CONTROVERSIAL ENDING: Canyon's Tyler Lusk scores the winning run in a 5-4 victory over El Modena in a game Tuesday that included a chair being thrown onto the field after a disputed call by the umpire. STEVE K. ZYLIUS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
OCVarsity Voice: This change could chair, er, cheer up coaches
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Baseball playoffs need to adopt best-of-three format, writes Damian Calhoun.
The final week of the high school baseball season has been so intense that we have coaches throwing chairs on the field!
I have the remedy to ease the tension.
The CIF-SS playoffs, which begin next week, should be extended. No more single-game eliminations.
Imagine the World Series being decided after the first game or the NCAA picking a champion after the first day of the College World Series. Is that fair? No.
That’s why I would like to see CIF shake things up. Do it for the good of the game and for the sanity of the coaches.
We’ve all read/watched Orange Lutheran’s star Gerrit Cole this year. I’m sure he’s going to get the ball in the first round against somebody. What happens if his opponent (let’s say a third-place team from the Moore League or any other) pitches the game of his life and shuts down the Lancers? The game goes to extra innings, Cole gets taken out and the Lancers eventually lose in the 12th on a sacrifice squeeze. That would be the end of Cole’s high school career.
Shouldn’t the Lancers get another shot? How about Cole coming in for a relief appearance to close out the third game in front of packed Hart Park?
That’s why I need a two-out-of three series.
I watched Cole lock up with Tesoro’s Evan Finkenberg in the finals of the Frank Lerner Classic earlier this year. It was a great pitcher’s duel, ending in a 1-0 victory for Orange Lutheran. In case you didn’t know, my game story had 29 lines dedicated to the Lancers and only five to the Titans. (I didn’t know either, nor did I care).
Anyway, Finkenberg did to the Lancers what Cole did to the Titans: kept them off the scoreboard. Cole pitched eight scoreless innings before being replaced, Finkenberg went seven. The Lancers were fortunate to scratch out a run in the 10th, but might not be as lucky in the playoffs.
That’s why all rounds need to be best two out of three.
I would get rid of the wild-card round. The first round would start Tuesday and Thursday with a third game on Saturday, if necessary. That would be the schedule throughout the playoffs. Seeded teams would host the series.
Get rid of this single game stuff, it doesn’t do anything for me or the game.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
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