East Forsyth claims the Piedmont Triad 4-A Title with the Eagles’ win over SWG, but there was that call in the 8th inning

Courtesy of Mike Ellis from the Jamestown News:

PTC Tournament Final R H E

Southwest Guilford    3   5   3

East Forsyth               4   9   2

WP: Caleb Edwards – 8 IP, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 7 K’s

LP: Sean Geoghegan

Southwest Guilford and East Forsyth met for the PTC Tournament title at
Ragsdale on Monday night and it took 8 innings and a terrible call from an
umpire to decide the contest.

It was a classic game that went back and forth. Southwest struck first on a
Matt Orth first inning home run over the 350′ sign in right centerfield.
East came back to tie the game in the third. Dylan Kirkman led off with a
single and a couple of errors got him all the way around the bases to tie it
up at one. The Cowboys got the lead back in the top of the fourth. Matt
Dale got a two out double down the third base line. It looked like East
Forsyth starter Caleb Edwards was out of the inning as Sean Geoghegan lifted
a deep fly ball to left field, but the left fielder dropped the ball
allowing Edwards to score with the go ahead run. The lead lasted until the
bottom of the fifth when Southwest starter Matt Dale ran in to some two out
trouble. A single with one out and then back to back walks with two down
loaded the bases. Dylan Ward then delivered an RBI single with a line shot
up the middle to drive in the tying run and chase Dale. Geoghegan came on
and got out of the bases loaded jam with one pitch as Jacob Watts hit a
wicked line drive right at the third baseman.

The game stayed tied into the eighth. In the top of the inning, the Cowboys
took the lead as Tyler Kellam doubled to lead off the inning, went to third
on a sacrifice bunt and stayed at third on a Kyle Miller infield single.
Matt Orth was intentionally walked to load the bases and Andrew Madden came
through with a sacrifice fly to medium center that scored Kellam to make the
score 3 – 2.

Dylan Ward led off the bottom of the inning with a base hit, his third of
the night and was sacrificed to second. Southwest shortstop, Nishanti
Polisetti made a great stop on a ball in the third base hole off the bat of
Harrison Hollis to keep Ward at third. It was at that point that the umpire
intervened in the outcome of the game. With runners at first and third and
one out, Dylan Kirkman hit a soft ground ball right down the third base
line. The Southwest third baseman fielded the ball and the runner on third
ran right into him for the apparent out. The problem was the umpire did not
appear to be watching the play and never made a call. When he finally
realized it was his call, he said safe. The home plate umpire came out and
consulted with the umpire who made the call, but the call stood. The runner
had started to head to the dugout realizing he was out, but the coach told
him to get back on the base. Coach Reid Holmes argued the call to no avail
and East had the bases loaded with one out instead of runners on first and
second and two outs. Southwest did get a force out at the plate when the
next batter hit it back to the pitcher, but with two outs a hard ground ball
to second led to a wild throw to first and two runs scored to end the game,
4 – 3 in East Forsyth’s favor.

It was a tough way to end a well played game. Both teams played well and
there were several outstanding defensive plays. The call took away from the
ending, but East Forsyth is a deserving tournament champion as they wrapped
up their third defeat of the Cowboys.

*****Also congratulations from here, to East Forsyth on their win and all they can do is play the game, even if a key call in the game, was up in the air….Tournament Title and now on to the playoffs for both sides….*****

13 thoughts on “East Forsyth claims the Piedmont Triad 4-A Title with the Eagles’ win over SWG, but there was that call in the 8th inning

  1. The missed call did have a huge impact on the game. There were alot of things that occured in the game that let to the play be crucial. East ran their selves out of 2 innings if not 3. SW had an inning where they threw the ball around and gave up some runs. So all in all both teams could have done things earlier in the game to where a missed call is not the deciding factor. The plate umpire , it was his call all the way. In that situation he has the lead runner coming to the plate and also it is his fair or foulf call down the line- (he is looking right at it)so he is the one that should have made the call–not the field umpire who was standing in B position (behine the play)and probably should have been in C. Plate man’s call. Last note..Obviously the SW parents were upset, but completely uncalled for by a couple paticiular parents who followed the umpire out the gate screaming at them. Humans make mistakes and I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if we came to your job and screamed at you everytime you did something wrong!

  2. All valid points…..but once you get to winning time in any competitive environment it is one play that decides a game…..whether it is a missed call by an umpire, an error by a fielder, a strikeout by the batter. You can’t tell me that play at third base did not directly affect the outcome because it did….end of story. Play at the end never happens……

  3. I agree with alot of your points however, any play in the infield that occurs on the bases when a ump is
    in B or C position is the field ump`s call all the way. You should always know where the ball is at all times.

    I was not at the game so I really don`t have a dog in the fight but insinuating that the plate guy 100 ft away
    and more than likely having no angle (Straight Lined) at all on this play, would be in my opinion, asking way to much from his home plate status.

    The object of umpires is to try to see through the play and that would be impossible from the home plate angle.

    The real games start Friday.

  4. I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis of it being the field umpires call…..however, this particular play was on a batted ball down the third base line which the home plate umpire is coming out from behind the dish to determine if the ball is fair or foul…..ball is caught and fielder has ball in between runner and base……who couldn’t see that tag?

  5. Wait a minute…..No one from SouthWest ever complains about umpiring if the game is played at Southwest..Guess they didnt have their umps there.

  6. I`m not sure this would be a prodical with this one exception. A run down play in between home and 3rd plate man has involvement
    that would be the one exception in my opinion because he can`t come from behind the plate on this circumstance for 2 reasons. 1. Fair or foul status 2. home plate responsibility the runner could have came home. Is the base guy going to cover for him at the plate. This guy can`t move period!

    Did the plate guy even have time to remove his mask?

  7. Kid walks off field…..knows he is out

    Coach pulls him back on base…….

    Coach apparently admits after game tag was made…….(hmmm….didn’t this happen in Kernersville as well?) or was that the player that got tagged out that admitted that time?

    Look on umpires face once they knew they missed it…..PRICELESS!

  8. A good game by two evenly matched ball clubs that will be remembered for a missed call, very unfortunate there were great plays made by great kids from both teams Madden in right 1st inn ,Orths BOMB, Kellums clutch Double, all pitchers involved Wards 3 for 4 night at the plate i could go on and on. With that being said I took some jabs from parents as they were leaving the ball park, i understand they were upset but the one person involved that had every right to show there frustration and maybe even show their butt was Coach Reid Holmes but guess what? didnt happen straight CLASS act! Hats off to coach Holmes and good luck in the playoffs.

  9. Sounds like the coach was dirty on this one. Remember the commercial when the player says “coach I touched the ball when it went out of bounds”. The sportsmanship commercial didn’t apply here.

  10. To agree to disagree: Plate umpire comes out from behind the plate with mask coming off and he was approx. 70 ft from play looking straight down base line signaling fair ball. Field umpire in B position is completely behind the play. The play occurs on the fould side of the bag, with fielders back to umpire with runner diving back. From 200 feet away it was obvious . I’m a baseball fan without a dog in the fight. Agree with East Fan , Holmes was a class act, because if he was ever going to blow his top and throw bases that would have been the time! Again bad call hurts, but things that you done wrong earlier in game hurt as well. Also I think most people are forgeting that SW 2nd baseman make a heck of a stop diving to stop the ball from going in the gap. The runner on 3rd didn’t beat SW, it tied SW, but when he tried to make the throw to first from the ground and throwing up against the fence is when the winning run scored. Not the lead runner! I believe most people have forgot that part. Point again: Runner on third who was out but called safe was the tying run not winning run. runner on 2nd scored on a wild throw to first!

  11. Will Orth be ready for Friday night? With Kimber going for Dudley I think Dudley can really win this game. Southwest is down right now and they appear to have lost their focus after last night. They just keep on talking about the East Forsyth game and if they keep that up they won’t be ready for Dudley and the paper said Burkes would be back too so look out Southwest. The Cowboys are still trying to find a way to win the Monday game and they won’t be ready for Friday. Hard to beat East Forsyth when the game is already over. Dudley is on the way to the Corrall. Can the Southwest Cowboys hold um off at the plate? I have seen Kimber pitch and that kid can bring it!

    Friday Night is the night!

  12. Really Barry? Have you talked to any of the Southwest players? Probably not. Yes they were frustrated but it’s all over now. Yes Kimber throws hard but so does Haack. Hope to see you out there on Friday to see SW win!

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