|
|
 |
Smith and the Bears achieve Region 11 “perfection” in 2008.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word “perfection” as: the state of being free of fault or defect. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, states that: Perfection is, in a very broad sense, a state of completeness and flawlessness.
The oldest known description of the concept of perfection goes all the way back to Ancient Greece, which is where and when Aristotle distinguished three meanings of the term, or rather three shades of one meaning. As in: “Something” is perfect when…
1. …it is complete and contains all of the requisite parts;
2. …it is so good that nothing of the kind could be better;
3. …it has attained its purpose.
It is the latter version which best describes the Bear River Bears’ victory in their Region 11 season finale versus the Logan Grizzlies, and possibly their entire 2008 regular season as well. The Bears have attained their purpose. At least so far.
The Bears won the game despite a less than stellar defensive effort, during what must still be described as an extremely effective seven-inning win over the Logan Grizzlies at Bears’ Field in Garland on Thursday afternoon. Of course, the main reason that Bear River’s 8 to 7 win over their closest rival Logan was termed “effective” was because it ended the region schedule with the Bears both undefeated and in first place.
By any measure, ten wins in ten tries is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations to every Bear River player, and to Head Coach Clay Chournos, Assistant Coaches Don Hawes, Zac Williams and Ryan Giles, for an excellent job by all.
And yes, the Bears certainly could have played a lot better defensively in this game, which is something that they struggled with for much of the pre-season and regular season, as well. And most likely, this is a part of Bear River’s game which will have to improve if they hope to go as deep as they want to in this post-season, in pursuit of their ultimate goal, a 3A State Championship in 2008.
At the same time, though, the Bears did receive two strong pitching performances against Logan, which was pretty much also true against all comers, all season long. Danny Smith got the start and the win over Logan for the Bear River, throwing five strong innings with 9 K’s, while giving up only 3 hits and one earned run. Smith finished with five wins and no losses for the season.
Trevor Gardner relieved Smith in the sixth inning and earned another save for the Bears, giving up only one hit and no earned runs, while striking-out two in two solid innings of work.
The Bears line-up also continued another season-long trend, as they pounded out ten more base-hits and scored 8 more runs in 2008, this time against two different Logan pitchers.
Colton Fronk went 2 for 4, with one run scored and Hunter Sederholm was 2 for 3 and scored a run. Gardner was 2 for 4 with a run scored and Smith went 2 for 3, with an RBI and a run scored (by speed-up runner Kyle Walker).
Tyson Thompson reached on a walk, and scored, and Blake Adams had a base-hit and an RBI. Kasey Green went 1 for 1, with 2 walks, 2 runs scored and an RBI, while Dallin Bunn drove in a third inning run with a sacrifice fly.
And despite going hitless in the contest, Bears’ left-fielder Justin Capener still managed to make an extremely valuable offensive contribution for his team. With Green on second base and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Capener managed to reach first base on an error by Logan’s shortstop Peterson, with Green going to third.
After a few pitches to the next Bear River batter Fronk, Capener took the next sign from Chournos coaching at third. Then, seconds before Logan’s pitcher Tyler had come to the set position during his wind-up, Capener suddenly made an early break for second. This is a set play and the Bears have used it often, although Capener certainly executes it better than most.
Next, when Tyler turned on the mound to throw, he looked and began to motion towards first base, which was the exact instant that Capener suddenly stopped in his tracks for about a half of a second, when he was just a little over half way between first and second base. This all appeared to confuse Tyler, who froze and held his throw, which is, of course, a balk. The right call for the right time and executed, well, to perfection.
The play call, as well as Capener’s baseball savvy, allowed Green to jog across home plate with Bear River’s eighth and final run. It was obviously the decisive run in the game, one that gave the Bears all that they would need to keep their slim margin of victory over the soon-to-be second place Logan Grizzlies.
So once again in 2008, the Bears received ample production from up and down their line-up. And, yes, winning the region title was big because it gives Bear River the home-field advantage in the Inter-regional Playoffs, which will be held on Saturday, May 10th, right here at Bear River High School in Garland.
Still, the 2008 Bears’ already expected to win the region title, so they have only attained part of their goal thus far. So, if the Bears do continue to win, despite even the occasional defensive lapse, well, then, hey, nobody's perfect, right? And if the Bears do manage to go all the way and take state in '08, now that really would be, by any definition, absolute “perfection”!
|
|
