SectionB.com

(Summaries by Bryan E)

Game 1: Bad Guys 3, FSU 1

Your reluctant reporter with the shiny silver lining to a dark evening…… We lost. 3-1.

My opinion is that we ran into a team that can take advantage of situations and lapses in fundamentals. I’ve been advised to not say things anti-Noles, but what stands out to me is the freedom of FSU bats to swing at the first pitch…. ERRR, maybe it’s the batters’ blind willingness to swing at the first pitch no matter what. (SC)UM isn’t a great team. We just stuck our jaws out while throwing blind haymakers. I hang this loss on plate discipline.

(Edit/addemdum} After a couple hours of being home and reflecting, this wasn’t a bad game. Both teams played solid ball, it just ended up that the team with less errors won. The torque, tow, and velocity of the game was enough to win over any margin walking baseball fan. I don’t think I saw anybody crying on the way out so I’m sure we’ll al live to fight another day.

It was also odd, as Marty M. pointed out, that there were only two umps on the field. I think the field ump was wrong on a couple calls. One for us and one for the Canes, but the guy behind the plate was god-awful.

No excuses, though. There really is no player to brag on or shame. I, personally, had a great time. The energy in Section B is working to a boil for the 2 PM showdown on Saturday with the chance to even it up. In a win or a loss, I can’t help but love all of you that are there and participate. You make it awesome for me and everyone else.

I don’t have much to complain about when it comes to FSU baseball – face it, we’re spoiled – but the 4pm start time for the Friday game of this series was was, to be blunt, dumb. I understand that it was an early season game, and that games are typically scheduled earlier for light/weather reasons, and I understand that this was a non-conference series. But come on, this was Miami, not UGA or some northern warm-up squad. This is considered by many FSU baseball fans to be THE rivalry of the season. The game needed to start at 6pm. I wasn’t able to get to the game, so maybe I’m just a little bitter.

Donald “The Godfather” took care of the O Canada break, busting out with ‘No More Winter’, in reference to the previous few days’ cold snap.

Game 2: Bad Guys 2, FSU 10

Your reluctant reporter, Game 2 (SC)UM series.

Uno. Dos. Tres. Cuatro. Cinco. Seis. Siete. Ocho. Nueve. Diez. Once (own say). Yep. 11 balls in a row in the bottom of the first for Miami’s pitcher. A total opposite approach at the plate from last night. And it paid off. After giving up 1 in the top of the first, we answered with 4 runs on a lot of walks and very solid hitting, all of the runs coming in with 2 outs. The tone was set for the day. It was a party before, during and after.

Brandon Leibrandt went 6.2 walking only one with 3 k’s to boot. We flipped 3 double plays today, two of them amazing… the last was a 3-4-1 double play in the 8th, I think.

Gage did his middle relief thing as expected.

Brandon Johnson got some meaningful time on the mound today and looked solid.
The youth on our team shows a lot of promise going forward as well.
The tailgate was another meatfest, both really and metaphorically. Some guy in a penguin suit did Noles cheers. It wasn’t pretty, but it got a rookie through her first set of cheers in a highly intense atmosphere.

Good guys 10. Bad Guys 2. A good day to be a Nole.

O Canada break was, ‘BioGenesis’, in reference to the steroid scandal involving certain Miami-affiliated individuals. Miami has a freshman player by the name of Brad Zunica who came in to pinch hit and then play 1B…this kid is a great big mountain of a man, listed at 6’6″ 254lbs. That got the steroid talk going.

Game 3: Bad Guys 6, FSU 13

Reluctant reporter, Game 3 (SC)UM series 2014.

Have you ever rented a mule? Did you beat said mule? If yes, then give a Cane a sympathy hug. The power of the stick pummeled the power of the carrot as every rally attempt by the uglies in orange was thwarted with a boss’ slap.

Don’t get me wrong…. it’s not that the Canes didn’t bite their bridles. Their lefty starter stayed in way past glue factory time and pulled like a blue ox the first time through our lineup. The wagon got shaky exactly the second time our boys faced off against him. The third inning was explosive. 6 runs to answer the paltry digit the Canes put up in the 2nd. Then the rout was on….. Or so we thought. All of the “fans” with the early exodus missed out on the bad guy rally that evened it up at 6 in the 6th only to be followed by the reminder that any one in orange is a short timer in the capital city. 7 runs in the bottom reminded the ugly orange that real America wins through cunning and skill.

Mike Compton went five full with 4 k’s and 2 walks. The relief held the ground with Strode, Gage, Holtmann and Jameis finishing up with no walks and Holtmann throwing 3 k’s to the the 3 he faced.

Poise, children, poise.

Final score 13-6 good guys. Another great weekend under the oaks. Thanks for making it great for all of us.

O Canada break was ‘Those weren’t antlers’. Zunica again made an appearance, this time as DH. We gave him a ‘deer antlers’ chant when he was batting. Not our funniest weekend, but screw it we won the series.

 

This year we are going to try to provide our own content on the site, rather than just linking to outside media. In part, this is due to so many of them keeping the baseball content behind a pay wall, but also because you probably already read those sites. While we won’t ever equal the work Drew Hankin did with his reporting on FSU baseball, we can promise to give you a glimpse of the things that go on in the section, something Drew never shared.

This could end poorly.

Our own Bryan E. – former Animal Rookie of the Year – has taken the electronic pen up to write synopses of the games, which I will be posting here, along with tidbits from each game in the section.

Game 1: Niagara 2 – FSU 13

Nobody else has jumped in yet so I’ll give the reluctant review of opening day. Great Animal turnout. Lots of old friends making new friends under the oaks. Thanks to Moe’s for the chips and bigass pan of queso. Thanks to Gage Smith and his awesome mustache for delivering the queso k so that all fans present could possibly take in the white gooey goodness gratis on their next visit to aforementioned business.

To the game now… Luke had trouble painting the strike zone early in the 1st. Giving up a walk to the first man to stand in. Without the numbers in front of me ( or the desire to use them) I’d say the key descriptive word for the night was nerves. Our offense was banging on all cylinders but the transmission was skipping gears. 13-2 final score sounds like a curb stomping on any level of baseball, but it should’ve been much worse. Our bats swung hard and our boys ran fast without a cogent goal but then settled in to the standard pace of modern FSU baseball.

Slow, plodding, consistent at bats and generally solid defense built a 5 run lead in a shutout, rolling with a no hit 6 full innings for Luke Weaver, who I might add sported a lovely modern mullet. The seventh started with Strode who came out and added a HBP to 3 walks to kill the no-no. He was yanked for the new school stache, Gage Smith who side armed his way out of an ugly situation. We scored some more. We sang Sweet Caroline. Jameis drew a walk and scored later in the 8th.

The win was never in danger. Final score 13-2. Could’ve been better. Could have been worse. I’m just happy to be back in my seat making noise for the good guys. See you tomorrow

To say the Animals were a little rusty after the off-season would be kind. But, to be fair, we were all still a little drunk off of the football season…something that hadn’t been true in far too long. John B. had the break for O Canada and came up with ‘I’ve got the break’. Like I said, rusty. But it was a really great crowd for opening day, and everyone was glad to be back at baseball. The kids are growing like weeds, and the Animal breeding program continues to be successful, with two brand new Animal babies in the section this year.

Game 2: Niagara 1, FSU 4

Your reluctant reporter here with a day 2 synopsis. It’s too early to say with certainty if our bats are behind or Niagara has a dominant number 2… Well, their #2 starter is not dominant. Nor are their relief pitchers. One thing they can hit, though, is Gonzo. Through 2 games he has been HBP 4 times. Glad none were to his hips.

Niagara left Gilligan’s Island worth of men on base, as did our Noles, but it hurts a lot worse when you have 6 hits with no errors and are losing 1-0 to a team with one hit. Once the seal was broken the runs trickled in until the lead was secure.

Taylor Blatch came in relief of Leibrandt, who went 6 full and was credited with the win. I say knock knock. You say who’s there? I say not ready for primetime. You say Taylor Blatch. I nod and smile. Jameis came in and cleaned it up. With 2 RISP and no outs in the 8th Jaboo pulled the last six outs and sent us home smiling.

Final score 4-1 for the good guys. Another excellent showing for the faithful and a damn fine tailgate experience. Thanks to Matt for manning the grill under the oaks and all that brought their A-game, and meat, for making it another classic experience.
First pitch is at 11:30 on Sunday. Bring your brooms. Or leaf blowers. It’s gona be a sweep.

I’ll agree with Bryan that Blatch’s first appearance was not exactly one he’ll want to remember. But that’s what these early games are for. Learn from it, get better, come back and try it again. I was kind of glad to see Winston get the save opportunity out of the way early. It’s done, out of the way, and hopefully not a ‘thing’ any more.

For the O Canada break, John B dropped ‘Suck it, Putin!’ in reference to the US Olympic Hockey team’s thrilling victory over Russia earlier in the day.

Game 3: Niagara 0 – FSU 13

Reluctant reporter Game 3. Wow. 11:30 first pitch. Nobody’s going to show up today. Not the first time I’ve been wrong, and surely not the last. Great turnout under the oaks and a strong contingent in by first pitch. Good on you, Animals.

Slow start offensively as the good guys left men on base in the first two frames and fell prey to the greatest trick play in the book as the Peagles’ starter threw one past the catcher during an intentional walk to DJ and caught Delph out at the plate (sarcasm).

(EDIT)Gonzo broke the knot by being the first to score on a 2 run RBI in the third by Jose. On the day Gonzo went 3 for 3 with no new bruises. A nod to Chili Dog for the first Noles cheers of the season. Better him than me.

The true story of the day was the (endless) 5th inning. Oh Canada in every variation but French, 8 runs, directing the bumbling brothers to the circus, and the whisper cheers until I (yes… blame me) ruined it. I only apologize to DJ Stewart because he is the only one affected that can run faster mad than I can scared.

This was a looooooong game. Youth came in the seventh and did their part. Gage West, true freshman from Lincoln, went yard over the right field fence for the first round trip of 2014. Hopefully the first of many to come.

The game was called for time after 8 full, but I felt like Niagara didn’t want to go home. Who could blame them? Life is good under The Oaks at Doak.

(EDIT) How can I forget to mention Mike Compton? Solid. He will be a key reason that we succeed this season. If they don’t score, we always win.

As Bryan mentions, the O Canada inning was a doozy with the Noles plating 8 runs in the frame. We did normal O Canada, Fast O Canada, Backwards O Canada, and even Hummed O Canada. I had the break and went with ‘Brass Monkey’, a nod to Gonzo’s walk-up music.

I’d like to share with you a Tweet from Joel Brophy, a freshman catcher on the Purple Eagles squad.

Most fun I have had on a baseball field hands down #NU #FSU

— Joel Brophy (@Broph17_) February 15, 2014

Joel is by no means the first visiting player to express this kind of sentiment, nor will he be the last. I would put our house up against any other in college baseball. We simply have the best fans you can find. And I don’t mean just the Animals. Drew Fittry got a standing ovation from the crowd after his performance on Saturday, and it was well deserved. I’m not sure every fan base in the country would have given him his due, but I am certain that our fans would never NOT give an opposing player recognition for a great performance. That’s just part of what makes FSU baseball great.

Here’s to a great 2014 season and another run at Omaha! Go Noles!

It’s why he can’t help but make contact with an opposing player when sliding into a base.

It’s why he views each individual pitch as a competition in and of itself.

And it’s why, for the early part of his freshman year at least, he was loathe to do anything other than swing while at the plate.

“He’s got the football mentality. Hard-nosed, ‘I want to compete,’” Florida State assistant Mike Martin Jr. said. “And sometimes you feel like you’re not competing when you take a walk, but that’s winning baseball.”

That’s something that Stewart, a former two-sport star at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, has had to learn.

via Florida State’s DJ Stewart brings football mentality to baseball.