It Ends With a Double

Justin played in the GWTBCA all-star game Sunday on a blistering hot afternoon with winds whipping around all day.  It was brutal in those aluminum stands at Moegle Field.

We got to see him be recognized before the game for being the 2A recipient of a scholarship from GWTBCA.  This was nice as there were only four scholarships granted from 5A-1A and Justin was awarded one of them.

Then later he reached base on an error at 2nd, but was promptly picked off first by the left handed pitcher.  When Justin went into the dugout, he sat down and said, “Daaaaannnggg!”  After which a teammate replied, “Yeah, I forgot to tell you he has a SICK pickoff move.”  Justin would not be the last this pitcher would get.  Another north runner was picked off by the same pitcher and a third should have been had not the 1st baseman misplayed the ball.  That must be SOME move.

Justin pitched the 3rd and 4th innings.  Didn’t stretch well before the appearance and didn’t have his best stuff, but still did pretty well.  The north defense let him down a little in the 3rd inning when a misplayed ball at 3rd base would have ended the inning with no runs scored.  For once he got Jace Chancellor to ground a simple hopper instead of drilling it back at the pitcher, and we still didn’t get him out! 

Instead, two runs scored before we got the third out.  He pitched the 4th inning and had another tough outing.  Three runs scored in the inning and it was mixture of leaving pitches up in the zone, a couple of walks, a hit batsman and more less than stellar defense.  Hey, to be honest, some of these boys are asked to play out of position in these games and it ends up showing eventually.  Justin didn’t do bad, but not what he’d hoped for.

He was the first batter up in the top of the 9th (9 inning games in this showcase) with his team down three, and drilled a line drive into left center than rolled to the wall for a standup double.  It’s just what his team needed.  Shallowater teammate Dusty Leach came in to run for him, which was a good move and one Justin supported.  The north eventually got two runs in to close it to 9-8 but lost the game by that one run.

So the kids last at bat in high school was a stand up double ripped to left center.  Not a bad way to end.

Last High School At Bat