Prep Baseball: Good Team 58, Awful Team 0 (5 Innings)

Players of the Week
Johnny Bucktooth, Anderson County, OF
Went 15-for-15 with 15 home runs and 30 RBI in a 58-0 win over Eminence.

 

I wonder how many Eminence parents called up the paper to complain that their kids didn't get their name in the paper because too many Anderson kids had a good day at the plate.

 

Hard to understand, but with only one class it happens, especially in the counties with only one public high school. Those schools go outside the county to neighboring counties to play schools close by.

Most of the schools the size of Eminence are spread out across the state -- there are a few in Louisville, a few in Northern Kentucky and one or two in various counties out there -- and if they're going to play, they have to play some of the big county schools.

It sucks for the kids who are getting throttled on a regular basis, but it's the way the system is set up, unfortunately.

 

Right now, it's 10 after 5 no matter what; 12 after 4 and 15 after 3 if the coaches agree beforehand. Seems reasonable. Most coaches know going in what kind of game it's going to be, and only the hardasses won't agree to the early mercy rules if it's obviously going to be a blowout.

Worst beatdown I ever saw was eight or nine years ago. One of our locals was on its way to winning a state championship, and playing one of the inner-city schools that has no real baseball program to speak of. Both were Class 5A schools. Final score was 30-0. Local team threw its ace (it was the last game before the playoffs and I assume the coach wanted to get him some work), who became a first-round draft pick a few years later and is in the majors now. He walked three guys and picked off two of them before he threw another pitch. The third he had picked off, but the tag was late and the guy made it back safe. Dude had a great pickoff move, and to this day I'm convinced he walked those guys just to practice it.
Locals pulled their starters in the third inning after going up 16-0. The scrubs came in and scored another 15 runs in the third before the mercy rule finally ended it in the fourth.
While 58-0 is ridiculous, sometimes there's just not much you can do to avoid something like this.

 

Scotland School for Veterans' Children is a nice, tiny private school in south-central Pennsylvania which has done some really big things in basketball and track.

But when they finally dropped their baseball program about 10 years ago, I think my old high school's athletic director actually shed a tear.

They were our annual season opener. The score was always something like 27-0 or 24-0. Some not-ready-for-prime-time sophomore would get a few days of notoriety around school for throwing a five-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts. And there are lots of guys walking around my hometown who can say they hit a home run in high school baseball who otherwise would not have been able to.

 

What, you don't enjoy sitting and listening to the worst set of high school parents on Earth (wrestling parents have a beef though) for four hours while one team obliterates another hapless bunch? It's what prep sports are all about.

 

you only cover us when we lose by 58 runs!

 

Georgia does have a staggered mercy rule. 10 after 5, 15 after 3. Makes sense, but I figure it's gotta suck to take a two- or three-hour bus ride to play 3 innings.

 

Oh, I'm not so sure they prefer playing that fourth and fifth inning down 22-1.

 

That make me chuckle.

If the game was covered, I'd like to see the reporter's fucking mess of a scorebook. Or perhaps not.

 

Shit, Trey, if that was MY book, it would be immaculate, 58-0 or 2-1.

 

That sounds nice. My state only has 10 after 5. Gotta play five no matter what, which is bullshit.