Lady Pilgrims know how to host a Senior Night
PLYMOUTH - Here are some sports tidbits from the area for your reading pleasure while I try to figure out if my heating/air conditioning thermostat should be set on ‘cool’ or ‘heat’.
What a game
The sports adages ‘It’s a game of inches’ and ‘The ball just didn’t bounce our way’ are probably overused, but Plymouth’s softball win over Warsaw Monday was literally decided by a bounce that would have created a completely different result if the ball was hit one inch further.
With the Lady Pilgrims leading by three runs in the top of the 7th inning, Warsaw had the bases loaded, one out and its No. 5 batter up to the plate. She crushed the ball and from my vantage point, I thought it was a home run. That would have given the Lady Tigers a one-run lead and who knows if Plymouth would have tied it up or won in the bottom half of the inning. It would have been a crushing defeat since PHS led comfortably throughout the first six innings, it was Senior Night, and the seniors were instrumental in Plymouth enjoying the lead all game long. The ball hit the top of the fence though, and you would think with that momentum it would carry over the fence, but it did not. It came back and Elsaya bohm caught it.
Initially, there was all kinds of confusion. Was it an out? Is the ball live? Can the runners advance? Did the umpires even see it? The correct call was the ball was live. all but one runner eventually sprinted to the next base - maybe not knowing if it was live or if they were tagging up. The only runner who did not advance stayed at first base where the batter was now standing and was called out. at first I thought she was called out because two players cannot occupy the same base, but Plymouth’s defense made a headsup play and threw to second base to force out that runner. So the batter, who just missed a
potential game-winning grand slam by inches, officially does not even get credit for a hit, but a fielder’s choice for those scoring at home. One run scored, the second out was made and fortunately, Plymouth got the next batter out on a much more routine play to end the game.
In the first meeting between these two longtime NLC rivals, Plymouth led 5-1 after three innings, then the teams combined for 24 runs in a wild final four frames (13 for PHS, 11 for WHS) with the Lady Pilgrims eventually winning, 18-12. This time,
Plymouth was leading 5-1 after four innings and even though there wasn’t nearly as many runs scored late in the game, it had just as much excitement at the end.
What a year it has been for the Lady Pilgrims. Last year the team won 10 games and they are there now with seven regular season games to play. In ’22, the record was 5-20. In ’21, 0-26. There was no season in ’20 due to the pandemic. This program has come a long way in the past three years. Keep up the great work young ladies!
Found the solution?
There has been a lot of talk in the last couple years about a shortage of officials. Recently, an umpire may have stumbled onto a way around it - let the players make the call. Let me explain.
I’ve seen a ton of baseball/softball games over the years, even played in hundreds of them, but I had never seen this before. a pitch was made and it clearly (to me and many others) hit the batter on his shoulder as he tried to turn away. The umpire yelled ‘foul ball’, but then he
ter if he was hit by the pitch. The batter said ‘yes’ and the umpire said something along the lines of ‘Oh, then go on down to first base.’ The umpire did not ask his partner, but the batter. What’s next? ‘Hey, did you check swing on that?’ ‘Yes I did.’ ‘That’s a ball then.’ Or how about on balls and strikes? Just ask the catcher. ‘Was that a strike?’ ‘Yes. It always is.’ Just think how fast the games would move. Of course, if you ask the batter, the answer will be just the opposite so maybe we do need officials after all.
Signals
I’m old school when it comes to baseball/softball so I’ve never been a fan of the coaches shouting out number sequences instead of flashing signals from the third base coaching box for bunts, steals, etc. But what really drives me nuts is when a coach will shout out a sequence when the situation clearly does not need any signal. If your team is down 15 runs, there are no runners on and it’s full count, you don’t need to shout out ‘532’. Is that the sign for ‘please get a 16-run homer?’ Please coaches: You don’t need a signal for every pitch.
NBA whiners
Speaking of officials, it’s that time again where NBA teams will blame the refs for losing playoff games. Yes, calls late in a game can effect the outcome, but where was your team the previous 46 minutes? There are going to be missed calls. All game. Quit blaming the refs. Maybe your power forward is not as great as you think.
Lancer Relays
Laville recently hosted its annual Lancer Relays track meet. It’s a little different format where the running events are various relays and the field events combine the results of multiple teammates to get a score. But I was thinking, what if these changes were made? Wouldn’t this spice things up a little? For pole vault, instead of adding the heights cleared from each team’s entries, what if the vaulters ran a relay race and used the pole as the baton? That would be fun. Same with discus; instead of adding the throw lengths, let the discus throwers run a relay race and use the discus as the baton. For the high jumpers, maybe have a running race but incorporate a jump in it somehow? You have to clear a certain height before you can hand off the baton? All of these are silly of course, but right now they do a shuttle relay for the hurdlers where they run both directions on the track. That’s a little silly isn’t it?
Golfers getting down
As the weather has begun to improve so to have the scores for local high school golfers. The Plymouth and Culver Academy teams get a great opportunity this Saturday as both are part of the CMA Invitational that will be played at the Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame. Known as one of the best collegiate courses in the country, Warren hosted the US Senior Open back in 2019. When they let the rough grow long there, the course has the feel of a British Open course with its tall heather grass. Stonehenge Golf Course in Warsaw has the same look as well and that is where Plymouth will play on May 25 (Warsaw Invite) and for sectionals (June 3).
New “official” sports
Girls wrestling and boys volleyball will be official IHSAA sports beginning next school year. The number of participants locally for girls wrestling has increased dramatically the past two years and will probably continue to do so. Boys volleyball will be a spring sport. Only a couple schools in all of northern Indiana have tinkered with it so it might take a while for area schools to see enough interest. It will have to be the larger schools that try it though, since you are pulling athletes away from track and baseball primarily. I am always impressed by the power the girls show when spiking. Can you imagine some of the high-flying boys pounding it down?