As in life, all baseball errors are not created equal.
So it was in the first inning of the Warriors' Iowa USSSA State Baseball Tournament game against the Council Bluffs Titans on Saturday. After the Titans' leadoff batter singled and stole second base, the number two batter hit a bloop pop fly to shortstop Zach Zingula. Perhaps distracted by the base runner passing in front of him to third base -- and a near certain double play -- the ball bounced off Zingula's chest. Two pitches later, Titans pitcher Nathan Kramer homered to left field and the Warriors were down 3-0.
The Titans added two runs in the third and the Warriors responded with single runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings before falling 5-3.
The three Warrior runs were the first scored against the Titans in three tournament games. The Warriors also held them to half of their average score. The Titans opened with a 12-0 victory over the Iowa Mud Dawgs and beat the Urbandale JHawks 8-0.
But there are no moral victories in the state tournament.
The Warrior offense was more the story than its defense. Six Warrior batters combined for 10 strikeouts and the team managed just five hits, two of them by catcher Jordy Brown, who scored two runs and threw out three Titans attempting to steal second base. Max Versteegh scored the third Warrior run on a sacrifice bunt by Josiah Javier.
The Warriors await the conclusion of pool play to determine their fate, which most likely involves a spot in the consolation bracket. Our state title hopes rest on the remote chance we will earn the one wildcard spot in the championship bracket.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
State title hopes fade
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