Re: 2018 State Tournaments
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:29 amSome Post-Tournament thoughts...
The Teams:
A lot was asked about the "West catching up to the East"... it seems that there was plenty of parity at times this weekend between the two sides of the state. As far as the the tournament seedings, it seemed to be pretty much legitimate. A couple of close games could have gone either way, but I think all teams kind of finished in the general vicinity of their seeding.
Watford: Decent team effort. After getting hit pretty hard by CC, came back with respectable efforts in the Friday and Saturday games.
Heart River: Their pitcher was really fun to watch and definitely the leader of the team. Kind of got rattled after getting hit pretty hard in game 1 - probably the first time it has happened. Regardless, a solid team but could use a little more offense.
Northern Cass: I think they played their best softball late in the year which is what you want. A little more consistency will keep these girls in future state tournaments.
Kindred: Definitely not the Kindred team from the past few years, but still solid with good hitters. Klinnert will be missed - curious as to who they have in the wings for the mound duties.
Thompson: Decent team with good bats. Have the athletes to compete but the errors/ unearned runs need to be cleaned up. Those things hurt them all three days, but Saturday was particularly silly. Some consistency will go a long way for them.
Bishop Ryan: This team kind of surprised me, honestly. No aspect really blew me away, but they were solid enough to make plays and they put strings of hits together at the right times to get some nice wins. I expect them to hang around the top tier for a while.
Des Lacs: Another terrific pitcher leading a solid team. Timely batting and consistent play got them to the 'ship. Wouldn't be surprised to see them knocking on that door again next year.
Central Cass: Without question the most complete team in the tournament - it's obvious they take their softball seriously in Casselton. They got what they deserved - a state championship. With Buhr hanging around another year, they will definitely wear the 2019 target on their backs as the favorite to repeat.
The Facility:
For me, I liked the venue. The open seating combined with some bleachers in the outfield was great as far as I was concerned. The seating areas behind the plate and by the dugouts seemed to be a little cramped, but that'll happen. Field was in nice shape from my point of view. With respect to the other comment - don't all batters boxes get "dug-out" throughout the game? I recall a lot of craters by the end of the games I played in (but that was a while ago, I guess!).
I really liked being able to go back and forth to the baseball games too. Having the Class B tournaments together for softball and baseball is great. With Jamestown having the facilities so close to each other - it's a no-brainer to me.
Umps
Was the Saturday delay really caused by the officials thinking the first game was at 11 instead of 10? That was the rumor, anyway. If so - do better.
If not - still do better. I disagree with a couple of the calls you made this past weekend.
Congrats to all the teams for giving the fans a good state tournament. I really enjoyed it.
The Teams:
A lot was asked about the "West catching up to the East"... it seems that there was plenty of parity at times this weekend between the two sides of the state. As far as the the tournament seedings, it seemed to be pretty much legitimate. A couple of close games could have gone either way, but I think all teams kind of finished in the general vicinity of their seeding.
Watford: Decent team effort. After getting hit pretty hard by CC, came back with respectable efforts in the Friday and Saturday games.
Heart River: Their pitcher was really fun to watch and definitely the leader of the team. Kind of got rattled after getting hit pretty hard in game 1 - probably the first time it has happened. Regardless, a solid team but could use a little more offense.
Northern Cass: I think they played their best softball late in the year which is what you want. A little more consistency will keep these girls in future state tournaments.
Kindred: Definitely not the Kindred team from the past few years, but still solid with good hitters. Klinnert will be missed - curious as to who they have in the wings for the mound duties.
Thompson: Decent team with good bats. Have the athletes to compete but the errors/ unearned runs need to be cleaned up. Those things hurt them all three days, but Saturday was particularly silly. Some consistency will go a long way for them.
Bishop Ryan: This team kind of surprised me, honestly. No aspect really blew me away, but they were solid enough to make plays and they put strings of hits together at the right times to get some nice wins. I expect them to hang around the top tier for a while.
Des Lacs: Another terrific pitcher leading a solid team. Timely batting and consistent play got them to the 'ship. Wouldn't be surprised to see them knocking on that door again next year.
Central Cass: Without question the most complete team in the tournament - it's obvious they take their softball seriously in Casselton. They got what they deserved - a state championship. With Buhr hanging around another year, they will definitely wear the 2019 target on their backs as the favorite to repeat.
The Facility:
For me, I liked the venue. The open seating combined with some bleachers in the outfield was great as far as I was concerned. The seating areas behind the plate and by the dugouts seemed to be a little cramped, but that'll happen. Field was in nice shape from my point of view. With respect to the other comment - don't all batters boxes get "dug-out" throughout the game? I recall a lot of craters by the end of the games I played in (but that was a while ago, I guess!).
I really liked being able to go back and forth to the baseball games too. Having the Class B tournaments together for softball and baseball is great. With Jamestown having the facilities so close to each other - it's a no-brainer to me.
Umps
Was the Saturday delay really caused by the officials thinking the first game was at 11 instead of 10? That was the rumor, anyway. If so - do better.
If not - still do better. I disagree with a couple of the calls you made this past weekend.
Congrats to all the teams for giving the fans a good state tournament. I really enjoyed it.