PEFYA's Fast-Break Style Puts Pressure On Opponents
Published 4:30 pm Thursday, July 7, 2011
They did it their way. They did it with no regrets.
The Prince Edward Farmville Minors team captured the District V championship with an impressive offensive showing, and enough pitching and defense to get the job done in what is historically one of the toughest Dixie Youth Baseball districts in the state.
They stretched singles into doubles. Doubles into triples. And triples into home runs.
If the game of baseball had five bases, rest assured, at some point they would've tried for a quintuple.
They stole bases in situations that the book specifically says to not steal bases.
They took big swings on 3-0 counts, and if it didn't work, they'd swing at 3-1.
They were aggressive, and seemed to revel in their role of playing The Gingerbread Man.
Go big or go home. When it did come time for them to go home, they took the big trophy with them. It was their first title since 1998.
In five games, PE Farmville scored a total of 78 runs, which averages out to 15.6 runs per game. They gave up 50 runs over the tournament (10 runs per game).
Take out its first-round 21-5 victory over Dinwiddie American, PE still managed to out-score its opposition by 12 runs (57-45).
The PE Farmville All-Stars scored at least one run in all but five innings over the tournament (23 total offensive innings). They never scored fewer than ten runs in any game.
They left just 25 runners on base (nine in the final contest – including Matt Osborn in the bottom of the sixth, as he was on first base when Tanner Cyrus crossed the plate with the winning run).
Though very aggressive, Prince Edward Farmville wasn't reckless. PE batters managed to draw 28 walks over the tournament (a little over five per game).
Though PEFYA was the home team in all five games, the All-Stars only used their final at bat once – in the championship game.
Now, they'll take their fast-break style to the Dixie Youth Baseball AAA State Tournament, which is slated to begin on Saturday, July 23.
Will some sly team lure the PE Farmville All-Stars close enough to end their run with one snap of the jaws? Perhaps. But it's safe to assume that they'll continue to go with what's worked so far, and why not?
Imagine picking up two or three runs per inning over the course of a game, and still having a feeling that it's not enough.
That's the pressure PE Farmville puts on its opposition.
It's one thing to put together a big inning here and there. It's quite another to feel you have to score at least three runs every time you come to the plate.
How often, at any level, do you feel that if your team can score 18 runs in a game it ought to be enough? Against this team, it might not be.
Catch them if you can, but if or when you do, be careful, because you're liable to get hit as they go down swinging.