Friday, March 21, 2008
The Daily Pooch Punt: 3/21/08
You don’t step on Superman’s cape.
You don’t spit in the wind.
You don’t wear an authentic Yankee jersey into the heart of Boston.
And, when you have Turner Ashby baseball on the ropes you totally, unequivocally and with authority, have to slam the door on the perennial state power. These are all things you need to know in life.
Really? You don’t believe me? Then ask the R.E. Lee baseball team that held a 2-1 lead over the Knights heading into the sixth inning Thursday at Moxie Stadium.
“We didn’t get beat today,” said first-year Lee coach Bobby Humphrey. “We lost this game. We just gave it to [TA].”
That’s seems to be the problem for Augusta County teams in recent years, namely last season when the Little Giants did the same thing at the KC in their first meeting with the Knights. Sure, that game in 2007 had a lot more meaning since, back then, Waynesboro and Turner Ashby were in the same district. (Cue reminiscing music as you slowly turn your head toward the sky, let out a deep sigh and whisper, “Ah, the old Valley District.” ) But, and this is the truth, yo. It doesn’t matter what you call it, the Southern Valley (bleh), the Massanutten (a little better), the Shenandoah (tops, baby. Tops.) or whatever, if you want to establish yourself as a legitimate state-title contender then, when the Knights and that minor league baseball program they call a varsity team, come to your house you do not give the game away. The Leemen learned that Thursday.
And another thing: “We missed our opportunities today,” Humphrey said. Um, yeah. You think?
Hey look: Waynesboro baseball commits only two errors (down from five and four in the last two games) and manages to hammer Rockbridge 13-1 for its first Southern Valley win. Connect the dots, people.
OK, after striking out seven batters in five innings whilst giving up only four hits in the win, can we stop calling Joseph Lucas James’ little brother?
“You can’t ask anything better from a kid,” coach Jim Critzer said of his No. 1 gun. “That kid doesn’t brag, he doesn’t tell you what he’s going to do, he does it.”
Hey, I just said we can stop calling him James’ little brother. I never said he wouldn’t act like his older brother.
Sure, it’s forgone conclusion that Fort Defiance will run away with the Southern Valley softball title (barring nuclear war, injuries and a SARS outbreak), but I thought football season didn’t start until August? What, you ask? The score people. Indians 24, Blue Streaks 7. Wow.
If Waynesboro softball is looking for some legitimacy to its 1-0 district and 2-1 overall record, guess who the Little Giants have to beat? Yep, you guessed it.
At least we now know Waynesboro can win a softball game and a Whiffle Ball contest.