Hitter of the week
Cole Turney- Cumberland (TN): 7h-11ab, 9 runs, 6 home runs, 12 runs batted in, 2 stolen bases, 5 walks in 4 games.
Pitcher of the week
Xavier Rodriguez- Webber International (FL): 7 inning no hitter vs Aquinas with 9 strikeouts. Final line- 7ip, 0h, 0r, 1bb, 9k
Touching Base- Week 7
A few thoughts from some of the happenings of the last week.
Mobile sweeps Blue Mountain in the Big Series of the Week! Game 1 was a thriller that featured Mobile scoring 2 runs in the top half of the 9th to pull off the victory, and two of the three games featured late Mobile rallies to win games. For BMC there should be obvious disappointment, as 9th inning leads were blown twice in the series. There should also be some optimism as BMC is playing some highly competitive baseball. For Mobile what lays in wait is a Top 5 weekend with games against #2 Tennessee Wesleyan and #5 Georgia Gwinnett. This is a huge opportunity for Mobile to throw themselves into the upper-echelon of teams this season for good, and can also be a major head turner weekend.
Next week the league will release the 2nd in-season edition of the Top 25 coaches poll rankings. I do expect there to be some moves made, which what makes this weekend important. The issue with the coaches poll is that these league raters are coaches, they are playing at the same time and dont get to see each other play. Hence why overall results are important enough for each weekend. I don’t 9 new teams like we had in the last poll, but I do not think it will be less than 3 in this new one.
#14 Bellevue hands #1 Southeastern it’s first loss this season in a 7-4 victory in Lakeland, Florida. Personally at #14 I think Bellevue is underrated overall, the Bruins are 4-2 against the current top 25, stepped up to the call of winning a game in a tough place in Lakeland, and have done a majority of it on the road this year. Mathieu Sirois hasn’t had a flashy year but has made it count when his team needed him with a leadoff homer in the 9th. Then teammate Jake Lacey opened even more breathing room with a 2 run homer with 2 outs in the 9th. Bellevue is as solid as solid comes year in and out, they are a team who is competitive more times than not. As for Southeastern fans, I think you’ll be just fine.