One of the basic principles needed to defeat an opponent is knowledge. The military calls it INTEL (information about the enemy), while the CIA calls it HUMINT (human intelligence).
No matter the name, knowledge is key to success in business and sports. In softball, information needed to build a winning team comes from knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your players (both as batters and in the field), researching your opponent and going over lots and lots of statistical information.
The Indians of John Burroughs High School traveled to face the Falcons of Crescenta Valley (CV). The undefeated Falcons needed only two more wins to lock in at least a tie for the Pacific League Championship.
Burroughs was hoping to break past fourth place and move ahead of Arcadia High School.
The CV battery of
Heather Bacon and
Brittney Johnson took to the field in the top of the first inning.
Kerry Hodgins walked then scored on a sacrifice by
Katie Budrick and double by
Taylor Buliavac.
CV managed five batters in its half of the inning, against Hodgins and Budrick, but could not produce a run. The game remained tense for both teams as the score failed to change over the next four innings, from the 1-0 Burroughs lead.
In the scoreless innings, the Indians managed only two singles off of15 batters. CV did not fare any better, as 14 batters also produced only two singles.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Indians went down in order; Bacon was crisp in striking out the first two batters (nine on the game) and catching a line drive from the third batter.
The Falcons then took advantage of two Indian errors, a walk from Hodgins, and a single by CV's
Stephanie Ziemann. The inning closed with CV leading 3-1.
Burroughs was unable to respond in the seventh inning as the Indians went down in order. Batters say it takes at least two turns at the plate to figure out a pitcher; coaches will also look at pitching stats from previous games to determine their line-up.
Endurance and errors seemed to be the downfall of first-year head coach
Steven Garcia.
With four pitchers on the Indians' roster, why not give CV a different look after five innings?
The starting defense is also still evolving - with only four regular season games left. It may be time to go back to the books and use the starters from the tougher parts of the season.
Of course, relying on accurate information may be difficult as the Daily News, the L.A. Times and MaxPreps.com all recorded different stats for the same game.