Decided to wait at least 24 hours before posting my thoughts on this game so that A) I could gather my thoughts without emotion and B) so that everyone who was going to post something based on emotion would already be finished. Now that it has been pretty quiet on this thread for a few hours, I guess it is safe.
Yes, it was a disappointing game yesterday and it made for a longer ride home. That said, I was very proud of the way the team competed and carried themselves yesterday and all season long. I was also very proud of the fans that attended the game with me in Bloomington. Stagg struggled, but even after he was pulled he received a standing ovation. The fans were upbeat, positive and did their best to will the team to a victory. No one was negative, no one was calling out any players. It was refreshing.
Give Youngstown State credit, they played a very good game. We made three errors and they cashed in on each of them. They also had a beautiful hit and run that set up runners on the corners, they played good defense all day long and took advantage when they had guys in scoring position. We had errors, walks, hit batters, and when we did hit the ball hard it seemed to be right at someone frequently. We had more hits than Youngstown State, we just could not seem to string them together. We could not seem to get three or four in one inning. We always seemed to get them with one out or two and then could not get anyone in. Plus, out of our 10 or 11 hits, only one was for extra bases if memory serves me correctly.
In the end, that is baseball. It can be a funny game, and sometimes you hit the ball hard and it is right to someone, and sometimes you hit it softly and it just happens to find an area no one is in. Florida State was a number one seed, and was shut out for 17 straight innings, and when they did finally score in the 9th inning of their second (and last) game, it was with the help of 5 walks or hit batters. They went 0-2, as did Florida. Those teams had a lot more talent then us, but probably not half the heart.
Another season is over, and while it didn't end the way we wanted it to, it was an enjoyable ride. Just because a book doesn't have a happy ending doesn't mean it wasn't a great book. This season was fun, and the kids gave it everything they had. I couldn't help noticing that in the program, we were listed with only 27 players, while everyone else had 35 or in some cases more. Hannahs did more with less this season than anyone else could have, and I look forward to what he can do when he gets two or three full recruiting cycles under his belt.
Was still worth the drive out to Bloomington. Great stadium, great ISU fans to sit with and what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than watching a college baseball game?
