Angels Win 10-4 over White Sox

The Morgantown Angels defeated the Brown County White Sox 10-4 in last night’s contest.  The Angels are now 1-0 on the season and have to finish a previous rained out game against Edinburgh this Friday and then take on the Edinburgh Giants in a Saturday contest.

Despite striking out 13 times in 5 innings, the Angels were able to manufacture 10 runs.  This was due to a great first inning rally in which 10 batters came to the plate.  The Angels started the game with 5 hits, 2 walks and another batter reaching on an error despite 2 strikeouts.

The Angels scored again in the top of the 3^rd resulting from a walk and a series of wild pitches and a pass ball.  Three more runs scored in the top of the 5^th with a double after two walks in the inning.

The White Sox scored one in the 1^st and three in the 2^nd.  The Angels held the Sox three straight scoreless innings to thanks to good pitching and a great double play in the bottom of the 5^th to shut down an early rally.

Reb went 0-2 with a walk and run scored.  Defensively he made the putout on the end of the rally busting double play in the bottom of the 5^th.  He redeemed himself after making an error in the inning setting up the potential rally.

Overall it was a very good game despite some questionable calls and constant arguing by the White Sox coaching staff.  The first controversy was the result of an illegal bat being used by the Sox.  This was actually the most comical of the controversies.  Most league rules have a maximum bat size of 33 inches in length and 2 ¼ inches in diameter.  The White Sox argument was that they had been give a rule book different than everyone else that listed a bat size of 2.61 in diameter.  What was the size of the bat they were attempting to use?  Well, it was 2 5/8 inches in diameter.  Need I say anymore!

The second controversy was the allowance of innings per pitcher.  The Sox argued it was 7 innings a week when the rule clearly states a pitcher can pitch a maximum of 3 innings per game.

Controversial plays by the umpire included the infield fly rule, the shortstop touching or not touching 2^nd base on a double play attempt, and a very generous strike zone.  However, it must be noted that the strike zone was consistently called on both sides.

However, MLB has nothing on Little League umpires.  Most never have any training and there is zero accountability.  Brown County did not have a base ump last night which causes its own problems.  This leads to a lot of umpires interpreting the rules how they think it should be rather than what actually is.  For instance the infield fly rule last night.  It was a Texas League blopper to center field about 30 feet into the outfield.  The infielders nor the center fielder was able to make a play on it because they did not have time to get under the ball.  It was worse than the infamous infield fly last year in the MLB Braves vs. Cardinals game.

While human error is part of the game, it would go a long way if these local leagues would provide training for umpires and only use umpires who have been certified according to local requirements.

The Angels head to Edinburgh Friday and Saturday.