Most Commented

Resources

Subscribe

  • Subscribe

ERRORS BRING DOWN BIG REDS

Posted by | May 31, 2008 .

highschools.JPGThe one and only Port Huron Varsity rivalry game that CPHS, Channel 6 had me do play by play for during the 2008 high school baseball season was a game played on Thursday night between the usual Port Huron High Big Reds and Port Huron Northern Huskies. From the beautiful Sanborn Park in Port Huron the two teams squared off in what was predicted to be a classic following last year’s extra inning beauty. Could it happen again? Instead of HIJ (busy being the “family man”), Terry Harrington (ex-Channel 7) production assistant) joined me as color man to do the broadcast and it was certainly a pleasure doing the game with him. The Huskies came into the game with a miserable 7-18-1 overall record but they were hailed as the favorite nonetheless due to them playing out of the higher rated MAC WHITE. The story on the Huskies all season long has been their lack of power and also their inability to produce consistent runs throughout the entire season. The Big Reds on the other hand came in with a 13-11 overall mark coming out of the lower rated MAC BLUE and were guaranteed to have a winning record no matter what happened in the game. The Big Reds had a year they’d rather forget defensively and their Head Coach, Scott Nichols knew coming in that if they could just be more solid with the glove and some of their throws, they could be rewarded for it. For the Big Reds it would be their final game of the year due to losing a tough one the previous weekend vs. Dakota for qualifying rights. For the Huskies it would be a warm-up for districts. Here’s how the battle of Port Huron went this time…

 

phn6.jpgNorthern’s Eric Harrington (son of my very proud broadcasting partner) was the player of the game in my opinion going 2 for 2 with 2 singles, 2 walks, 3 runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Harrington got the game going for the Huskies, leading off with one of his 2 bases on balls, later scoring the first run of the game (the only run for awhile) and his base-running certainly set the tone for what was to come for both teams. Port Huron was sloppy defensively all night long (surprise, surprise) making both fielding and throwing errors and it certainly cost them. In this, the final regular season game for the seniors from both schools, Northern threw a total of 6 pitchers with Jansyn Southgate picking up the 9-5 victory despite not throwing for long. Out of all the Northern pitchers, I thought Southgate certainly threw the hardest and most efficient and looked stellar on the hill as a junior. Northern was playing musical positions all night long, rotating player after player. It was an announcer’s nightmare, yet for the Huskies it was ultimately satisfying. Kevin Burns and James McMillan both had RBI singles for Northern who finished the regular season at 8-18 going into Saturday’s game vs. Anchor Bay in the district semifinals.

 

 

 

ph1.jpgThe Big Reds lost the previous game vs. Dakota in a pre-district contest and they ended up finishing the year at 13-12 following this loss. Anthony Ingle went 2 for 2 with a single, a double, a sac fly and 2 RBI’s, while Brad Davis went 2 for 3 with a single and a double as well. Jeremy Davis also doubled in his own right. Big Red southpaw, Chris Crimmins took the loss on the hill despite pitching much better then the 9-5 score would indicate. Crimmins fanned 6, walked 4 and allowed just 2 hits and 3 earned runs in 5 & 2/3rd innings. Those certainly aren’t losing numbers but those stats certainly tell all about how the defense played behind him. Crimmins had 3 singles in an attempt to try to help his own cause but it ended up being all for not. Again, props have to go out to Crimmins for keeping his cool despite their being a lot of Husky base runners all game long due to Big Red mishaps.

 

 

 

phhsschool.jpgAlthough this game ended the year for the Big Reds this was in many ways considered a tune-up game for the Huskies for their district tournament semifinal match-up with Anchor Bay, as was the previous weekend with the ForSports Tournament. The Huskies ended up going just 1-2 there while the Big Reds went 2-0 however, the Big Reds went no further after that having already played 6 games earlier in the week.

 

 

 

phn3.jpgThe overall consensus is that these two teams should play each other more often then just once a year on the baseball diamond and the games should certainly be earlier in the year and I have to agree with that. Although it was a 9-5 game filled with errors, the fact is much of it was close and very exciting and I must give credit where credit is due to the seniors on both teams who played their last regular season game ever for their respective schools. Congratulations guys, you’ll be missed. Congrats to the Huskies and best of luck in the playoffs.

 

(All pictures were taken by the Port Huron Times Herald. In order from top to bottom: Jordan Kerr (PHN) / Anthony Ingle (PH) / Port Huron High School and Alex Zondlak (PHN))

Posted under Port Huron Varsity | 3 Comments Like this article? Subscribe to our RSS feed

Leave a Comment

If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Comments

3 Comments so far
  1. Jordan Kerr October 23, 2008 1:30 am

    Watch out for Northern this year alot of seniors we should be good!!!

  2. bigD October 24, 2008 12:24 am

    Well it’s a little early for baseball season Jordan but since you left a comment I appreciate it. Ok here’s your chance dude. Roll with it. You tell me why the Husky baseball team will kick ass as you say they will!
    -D

  3. Jordan Kerr October 26, 2008 1:22 am

    First of all Big D thanks for the comment back!!! Why the Husky baseball team will be good this year most of our positons are locked down by seniors, our pitchings set, hitting is pretty good, and we have the same group since freshman year so i we should be pretty solid!!!!!