Collapsing Late In The Game

Butler 7, Chillicothe 3

For this game at Butler Pullman Park, the Chillicothe Paints and the Butler Blue Sox were going at it for quite some time, but when things got going, the Blue Sox kept up with the pace, and the Paints weren't able to respond. When it comes to the field surfaces of Pullman Park, the two separate surfaces did play some sort of factor in this game, though I must admit, it didn't play a huge factor. The main factor was that the pitching didn't come up with the stops for the Paints when they needed to have them. It's hard to really describe it because this game was back and forth until the seventh inning.

Starting pitcher A.J. Achter was battling all throughout his start. He was being such a competitor out there doing whatever he could to keep the Paints in the game, but there came a time where everything was just dropped like a net full of dodge balls in a school gym. Once again, I'm not very good at making analogies, but I guess you could say the weight was beginning to be too much for Achter once he got deeper into his start.

It also didn't help that the umpiring for this game was once again below par. I try not to get picky these days because of the fact that this is just a collegiate baseball league, and the atmosphere is kind of toned down, but I still have to say that the umpires need to stop changing the strike zone for the teams who are playing. It almost seems like they switch from one strike zone to another for different teams. I'm not saying that they intentionally do this, but I don't think they're aware that they're doing this.

As for Achter, he did a good job for the most part until the chaotic seventh inning. He pitched 6 innings deep into his start, and he would give up 5 runs off 6 hits allowed. He would also give up 4 walks. It was just an up and down start for Achter, as in there were times that he was looking really good, but then he would start to struggle at other times. Give the Blue Sox credit here. They did what they had to do to get to Achter, and if I may say so, they picked the greatest time to get to Achter because they were down 3-2 to the Paints after Eian Banks went deep for a solo homerun.

Krist Linster got rocked in his outing, going 2/3 of an inning and giving up three hits and a walk. He would give up two runs. Brad Schnitzer would also get into the game in relief, but he got in at a time when the smoke was clearing. The 5 run rally made by the Blue Sox in the seventh inning was all that mattered when you talk about the final score.

Now with the offense, Kyle Galbraith had three singles and an RBI. Ben Allen scorched a sacrifice fly that would drive in a run. Andrew Marshall would get in two singles. Kyle Gendron had a single. Eian Banks went deep for a solo homerun shot in the top of the seventh inning, and this solo homerun was special in that it cleared the left field fence. The left field foul pole is listed at 347 feet, so it's not short by any means. The very fact that Eian Banks cleared that long distance is an interesting feat for sure. I was amazed to hear the call from Greg Bigam at first. It was really surprising. When was the last year the Paints had to deal with a foul pole that was deeper than 335 feet?

I could tell that strategy was at work for this game. Blue Sox manager Jason Wuerfel did a great job of directing traffic for his own pitching staff. Jason has experience from being a coach with the Traverse City Beach Bums of the Frontier League, and I believe that he's going to do great things for the Butler Blue Sox in the future. I can't blame my hometown manager Brian Mannino for questioning the calls made by the umpires. He had every right to question the calls because he had very good views of the strike zone himself. This hasn't been the first time that Mannino has questioned umpire calls. He has done this throughout the year.