Koknowsports (and he does know sports) humble guy of the year.
I don't know how many kids would wait so long to get his chance. It had to be frustrating for him and I would say that he probably at some time thought that his coaches were crazy for not using him.
Maybe he did, but maybe now he realizes that his coaches were maybe, crazy like a fox.
I want to congratulate Matt Blair for having the fortitude to wait, and then take full advantage of the opportunity he was given.
Don't be surprised if he finds a place on Mercer's pitching staff and becomes a very good college pitcher.
Hopefully he wont have to wait three more years, but if he does, well I am sure he will handle it.
Tattnall knew that they were getting a great catcher this year in Trey Ham and he has not let anyone down. The guy has 13 homers this year and people don't want to pitch to him. What a weapon he has been in the middle of a lineup and what great addition he has been .
So Trey Ham wins my first Koknowsports (and I do know sports) offensive threat of the year award.
I am so happy that Windsor has found success and they have an amazing story on their campus. Landry Rustin is probably the best combo basketball/ baseball player in this area, and if someone disagrees, just let me know. He is a double figure scorer in basketball and they won state this year and he has seven wins on the mound and he also leads off. He has been lights out in the playoffs and his win on Thursday has the Knights one win away from playing for a state championship. This kid has played in six final fours between basketball and baseball and that is just an amazing fact. He may not play college sports, but he can be proud of what he accomplished in his high school career.
Landry wins two awards from Koknowsports, the Twitter blaster of the year, and my Success award cause this kid is just a winner.
Congrats to Ahmad Barron for getting his and signing with Reinhart, where he will immediately win folks over with his dedication to football. He will make Macon and Tattnall proud.
He wins the Best Signing speech of the year because he showed his emotions and thanked everyone, and it felt like it was from the heart.
Congrats to FPD girls soccer coach Josh Trieste for getting his team to the championship game. He is my soccer coach of the year.
Joey Hiller gets the baseball award because he just wins year in and year out.
Probably the most incredible coaching job is almost forgotten because well, its expected. I know that some places have great athletes, and Stratford obviously has some great tennis players. But how does Jaime Kaplan find a way to put together a team from such an individual sport as tennis. Well she is Queen Jaime and everyone knows it. So she wins a state championship this year in tennis and I almost forget about it. She is the best at getting her kids to understand what a team is in an individual sport, which isn't easy to do. I don't know if their is a coach in Macon that I have more respect for. Congrats to Stratford and the boys tennis team for doing what they do, which is winning
Have a great rest of the weekend
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
wednesday night at the ball park
I enjoyed a well played state playoff double header with Mount de Sales playing Prince Avenue and they ended up splitting.
Splitting these two games was a blessing for De Sales. Both were very close with the finals in both games 3-1, but for most of the night I felt like Prince Avenue had the momentum.
The Cavs however found a way.
Jack Lipson pitched his normal strong game, but gave up a cheapy in the first and then two more in the fifth and De Sales didn't hit a lick. After seeing them score 2 runs in the last 12 inning and then not score for the first four innings of the second game I felt fairly sure they were done.
But Bubba Pool has a team that just wont quit and they scratched out one run in the fourth and two in the fifth and got excellent pitching from Adam Leverett and all of a sudden they are still alive in the three game series.
Let me talk about Leverett. The kid is just a winner, who unfortunately hasn't won much. He was the best player on a basketball team that barely won at all and he and Lipson have been aces on the baseball field their entire career, and they won a little, but never much.
This year is different as they notched win number 20 tonight. Winning this series would finally give them a win in something big.
Leverett struggled in the first and could not find his groove at the beginning, but once Desales scored he became a man on a mission. I asked him if he was getting frustrated by the lack of runs he was getting behind him and he basically said. "Yes I was frustrated, but I am the leadoff hitter and I didn't do anything with the bat, so how could I bee too upset. I just had to focus on getting outs.
Yep that's the kind of kid he is.
Now can they win the third game with both of their aces for the most part done. Well yeah I think they can. They will start with Zack Tong, who has pitched all of about 13 innings this year, can go to Lipson for maybe two innings with 30 pitches left, and then Bubba hinted that he was not scared to go with freshmen after that . He is very high on two freshmen pitcher and the way Bubba talked, he would not hesitate to go to either one. I hope I get to see it but the rain will have to cooperate tomorrow because my daughter graduates from college on Friday. Sorry Bubba I cant miss that .
Im saying it here, Go Cavs.
I ran into a couple of local coaches tonight and got to talk to Denny Bryant from FPD and Tyler Brown from Stratford and I filled them in on all the rumors. They got a kick out of them and denied all of em. They insisted that they did not know anything about a coach throwing bats on to the field after a game and they insisted that they are friends . Well I guess at least one of those rumors can be over because I think they are friends. But the bat episode, well that is still out on the rumor mill. I had friends promise me that a coach was chunking bats, helmets, players, whatever he could find on the field after a game was over..
I got a great chance, as I do everytime I see him , about Tyler brushing me off a few years ago when I asked him about letting a kid throw 141 pitches in a game. Tyler denied it, and said he just answered the question. Tyler I wont say anymore but you still owe me something and you still hold a rare distinction with me that I wont print.
Coaches have to have thick skin obviously and it is great to see them away from the pressures of winning games once in awhile.
Although it was a long night, I must admit, it was a good night. Macon is blessed to have these great coaches and parents, well you just need to be quiet once in awhile.
Have a great rest of the week
Splitting these two games was a blessing for De Sales. Both were very close with the finals in both games 3-1, but for most of the night I felt like Prince Avenue had the momentum.
The Cavs however found a way.
Jack Lipson pitched his normal strong game, but gave up a cheapy in the first and then two more in the fifth and De Sales didn't hit a lick. After seeing them score 2 runs in the last 12 inning and then not score for the first four innings of the second game I felt fairly sure they were done.
But Bubba Pool has a team that just wont quit and they scratched out one run in the fourth and two in the fifth and got excellent pitching from Adam Leverett and all of a sudden they are still alive in the three game series.
Let me talk about Leverett. The kid is just a winner, who unfortunately hasn't won much. He was the best player on a basketball team that barely won at all and he and Lipson have been aces on the baseball field their entire career, and they won a little, but never much.
This year is different as they notched win number 20 tonight. Winning this series would finally give them a win in something big.
Leverett struggled in the first and could not find his groove at the beginning, but once Desales scored he became a man on a mission. I asked him if he was getting frustrated by the lack of runs he was getting behind him and he basically said. "Yes I was frustrated, but I am the leadoff hitter and I didn't do anything with the bat, so how could I bee too upset. I just had to focus on getting outs.
Yep that's the kind of kid he is.
Now can they win the third game with both of their aces for the most part done. Well yeah I think they can. They will start with Zack Tong, who has pitched all of about 13 innings this year, can go to Lipson for maybe two innings with 30 pitches left, and then Bubba hinted that he was not scared to go with freshmen after that . He is very high on two freshmen pitcher and the way Bubba talked, he would not hesitate to go to either one. I hope I get to see it but the rain will have to cooperate tomorrow because my daughter graduates from college on Friday. Sorry Bubba I cant miss that .
Im saying it here, Go Cavs.
I ran into a couple of local coaches tonight and got to talk to Denny Bryant from FPD and Tyler Brown from Stratford and I filled them in on all the rumors. They got a kick out of them and denied all of em. They insisted that they did not know anything about a coach throwing bats on to the field after a game and they insisted that they are friends . Well I guess at least one of those rumors can be over because I think they are friends. But the bat episode, well that is still out on the rumor mill. I had friends promise me that a coach was chunking bats, helmets, players, whatever he could find on the field after a game was over..
I got a great chance, as I do everytime I see him , about Tyler brushing me off a few years ago when I asked him about letting a kid throw 141 pitches in a game. Tyler denied it, and said he just answered the question. Tyler I wont say anymore but you still owe me something and you still hold a rare distinction with me that I wont print.
Coaches have to have thick skin obviously and it is great to see them away from the pressures of winning games once in awhile.
Although it was a long night, I must admit, it was a good night. Macon is blessed to have these great coaches and parents, well you just need to be quiet once in awhile.
Have a great rest of the week
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