Rusty Nailed

 RE-CAP   The Louisville Longhorns returned from their hardball hiatus tanned, rested, but, alas, not quite ready. Having gone two weeks between games, and with only one practice during that period, the rust showed a bit Wednesday night as the ’Horns dropped a 5-2 decision to the Louisville Bulldogs. Despite outhitting the Dogs and committing fewer errors in the field than their 12U opponents, the Longhorns were snakebit by their inability to capitalize on opportunities, failing to get runners in from third base with less than two out on four separate occasions.

Suh-weeney’s suh-weet suh-wing

accounted for two base hits on the night.

 WEDNESDAY WORTHIES   Suh-weet Suh-weeney: On top of going 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate, shortstop Trey Sweeney made a sweet (that’s Suh-weet, with a capital “Suh”) play on a grounder in the hole to dismiss a dismayed Bulldog batsman in the fifth frame... Noteworthy Knock: Bryce Elmore’s fifth inning double gave the Longhorns at least one extra base hit in 20 straight games... One El of a Gun: Elmore and Sweeney paired to negate a would-be sack-snatcher in the second inning, with Sweeney taking Elmore’s heavy-duty heave to second base and sweeping a tag on the foiled looter... Puttin’ on the Hits: With a 2-for-2 night, Andrew Arnold now has 6 hits in his last 8 at bats... Center of Attention: Noah Baugher, patrolling the central pasture with aplomb, sent three different Bulldog batters back to the pine after tucking away shots that were inadvisably struck in his general direction.

Bryce Elmore socks a fifth-inning two-sacker. 

Give ’em a Break

Having played 39 games over nearly three months, including four straight weekends of tournament play, the Louisville Longhorns 11U baseball club was due for a break. Circumstances necessitated the team having to pull out of the tournament in which they had been scheduled to play over the weekend of June 11-12, and with no tourney planned for the next weekend, nor any practices or league games on the slate for the week in between, the Longhorns were looking at a 10-day recess from all diamond-related activities. But before any bags could be packed for the much-anticipated beach vacations, and before any projects could be checked off of the highly-dreaded Honey Do lists, there was still the matter of 2011 Game No. 40, a Thursday night match-up against the 12U Louisville Xplosion.

Center fielder Noah Baugher waits for play to commence.

 RE-CAP   A quartet of Louisville Longhorn hill-toppers combined to allow only four hits and one earned run over 6 innings, whiffing 7 batters along the way, while the L-Horns’ club-carrying coterie rapped 13 safeties, including 6 for extra bases, to capture their fifth Beechmont 12U Competitive League regular season contest.

With play having commenced, center fielder Noah Baugher

dares the opposition to take an extra base,

while teammate Brendan Koester looks on.

When he was not donning the leather, Noah Baugher wielded

the lumber with authority, stroking two base hits on the evening.

 IF THIS IS THURSDAY IT MUST BE BEECHMONT   (Is it possible that anyone under the age of 50 gets that reference?) Magic 8 Ball: Nicholas Parrish got the starting nod and tossed 3 innings of 1-hit ball en route to chalking up win No. 8... Surplus Sack Sockers: The Longhorns thwacked 6 doubles, including two each by Andrew Arnold and Casey Simon, and one apiece by Nicholas Parrish and Andrew Littlefield... Jeepers Threepers: Littlefield and Simon were both 3-for-4... Just Like The Kid: Wearing the same No. 9 on his back as “The Kid,” Hall of Famer Ted Williams, Noah Baugher had 2 base knocks to give him 9 over the past 6 games.

One works up quite a thirst with all of that hitting and fielding—

a thirst that Noah Baugher quenches with an ice-cold

Frost Glacier Freeze Gatorade.

“Was that just four straight photos of Noah?,”

wonders head coach Rick Arnold.

“I swear I had nothing to do with it,”

claimed coach Eric Baugher, smiling innocently.

Making Their (Trophy) Case

Before the start of last Thursday night’s game, a parent had staked out a small piece of real estate just outside of the entrance to the Louisville Longhorns’ dugout, positioning her fold-up chair in the one small spot of shade that would offer some relief from the sun and the unseasonable, early-spring heat. When head coach Rick Arnold walked past, she looked up at the altitudinous man-in-charge, smiled and posited the following query: “Hey coach—what are you going to do with all of those trophies?” With a big grin, the ball-coach responded, without skipping a beat, “I’m bringing them all to your house!”

Truth be told, there is not room in that particular parent’s abode for all of the hardware that has been accumulated already this season. The Longhorns have returned home with baseball booty from each of the seven tournaments they have played so far, with six of those mementos being crowning keepsakes. The weekend of June 4-5 saw the most recent addition to their championship stockpile, as Coach Arnold’s boys went a perfect 5-0, outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 57-3 at the Nations Louisville Baseball Classic in Blue Lick, Kentucky.

 RE-CAP   Although the final score of their first pool play game read 19-1, the Louisville Longhorns spun their wheels for a few laps against the Clarksville Stixx before finally gaining traction and pulling away. The ’Horns failed to score in the first inning and were only up 3-1 after three full stanzas were in the books, but in the top of the fourth they shifted into overdrive. That inning, they batted around and plated five runs; in the following stanza, they kept the pedal to the metal, sending 17 batters to the dish and adding another 11 runs to their season-high tally. When the smoke from the burning rubber had cleared, eight Longhorns had 2 or more hits, seven had 2 or more runs scored and five had 2 or more runs batted in, while three horned hurlers limited their southern Indiana counterparts to but 2 safeties and a single run scored.

 BLUE LICKIN’ GOOD   Three Spree: Batting in the 3-hole, Brendan Koester was a sparkling 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored... Four He’s a Jolly Good Run-Producer: Noah Baugher registered a game-high 4 RBIs... Leading Man: Andrew Littlefield was 3-for-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs out of the lead-off spot... Cloud Nine: Matthew Higgins blasted his 9th home run of the season in the second inning, a clout that put the Longhorns ahead to stay.

 RE-CAP   After not scoring in the first inning of the previous pool-play game, the Louisville Longhorns took a different tack in game No. 2, bolting straight out of the starting gate and sending 13 batters to the plate while putting 9 markers up on the board in the initial stanza. They would then add another 6 scores in their next two at bats and cruise to a 15-0, 3-inning, run-rule victory over the Derby City Crush.

 POOL’S GOLD   Nada mucho: In his first start of the season, Ryan Hamilton shut out the Crush and held them hitless over 3 innings, striking out 3 along the way... Make That An Even Half-Dozen: After collecting 4 RBIs in pool-play Game 1, Noah Baugher added a pair of ribbies in Game 2 to give him a smashing 6 on the day... That Guy Again?: Not one to rest on his laurels, Matthew Higgins belted home run No. 10, a 3-run shot in the first inning to compliment his Game 1 salvo... Rockin’ Sockin’ Knockin’: Nicholas Parrish knocked in a run in each of his 3 at bats... Every Which Way: Trey Sweeney had a triumvirate of team-helping at bats—a first inning, run-producing sac fly, a base knock in the second inning and a hit-by-pitch in the third... Sharing the Pain: Bryce Elmore took one for the team in the first inning, leaving him one bruise-maker behind Higgins for the team lead in the ever-important hit-batsman category... Turner Classic: Brendan Koester, Trey Sweeney and Andrew Arnold turned a nifty 4-6-3 double play to end the third inning.

Future-Longhorn Trenton Morris makes some noise.

 RE-CAP   A 2-0 record and only one run allowed in pool-play earned the Louisville Longhorns the No. 1 seed and a quarterfinal bracket-play matchup against the Louisville Shock on Sunday. The battling ’Horns would respond with a 4-inning, 9-1, run-rule victory in which 5 of their 11 hits went for extra bases, while the Longhorns’ tandem of hilltop twirlers would smother the Shock swatters, granting only two singles and a lone run in four innings pitched.

 SUNDAY BESTS   Striking It Rich: Starting pitcher Andrew Arnold needed only 39 pitches—28 of which he threw for strikes—to limit the Shock to 1 run on 2 hits over 3 innings, striking out 3 en route to his third W in as many decisions on the season... Got Yer Back, Bro: Trey Sweeney tossed a 3-up, 3-down third inning to cap off the victory... Might in Right: Ryan Hamilton started a 9-3 double play in the first inning and threw out a base runner at first base from his right field station in the fourth... Triple-Double: Sweeney, Noah Baugher and Andrew Arnold each contributed a two-bagger to the Longhorns’ extra base hit onslaught... Triple-Double-Single: In addition to his first inning double, Sweeney would larrup a third inning triple and stroke a fourth inning single for a perfect 3-for-3 game and three-quarters of a cycle... Gimme Five: Nicholas Parrish’s 2 RBIs gave him 5 in the last 2 games... Third Time’s a Charm: For the third straight game, Matthew Higgins bashed a boundary belt, this one good for No. 11 on the season.

Starting pitcher Casey Simon helped out his own cause

with a fifth inning base knock.

 RE-CAP   Going into the Nations Louisville Baseball Classic, the Louisville Longhorns were looking forward to a potential showdown with the Okolona Naturals, and they would get the chance to square off against their local rivals for the first time this season in the tournament semifinals. The ’Horns would respond with a victory in which they would score in four of the five innings that they came to bat while limiting the Naturals to a lone run over six full innings. Though the offense banged out 10 hits and put 6 runs up on the board, it was the pitching and defense that shined the brightest, with 9 outs coming on the ground—two on a slick double play—and another 6 via strikeout.

Somewhere in this mass of burnt-orange humanity is Ryan Hamilton,

returning home from his tour of the bases after his second inning yardbird.

 SEMI SWEETS   Well-Grounded: Casey Simon went the 6-inning distance atop the bump, allowing just 4 ground ball hits—all singles—and one unearned run while recording 9 ground balls outs and striking out 6... Matthew Mimicry: Ryan Hamilton did his best Matthew Higgins imitation with a 2-run long ball over the center field fence in the second inning and a run-producing sac fly in the fourth... Extra Special: His twin-bagger in the first inning gave Higgins an extra base hit in each of the first four tournament tilts... Down and Dirty: Shortstop Trey Sweeney gave the Nats—and the cleaners—all that they could handle, sullying his ball-togs with diving stops to both his left and right, while also going 2-for-2 at the plate and scoring 2 runs... Two from the Top: Andrew Littlefield had two base hits and two plate-crossings from the lead-off spot in the order.

In addition to stroking two hits in the game,

Trey Sweeney made a pair of diving stops at short.

 RE-CAP   Though it was not their first championship meeting of the season, the Nations Louisville Baseball Classic title tilt against the Lyndon Lightning did represent the first time in the 2011 campaign that the Louisville Longhorns would play three games in one day—in fact, all three would be played in but one afternoon. Despite a lot of ball in a short period of time, the L-Horns nevertheless had enough pitching depth to not have to use any hurler more than once in the tournament, while also having enough left in the tank offensively at the end of the day to win the final via the run rule. Nursing a 2-0 lead through three and a half innings, the Hittin’ Horns broke things open in the bottom of the fourth, scoring 6 times with the Bolts only recording one out before the umpires hollered “No mas!” The 8-0 blanking was their second shutout of the weekend, and by allowing only one hit in the concluding contest, the Longhorns managed to keep their tourney foes to a single-digit safety total over the five games played.

Matthew Higgins:

He did the mash, he did the monster mash.

 CLOSING STATEMENTS   First Impressions: Starting globule-gunner Andrew Littlefield struck out the side in the top of the first inning... One is the Loneliest Number: The only hit allowed by Littlefield was a bloop Texas Leaguer that was close to being caught... Four-Gone Conclusion: Matthew Higgins capped off a particularly productive weekend with his fourth Ballantine Blast of the tournament (his 12th of the season), a solo-shot that got the party started in the 6-run final inning... School of Hard Knocks: The ground-rule double smoked by Andrew Arnold in the fourth inning was, by some accounts, the hardest-hit ball of the season by any Longhorn ball-basher... Elmore Bang for Your Buck: Bryce Elmore biffed his team-leading third triple of the season in the second inning... Glove Story: Center fielder Noah Baugher’s running grab of a ball hit over his head in the top of the second inning was a snare of Baseball Tonight Web Gem proportions... Slaughterhorsehide Five: Baugher, along with teammates Arnold, Higgins and Littlefield, had hits in all five games of the tournament.

The happy ’Horns hoist the hefty hardware.

Bumps in the Road

Although legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas would go on to win three MVP awards and throw touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games—a record that stands to this day—the first toss that “Johnny U” ever made in the NFL was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Before Michael Jordan became one of the greatest basketball players ever to lace up a pair of high-tops, “His Airness” was cut from his high school’s varsity basketball team as a sophomore. Hall of Famer Willie Mays is considered by many to be the greatest all-around player ever to take the field, but “The Say Hey Kid” was an anemic 1-for-26 (an .038 average) at the plate to start his major league baseball career.

These are but a small sampling of the myriad examples in the annals of sports of bumps in the road encountered along the path to greatness, and last week the Louisville Longhorns found out firsthand what it is like to hit a couple of jarring potholes after having previously cruised smoothly down the highway of baseball success. Having won 20 consecutive games—many in convincing, and often lopsided, fashion—the Longhorns were not used to finding themselves at the malodorous end of a 14-6 drubbing, as they did last Wednesday night, nor were they expecting to relinquish a 6-2 lead in the final inning, an ignominious feat they managed to achieve the very next evening.

High-Fivin’: Matt Littlefield and Kathy Arnold were all smiles

before the start of Wednesday night’s Beechmont bout.

 RE-CAP   Last Wednesday night, the Louisville Longhorns would tally 2 runs each in 3 of the 4 innings played against a Louisville Thunder 12U club that is one of the top teams in the Beechmont 12U Competitive League. But the ’Horns would also dig themselves a hole by surrendering 5 first-inning scores, and they would subsequently bury themselves by allowing another 7 in the fourth frame in a make-up of a game that had been rained out earlier in the season. Though they would mount a 9-hit attack, the 14 safeties they yielded, along with 5 free passes and 3 errors in the field, were a quagmire from which even the talented Longhorn ten could not extricate themselves.

Noah Baugher was a bright spot on the bump.

 SILVER LININGS   How Do You Spell Relief?: Brought in with two on and only one out in the top of the first inning, Noah Baugher calmly climbed the hill and delivered 1-2/3 innings without giving up an earned run, with 3 of the 5 outs he registered coming via Whiff Way... Two-Timers: The two Andrews—Littlefield and Arnold—were both 2-for-3 at the plate, with the former scoring 2 runs and the latter driving home a pair... A Full House, and Then Some: Casey Simon had three of a kind and two pairs—3-for-3 at the plate, 2 bags burgled and 2 plate crossings... Kicking and Screaming: With his team down by 10 runs in their last at bat, Matthew Higgins refused to go down quietly, clouting a 2-run tater to make the final score that much more respectable.

Never-Say-Die Matthew Higgins prepares to go deep.

Sometimes it’s all just a blur.

 RE-CAP   After falling behind 2-0 after one, the Louisville Longhorns knotted the score in the third inning and took a 6-2 lead heading into the final frame in last Thursday night’s Beechmont 12U Competitive League contest against the unbeaten DC Bombers. At that point, well, I guess you could say that things did not go quite as well as the Longhorn faithful were hoping. (Insert sigh here).

Trey Sweeney at the plate, and Ryan Hamilton on deck,

keep their collective eyes on the ball.

 THURSDAY-TRIPPERS   Two to Tango: As in the previous game, the Andrew twins—Arnold and Littlefield—made waves, but this time on the mound, combining for 3 innings of no-hit, no-run ball and 5 strikeouts... Double Trouble: Back-to-back, run-scoring doubles by Littlefield and Casey Simon were the key blows in the Longhorns’ 4-run fourth inning... Brendo Perfecto: With a walk, an RBI single and 2 runs scored, Brendan Koester left nothing to be desired in his two trips to the plate.

Catcher Bryce Elmore would once again prove that crime doesn’t pay,

gunning down a would-be base bandit in the second inning.

Ssssssmokin’ in the Smokies

Well ahead of his Bruce Nolan character parting a bowl of tomato soup in Bruce Almighty, before his Truman Burbank’s life was surreptitiously broadcast live on TV, 24 hours a day, to the world in The Truman Show, and even prior to his role as Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber, in which he sold a dead parakeet to an unsuspecting blind child, Jim Carrey made a name for himself in 1994’s The Mask, playing shy bank teller Stanley Ipkiss, whose alter-ego summed up the comedic actor’s Golden Globe-nominated performance in one, succinct word: “Ssssssmokin’!”

That same, protracted exclamation can be employed to describe the play, on both sides of the ball, of the Louisville Longhorns 11U baseball club in the Memorial Day weekend tournament at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevier County Park in Sevierville, Tennessee. Coming off of three straight tournament championships and victories in their last 12 tournament tilts, the L-Horns continued their winning ways, going a perfect 4-0 to capture their fifth championship in six tournaments played this season.

Five different pitchers joined forces to limit their neighbors to the south to barely one hit every other inning, and only four earned runs over the course of the tournament, while the obdurate offense meted out 43 base knocks and put a total of 33 markers up on the board, at one point tallying runs in 12 consecutive innings. As if the miserly moundsmen and prolific pill-pasters were not enough, the defiant defense accounted for three double plays, two would-be base-nabbers denied, one runner picked off first base and enough other instances of leather-flashing brilliance to keep even ESPN’s major league Web Gem editors hopping.

In the end, they took their hard-earned championship trophies back to their Wilderness at the Smokies resort rooms, changed out of their tournament togs and into their swim trunks, went out, en masse, to the hotel’s waterpark wonderland and proceeded to do what they had just done on the diamond—they had a blast!

Nicholas Parrish drives home one of his 3 runs.

 RE-CAP   After a 4+ hour drive from Louisville, Kentucky down to Sevierville, Tennessee, the Louisville Longhorns got out of their cars, stretched their legs and immediately got down to business, scoring 2 runs in the top of the first inning and going on to a 9-2 pool-play Game 1 victory over the Kingsport (Tennessee) Raiders. Any kinks from the lengthy road trip were worked out in the batter’s box, where the Longhorn Ten banged out 12 hits over 5 innings, including a 6-hit final frame in which the able batsmen plated 5 runs to seal the deal, while two Longhorn slabmeisters combined to limit the Vol-Staters to only 1 earned run, on 3 hits, while striking out 4.

Brendan Koester was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate.

 SEVIER-ANCE PAY   Peerless Pelting: Clean-up hitter Andrew Arnold went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 RBIs... Driving Force: Nicholas Parrish’s 2 hits included a first inning, 2-run base knock and a fifth inning, run-scoring two-bagger... Clean Living: Brendan Koester was an immaculate 2-for-2 at the dish... Running Wild: Casey Simon pillaged a pair of bags and Matthew Higgins had a trio of sack-snatches, with both pawing the plate for 3 runs apiece... Pitchers’ Best Friends: The Longhorns had two double plays in the game, a Sweeney-to-Baugher, 6-4 twin-killing and a Simon-to-Baugher-to-Parrish, 6-4-3 two-turner...  Sweet Sweeney: Trey Sweeney was handed the horsehide for the tournament-opening tilt and flung 3 innings of 2-hit ball to earn the victory.

Slingin’ Sweeney hurls a heater.

There goes Rhymin’ Simon,

stroking one of his 3 base hits in the game.

 RE-CAP   The Louisville Longhorns mounted a bat attack good for at least one run in every inning while the pitching and defense allowed nothing but goose eggs on the Johnson City (Tennessee) Blazers’ marker meter en route to an 11-0 run-rule victory in the second game of pool play. Following up their 12-hit offensive in Game One, the Hittin’ ’Horns pounded out 14 safeties in Tilt Two, while their trio of mound-topping sharpshooters limited the Blazers to 4 harmless singles over 5 innings.

Cool as a cucumber in the early-spring heat,

Andrew Littlefield got the Game 2 start

and allowed only 1 hit over 2 innings.

 VOLUNTEER STATE-MENTS   Three Dimensional: Casey Simon was 3-for-3 with a double, 2 runs scored and 3 pilfered sacks, and Ryan Hamilton was 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs... Triple Crown: Bryce Elmore’s 2-for-3 afternoon affair included his team-best second triple of the season... The Three Rs: Not Reading, ’Riting and ’Rithmatic, but rather 3 RBIs for lead-off hitter Andrew Littlefield... Three’s (Good) Company: Littlefield hurled 2 innings of 1-hit ball, Nicholas Parrish shut the Blazers down over the next 2 frames and Andrew Arnold allowed nary a hit nor run in the concluding chapter as the three fiddle-hitchers combined for the shutout.

Bryce Elmore knocked out 2 base hits,

including a second inning triple.

With temperatures every bit as hot as the play of the Longhorns’ ball club,

catcher Andrew Arnold took a break to cool off with a refreshing libation.

 RE-CAP   A 2-0 record and only 2 runs allowed in pool play earned the Louisville Longhorns the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in Sunday’s bracket-play phase of the tournament, and the ’Horns used their well-deserved Sunday morning respite from the early-spring heat to answer the siren-call of the Wilderness at the Smokies’ indoor and outdoor waterparks. But after a morning of saturated fun, the Longhorns changed out of their board shorts and into their baseball business suits and proceeded to bedevil their semifinal opponents, the Greeneville (Tennessee) Little Devils, with a lethal combination of propitious pill-pasting and parsimonious pellet-projecting.

Matthew Higgins smites a first inning twin-bagger.

 SUNDAY BESTS   Four-Part Harmony: Four Longhorn batsmen—Andrew Littlefield, Casey Simon, Matthew Higgins and Trey Sweeney—knocked out 2 base hits apiece and accounted for 8 runs scored... Knock, Knock, Knock... Higgins knocked in 3 runs with a first inning double and a fourth inning single... Sac Lunch: After chalking up a sacrifice fly in the previous contest, Andrew Arnold delivered 2 SFs, good for 2 RBIs, in Sunday afternoon’s game... Potent Parrish: Nicholas Parrish went the distance atop the hill in the 4-inning run-rule affair, allowing but 4 singles and a lone run to earn his 7th victory of the season.

Portsider Nicholas Parrish delivers en route to earning win No. 7.

Right fielder Andrew Arnold is all smiles; perhaps something

that departing center fielder Noah Baugher just said?

 RE-CAP   In what was indisputably the best game of the season, one that saw four different batters robbed of base hits on remarkable defensive plays, two base runners thrown out on attempted steals, two other runners picked off of first base, one double play turned and one runner thrown out at home plate, the Louisville Longhorns were the last team standing in a 4-2, come-from-behind championship game victory against the East Tennessee (Chattanooga) Select at the Memorial Day NIT tournament in Sevierville, Tennessee—a hotly-contested affair in which the deciding run ended up crossing home plate a nano-second before the third out of the inning was made on the front end of a delayed double steal. The only breaths deeper than the one needed to recite the previous, lengthy sentence in its entirety were the ones exhaled by the Longhorn faithful during the tense, 6-inning nail-biter.

Andrew Littlefield went the distance and only allowed 2 hits.

 CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS  Littlefield, Big Results: Making his second consecutive tournament championship game start, Andrew Littlefield turned in another sparkling performance, limiting the Select to 2 hits over 6 innings, and only one base runner over the final 5 frames... Rolling Thunder: For the second consecutive contest, Matthew Higgins was 2-for-3 with a booming double... Stealing the Show: Having swiped second base moments earlier, Trey Sweeney purloined home plate at the tail-end of a delayed double steal to score the go-ahead, and ultimately winning, run in the fourth inning... Whole Lotta Glove: First baseman Nicholas Parrish made a marvelous, running, over-the-shoulder, backhand nab of a foul-pop for the first out in the last inning and left fielder Brendan Koester darted in to make a sparkling shoe-string grab of a screaming line-drive for the final out of the game.

Another banner day for the champion Longhorns.