[blwall1416]

Stephens County principal David Friend apologized this morning to the Georgia High School Association for an incident in the Class AAA championship baseball series Saturday in which Stephens County's catcher ducked and allowed a pitch to strike an umpire in the face mask.

"It looks bad, and most people who look at it come away with that conclusion," Friend said. "But there have been wacky things that have happened in baseball and high schools, and all I'm going to conclude is that it does need to be investigated. If we're found to be at fault, we'll effectively deal with the situation."

Friend said he had interviewed his baseball coaches today and concluded they were not to blame. Friend said he had not finished talking to the players.

But Stephens County coach Mark Gosnell said it was mixup between catcher Matt Hill and pitcher Cody Martin.

"It was a cross-up between pitcher and catcher," Gosnell said. "Matt said he had called a curveball, and Cody said it was a fastball. I talked to the two of them, [and) I was not aware of anything being done intentionally.

"The kids assured me that there was nothing intentional," Gosnell said. "[Hill and Martin] have been as honest as anyone since I've known them."

http://www.ajc.com/highschool/content/s ... ab_newstab

VIDEO GOODNESS:

[Cider Jim]

I have no idea what that catcher was trying to do, especially watching him put his glove on the ground when a high pitch was thrown. Fumble, any ideas?

[SuperJon]

That was intentional. No way was it a called curve ball and the pitcher threw a fast ball. The fundamentals were all wrong for that to be the case.

[ToTheLeft]

I mean, he set up high, did he not? You wouldn't want to aim a curve up in the zone....

[SuperJon]

If the kid has a sharp, tight 12-6 curveball, where he set up would be a good place to start. That way if the pitcher didn't snap it off and there wasn't as much break he could go up to get it, and if it was a 56 footer he could get down and block it. However, watch how early he goes down to block the pitch. There's no way a catcher who knows his pitchers stuff would go down that early with the ball where it was. Also, he turns his glove. When a catcher goes to his knees like that he's supposed to keep the glove open so that it can cover as much space as possible, thus being able to stop the ball better.

[SuperJon]

I mean, he set up high, did he not? You wouldn't want to aim a curve up in the zone....

Also, to talk about where he set up, in high school, you can set up a curve right there. This kid is likely a hard throwing righty (88-89) with a sharp breaking 12-6 curveball. These kids live on throwing their fast ball up in the zone (around letter high) knowing kids can't lay off of it and can't catch up to it. Then they start their curveball at the same point and it just falls off the table as it gets to the plate.

See: Jason Rook, Appalachian State University.

[Cider Jim]

Like they say in the police dramas, he had "motive":

Stephens County shortstop Ethan Martin, the brother of the pitcher and projected as a possible first-round pick in the major league draft Thursday, was called out on strikes for the final out of the previous inning. He was the ninth consecutive Stephens County batter to strike out, and he argued with the home-plate umpire afterward, throwing his batting helmet.

[scuzdriver]

I suppose this has never happened before?

[SuperJon]

I suppose this has never happened before?

I've never seen it that obvious.

My high school's done it before. Catcher covered it up better than that though. Then again, it hit him in the chest, not the face.

[coolhandluke]

its pretty obvious they were trying to send the ump a message.

I've seen it done before on some of the teams I have played for, but it was never that obvious. It was always a "wild pitch" and the catcher just "didn't" get his glove up quick enough.


but that stuff usually doesn't work cause it just ticks the ump off.

[scuzdriver]

The Rockies did it about a month ago and knocked out the ump. That's one way to get a new guy calling balls and strikes.

[matshark]

looked to me like it was a breaking ball that didnt break...