What more can you say? Back to back district champs.

Like a lot of sports, OCC prepares us for post season.

Not sure if baseball helps the argument for you Orrville fans who actually want to stay in the OCC, with the ones who don't. But I agree with ya!

Scrimmaging Sat. at Perry and Monday at 10:00 am at the College of Wooster.

Our Regional semi is against unranked Wickliffe on Thursday...then things get serious. If we win, we take on the winner of #20 Keystone (22-7) vs. #5 Ursiline (21-2). Ursiline was previously ranked #1. Both teams feature pitchers that throw mid-80's up to 90.

This is where the real tournament begins.

Regional semi is against unranked Wickliffe on Thursday...then things get serious.

I imagine Wickliffe fans could say the same thing. " Regional semi is against unranked Orrville on Thursday...then things get serious."

I would not be taking them too lightly. Remember who your coach is (according to some of you).LOL

Hits...not looking at Wicklyffe as an easy win. Just pointing out that IF we defeat them we go from playing an unranked team to a top 5 team the next night.

Personally, I will tell you right now, if we have to make a pitching change tomorrow, we will lose. Not because we don't have the staff to do that, but because we will be down 4-5 runs before a change is made. The coach waited until we were down 5-1 to make a change against Chipp. We roared back offensively and stole the game in our last at bat to get where we are today. He just doesn't manage pitchers real well and is slow to recognize when it is time to bring in a reliever. I cannot remember the last time he actually had a reliever warming up on the side when a starter was struggling or running out of gas.

You simply cannot spot teams 4-5 runs this time of year and expect to play tomorrow. You have to be ready to get another guy out there when teams see your starter a second time. It is never a good plan to count on getting 7 innings on 2 consecutive days from starters.

With all that said, on paper Wickliffe is the one team in our region that I think we should beat. Keystone and/or Ursuline would be an upset for the ages.

^^^Wasn't Lexington state ranked when we beat them this season? And I doubt that anyone was expecting CCC to get beat in the districts....Baseball is that type of sport where anything can go wrong/right at the right/wrong time for either team!

Good luck Red Riders!

Yes Lex was state ranked. We were state ranked too at one point. Yes, any team can win on any given night...that is evidenced by the fact that somehow Mansfield Senior won a game this year. They always manage to win at least one...including beating us in 2011 for their only win that year. It doesnt mean we weren't the better tam and it certainly doesn't mean we shouldn't have expected to win.

Baseball is not unique in that something can go right or wrong for either team. That is the nature of sports and is why we bother playing the game. It is tremendously satisfying to be an underdog and steal a victory. As many of us can attest over the past 2 years, it is pure agony to be the heavyweight that repeatedly gets knocked out by Buster Douglas week after week.

I expect we will win tomorrow. We should win tomorrow. Will we? Flip a coin, baseball is a funny game.

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2013/05/30/sports/nh6985637.txt

Story about Wickliffe. Definitely beatable...we have to be the favorites. Prep Baseball Report will make their pick later this morning...I am guessing we are favored.

Shout out to my boys for a good job today! JT, Kyle, Wes, Chandler.

Go Riders!

I'll be rooting the the Wayne Co. boys and their 'beleagured' coach. So if Scott takes them to State...does he still suck?

Hits,

I'll let you know if we get to state. We beat a .500 ball club last night. We hit the ball all over the field and our pitcher was on and the closest Wickliffe got to us is 2 runs. Not a lot of coaching necessary to win that one. As I have been saying for over a week, we SHOULD be in the Regional finals given who we have faced.

The players got us this far. I want to see what happens when he has to make pitching changes. He has 3 fresh starters and 2 solid relievers ready to go. Will he warm anyone up in the pen? Will he have anyone ready to go at a moments notice? Will he wait until we are down 3-4 runs before he makes a change? He has not done any of those things yet in the tournament and we won because we had the better team in every game. Against Ursuline I would be shocked if we can go 7 without a pitching change, but will that happen when we are still in it and will the reliever be warmed up and ready to go or will be be down 4 with runners on and thrown into the fire with 10 warm up tosses in a Regional Final game?

In order to win from this point forward he will have to do those things. We are the underdog the rest of the way. It take 9 outstanding baseball players AND smart coaching from here on out.

Nope. If he takes them to state he desrves to be in the OHS HOF and I will personally nominate him. I'll tell you why, Ursuline is arguably the best team in the state, so tonight our opportunity to face the potential state champion. This will be the toughest oppenent we have faced since he became coach here. A win here to get us to state would put us somewhere that we haven't been since 1976.

You are doggone right. But I'll add that especially in baseball, anything can happen in 1 game. Marshall will be the same coach he was a week ago.

HitsRus;1450473 wrote:I'll be rooting the the Wayne Co. boys and their 'beleagured' coach. So if Scott takes them to State...does he still suck?

YES, HE DOES!! Holy crap, people, all you have to do is ask yourself one simple question, “Could another coach have accomplished the same thing (or more) with this group of players?” The answer is, without a doubt, “YES!” If you answer anything else then you’re delusional. The whole premise of the question is offensive. “If Scott takes them to State…” Scott won’t take them to State. If they get there it will be thanks to the dedication of their parents and the work ethic they instilled in them. It will be because the players earned it through their own hard work, grit and determination.

You want to see what kind of coach Marshall really is? Stay tuned for the 2015 season after this Junior (now Senior) class is graduated. Do you really think this HOF-worthy coach will be able to come anywhere near this year’s post-season success?

Here’s a choice excerpt from the May 28th Daily Record:

[INDENT]And the most underrated part of the turnaround is eighth-year head coach Scott Marshall, Johnston said.
"There's no other coach I've ever met in my life who puts more time in than Scott Marshall," said coach Johnston, who handed over the Orrville youth baseball commissioner job to Marshall several years ago. "There's not one thing that he wouldn't do for any of these kids."
Marshall said he's excited to see the commitment to baseball that began about a decade ago for some of the current Riders paying off like it has.
"I'm extremely proud of Trevor and Kyle," Marshall said. "They started coming to open gyms for baseball in fourth grade. To go to college and have most of your college paid for, it doesn't get any better than that.
"That's what it should be about and that's what it is about.
"They both got a ton of (scholarship) money. In terms of what they've meant to the program, we're in the regionals for the second straight year and we've won three sectional titles in a row. They both have played key parts in that as four-year lettermen."
Kerr received an academic scholarship to W&J based on his 3.5 GPA and plans to major in chemistry. He was recruited to pitch for the Presidents.
Johnston has GPA hoving around 3.0, will major in business and received an athletic scholarship to play the infield for the Pioneers.[/INDENT]


Let’s start by pointing out that Marshall, by the grace of God, is no longer youth baseball commissioner. He has always heavily promoted travel baseball to the better athletes thereby decimating the rec league he was supposed to be managing.

Then there’s Johnston’s quote, "There's not one thing that he wouldn't do for any of these kids." Sure, except say “Hello” or encourage a non-baseball-only athlete to go out for baseball. Believe me, there were a lot of parents who laughed out loud when they read that line.

The real kicker is this quote, "That's what it should be about and that's what it is about”, speaking of scholarships. Really?! Extra-curricular sports are about winning scholarships? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to set that as a standard to be judged by since the number and dollar amounts of baseball scholarships under his tenure has been dismal. Trevor’s scholarship is ACADEMIC! From what I’ve heard, Kyle’s is a partial tuition-only scholarship at Division II Glenville State which, according to their own website is 4 and 24 for the season. Hopefully, Kyle can help improve that.

As usual with Marshall, reality is often at odds with the perception he wants to create. He must be a great motivator when the pressure is on. “Come on, boys! This is all about the scholarships!”

Here’s a dose of reality for those who think their kid is going to get paid to play: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds.html.

And here's a sad commentary on the future direction of Orrville baseball under Marshall: Rumor has it that Marshall's new assistant coach next year (not his current JV coach) is well known for dropping the "F" bomb on 8-year-old boys between games during a coach's pitch tournament. I guess charactor development isn't a high priority with Marshall.

^^^^sounds like a lot of sour grapes to me." Rumor has it" and "I heard that" are the phrases of character assasination...hearsay at best, baldfaced lies most commonly. Your comments about baseball scholarships shows you don't have clue what you are talking about. Did you expect Kyle to get full ride? What college is Trevor going to?

Congratulations to the Red Rider baseball team on a good season, I know it's not easy. The OCC's a tough league full of many great teams and a few made a good post season run. Congratulations to Lexington, Mansfield Madison, Wooster and West Holmes. They all had a pretty good season. I realize they didn't make it as far as they hoped, but they did play some very good teams that beat them. Congratulations to Coach Marshall and Coach Johnston. They put in hard work. I realize some naysayers will have their comments to make, let them. They are usually the ones who get the LEAST involved. You'll never see them getting the fields ready or helping out with anything, but you will always see them with their opinions. I know a friend who coaches and he has gone through it too.I He had one player who he cut from the team, which is not easy to do. He didn't enjoy it but he tried to put the best team out there. To make matters worse, the kid's mom used to be a good athlete in her day but the kids weren't as good as she once was. It. happens, nothing to be ashamed about. Anyway, she became bitter and used to make comments around town and on sites like this as often as she could. She even came up to him at social gatherings to put in her 2 cents when he was trying to have a social life. One time she even went to a house where my friend was at and just invited herself in there to make a couple digs. How polite, courteous and well mannered is that. A real class act. He handled it well but she continued her ways. As if things weren't tough enough for him, or any other coach, for that matter. My point is: let the coaches do their jobs. I've seen both coach Marshall and Coach Johnston spend their own free time plenty to help out and get involved. I've seen Coach Johnston ump ballgames and other things for the kids and I've seen coach Marshall do the "coaches pitch" for the kids. I've seen them both work on the field as well as other things. I haven't seen a lot of others doing that. As for my friend's situation, another friend told the mom to see if the kid was good at anything else and to try that. He did, and as it turns out, he's pretty good with a camera like his dad is and videotapes all the games. A win-win situation

Couldn't asked for much more after a so-so regular season. Just like most sports, conference play is a step above us, but it helps prepare us for post season success.

Congrats on a nice run Riders & good luck Trevor & Kyle at the next level.

rock turner;1450671 wrote:YES, HE DOES!! Holy crap, people, all you have to do is ask yourself one simple question, “Could another coach have accomplished the same thing (or more) with this group of players?” The answer is, without a doubt, “YES!” If you answer anything else then you’re delusional. The whole premise of the question is offensive. “If Scott takes them to State…” Scott won’t take them to State. If they get there it will be thanks to the dedication of their parents and the work ethic they instilled in them. It will be because the players earned it through their own hard work, grit and determination.

You want to see what kind of coach Marshall really is? Stay tuned for the 2015 season after this Junior (now Senior) class is graduated. Do you really think this HOF-worthy coach will be able to come anywhere near this year’s post-season success?

Here’s a choice excerpt from the May 28th Daily Record:

[INDENT]And the most underrated part of the turnaround is eighth-year head coach Scott Marshall, Johnston said.
"There's no other coach I've ever met in my life who puts more time in than Scott Marshall," said coach Johnston, who handed over the Orrville youth baseball commissioner job to Marshall several years ago. "There's not one thing that he wouldn't do for any of these kids."
Marshall said he's excited to see the commitment to baseball that began about a decade ago for some of the current Riders paying off like it has.
"I'm extremely proud of Trevor and Kyle," Marshall said. "They started coming to open gyms for baseball in fourth grade. To go to college and have most of your college paid for, it doesn't get any better than that.
"That's what it should be about and that's what it is about.
"They both got a ton of (scholarship) money. In terms of what they've meant to the program, we're in the regionals for the second straight year and we've won three sectional titles in a row. They both have played key parts in that as four-year lettermen."
Kerr received an academic scholarship to W&J based on his 3.5 GPA and plans to major in chemistry. He was recruited to pitch for the Presidents.
Johnston has GPA hoving around 3.0, will major in business and received an athletic scholarship to play the infield for the Pioneers.[/INDENT]


Let’s start by pointing out that Marshall, by the grace of God, is no longer youth baseball commissioner. He has always heavily promoted travel baseball to the better athletes thereby decimating the rec league he was supposed to be managing.

Then there’s Johnston’s quote, "There's not one thing that he wouldn't do for any of these kids." Sure, except say “Hello” or encourage a non-baseball-only athlete to go out for baseball. Believe me, there were a lot of parents who laughed out loud when they read that line.

The real kicker is this quote, "That's what it should be about and that's what it is about”, speaking of scholarships. Really?! Extra-curricular sports are about winning scholarships? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to set that as a standard to be judged by since the number and dollar amounts of baseball scholarships under his tenure has been dismal. Trevor’s scholarship is ACADEMIC! From what I’ve heard, Kyle’s is a partial tuition-only scholarship at Division II Glenville State which, according to their own website is 4 and 24 for the season. Hopefully, Kyle can help improve that.

As usual with Marshall, reality is often at odds with the perception he wants to create. He must be a great motivator when the pressure is on. “Come on, boys! This is all about the scholarships!”

Here’s a dose of reality for those who think their kid is going to get paid to play: http://www.scholarshipstats.com/varsityodds.html.

And here's a sad commentary on the future direction of Orrville baseball under Marshall: Rumor has it that Marshall's new assistant coach next year (not his current JV coach) is well known for dropping the "F" bomb on 8-year-old boys between games during a coach's pitch tournament. I guess charactor development isn't a high priority with Marshall.

Please tell me that his new assistant is NOT going to be Kevin Domer??? No, No...please tell me its not true???

No, Kevin's is not the name I heard.

rock turner;1451938 wrote:No, Kevin's is not the name I heard.

I know now....

Congrats to JT Perez and Stuart Shley (sp??) on their D1 commitments. Very well deserved!

Orrville moves on to regional beating CCC 4-2.

Independence next then winner of Gilmour and Ursuline.

Orrville wins 8-7 and off to State Baby.