The Palomino Post

The Saturday meeting between the Guilford Patriots and the Shockers turned out to be a very tightly contested ball game. The Patriots were able to pull out the win on Matt Nettesheim’s two-run homer to right field in the 12th inning.(or was it the 11th, this was one was moving on) The game itself lasted close to three hours and it featured some outstanding pitching from both teams. The final, 6-4 Patriots.

The Patriots were up early 3-1 and then the Shockers came back to tie it at three a-piece before going up on the Patriots 4-3 and then the Patriots came back and tied the baseball game in the bottom of the seventh at 4-4.

Esterlin Paulino was on the hill early for the Patriots and the little left-hander out of Southwest Guilford held things together for Justin Smith’s ball club until late in the afternoon. The Shockers went with Austin Moyer and he kept things in place until he had to come out of the game as the Shockers took the field to start the seventh inning.

Moyer got a hit in the top of the 7th and then left the game for a pinch-runner and the Palomino rules state when the pitcher leaves the game for a runner then the pitcher(Moyer) can’t re-enter the game to pitch, he can only come back into the game as a position player.

As you might expect this casued a major stir and Bob Doss the Palomino President had to come on the public address system and give the explanation of the ruling. Lester Rivenbark the skipper for the Shockers didn’t seem too happy about having to make the changes but he moved shortstop Cam Cockman to the mound. I believe the man that drove in the tying run for the Patriots was the young man we mentioned earlier, Matt Nettesheim, out of NWG who wears #43 on his back and he is a small kid who carries a big bat, at least he did on Saturday afternoon.

The pitching controversy aside this was a hard fought game but I still would like to know more about that rule that seemed to change the flow of the game. Justin and Johnny Smith defintely knew about the rule involving the pitcher and Bob Doss backed them up all the way on the ruling.

In terms of pitching that was one of the keys to the game. Paulino and Moyer were tough and then came Cockman and later Aaron Jones for the Shockers and the big-man, Nick Rogers for the Patriots. Rogers is a big man with a mean fastball and he did a nice job of changing speeds and mixing in his curveball on Saturday.

This game was everything we all thought it would be and a little more. The Patriots have first place now all to themselves and the Palomino post-season will be here before you know it. Before the playoffs hit, this week it’s the annual Palomino 4th of July Tournament at locations throughout Greensboro. Stoner-White Stadium, Grimsley, Memorial Stadium, and probably even some games at Leonard Field off of Ballinger Road.

It would be fun to see one more Patriots-Shockers battle this season and if it happens we will let you know about it here at greensborosports.com. Justin Smith and Lester Rivenbark may have the best rivalry going that we have seen in recent years and now after Saturday’s classic the Patriots have a 2-1 advantage in the season series.(Before Saturday’s game, both of the previous contests ended in 7-6 scores)

There were a lot of fans out watching Saturday’s game. John Neese Sr., Alan Ashkinazy, Mr. Sutphin the assistant coach from Grimsley, Keith Miller, Betty Smith, Jeff Smith, and many others turned out to cheer on the teams. I even saw Aaron Jones’ dad and Trent and Zoe running around the ballpark and Chris and Evelyn Walker were there too along with the Wrenns. This one was one for the books and I hope there’s at least one more(hey, I almost forget Larry and Patsy Moore were out there as Kevan, Clint, and crew had hit the road for West Point) game between these two teams somewhere down the road.

Be sure to let Bob Sublett, Blair Moyer, and Ken Daly Sr. know we thought they did a good job too. If we left anybody out then hit the comment box, we would love to have you in there and in the lineup.

12 thoughts on “The Palomino Post

  1. Why did the coach for the Patriots protest after the first pitch? Why did he not do it before the inning? I thought that was one of the best Palomino games in a long time. Who do you guys think have the better team?

  2. Someone else may know this better, but I think it might be the ball had to be put in play, at least one pitch thrown before the protest or appeal could be validated. Without Clint Moore on the Shockers, the edge nows goes to the Patriots. Moore could do so many different things:field, throw, pitch, hit…..He was a big part of the Shockers team but again, the Shockers played very tough without Moore on Saturday and they are to be commended for their efforts against a very strong Patriot ballclub.

    I would like to hear from Justin, Johnny, or even Bob Doss on the ruling about the pitching change and I agree with you it was the best Palomino game with pitching, over-all play, strategy, etc, that we have seen in a long time around here.

  3. Well i really would like to see someone else win the league other than the Patriots they are a little cocky. But you have to tip your hat the coaches of teh Patriots because they get the players year in and year out. But i thought in my own two eyes the Patriots got the pitching and Shockers got the hitting. By the way how far do you think that foul ball went that was hit in the 7th inning?

  4. That was one of the best Palomino games of all time. From a coaches position you had to stay one batter ahead the whole game. As far as the ruling on pitching, this is a Pony rule and has been one since I can remember. The Patriots were missing three of their key players in Hunter Bennett, Eric Presnell and 1st baseman big J.B. Brewer. They were forced to play a pitcher at first who had not hit all year. To show you how evenly matched these teams are the Shockers had 14 hits to the Patriots 10. The Patriot pitching struckout 13 Shocker hitters where the Shockers struckout 11 Patriots. The Patriots gave up only 2 walks during the 11 inning game, while the Shockers walked only 4. Each team left 12 men stranded for the game. It is without a doubt that these are the 2 best teams in the league. Look fir them both to be in the Palomino Region Tournament at the end of the month along with a team from Maryland and a team from Northern Virginia. Kudos go out to both teams for a well played game.

  5. I was hearring at least 550 feet on the long foul ball that Nick Rogers hit in the 7th inning. Some bystanders thought for sure it went fair to end the game but the umpires said FOUL and we have to abide by their calls.

  6. The above synopsis of the game did not include the stats from the 11th inning. If you include the 11th inning which was on another page in the scorebook the Patriots got a couple of hits, while Patriot pitching walked a couple of batters in the 11th. I ran out of room on the scorebook page.

  7. I want to see those two teams play again. Any chance there will be a rematch and can they get Moore to come back to town so it will be even?

  8. No one has seem to mentoin the Shockers were missing 2 of their starters(Alan Craven and Jeff Medley) and one of if not the best pitcher in the league (Johnathan Smith). I agree with the comment above I hope they get to match up again with ALL of thier starters present.

  9. Since there seems to be some interest in the Shockers vs Patiriots rivarly why don’t we make something good of this??? Lets play baseball the way it should be played with wood bats and Major League rules, make sure a time is set so that all 18 players on each roster can be thier and play a best of 3 series. All the money raised will be donated to Bob Doss to help on his fight against cancer. This series would be about helping out a man that has helped so many young men in this community. It would require the support of everyone to make it a FINANCIAL success.

  10. well i hope both succeed in the tournamnets they play in. I think both teams haev a chance to get far and i hope that all works out for both and both teams enjoy a successful season!

  11. Let us know what we can do to help out with that game Lester Rivenbark is talking about. Bob Doss has done a ton to promote youth baseball in this city.

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