Bobcats-Grizzlies Home Game Stalemate
#7 senior Ryan Torres on deck preparing his swing for when he takes the plate.
Lights out for Sage Creek Baseball’s first varsity home game. The Bobcats faced Mission Hills last night for their first home game of the season, but the ballgame never ended. Lack of lighting on the field led to the deprivation of a climactic ending for the first home game of the year.
The Bobcats came out first inning letting two runs and only getting on base once. By the second and third inning, Sage Creek upped their fielding skills by allowing no runs in both innings, but were opposed in fielding skill by not scoring either inning. With Mission Hills up to bat in the top of the fourth, #7 connected with the ball, driving it between second and first and passed the left fielder leading to the first score for the Grizzlies. The Bobcats approached the bottom of the fourth with a three run deficit, but they refused to give up.
#10 senior Jonathan Molina starts as pitcher for the Bobcats
By the bottom of the fifth, #16 senior Patrick Huston was able to hit in #5 junior Zach Thurman, but it didn’t stop there. #17 senior Drake Benner fired a line drive double over the shortstop scoring #3 sophomore Scott Anderson and #27 senior Tanner Blough to tie up the game at 3-3. Sage Creek had only flourished late in the game, but it began to pay off for them.
In the top of the sixth, #8 senior David Rudolph served the reliever roll as #10 senior Jonathan Molina retired with three runs scored against him. Mission Hills countered the pitching change by bunting numerous time which put runners on base. This soon led to another hit for #7 to take the game to a score of 3-4 going into the seventh inning with Sage Creek’s turn to answer.
Sage Creek continued to refuse to give up in their first home game. The Grizzlies fought hard and the Bobcats fought back, in a defining moment of the game, shortstop #3 sophomore Scott Anderson, filling in for #6 Sam “Wez” who injured his hamstring in a previous game, was going to make a double pay which required the first baseman to be away from his base. David Rudolph, who ran to cover first as Scott Anderson fired the ball at him, was unable to make the catch as he fell to the ground which let
#16 senior Patrick Huston slides back to first as the first baseman attempts to tag him out
the runner, #19, on third to score making it a 3-5 game. Bottom of the seventh, with Sage Creek in a deficit of 2 runs, #3 sophomore Scott Anderson drives the ball between second and first base to grant Sage Creek and RBI #16 senior Patrick Huston.
Once again, Sage Creek showed that they would not give up even in the later innings. To tie it up again, #17 senior Drake Benner connects with the ball to bring #27 senior Tanner Blough home, giving Benner his third RBI of the game.
The game was once again tied, with both teams sitting at 5 runs. Due to lack of lights, the ballgame had to be brought to an anticlimactic ending where the game ended as a tie after the 8th inning. Both teams were robbed of a proper ending to their hard fought battle. Both teams showed ferocity throughout the game with little sign of ever giving up. Through all innings, the two teams were loud and energized no matter the situation, especially in such a close game.
#5 junior Zach Thurman drives the ball, leading to an RBI #3 Scott Anderson
Coach Ryan Madsen gave his thoughts about the game and the lights situation, regarding it as “unfortunate” but also stating that most high schools don’t have lights for games closer to the winter where the sun goes down earlier than usual.
Coach Madsen expressed his views on the game and his team stating that, “A great thing about this team [Sage Creek] is their ability to never give up.”
This clearly showed that their spirit is not easily broken when odds are stacked against them.
#17 senior Drake Benner shared his thoughts about not receiving a proper ending to their first home game.
“I thought we had the chance to finish it in the seventh. Ending it in a tie isn’t what we wanted but it’s better than losing.”
Jack Lieberman is a senior at Sage Creek. Jack is a former varsity runner for the track & field team. He enjoys paintball, paddle boarding outside...
Caleb Strachan ◊ Mar 18, 2017 at 10:36 am
Jack, if I want to play teacher on this report, then I would have give you a F. First of all, since you have attended to the game, you have to pay attention 100%, not 50% like you did on the report. Examples are misplacing rosters like you report Scott Anderson on first base instead of short stop as he played on that position that he replaced Wez temporary because he pulled a muscle on his leg at Murrieta Mesa. Second account is that the events happening during the game are cumbersome that you didn’t pay attention to the players both offensive and defensive. Last account is about RBI. You don’t understand RBI. As far as I am concerned, RBI is when base runners score while the batter hits a finger (Example: Second base runners score when a batter hits a single). You wrote as if for an example like a player gets a RBI which it isn’t RBI at all. I have the scorebook to show evidence on what exactly happened as I, the team manager, will explain this to you. I record on the scorebook FYI. If you make a next report again on baseball, you have to keep your eyes and ears open carefully on what’s going on.
Thanks,
Caleb J. Strachan
Team Manager
Sage Creek Baseball
Joey Babcock ◊ Mar 25, 2017 at 1:59 pm
Let the boy write his articles in peace. You could have no one writing about baseball in the first place. If you want to correct some wrong info, then let them know. There is no need to “play teacher” on a student trying his best to write articles.
Sean Weber ◊ Mar 27, 2017 at 8:55 pm
Thank you Joey for standing up for Jack and standing up to this dissapointing comment. This comment by Mr. Strachan was wholly disrespectful, inappropriate, rude, immature, and lacking in its content. While it was long winded in its reply, it was rather circuitous. RBI was poorly defined and if someone wants a definition of RBI, gosh dang-it they can GOOGLE IT. And the fact that he didn’t “pay attention to the players both offensive and defensive.” Oh child please, does anyone really want to read a novel about a flipping high school baseball game. Hay to the no. Jack did a wonderful job with what he was given…
I’m tired of seeing rude, crude, and prude comments being thrown on The Sage willy nilly. If someone does not have something nice, constructive, meaningful, or otherwise kind to say…take that comment and shove it right into the trash can.