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PL Tourney Time

chipporter

First Captain
Jul 10, 2007
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Personally, I think Bucknell may have its hands full with Lafayette. Lafayette has been a bi polar team this year and it really depends on which one shows up, the ones that can hit the ball or the ones that look at pitches. Bucknell has the definite edge in pitching, but Lafayette can muster enough sticks to cause Bucknell fits...we'll see.

Army is just on a flat out tear at the dish now. Clint Moore has hiked it up and just told the world, I'm gonna beat ya. When you follow up Moore with McKague and Henshaw, opposing pitchers have to pitch to them. The one time opposing pitchers tried pitching around McKague this year, when he was hitting 5th, Koenigsfeld hitting sixth, made them pay, and pay and pay.

Fouch is back to form, Koenigsfeld is steady Eddy on the mound, and Porter is back to form after a week of shoulder stiffness that's gone away. Back that up with Henshaw and Anderegg in the bullpen, and the edge is Army...by a wide margin.

HC's third baseman, Perry is a solid player, great hitter, I just don't see enough around him to make them a series winner.

Hopefully, the guys will spend Mothers Day Sunday at brunch with their Moms because they wrapped up the semifinal series on Saturday.

GO ARMY!
 
Good points all across and I think they will have a good Mother's Day !
 
great analysis by Ruff on the head to head with Holy Cross.

What does Army have to do to receive a NCAA bid?

Army vs HC
 
With Lafayette beating Bucknell Army will be home for the series this weekend. Beat Lafayette in the series this weekend and Army will be going to the NCAA tournament.

If they make it I hope they play somewhere near NC as I will travel to support the team if they play near where I live.

Go Army!!!
 
Lafayette's weakness is its pitching. Even in our loss, we scored 8 runs and the umps took us out of two innings where we were threatening, with bad calls.

If you look at the stats from Lafayettes staff, Hanna has given up 96 hits in 66 innings of work and sports an ERA over 6 with a BAA of .338. Their staff ace, Shea, has a 4.69 ERA but given up 75 hits and 21 walks in 63 innings with a .293 BAA and probably tops out at 82 mph.

We feasted on their pitching, and it wasn't a fluke...the only change I'd expect this coming weekend, is don't expect a bad outing out of Porter like he had at Lafayette in his last loss when he couldn't find the strike zone. In his last 5 starts he's 4-1 with 4 shutouts.

The biggest worry we might have is who is going to win the fight at our bat rack to see who gets to hit next against them.
 
Do we know who is pitching game #1 for Army?
 
Rotation hasn't been set yet, but I'd bet my bottom dollar on Fouch being the game #1 starter. The only mystery would be, will they flip flop Porter & Koenigsfeld and throw Porter in Game #2, or keep him as their Sunday guy?
 
Congrats to the baseball team on taking two to cop the PL Championship. Way to go !!!!
 
chip- I hope you were joking about Porter heading to the pen. He has been absolutely on fire the past month. He's putting together one of the best stretches of pitching that I've seen since I've followed Army. I know he did a good job out of the pen last year, but his success as a starter this year warrants a starting role. Then again, Henshaw was the opening day starter last year, so he is definitely an impact player. Hopefully Kirk will get a chance to start in a couple weeks in the NCAAs.

I was lucky enough to pitch in 4 NCAA games for Army (one of my records that I hope is broken soon), and I remember each outing like it was earlier this afternoon. The boys are in for a great experience!
 
Nope, no joke. Coach had a meeting with Porter before the game telling him they were moving him to the pen for this series and that Henshaw was starting the third game. Coach liked the matchup better was the reason.

Just as a historical note, Porter was slated to be the opening day starter last year, not Henshaw, but came up injured just days before the game. When he came back, 6 weeks later, they had the rotation set and made him the closer and a long reliever for the remainder of the season. The injury wound up needing surgical repair in the off season, hence the reason for the slow start this year.

That's not to take anything away from Henshaw. Joey is very good, and his outing vs. #19 Louisiana Lafayette last opening day in a 2-1 loss was nothing short of spectacular. Army will need both of those arms, Porter and Henshaw, to be on their games if they hope to advance in the tournament.
This post was edited on 5/16 10:33 PM by chipporter
 
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