1:00pm @ Reckling Park vs. Lamar
14 innings

Rice pitchers: Fox, McCarthy, Lemond, Teykl, McDowell, McCanna, Rutter, Stephens and A Orewiler

Appears Fox, McCarthy and Lemond will all be stretched a bit (2-3 innings each), with the others each pitching one inning.

Rice beat Lamar 11 - 7 in 14 innings. Here's the line score...

Lamar: 7 runs (3 unearned), 8 hits, 2 errors
Rice: 11 runs, 21 hits, 3 errors

Pitching-wise, I was most impressed with Ryan McCarthy, who continues to excel during Fall Ball. In did give up 2 runs in his first inning of work (one unearned), but it was primarily the result of a couple cheap hits (one an infield hit on what looked to be a 6-3 ground out; the other on a bad hop over 3B). He came back to dominate in his final two innings of work, retiring the final 6 batters faced (3 Ks, 3 ground balls).

Trevor Teykl pitched two scoreless innings, but was hit hard (4 line drive outs to go along with a single). Lemond, Rutter and Stephens each pitched one scoreless and hitless frame. Blake Fox again started for the Owls, and he again was a ground ball throwing machine. Unfortunately, he lost his command/control in the 2nd inning (HBP, 2 BBs), which resulted in 2 unearned runs scoring after an error and single. He gave up a couple more hits in his 3rd inning of work, but a double play allowed him to escape further damage. McCanna also had control issues in his two innings of work, which resulted in one run scoring, but did record 3 Ks. His curveball was outstanding. McDowell struggled in his one inning of work, giving up two runs on a double, wild pitch, walk and single.

Offensively, the team continue to impress...and the bunting continues to be excellent. (I think we had 5 successful sac bunts today, with at least 2 going for singles.) Keenan Cook led the way with 5 hits (all singles), while Skyler Ewing had 3 hits (double) and 3 RBIs, and Andrew Dunlap hit a HR and had 5 RBIs in 3 ABs. Multiple hit days were also had by Hoelscher, Warren, C.Teykl and Reeves.

appreciate the notes

nice summary Walt

From Section F we could hear Wayne remark expressively in the 12th inning something about 9 (at that point) walks and a hit batter yielded by the Owls.

Nice summary by Walt. The bats were alive. Sklyer was on fire (I arrived when it was 4-4 and left heading into the bottom of 12 or so, so I missed some of the pyrotechnics).

I don't want to jinx the team, but this could be our best offense since the mid-'00s teams with Savery, Henley, Friday, Dodson, Lehman, Luna, et al. Not an easy out anywhere in the lineup...and we've got great righty-lefty balance. I can envision a lineup as follows...

Against LHP:
Byrd (switch hitter)
Hoelscher (right-handed)
Aquino ®
Reeves ®
Cook (L)
Ewing ®
Stainback (switch)
Williamson (L)
Dunlap ®/Warren (L)/Kopycinski ® as DH

Against RHP:
Warren (L)
Byrd (S)
Aquino ®
Reeves ®
Cook (L)
Ewing ®
Hoelscher ®
Williamson (L)
Stainback (S)
w/Blake Fox (L) manning 1B when Ewing backs up Reeves at C.

Good speed with Byrd, Warren, Cook and Williamson
Good power with Aquino,, Ewing and Dunlap
...and with everyone capable of hitting above .280.

The key is going to be for a couple additional pitchers to step up. Clearly, Stephens will be the staff ace and Friday starter, with Lemond likely to remain in the bullpen, but to be used in the CSC role; meaning he'll pitch 3 times per week for up to 6 - 8 innings per week. Both should be preseason all-conference and all-american candidates. At this point, it appears Blake Fox is getting every opportunity to earn a weekend starter role (which is affordable with John Williamson and Holt McNair as southpaw options out of the bullpen). We need a couple guys from amongst McCanna, McDowell, Duplantier and McCarthy to step up in starting roles and give us consistently solid outings. In the bullpen, we need to get Matt Ditman healthy, and Evan Rutter back to his Freshman form. Those two, along with McNair, Williamson and T.Teykl, should provide middle inning support for Lemond...and the Orewiler brothers could also enter the mix. Also, with luck, Dunlap will be back pitching again come January.

(10-20-2013 11:42 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  I don't want to jinx the team, but this could be our best offense since the mid-'00s teams with Savery, Henley, Friday, Dodson, Lehman, Luna, et al. Not an easy out anywhere in the lineup...and we've got great righty-lefty balance. I can envision a lineup as follows...

Against LHP:
Byrd (switch hitter)
Hoelscher (right-handed)
Aquino ®
Reeves ®
Cook (L)
Ewing ®
Stainback (switch)
Williamson (L)
Dunlap ®/Warren (L)/Kopycinski ® as DH

Against RHP:
Warren (L)
Byrd (S)
Aquino ®
Reeves ®
Cook (L)
Ewing ®
Hoelscher ®
Williamson (L)
Stainback (S)
w/Blake Fox (L) manning 1B when Ewing backs up Reeves at C.

Good speed with Byrd, Warren, Cook and Williamson
Good power with Aquino,, Ewing and Dunlap
...and with everyone capable of hitting above .280.

The key is going to be for a couple additional pitchers to step up. Clearly, Stephens will be the staff ace and Friday starter, with Lemond likely to remain in the bullpen, but to be used in the CSC role; meaning he'll pitch 3 times per week for up to 6 - 8 innings per week. Both should be preseason all-conference and all-american candidates. At this point, it appears Blake Fox is getting every opportunity to earn a weekend starter role (which is affordable with John Williamson and Holt McNair as southpaw options out of the bullpen). We need a couple guys from amongst McCanna, McDowell, Duplantier and McCarthy to step up in starting roles and give us consistently solid outings. In the bullpen, we need to get Matt Ditman healthy, and Evan Rutter back to his Freshman form. Those two, along with McNair, Williamson and T.Teykl, should provide middle inning support for Lemond...and the Orewiler brothers could also enter the mix. Also, with luck, Dunlap will be back pitching again come January.

Any idea what is going on with Dunlap and Ditman?

Thanks for the summary of the scrimmage Walt.