Of the nuances of another game we love, Larry Bird once observed — and I paraphrase — a free throw made or missed in the 1st quarter is just as important as one in the final seconds.
This thinking applies in college baseball, both micro in a specific game being contested, but also macro if somewhat differently over the course of the long season.
In ultra-steamy College Station, Texas, U of L’s Cardinals dropped two one-run Super Regional affairs, grinders in balance until the final AB. To a similarly talented ball club, blessed to be sleeping in their own beds.
Playing in familiar confines, before a rabid Aggie crowd with that institutional 12th Man attitude, as loud and quirky and inclined to try to get under foe’s skin as any in the land.
Given how the collegiate post-season is structured, what happens in March and April and May informs the scenario come tournament time.
I can’t help but wonder what if . . . Continue reading Card Nine’s Season Ends in a Grinder