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I got a baseball education the past few nights, sitting in the Hidden Valley press box with Blue Springs Rod’s Sports Athletics advisor/coach/fan/baseball guru Clyde Kubli.
The former Truman High School baseball coach could write an A-to-Z thesis on the game he loves.
He would make a comment and I swear, he had to have had a crystal ball somewhere in the press box because the statement always came true.
When A’s right fielder Matt McHenry was shaded toward right center with Raytown Post 596’s Marcus Douglas at the plate, Kubli talked about how Douglas liked to slash the ball down the right-field line.
Next pitch – boom! – a two-run single that hugged the right-field line.
Later in the game he went through a pitch-by-pitch synopsis during a key time in the game and A’s pitcher Bret Sutton threw every pitch Kubli suggested.
When McHenry swung at a pitch and allowed his top hand to fly off the bat, Kubli screamed, “Use your top hand!” Even though the press box window was closed, McHenry turned and smiled and acknowledged the veteran baseball man.
Although he didn’t hit the ball hard, McHenry followed with a game-winning, bloop double.
“I just wonder if the young guys on the team know how much Clyde knows about the game,” said McHenry, a three-year A’s starter. “When he says something, you better pay attention.”
• Andrew Rider will be handed the ball at 2 p.m. Saturday as the A’s take on the Odessa Bats in the opening game of the American Legion Missouri Zone 2 Tournament in Sedalia.
“I’m just going to take it inning by inning,” said Rider, who owns a 4-1 record this season for the 31-15 A’s. “I’m not going to try and think too much out there. I’m just going to try and make good pitches and let my defense take care of me.”
Talking about defense, the A’s have made eight errors in their last two games. While that doesn’t pose a huge concern for manager Mike Rooney, he doesn’t want to see it continue.
“We can’t keep making errors like we have the last two games,” said Rooney, whose team made five in a 6-2 win over the Lee’s Summit Post 189 Auxiliary Outlaws and three in an 11-inning, 7-5 win over Raytown Post 596. “But our pitchers have done a great job of pitching around the errors and not letting them affect the way they pitch.
“That’s huge. But I told the guys, if we want to keep playing, we have to play better defense.”
• Second baseman Greg Wisner helped put an end to that 11-inning win over Raytown by starting a double play that ended the game. He also reached base six times for the first time in his A’s career – going 5-for-5 and getting hit by a pitch.
“I’m just in a zone, and it couldn’t have come at a better time,” Wisner said. “I’m seeing the ball real well and hitting it where no one can field it. I just hope it keeps up during zone.”
• While Sutton is a definite Division I prospect, much of the A’s success this season has come from unlikely stars like Tyler Barth, Andrew Cottle, Tyler Reed, Dan McGonigle and Jordan Martinez.
“We don’t have the firepower we’ve had in the past, but these kids are learning that if you play the game the way it ought to be played, and you play as a team, you can surprise some people,” Rooney said.
“I always believed in them, and now, they’re believing in themselves.”
I got a baseball education the past few nights, sitting in the Hidden Valley press box with Blue Springs Rod’s Sports Athletics advisor/coach/fan/baseball guru Clyde Kubli.
The former Truman High School baseball coach could write an A-to-Z thesis on the game he loves.
He would make a comment and I swear, he had to have had a crystal ball somewhere in the press box because the statement always came true.
When A’s right fielder Matt McHenry was shaded toward right center with Raytown Post 596’s Marcus Douglas at the plate, Kubli talked about how Douglas liked to slash the ball down the right-field line.
Next pitch – boom! – a two-run single that hugged the right-field line.
Later in the game he went through a pitch-by-pitch synopsis during a key time in the game and A’s pitcher Bret Sutton threw every pitch Kubli suggested.
When McHenry swung at a pitch and allowed his top hand to fly off the bat, Kubli screamed, “Use your top hand!” Even though the press box window was closed, McHenry turned and smiled and acknowledged the veteran baseball man.
Although he didn’t hit the ball hard, McHenry followed with a game-winning, bloop double.
“I just wonder if the young guys on the team know how much Clyde knows about the game,” said McHenry, a three-year A’s starter. “When he says something, you better pay attention.”
• Andrew Rider will be handed the ball at 2 p.m. Saturday as the A’s take on the Odessa Bats in the opening game of the American Legion Missouri Zone 2 Tournament in Sedalia.
“I’m just going to take it inning by inning,” said Rider, who owns a 4-1 record this season for the 31-15 A’s. “I’m not going to try and think too much out there. I’m just going to try and make good pitches and let my defense take care of me.”
Talking about defense, the A’s have made eight errors in their last two games. While that doesn’t pose a huge concern for manager Mike Rooney, he doesn’t want to see it continue.
“We can’t keep making errors like we have the last two games,” said Rooney, whose team made five in a 6-2 win over the Lee’s Summit Post 189 Auxiliary Outlaws and three in an 11-inning, 7-5 win over Raytown Post 596. “But our pitchers have done a great job of pitching around the errors and not letting them affect the way they pitch.
“That’s huge. But I told the guys, if we want to keep playing, we have to play better defense.”
• Second baseman Greg Wisner helped put an end to that 11-inning win over Raytown by starting a double play that ended the game. He also reached base six times for the first time in his A’s career – going 5-for-5 and getting hit by a pitch.
“I’m just in a zone, and it couldn’t have come at a better time,” Wisner said. “I’m seeing the ball real well and hitting it where no one can field it. I just hope it keeps up during zone.”
• While Sutton is a definite Division I prospect, much of the A’s success this season has come from unlikely stars like Tyler Barth, Andrew Cottle, Tyler Reed, Dan McGonigle and Jordan Martinez.
“We don’t have the firepower we’ve had in the past, but these kids are learning that if you play the game the way it ought to be played, and you play as a team, you can surprise some people,” Rooney said.
“I always believed in them, and now, they’re believing in themselves.”
