Might we see another "arms race?"
"Good pitching beats good hitting."
That old saw's been around longer than I have.
And it's as applicable to high school baseball as it is to The Show.
Monday at Clay City a couple of future Division I pitchers made high school hitters look like, well, high school kids.
Clay City coach Kyler Rhodes and Shakamak skipper Todd Gambill trotted their aces to the mound for what promised to be a classic pitchers' duel.
Hunter Wolfe toed the rubber for the Eels. Gambill handed the ball to Braden Scott.
Scott has signed to pitch for the Marshall Thundering Herd and Wolfe will suit up for the Old Gold and Black at Purdue University.
Both hurlers are southpaws. Good lefthanded arms are always in demand.
And the pair of aces delivered as expected.
Scott struck out 16 Eels and walked just one. The Laker lefty gave up just two hits - singles by Noah Denker and Austin Stevenson. He struck out the side in three straight frames - the fourth through the sixth - sitting the Eels down in order.
Wolfe was nearly as brilliant, fanning 15 and allowing four hits, all singles.
Rhodes told me, "The home plate umpire after the game said that was one of the best-pitched games he's seen in a long time. We knew it was going to be a pitchers' duel and we had to try to do anything we could to get a run. But we just couldn't get it across."
They couldn't. In the end Scott and the Lakers prevailed, 1-0.
The lone run scored on a wild pitch in the fifth frame.
Rylee Landry got aboard on a seeing-eye single through the hole between third and short. Clay City had no play on Tanner Yeryar's grounder, putting two runners on for Shakamak.
Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball and Landry raced home on the ensuing wild pitch.
Parker Green, on a loud foul and subsequent lined smash to left for a base hit, and Yeryar on a flyout, were the only Lakers to hit Wolfe hard all night.
Green blasted Wolfe's offering down the left field line for an apparent home run. And from the vantage point Gambill and I shared, it looked fair.
I guess the man in blue had a better view than Todd and I did.
But when bat speed meets pitch velocity just right, the ball can go a long way.
If Wolfe hadn't uncorked a high hard one just beyond the reach of backstop Brenan Walker these two might still be playing.
At least until the coaches were forced to go to the bullpens.
Which brings me to my next point...
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Teams at this level usually aren't afforded the luxury of having three or four quality starting pitchers.
Most teams aren't quite the same without the ace on the hill.
There are exceptions - but for most teams, there is a noticeable drop-off between the "top gun" and the rest of the staff.
Which is why it's pointless to attempt to handicap Saturday's next installment of the "Game of the Year" between Shakamak and Linton-Stockton based on comparative scores.
Two weeks ago the Miners pounded out 13 hits in a lopsided 12-0 win over Clay City.
Wolfe wasn't pitching.
Would the outcome have been different if it was?
It's doubtful Linton-Stockton could have gotten to Wolfe for double-digit hits and runs. But the Eels couldn't touch Logan Hollingsworth either. The Miner ace surrendered just one hit to Clay City, a scratch single.
I'll be shocked if Scott and Hollingsworth aren't throwing when the Lakers come to Linton Saturday.
And if they are, expect another "arms race."
I've had Saturday, May 7 circled on my calendar since the beginning of the season.
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Did I mention last week Bloomfield has been on a roll of late? Well, the Cardinals have kept rolling along.
Bloomfield has now won six of its last seven after Wednesday's 3-1 win at Loogootee.
Cole Deaton tossed a complete-game three-hitter for the Cards. Loogootee's run was unearned.
If the Cardinals had been playing the brand of baseball they've played lately for the entire season, Bloomfield might have reversed a few of those early-season losses that are looking like head-scratchers in retrospect.
The Cardinals have a big conference rivalry game coming up Friday at Eastern Greene.
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And lastly, congratulations to White River Valley on its record-breaking tenth win of the season setting a new single-season high for the Wolverine program!
Terry's Weekly Rankings
1. Shakamak (10-6, 4-0)
2. Linton-Stockton (11-3, 5-0)
3. Bloomfield (6-7, 2-3)
4. White River Valley (10-5, 1-3)
5. Eastern Greene (4-6, 1-3)
NOTE: Records are through May 5
Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.
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