R-C Sports Notebook: Tuesday games matter after all

The going philosophy on Tuesday non-league games during baseball and softball season has been that they tend to not be the best determiner of where teams really stand.

The basic thinking, especially in baseball, has been that a coach will save the team's top starters on the mound for the weekend league games. In turn, Tuesday's become a sort of practice game as many teams will try players out in new positions and get younger kids into the game for more experience.

It makes for a lot of pitching changes and some wild finishes, but generally I haven't used them as a gauge for ranking teams against each other, because you simply aren't seeing the real team out there.

After watching last week's regional tournaments, I've begun to rethink that line of thinking.

The general feeling out there this baseball season was that the Sierra League was head and shoulders above the High Desert in terms of depth, based mostly on the outcomes of the Tuesday games.

Once the playoffs started, however, the Sierra League lost two schools in the first two rounds and then lost Douglas prematurely after a back-and-forth game against Reed.

What was left were three High Desert schools and Reno.

Reno, of course, left little question as to who the best in the north was after dismantling Manogue in the title game.

While I've previously viewed Tuesday games as basic throw-aways, I'm now going to start keeping a seperate stat in my records specifically to track each school's Tuesday record.

While you aren't getting every team at full-strength, you do get a pretty good look at a team's depth and come playoff time, that is just about the most important thing " especially when it comes to pitching.

My theory is that the team's with the best Tuesday records are generally going to have little trouble advancing in the regional playoffs.

Of course, Douglas would have been an anomaly this season, as the Tigers went 2-1 on Tuesdays, beating the two teams that eventually knocked them out of the the playoffs.

We'll just have to wait until next season to try out this theory across the board.

I'm still sifting through the pile of papers on my desk trying to straighten out all of the playoff action last week. I've come to only a couple conclusions.

First of all, Spanish Springs dominated the softball tourmament and appears poised to capture its second-straight state title.

And then Reno, perhaps the subtlest feel-good story of the year, came in with an unheralded roster and simpy blew away its competition as not one opponent came within five runs of the Huskies by the end of any of Reno's four games.

Think about it for a second, Reno completely missed the playoffs last year, came back with essentially the same roster and claimed its first regional title since 2004.

Add to it that all of the previously heralded Division I recruits in the regional tournaments were on other teams, you really have to respect what Reno was able to do this season as a complete team.

They clinched the league title without the services of their ace pitcher (Kegan Peterson, injured hand) and came back to win the regional title the next week largely without the help of one of their biggest gamebreakers in Drew Simpson (concussion).

Expect to see both Reno and Manogue give the southern teams a run for their money this week during the state tournament. We are talking about a pair of teams with deep pitching staffs and plenty of pop in their bats. It could make for some entertaining baseball.

A lot was made of Carson's Kayla Sanchez winning four events at the regional track meet, and deservedly so. But Galena's Joe Abbott slipped under the radar and claimed three regional titles of his own. Both athletes had incredible days and should put on a show at the state championships this weekend.

Okay, Okay. The Spanish Springs softball team indeed lived up to all the hype and more last week, skating flawlessly through the regional tourney with only three solo shots off Reno bats as the only marks the Cougars suffered.

I, of course, had been picking Reno to win it all during the regular season and was proven sorely wrong this weekend.

Reno did give the Cougars a little bit of a run, but it was only a blip on the screen in the grand scheme of things as Spanish Springs outscored its opponents 37-3 over four games to win its third-consecutive regional title.

Very impressive indeed.

You hear it a lot, but seriously, wait 'til next year.

The baseball and softball teams at Douglas both have a shot to be among the elite in the area, if not the state.

The Tiger baseball team will return starters at every position except for catcher and will bring back four solid starting pitchers.

The Lady Tigers come back with Stephanie Harper in the circle, slugger Katrina Morgan and a starting lineup that loses just one bat.

Other teams I expect to be on the upswing next year will be Wooster baseball, Carson softball, McQueen baseball and McQueen softball.

How many players on this year's Douglas varsity baseball roster batted left-handed? Bonus: How many softball players?

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional baseball and softball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

Baseball

1. Joe Wieland (Manogue); 2. Jordan Hadlock (Douglas); 3. CJ Maldonado (Reed); 5. Drew Simpson (Reno); 5. Jacob Anderson Galena

- Wieland was superb throughout the regional tournament, and not that Hadlock wasn't the same, but Wieland showed why he is being considered for the Major League draft this summer in every sense of the game. Maldonado was as fierce at the plate as he has ever been during the playoffs.

Softball

1. Mallary Darby (Spanish Springs); 2. Ashleigh Rahming (Reno); 3. Jaci Carlsen (Spanish Springs); 4. Samantha Baker (Reno) 5. Stephanie Harper (Douglas)

- Darby overcame a pesky Reno lineup and pushed Spanish Springs through the remainder of the tournament with an eight-strikeout performance against Reed in the regional title game. Rahming had a pair of home runs off of Darby, marking the first earned runs Darby had allowed against Nevada opponents this season.

Spring Sports (Through May 10)

1. Jordan Hadlock, catcher/pitcher, baseball

2. Derrick Jenkins, middle distances/high jump, track & field

3. Sarah Hartley, sprinter/field events, track & field

4. Thomas Wicker, golf

5. Jessica Gorton, hurdler/field events, track & field

6. Katrina Morgan, catcher, softball

7. Jessica Waggoner, track & field

8. Haley VonSchottenstein, swimming

9. Tyler Hoelzen, pitcher/outfielder/first baseman, baseball

10. Stephanie Harper, pitcher, softball

2007-08 school year

1. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/track

2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball

3. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track

4. David Laird, football/basketball

5. Sarah Hartley, soccer/basketball/track

6. Jessica Gorton, basketball/track

7. Jeff Crozier, soccer/baseball

8. Brock Peterson, football

9. Tanner Thomas, baseball/football

10. Jeff Nady, football/basketball

Since I've been here (2003)

1. Luke Rippee, football/basketball/baseball (2003)

2. Brittany Puzey, basketball/softball (2003-04)

3. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/softball/track (2004-08)

4. Tyson Estes, football/basketball/baseball (2003-05)

5. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track (2005-present)

6. Ryan Pruitt, football/wrestling/baseball (2005-07)

7. Mike Gransbery, soccer/basketball (2004-07)

8. Kayla Dunn, volleyball/softball (2004-05)

9. Keith Olson, basketball (2004-07)

10. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball (2006-present)

In case you've haven't turned on a television in the last three months, you should know you are missing very important commercials (that will run every 23.4 seconds for the next year) about the future of your ability to watch television.

Of course, if you haven't seen them yet, there's a pretty good argument that you don't need to see them at all since you obviously aren't watching TV anyway.

The long and short of it is that next February, the federal government will be making the transition into broadcasting digital television only.

Once that takes place, you're going to have to buy a converter box or your television will spontaneously combust.

Just thought you should know.

- In his first action since injuring his shoulder against McQueen a month ago, Douglas' Tyler May batted .714 and drove in seven runs in three games.

- Stephanie Harper pitched all 26 innings for the Lady Tigers in the regional tournament.

- Katrina Morgan has 20 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 68 RBIs in her varsity softball career. Quick reminder: She's just a sophomore.

Two, first baseman Kyle Flagg and pitcher/outfielder Tyler Hoelzen. Five in softball, Mackenzie Cauley is the team's only natural lefty but Emily Weaver, Mia Townsell, Donna Judd and Maddy Gilbert are all converted slap hitters.