Falcons end regular season on down note

What happens when you are faced with making up 3 rained out games, and you need to do so in a week where you already have 2 games scheduled? On top of that, all 5 games need to be played in a four day period? Add to that the fact that PIAA pitching limitations, and a 2 man rotation, and what you have is a great start and a horrible finish. After beating Judge (10-2) and O’Hara (8-6) on Sunday, and they winning a real good game at Bonner (3-1), the Falcons just completely fell apart in their last two games, falling to Bonner (10-0) and then to Judge (11-1) on consecutive days. Neither game was pretty. But, let’s not put these last two losses on the backs of the pitchers. And, I also don’t want to take anything away from Bonner and Judge, because in both of those losses, those teams stepped up and did what was necessary to win. In both of these games, the Falcons just couldn’t seem to get their bats on the ball, and when they did get runners on base, they couldn’t move them around. Finally, the Falcons just seemed very flat, almost unenthused while on the field. There was no excitement by the players, at least none that I could see.

The Falcons have generally gone with a two-man rotation, which is generally good enough for the PCL. But, when those two guys are required to rest for three days, and you end up seeing your third, fourth and fifth pitcher of the week, nothing good can come from it. The last two games were prime examples of just that disaster. With an outside chance at winning the division and a better chance of securing second place and a first round playoff bye, bunching these games together have done nothing but set the Falcons up for a third or fourth place finish, depending on the outcome of the Prep/Bonner game. You see, if Bonner can beat Prep, they will have an identical 8-6 record as the Falcons. At this time, I’m not quite sure how the tie-breakers work.
The Good NewsThe good news is that not only have the Falcons secured a playoff spot, but their first round game will be a home game. If we finish in third place, we’ll play the #6 seed. As of today, that slot has not been filled. If Roman beats O’Hara, they will tie Judge for the fifth spot, and depending on how the tie breakers work, one of those teams will be North’s opponent. If Roman loses, they will tie Ryan for sixth place. Roman has split with both Judge and Ryan during the regular season, so you guess is as good as mine. But, I do believe that if Roman loses and ties Ryan for sixth place, those two teams will participate in a pre-playoff qualifying game. Or, at least rumor has it that it will work that way.

Faces in the Crowd…
...At the Judge, O’Hara and first Bonner game, it looked like it was strictly parents in the crowd.

...During the second Bonner game, I shared a right field club box at Piccoli Park, with former NC coach, Tim Murphy, Tim’s lovely daughter, Erin, and Erin’s nephew, Aidan. Murph had to chase Aidan around the ballpark, so I ate the food and drank all the beer that the organization provides for those club boxes.

...On Wednesday, we played on what may be the only field in the PCL that is worse than Piccoli; that would be the field behind the Pollack school. At this game, Murph and I, along with Erin, Aidan and a few of Erin’s friends, sat against the fence in right field. Further down the fence, and only making a cameo appearance, was Bob Murphy. Tommy Oakes, the regular bus driver for North teams, stopped by to say hello. One of our young staffers kidded with me that Oakes only stopped by so we’d mention him in the Nest. Since we’re running a little long here, I’ll only mention one more spectator, and he was rooting for Judge. That would be Father Judge head football coach, Tommy Coyle, who caught the game from in front of the right field foul pole.

What's Next?
Once we know about the playoff schedule, we’ll let you all know. But, you have to do your part and actually show up for a game and root the Falcons on to the second round.

Blog Disclaimer: One Ritchie was harmed during the writing of this blog, but we promise that it was an accident and reparations were paid.