Hitter of the week
Ryan Shavers- Cumberlands (KY): 9 hits- 15 at-bats, 9 runs, 4 homeruns, 12 runs batted in over 4 games.
Pitcher of the week
Michael Watson- Southwest Assemblies of God (TX): 7 innings pitched no hitter vs Central Christian with 15 punch outs. Final line- 7ip, 0h, 0r, 3bb, 15k
Touching Base- Week 8
A few thoughts from some of the happenings of the last week.
#1 Southeastern dominates #6 Webber International in our Big Series of the Week. And really except for the last game of the series it was not really that close at all, the Fire run ruled the Warriors on the day 1 double header in both games. Game 3 of the series was the only really competitive one by score, and that ended when Fire leadoff hitter Josh Pigozzo sent everyone home with a walk-off blast to center. SEU really flexed its muscles this weekend, and continues to be dominant in what should be the toughest schedule at this level. They’re hitting .370avg as a team, 86 home runs, and they’ve scored nearly 350 runs in 31 games. This is a team that is looking more and more dangerous as the year moves on.
Tennessee Wesleyan (TWU) bounced back in a big way this weekend after a mid-week loss to Bryan. While some weather in Lawrenceville, Georgia shifted the schedule around, TWU was able to grab themselves two top 10 wins. First in an 8-4 victory over #8 Mobile, then by a touchdown over #5 Georgia Gwinnett 21-14. The Grizzlies go 1-1 on the weekend, and Mobile will leave the weekend 0-2. Up next for TWU is some great midweeks, a rematch with Cumberland (TN), a home and away with a ranked Cumberlands (KY) squad, and a rematch with Bryan all over the next month.
A new top 25 is revealed this week by the league, and we do expect to see some teams who will have rising and falling stock. Over the last week we have even toyed with the idea of releasing our own Top 25 (we made one but you’ll probably never see it), along with 10 to Lewiston coming out later this week. If I had to give you one pick for a riser and one pick for a faller it would be this- RISING- Bellevue was 7-4 in the last poll, they’re now 17-4 with a win over #1 Southeastern. The Bruins have handled their business and won 10 straight, most of which have come with ease. On all 3 of our ballots for our own poll, all 3 voters (myself included in that 3) voted Bellevue in the top 10. FALLING- Georgetown entered the last poll at 17th on March 8th, since then they are 2-6 in their last 8, and 4-6 in their last 10 overall. These are not horrible losses, but they will fall, the same can be said for Vanguard who is 3-7 in their last 10. It remains to be seen how far each falls until we see what conference ratings look like, even at that there are some raters who I just never know what they will do for one reason or another.
- Robby Gutierrez