Rock 'em Sock 'em Baseball

Butler 4, Chillicothe 2

This game just wasn't the type of game for the Paints to get into a flow. All night long, it was basically well played baseball by the opposing team and the Paints just weren't able to get anything going. Hits were hard to come by in this game, and in the grand scheme of things, the Paints weren't doing a good job of focusing when it came to tight situations such as 3-2 counts, and I mean that for both offensively and defensively. The Paints did make this game fairly close and within striking distance, but it wasn't enough to overcome the first four runs cored in the game.

Rex Ingham wasn't really feeling it in this start. He made the start for the Paints, and he wouldn't have so good a day, getting in only four innings of work. Ingham gave up four runs on six hits and two walks allowed. He would strike out two batters but that would be it for him. Butler got to the pitching staff of the Paints fairly easily. I use the word "fairly" alot because I think that's appropiate. I wouldn't say that Butler made like gangbusters right off the bat, but it also didn't take too long for them to get their hits in against Paints pitchers.

Eric Heckaman would get in two innings of work for his relief appearance, and he would have an okay night, giving up three walks, with one of them being an intentional walk to load the bases with two outs, just to get the force play. Heckaman would strike out two batters and would keep Butler off the scoreboard. Butler would only score four runs all game, but still, that would be enough to pick up a much needed win for them. Krist Linster and Tony Davey would each pitch one inning of relief, and they did okay jobs as well. They held Butler down the best way they could.

I would like to note something before I dive into the statistics for the offense. I believe the offense has been a roller coaster for these past few weeks. I've been feeling that for some time now. There has been numerous shuffles of the lineup, and while I am definitely and advocate of shuffling up your lineups just to get something going, you can't overdo it as well. Sometimes you just have to stick with a lineup if you know that lineup is working the best for you. If you have a lineup that's clicking, then stick with it until it starts to fizzle out. All players are different when it comes to batting order. Maybe one guy is comfortable batting fifth in the lineup and he just doesn't feel good batting second. That's one of the things you have to consider.

Now let's get to the offense. Shortstop Ben Allen had an RBI single. Second baseman Kyle Gendron had a single. Right fielder Eian Banks had the most interesting night out of any Paints batter. Banks had two doubles, and at least one of them played a big role into scoring a run for the Paints. Unfortunately, he also got caught trying to steal second base to end the sixth inning, but still, he had a great day overall. DH Zach Frentsos had an RBI double and a single.

Center fielder Steven Mirizzi had a single and advanced to third base on a very interesting defensive blunder made by Butler. A throw apparently sailed past the infielders and found its way to the backstop. I also have to note that there were miscues in this game, but most of them were just the usual miscues that you could normally see a player make. This blunder just happened to be the bizarre mishap defensively. Defense is a pretty critical thing. You have to be as alert as you possibly can be when you're trying to prevent the other team from scoring runs. Many things change when you're on defense. You can be so stellar with the bat on offense, but you'd still need some help on defense.

Overall, this loss shouldn't be anything worry about. True, it is beginning to be crunch time, but considering what's going on around the Prospect League, I wouldn't be surprised to see some changes for both divisional races. The Quincy Gems are just rolling in the Western Division, and I apologize for not really keeping track of what they're doing, because they will be important to talk about if the Paints do happen to face them in the final round. The Eastern Division is pesky, and that would be the best word to describe this race right now. All five teams are still within reach. The Butler BlueSox have pulled within two games of the Paints for the lead, and they have been in a three-way tie for third place, so if anything, nothing has been decided yet.